I am more of a baker than a meal planning cook. I know how to meal plan, but find it to be challenging to come up with creative meals with any consistency. My mother was a terrible cook who my father said could "burn water." I never developed the finer culinary skills when I was older because when you're a full time single mom and work a full-time job including a 2 hour commute, meal prep is the last thing from your consciousness.
But, when it came to holiday meals--I was the bomb! Well, most of the time. Some times I bombed out, burnt the rolls, and put too much garlic in my garlic potatoes. Where I excelled was in baking. I made cookies galore, brownies that were the rave, and combined ingredients to create culinary masterpieces. Today, I open a box of Gluten Free Brownie mix, add a package of chocolate chips, and bake. Before the pan is cooled I've already scooped out a melted morsel of awesomeness to indulge upon. Do I care that I am the worst example of domestication? Well, I used to feel bad when others would wonder WHY I didn't cook and WHY I didn't even like cooking. It seemed that all my girlfriends had the cooking and cleaning gene and I had the more typically male gene for working on the car, landscaping the yards, and laying tile. When others would judge me for my lack of house making skills it would hurt my feelings and fill me with shame.
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4 ESV
Today, I was watching Fixer to Fabulous with Dave Marrs and his wife Jenny had asked a favor of Dave and she offered a reward of, "I'll bake you brownies." He said, "You don't bake." She said, "Yea, okay. I'll buy you a box of brownies." I almost fell out of my chair laughing when she nonchalantly confessed her lack of culinary skills to the world of television. Finally, a woman who understood the finer things of life were not found standing over a frying pan or in the opening of a hot oven door. The Crock Pot has been the best invention ever and packaged brownie mix is the bomb. Oh, that reminds me, I've got to pull my half-baked molten-lava yummy chocolate delight out of the oven. Yummy!
Day 46: Indulge