{My dreams are dashed....}

Long long time ago, when I was a preteen (even a teenager), my mom tried in vain to pull me into the kitchen and together create wonderful memories of cooking & baking. After many tries, and no interest from me, she gave up ..... I did have a love of baking, and I remember one time I made chocolate frosting from scratch, I made it so runny that the frosting just poured all over my cake, and onto the counter where it finally landed on the floor. Apparently I added too much water, my mom said.

Then came the time I made chicken stirfry. It called for red pepper..... I couldn't find "red pepper" so I used cayenne pepper. That night as I proudly served my mom, dad & brother their dinner, they pretty much choked on their food. It was a "it's FIRE" hot. Apparently the red pepper is the VEGETABLE red pepper, not the spice. {{how was I supposed to know?}}

Sorry Mom for not paying enough attention in the kitchen growing up. I severely paid for that when I got married..... poor poor Mike!

So, here Katie is 11 years old .... old enough for her to hopefully have some interest in the kitchen. She does have interest, every now & then. She loves to bake, but sadly my patience wears thin, so she's often not invited back in the kitchen for a while (yes, it's my problem, I know that).

Well, tonight for dinner we are having meatloaf. I hate mixing that up with my bare hands. Who else better to help than KATIE! So, I asked Katie if she'd like to help, and she shrugged her shoulders and said "uh.... ok". So I grab my cookbook off the shelf, open it up and show her the receipe. First thing it calls for is ground beef, which is on my counter, thawing out.

I want to teach her how to read a recipe (she knows, but I always think I have to reteach her b/c she just doesn't retain the information, it seems). Here is our conversation in the beginning:

ME: Katie, grab the ground beef.

KATIE: OK... where would I find that? The pantry?

ME: Are you kidding me? {{I stare at her as if she grew an extra head}}

KATIE: No.

ME: Do you know what ground beef is? {{gasping... what have I done to my daughter?! I thought she was pretty smart!}}

KATIE: No.

ME: The other term for ground beef is hamburger.

KATIE: oh.

From there, she (and I mean we) managed to make a wonderful looking mean dish of meatloaf. I think I need to invite her back into the kitchen some more....

Enjoy my meatloaf recipe!

MEATLOAF

2 lbs ground beef (aka hamburger if Katie reads this)

2 eggs, beaten

1 c oats

1/2 c ketchup

1/2 c chopped onion

1/4 c chopped green pepper

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp basil

Mix all together by hand and place in a loaf pan. Cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until done.