Step Away From My Kitchen-Aid Mixer!

Mom and I had quite a full day today as Nick and Marisa (A's twins) are graduating from 8th grade tomorrow and we have several items to make for the party afterwards. My list includes the appetizers (spinach dip and beef/cheese ball), watermelon basket with balls of watermelon/cantaloupe/honeydew melon filling it, Caesar salad, and the dessert (mini cheesecakes with cherry topping). Mom always wants to participate in the preparations, so we try to assign her ONE item to be responsible for. For this party, Mom is to make the Italian sausage.

Mom bought 15 links of Italian sausage from Gilmart yesterday, so she was all prepared to start cooking them this morning so that we'd just have to heat them in the oven for the party. Since she seemed to be having a good time in the kitchen, I let her alone in there and found my recipes and made my shopping list. Mom kept talking to me about the Italian sausage. It was a running commentary of stuff like "I think I'll leave them in the water for an hour." Or "Laverne told me the real Italian way to cook them is to put them in a skillet with water and oil and when the water is gone, they will cook and brown in the oil. Maybe we should try that way." I tried to patiently answer her knowing that her ONE task was important to her and she wanted to do a good job. I thought that her involvement in the party preparations would be over when her job was over. Boy, was I wrong!

First, Mom wanted to go shopping with me. If you have read previous posts, you know what my Mother is like in the store. Her shopping cart is a deadly weapon! And we were headed to TWO different stores today!

Second, Mom wanted to browse around and look at other items for us to get. When I'm shopping for a party, I am a "woman on a mission". There is no fooling around. No browsing. Get in/get out/make the food/done. That's how I operate when there are things to get done. Not today!

Third, Mom wanted to go home between visits to the stores. I just sucked it up at this point and did as she asked.

Fourth, we had been home for about an hour when Mom started nagging me about when I was going to make all my food. So again, I just sucked it up and went into the kitchen to do what had to be done.

Those of you who know me, know that I L.O.V.E. to cook and bake. I take great pleasure in the entire process; getting the ingredients, preparing for the cooking/baking, making the food and presenting/eating the food. I also LOVE my kitchen items. When I moved, the only items that I absolutely would not sell were the Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the Cuisinart coffee maker with grinder and my Dyson vacuum. That says something, doesn't it?

Anyway, Mom decides to be in the kitchen at the same time as I am. After 10 minutes of trying to work around her, I just left. I told her to let me know when she was done. She was cutting pickles and putting olives into containers to take... stuff like that. After about 15 minutes, she told me to come back. She just sat at the kitchen table and watched. Well, that's not all she did. She commented. On everything. The beef/cheese ball needed more meat. The spinach was still frozen and couldn't be used yet. The balls of fruit for the watermelon boat were too small... why didn't I use an ice cream scoop.

I could go on, but you have the idea. There was no JOY OF COOKING tonight. Or at least not until I figured out that Mom just wanted to participate. Maybe she even wanted to be creative. Or feel useful. So, I gave her small tasks. My list of items to make went much smoother after that. And it didn't really take me all that much longer. What are an extra hour or two in the scheme of things anyway???