Someone's In The Kitchen

The ritual of goofing around in the kitchen was something
that we indulged in quite often around my house growing up.

My mother always let us "help" when she was baking, or "lick the bowl" (which was nothing more than scraping off the left-over batter from the bowl with a spoon, and utensils). But the fun we had making those old fashioned tea cakes (Mom's grandmother's recipe), and also sugar muffins-Not your average gooey chocolate type desert, but something far more special. These baked goods had meaning... sentimentality. She taught us, and she taught her grandchildren, and that's something that we will carry with us always. We never got to play around in my sister, Vickie's kitchen because her kitchen sink always looked like this!

However, when Christmas rolled around, and it was time to make the famous Hershey's fudge recipe (not that quick junk from marshmallow creme, but the real deal), then Mom had to step back and let my Dad take the wheel... Dad could make the perfect fudge-he used a "soft ball" method, and he hit it on the nail every time. To this day, I take after my Dad except for the fact that I don't always have a perfect batch... yes, once in a while it goes limp, but I guess that's life!