I like to cook. I mean I really enjoy getting in there and making a meal for people to enjoy (and hopefully compliment!). I would be even happier to have a sous chef, someone to do all that pesky chopping and cleaning up afterwards, but generally speaking, cooking is a task that, if I won the lottery, I wouldn't employ someone else to do.
Preparing a meal for small people that a)have eaten outside the walls of this house and know what McD's tastes like and b) have an opinion...on everything, is sometimes a bit of an undertaking. Generally, I over-think it. I'm planning grilled tilapia fish tacos and they're thinking fish sticks and mac and cheese. Not that they are the pickiest of eaters. Comparatively speaking they do pretty well. Anyway, as I remember doing as a kid, from the moment they get home from school all they want to know is "what's for dinner?" They could've just eaten lunch and they still want to know what's in store for them later. I guess they need time to prepare their arguments and/or plan whether dessert will even be worth choking down the swill they'll surely be served. You know, 'cause I serve swill a bunch.
Tonight was no exception. Forget the tornado warnings which prompted drills in school today, all they wanted to know was what was being served for dinner. Happily I told them chicken tacos, since I know that they both love that. Grant looks at me skeptically and says, "Aunt Melissa's chicken tacos?" Now I'm not disparaging my sister or her culinary skills, however when she was here over Thanksgiving she decided to make chicken tacos. She however, did NOT make chicken tacos as she wasn't ever sure exactly what she wanted to do (indecision is exacerbated with 4 small children running around.) I wanted to make sure we had dinner so I just threw the chicken breasts in a crock pot covered in rotel and then shredded it all up when we returned from the zoo 4 exhausting hours later. It was pretty darn good. Not an experience mind you, but pretty good. Grant and Jackson apparently LOVED it. Hence forth, it is Aunt Melissa's chicken tacos.
It all boils down to knowing your audience. My boys loved those easy-peasy chicken tacos so much that they attribute them to their favorite aunt. For that reason, I bake homemade cakes for adults, but always do kroger cake/cupcakes for kids parties. I'm all about conserving my creative energy.
One last thought. When Heath and I were first married, I made him a painstakingly complicated lasagna. Several layers, a bechamel, it was intense...and heavenly. Growing up in my family we let it be known how much work it took to make a dish, and we always down play it, saying it isn't that great. Even if it's the best thing on the planet, we say something along the lines of "are you sure you like it, it's not my best work." We're a humble folk... or not. Maybe we're just fishing for compliments. Anyway, Heath's comment after I served it to him, telling him that it probably wasn't that great? Heath: "Well, it's pretty good. Next time why not just heat up a Stouffer's?" Yes, we are still married. And no, he doesn't make remarks like that anymore.
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