Something I love

Okay so I admit that sometimes my family drives me crazy. Sometimes it's really easy just to shut myself in my room and enjoy the peace and quiet. I mean when my sister comes down with strep throat and my brother-in-law's captured the entire living room and kitchen cuz he's laying on the couch watching TV, and my nephew's playing outside, what else is there to do? So yeah, I took a nap. And don't get me wrong I do love naps, but let's be honest, that's not worth blogging about. But this is...my sister comes in my room, climbs into my twin bed with me, all three dogs parade in with incessant barking because they all want on the bed too. That moment was not full of happy thoughts for me, not yet.

But then I get up to send the animals outside and we all hang out in the living room watching design shows. Meanwhile, I'm sitting far across the room from my sis so I don't breathe in any of those germs...let me just say, I CANNOT GET SICK this week. Not an option. So anyway, I eat some cornflakes w/chocolate bits in it - typical healthy Sunday night dinner while my sister pitifully eats some ramen noodles, gives up on that, and then goes for some cereal which she also shuns. Nothing tastes good when you're sick. And then, it comes to our attention that my nephew hasn't eaten yet. Alas, the often helpful brother-in-law is nowhere to be seen at the moment so I start to rummage around thinking what I can make for him that we actually have the ingredients for and that he'll actually eat, and even eat without complaining. A tough order to be sure. Eureka! Inspiration strikes. A breakfast taco with scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon. I'm guessing you're not mesmerized by such a thought, but my nephew was estatic so I went to work. I was beginning to think I'd almost forgotten how to make scrambled eggs for some reason because the last two times I've made it have not been stellar...the eggs getting all stuck on the pan and such. Anywho, I pushed through the doubts. (Can you hear the dramatic music in the background yet?) I even tried out the new secret new tip I learned to add just a bit of cream cheese to the eggs right before they're finished cooking to make them extra light and fluffy. Try not to mention that to my nephew please. So I served him up his breakfast taco which he gobbled down. Not a crumb left. And my sad puny sister was so jealous that I served her up what was left - just enough for a mini-bite size taco. She acted like it was the best thing she'd ever eaten. "Now, that actually tastes good to me!" she says. :)

Then I'm finishing up washing the stuck-on eggy mess frying pan when my nephew says, "Can I have another one?" "No, you can't!" I sweetly say, more because of the thought of rewashing the pan more than anything else! "But...I'll make you something else if you're still hungry." So in a few minutes after my sis tells him it's time to go take a bath, he pipes in with "I don't mean to be rude, but can I have that snack?" Guffaws all around. "Well, okay Pooh, but I need some inspiration." At this point I do a little hip hop moves to get the blood pumping. (We were currently watching some dance crew competition show on TV.) Apparently, I wasn't too impressive because the dogs immediately started howling, either that or they're baptists and just won't tolerate my gyrations. :) So yeah, I get inspired to make some sweet treats out of tortilla strips with sugar and cinnamon, toast them and serve with some nutella, sprinkle some powdered sugar over top and drizzle some chocolate sauce, and add just a smidge of chocolate sprinkles. BTW, I totally burnt the first batch and set the smoke alarm off! But finally, the secret desert was ready for my sis and my nephew and they were mesmerized. My nephew even spent about 5 minutes licking his plate when he was done. Thing is, I didn't even make myself a taco or a plate of sweet tortilla thingamabobs, but I was so happy. Just the little simple thing of feeding my family is something that I really love. Gives me endorphins. Just makes me feel good. Was my cooking a work of culinary genius? Doubtful. But, my family didn't care and neither did I. I may not have a husband and my own kids, but I do have a family. And serving them and making them happy makes me happy. And that's something I really really love. And that my friends is worth blogging about.