Me? In the Kitchen?

You all know I have no shame admitting I don't cook; never learned, never cared.
My husband shops, cooks and cleans the kitchen.....I am truly blessed!

Mom never let me in the kitchen; and since I was......and still am....a fussy eater, I didn't have any inclination or interest in learning to make anything. Jim bought me monogrammed recipe cards after we were married; hoping to entice me to give cooking a try. I only used them to copy recipes from his mom and mine that were holiday favorites (ambrosia) or cookie dough from scratch (for creating and decorating fun shapes.) He did manage to teach me a few basics so our kids wouldn't starve if he was late or out of town. I could prepare tomato soup and grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and Mickey Mouse pancakes the few times it was necessary; but nothing about kitchen duty ever grabbed me.
Luckily, our son and daughter learned to love cooking from their dad.

I'm not much fun to invite to dinner or take to a restaurant. I dislike dips, sauces, condiments and salad dressings. Mom DID teach me to be polite, so I always take a little of everything and give it a taste or two at someone's home. Ordering a hamburger or hot dog plain with nothing on it............or Mexican dishes with no guacamole or sour cream always gets the server's attention. My family and friends just roll their eyes and shake their heads.

Which brings me to last night with my 5 yo twin grandkids. I'm bragging now....and I know you are either laughing or feeling sorry  for me or thinking I'm a complete idiot for even writing this. But it was pure joy working with them. After bath, I asked if they wanted to help make muffins for morning. Their excitement and enthusiasm really touched me. Each had a turn filling the measuring cup with water and then canola oil. I showed them how to break an egg on the side of the bowl....then let each of them do the other two eggs. Perfect.....no shells dropped at all! They took turns stirring.....even holding the spoon in tandem.....until they said "it's hard, my arms are tired."





 
It got a little messy spooning the batter into the muffin cups.....but I held my tongue and my instinct to reach out and help. I showed them how to clean up with a small piece of paper towel where the drips were so it wouldn't smoke in the oven. Grandma got them in and out of the oven; but as soon as they were placed on the plate, they both helped wrap them in a towel to ensure freshness till morning.



Now look at this....I've written a cooking essay! I welcomed these munchkins into the kitchen to help! I gave them a new opportunity and (too bad I wasn't recorded).....a play-by-play of how to make muffins! LOL  Surprised myself with the great feeling of accomplishment on all our parts; giving myself a pat on the back for sharing my wisdom? experience?... NOT! I was sharing the fun and delight of baking something with our own hands!

When Mommy called and they said their good nights.....I heard one say "we made muffins with Grandma."  But you know it stops there. I'm not going anywhere with this, believe me. I'm just tickled they enjoyed it and will add it to their "fun times at Grandma & Grandpa's memory book"!