"No, but I've seen my Mom do it a few times. . . "

You all have read how my teens were gone on Spring Break the week before last.  They arrived home in the wee hours Sunday morning, while I was blissfully sleeping.  Well, blissfully sleeping until they pulled in the drive and made more noise than I'd heard in 10 days!!

So Sunday was filled with lots of pictures and stories about what a great time they'd had visiting their great uncle, his daughter and granddaughter.  Hiking, canoeing, and kayaking in Arkansas. Their dinner on Beale Street in Memphis on the way down. Their stop at the Arch in St. Louis on the way back. . .

And cooking!  DD1, who will be 17 in a few short months, laughed as she told me about some of her cooking adventures while in Arkansas.  Now, she's been cooking at home for several years.  By the time they hit high school, I call on my kids to make quick and easy dinners on the days when I'm running with a younger sibling and won't be home in time to make the meal.  So she does have a repertoire of recipes and cooking skills.

However, in Arkansas, she didn't have my cookbooks or written directions to refer to.  Nor could she just call me up and ask "Mom, how do you. . .?"

I'm proud to say that instead of just saying "Hey, let's go out to eat" when there wasn't anything quick and easy in the cupboard to whip up, she rose to the challenge of going it on her own and figuring out how to feed herself (and dad, siblings, cousins, and great uncle.)

First, was rice. As she told the story, it went something like this:

All the adults are busy or off doing something, and it's about time to get dinner going.  My girls and their cousin are rummaging around in the cupboards looking to see what's there that they can put together for a meal.

DD1 "Cousin, do you know how to cook rice?"
Cousin "No.  Do you?"
DD1 "No, but I've seen my Mom do it a few times. . ."

Rice and water into pot.  Add some butter and salt.  Heat to boiling.  Cover and turn down heat.  Guess how long it usually takes Mom to cook rice.  Test rice.  Sticky, but edible.  SUCCESS!

Then the next day came chicken.

DD1 "There's chicken in the fridge we could cook tonight.  It's been in there a few days. . . "
Cousin "Do you know how to cook chicken?  I don't know how to cook chicken."
DD1 "No, but I've seen my Mom do it a few times. . . "

Rinse chicken.  Stir up a couple eggs.  Dip chicken in eggs and crushed cracker crumbs.  Put chicken in baking dish in oven with some melted butter.  Guess what heat Mom cooks it on.  Estimate cooking time.  Test w/fork to see if chicken juice runs clear yet.  Serve.  SUCCESS!

I'm so proud (obviously) of DD1 that she has watched me enough that even though I have forgotten to teach her some things so far, she was able--and brave enough--to try them on her own, from memory.  It has always been my goal that by the time my kids leave home to go out into the big wide world, they be able to feed and take care of themselves without having to rely on drive-thru meals.