Hey good lookin'. What in the heck do you got cookin'?

For better or worse (generally worse) Teagan loves to "help" me in the kitchen. I can't open a drawer without her running over to scrape a kitchen chair over to the counter and give me assistance. Sweet? Yes. Maddening? Also yes. As I was typing this post, she saw the photos of us in the kitchen and has been hanging on my arm for the last few minutes asking to help me cook. <sigh> When I told her I wasn't cooking anything, she asked to cook with Daddy (who is infinitely more patient) but alas, it's Fast Sunday, and I don't know that he'd be in the mood for making food he can't eat. So, she has contented herself with peeling all of the Halloween window decals we put up yesterday and either transferring them to another window or her belly. Naturally.

It started with smoothies, and that I could handle - minimal mess. Then she wanted to help with pouring and mixing and grating - oh my! 

 

I'm trying to stress out a little less about mess, but I'm such a novice chef that I worry she'll spill too many of the ingredients and whatever we're baking won't turn out. I'm slowing getting more patient with her, and there are times when it's been a fun bonding experience, but I still cringe at the sound of the kitchen chair scraping across the kitchen floor.

We got our hands on a cute little kitchen, because I thought it was something that every little girl should have access to, and she didn't show much interest in it at first. But now, she's really cookin'. She makes the world's scariest birthday cakes - unless you like the combination of raw egg, tuna, grapes, onion and orange. The presentation may be lacking, but the inevitable munchkin rendition of "Hatty Birday" more than makes up for it. She loves frying away (yep, she's British and American) and has attempted such delicacies as buttered binkie and sauteed cell phone. Delish. I think Minnie's motorcyle boots ended up in the pan one day as a garnish. Poor thing cooks like her Mummy. There's no hope.

Although between frying everything in sight, being willing to eat random things on toast and using both a knife and fork when she eats, I've been able to confirm that she's indeed half British.