Cooking

Many people think I can’t cook. This probably stems from people asking me what I had for dinner and I often answer, “cereal”. It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s more that I choose not to. I don’t enjoy cooking for one. You generally end up with too much food and I’m not always a fan of leftovers. Truth is, I can follow just about any recipe. Granted, there are some recipes with “foreign” words on them that I couldn’t make (at least not without a dictionary at hand!). If cooking means having 8 ingredients in front of me and figuring out what could be made from them, then no, I can’t cook.

Sometimes the teasing about my “inability to cook” gets old. I suppose that’s why I chose to do what I did. Our cook, Mary, wanted to stay home today to be with her son who broke his collarbone. It didn’t look like she’d be able to find a replacement for breakfast this morning so I jumped in and told her I’d do it. She and others laughed at the idea of course, but I stood my ground. I felt strongly that she needed to stay home with her son.

So this morning I got up before 6am to come to the kitchen and make breakfast for 100 people. The first thing I did was make coffee!!! We had pancakes and bacon along with cereal and fruit. It went really well. I had one of my leadership students here and she took care of the bacon while I did the pancakes. I didn’t burn any though I did drop two on the ground. However, by the end, it must have looked like I had a fight with the pancake batter. I spilled a bunch of it on a cart, wiped it on myself, and sloshed coffee on my shirt/pants/crocs. I was a mess but happy that it went without any major incidents. And I suppose too I was proud of myself for trusting myself that I really could cook for people. 100 people, to boot! I had a good time, laughed a lot and I’d do it again if needed.