Making Food, Making Memories

My son had a friend sleep over the other night. When morning came, my son asked if he could make pancakes. I said sure, and I got up to help him. He said that he wanted to do it so I sat down to finish my coffee.

I have pancakes in the freezer and pancake mix in the cupboard, so I figured he was going to fix the frozen pancakes, or use the mix. Then I hear from the kitchen, “Mom? Do we have baking powder?”

Yep, it's in the cupboard on the baking side. It's a small canister, not a box like the baking soda.

I hear from the kitchen, "I think we're out of baking powder. Can I use baking soda?”

I got up to find the baking powder for him. Of course, it was behind some taller stuff, making it utterly invisible. I put the canister on the counter, and I see that he found the exact recipe I always use for pancakes.* He was making pancakes from scratch. I don't know if you remember, but he's 9.

A few minutes passed and my daughter asked if she could make some scrambled eggs to go with the pancakes. I said that she could. She asked how many eggs she should make, and I told her. She made the eggs while my son made the pancakes.

My kids made breakfast all on their own. Without any help. They felt such a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Do you remember being a kid, and tasting something that you cooked for the first time? When I first started making my own food, I thought it tasted better when I made it myself. Many times, whatever I was cooking turned out the way it was supposed to. However...

I remember the first time I tried to make a pound cake from scratch. I was 11, and I really didn't know the difference between self-rising flour and all-purpose flour. I thought they were interchangeable. The recipe said that if I was using self-rising flour, I should omit the salt and baking soda. I thought all-purpose flour was all-purpose, rising included, so I omitted the salt and baking soda. Well, baking soda is the leavening that makes the cake rise, so I ended up making a buttery brick. I believe it would have been a delicious doorstop. I would say it was like a loaf of biscotti, but that would be insulting to biscotti.

Now ask me about the first time I made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, or a meatloaf. Go ahead, ask me.

I don't remember the first time I made any of those things. I assume they turned out the way they were supposed to.

We seem to forget all the stuff we did right, but can't let go of what we did wrong. Or at least I do. I mean, the great pound cake debacle was over 30 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I've made some great cakes since then, but I have trouble remembering those.

I guess the old adages about learning from mistakes and experience being a good teacher are sometimes true. I haven't mistaken all-purpose flour for self-rising flour ever again.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be a story if I had written, “The first time I made a pound cake from scratch, it came out exactly the way it was supposed to”.

I believe when things go wrong, or are unexpected, they stick in our memories because they are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the time, we go about our doing of the things, and the things usually happen the way we expect them to. But the times when you are surprised, those are the times we remember. Those are the parts we write into our stories.

So, if you are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, remember to celebrate all of it; the mistakes, the surprises, the spills, and the things that didn't go quite right. Be thankful for all of it because the mistakes, the botched dish, that's the good stuff. Those things make memories. Of all the things that can go wrong, please don't undercook the turkey. Though it would make a great story later, salmonella is a real thing.

*I use the pancake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook with the red and white checked cover. Here's a link to the recipe.