Channeling Mimi

I remember when my mom taught me how to cook. Every so often, she'd ask me to help her in the kitchen. The real goal of this invite was to teach me something. But she was sneaky enough not to phrase it that way. Maybe that's where I learned my early PR skills?

She taught me to cook spaghetti& homemade sauce. Cornbread. Chicken and dumplings. Clam chowder. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. Cornbread stuffing. Chocolate chip cookies. And lots of fresh vegetables. I really enjoyed working alongside her in the kitchen and learning how to make all my favorite dishes. Mom was very patient and would often tell me stories of the dishes she made that didn't quite come out right or what her favorite foods were growing up. 

So I tried to channel my mother yesterday when MiniMe and her lifelong friend asked if they could bake cookies. Dog cookies. Seems the girls went online and printed off a recipe for homemade dog treats. Ommmmm, Mimi-Mimi-Mimi, Ommmm, I chanted repeatedly in my head as off we went to the grocery store armed with the dog treat recipe. 

Whole wheat flour. Check. Yeast. Check. Overpriced plastic dog cookie container to present the final product in. Check. Wine for mommy. Check!

Once the girls started mixing the ingredients, and arguing over whose turn it was to stir and whose turn it was to measure, I reminded myself of how patient my mom had been when I spilled things, didn't measure correctly, etc. Ommmm, Mimi-Mimi-Mimi, Ommmm.

"Ok mom," said MiniMe. "We're ready to roll the dough. Where's the flat surface?"

Ummm, you're looking at it. It's the countertop. We need to spread some flour around and then roll the dough out on the countertop. 

Much excitement ensued as flour was flung far and wide and they only argued a little bit over my only rolling pin.

At this point, Beloved came home, took one look and whispered in my ear as he gave me a kiss, "You're a glutton for punishment."

3 hours (and two glasses of wine for mommy) later, we had trays and trays of dog treats. And after only two warnings, the girls eventually cleaned up the mess. Best of all, the dogs ate the treats with enthusiasm. 

Thanks Mimi for being a good example of patient life lessons in the kitchen.