Today I have a “ME” day. This is the day that I am all alone at home and can do whatever I want. This may not sound like a big deal to some, but to me, its like a slice of heaven for 4 or 5 hours. After about an hour of doing the typical cleaning and washing, I decided that that wasn’t what I wanted to do so I decided I would bake something. I haven’t baked anything in forever so I chose a cinnamon cake. Yes, it’s out of a box but I still have to add ingredients so that counts. I mixed the egg, water and oil to the batter. Separated the little bread crumbs and did everything it said on the box. As I was ready to pour it all in the pan, my index finger reached down and scooped up a nice taste of the sugary batter smelling deliciousness. I didn’t have that anticipated taste halfway to my mouth when the skies opened up and a huge voice came out of nowhere and exclaimed NO!!! Don’t do it! There’s E-coli salmonella bacteria and lethal matter in that batter! I responded promptly with “You gotta be kidding me. This is my day and if I want to lick the whole bowl, I’m going to do it.” Well, my conscience got the better of me so I didn’t.
How did we get here? How did we get to the point where a person can’t even lick a spoon without fear of imminent death? I remember a time ( I don’t know if my mom knows this or not) when we, my brothers and I, used to come home from school we would get out the recipe card for chocolate cake and prepare the batter. It never made it to the oven. We didn’t want cake. We wanted the batter. Eaten right out of the bowl…raw eggs and all. How we survived to adulthood, I have no idea.
I feel really sad right now that today’s kids will never be able to experience the extreme joy of sitting patiently in the kitchen while mom is preparing a yummy cake or cookies and then waiting for your turn to lick the spoon, the beaters, and the bowl.
In 37 minutes my cake will be done. I’ll probably eat half of it before my husband and son return from fishing. It wasn’t the same working so hard and not licking the spoon.
