My Time of Day

It will come as no surprise to most of you that  my favorite times of the day happen in my kitchen.  I love smelling the first drops of coffee brewing in the morning.  Feeding Dean breakfast is one of my favorite things in life these days, as he always manages to make it so much fun for all of us. I love having a plan for dinner and seeing it through.  There's something so instantly gratifying about gathering your ingredients, putting them together, cooking a meal and enjoying it with my family all in a matter of hours.  I do wish the dish fairy would show up and do the cleaning, though.

Dean has started to show a real interest in the kitchen, no doubt because we spend so much time in there.  A few days ago, I was making dinner and he toddled in and pointed to the stove and asked "that?"  I picked him up, keeping a safe distance from the burners of course, and showed him what I was doing.  Turned out he really just wanted to sample the lima beans, but at least he listened patiently while I explained how to sautee chicken.

This holiday season, Marcus and I are staying home, which means there will be much cooking happening in our kitchen.  Whenever we say this to friends, they look at us like we're nuts and ask "Why don't you just go out?"  And we've thought about it. (See above note regarding the dish fairy.)  But to us, the holidays aren't the same without the smell of turkey wafting through the house and the family, no matter how many or how few, gathered in the kitchen.  Plus, we want to start sharing our favorite traditions with Dean early on so he'll never remember a holiday without them.

One of my favorite birthday gifts from Marcus was a phenomenal dinner he made for me.  He asked over and over what I wanted for my birthday that year and I kept telling him I just wanted a nice dinner some place.  (We usually went out for birthdays.)   My birthday is in February and when you live up north, February is not always a kind month.  I spent several birthdays in New York enduring blizzards, slushy snow and the like.  Well, this particular birthday brought us a nasty snowstorm, so going out was not all that appealing.  Instead, we decided to take a raincheck and just pick up something to make at home.  In true Marcus form, my sweet husband came home with a sack full of special ingredients and proceeded to whip up a fantastic birthday feast in our teeny little kitchen.  We had roasted cornish game hens, garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus with an awesome chocolate cake for dessert.  The food was incredible, but what I remember most about that experience is the time we spent together making it. (You may commence gagging now.)

I was wearing an apron in the kitchen the other day and Dean thought it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen.  He kept wanting to put it on, so I went to his room, found a baby bib with strings instead of velcro and tied it around his waist. 

He'll be whipping up a pie in no time.

Comments

[J]

That is absolutely precious! Our own little gourmet chef! Bring him here. Now. :)

[AJU5's Mom]

You are right that Christmas dinner isn't the same if it is bought. We have spent one Christmas without a traditional dinner on Christmas Day, but we did the traditional stuff a week before, so it wasn't that weird (we went skiing instead).

Good luck on the Christmas cooking! Hopefully Dean will be a big help :)

[Hotch Potchery]

I am beginning to enjoy the kitchen more and more...it has been a long road though!

I love Dean in his apron!!