licking the beaters

At age ten or eleven I wanted to learn to bake. I was "creating"
cupcakes from a mix. I was using the mixer. I really, really wanted a taste. So instead of stopping the mixer, you probably know where this is going............ the spatula got all tangled up in the beaters and then created a funnel effect and threw out batter all over the kitchen. My mother was not amused. She had batter dripping off her eyelashes, which I of course thought was hysterical. I could not stop laughing. She was not laughing. Thus ending my baking adventure before it really even began....... "ladies do not lick the beaters"

Needless to say, I did not learn how to bake or cook very well until I was married. I still had a sense of humor about it though. While making frosting on one occasion, I put pure shortening on a spatula and asked Mr. Right if he wanted a taste. He did. He has never (28+ years later) and I mean never licked the beaters or spatula without first asking what it was. dang, joke gone bad, not a good thing.

When one of our little boys had a birthday, the other was my "chef's helper".
He got to help make the cake and lick the beaters and lick the spoon and spatula.

While home schooling, taking turns I had a "chef's helper" four out of five nights.
I only used an 1/4 of a cup measuring cup & a 1/4 teaspoon. Boy, did they learn fractions fast! One of their god mother's came to visit once and while making cookies, the boys"discovered" a 1 cup measuring cup! They could not believe their good fortune!rats, there went my math lessons. It worked long enough for both to learn fractions very, very well.

With two helpers, I never really got to lick the beaters.

Mr. Right is more than willing (once he knows what it is) to be the taste tester now that our nest is empty. I only like to test the vanilla.

Yesterday was a brand new recipe. Vegan Creme filled Chocolate Orange cupcakes. Have I mentioned that I am not a chocolate girl? Gasp, I know, I can pass on chocolate almost every single time. The recipe I made yesterday changed my credo. It changed my life (for a moment anyway). I licked the beaters and the spatula and even used my finger to lick the bowl. I wished I had left more to "taste test". It was divine. It was luscious and dreamy. It felt wicked and silly all at the same time.


I have discovered one good thing...having an empty nest means you get to
lick the beaters every single time if you want to. It's the little things......