Don't be Jealous – I have a Live-In Chef!

Since my daughter was a little girl she has loved baking and not in an Easy Bake oven either, which she did own, although she preferred to make her cookies in the big oven. Why make cookies one at a time when there’s the big oven with a whole sheet that bakes them at a dozen at a time?

When Megan reached middle school and found out about the Chocolate Chip Cookie Club, she joined in a heartbeat. Those cookies were delicious because Megan does not like chocolate, so she brought all the cookies home to me.  Her siblings joined this same club years later, but no cookies for me; their cookies were just crumbs by the time the Cookie Clubbers reached the van.

Darn it.

Megan loved the high school culinary department; she took all the cooking classes they offered, including Gourmet Cooking. That’s when I really discovered how much I love living with someone who loves to cook. It was like having my own personal Chef.

Megan has now discovered a new culinary hero, Alton Brown. I love Alton Brown too, because you should taste the things Megan has created recently, after watching his show. I bragged to my friend Barb about Megan’s amazing muffins that could only be described as divine. I try not to brag too much about the muffins, because if you brag, then you have to share. I know, my bad for being a selfish muffin hoarder.

Barb wanted to try one of Megan’s delicious muffins and we decided a Peet’s iced tea lemonade would be perfect with the cinnamon muffins Megan had just taken out of the oven. Megan went off to maybe learn more cooking tips and I was afraid that someone (like the teenagers I live with) might come home and discover them.  So I cleverly took the rest of the muffins, covered them in tin foil, and put them on my dresser. And I locked the cat up ... she’s been known to also indulge in a muffin, and that’s just wrong. No muffins for kitties! All the muffins for the mama!

I had to stop at the ATM to get some money before Peet’s and I couldn’t decide if I could trust Barb to be in the car, with the baggie of muffins or not. She was actually drooling, which worried me, and she did ask how many more were at my house. (OK, I added that last part, but I’m sure she was thinking it.) When I returned to the car, the muffins were right where I left them. I don’t think she even took a pinch off the bottom of one, at least there were no crumbs on her face.

When we tasted the muffins, we tried to be very businesslike about it, like wine tasters. (When I’m at home I scarf muffins over the kitchen sink, because I have no willpower to take the time to get a napkin or even savor one.) So Barb and I opened the baggy and smelled the muffins, like the wine connoisseurs smell the wine corks. I let her sniff first, although my friend has no willpower when it comes to muffins either. The smell was very cinnamon-y, with hints of sugary sweetness. Barb described the smell as “happy cinnamon.”

I described it as yum!

The next step in our tasting test, we each took our muffin and carefully placed it on our napkin. (I wanted to scarf it, but that would be frowned upon in public.) We took a dainty bite and surprise of surprises, Megan had added raisins! The rating just went off the scale. I couldn’t take the time to find anything else to think about, except that I wish I had brought a few more with me, but Barb said that the muffin was light and airy and hers had just the right amount of raisins mixed into the batter. Oh, I would have thought of that too, Barb is definitely a better taster tester than me, the muffin scarfer.

Megan also makes other things besides dessert and her dinners are very good, including the shishkebobs that she recently served for a dinner party and her homemade spaghetti sauce puts the canned kind I use to shame. My favorite thing about her dinners are the desserts, though.

She made a dessert, I have no idea what it was called, but I will call them Hawaiian Roll Trifle, she placed Hawaiian Rolls (my favorite dinner rolls) in the bottom of a custard dish, and then I have no idea what she added to them, maybe a secret ingredient, before topping it off with a vanilla pudding concoction. It was so delicious I licked my bowl when no one was looking. Megan also has a recipe for cinnamon apples she baked a few days ago.

It’s a good thing that apples are good for you, because I ate a lot of those!

I hope Megan isn’t planning on moving out anytime soon because I really love having a live-in chef living at my house. And I also hope that Alton Brown keeps inspiring her, because he’s the best too.

Is that cinnamon I smell right now?