Domestic Goddess

Earlier this week, in a fit of insanity, I made my way into the kitchen and actually baked something. Three somethings, for that matter. That may not sound very impressive to some people, but to those who know me, preheating the oven was a Big Deal.

I'd like to say that I was baking for the sheer joy of it. That I finally realized what I've been missing all these years and decided to take on some domestic chores. That I have become a girl. Sadly, I would be lying through my clenched little teeth.

It all started at the beginning of the school year. Spanky's teacher is a nice lady, and I realized that none of the other 24 moms in the class had signed up to be Room Mom. I figured it couldn't be that difficult, so I signed on the dotted line. That was my first mistake.

I figured I'd host a few parties. For 5th graders. They're pretty easy to please, right? Well, in all honesty, they've been great. And the parties have been relatively fun. And even though this particular class is big on hugs and "I love you's," it hasn't killed me. Until this week.

This week has been Teacher Appreciation Week. And apparently I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, because I still wasn't aware that I should be in panic mode. Until Monday, that is.

First, you're supposed to collect money from all the other parents to buy a gift for your teacher. Yeah, right. These people didn't sign up for Room Mom duties, and they certainly haven't helped with any of the other parties (160 at last count, but there's 2 more months of school left), so why on earth would I think they would send in cold hard cash for a teacher gift? Nope, nothing, nada. Not good.

On top of that, some wizard at the school decided it would be easiest if each class made lunch for all the teachers in that particular grade for one day of the week. Of course, they used to have the parents bring in lunch just for their teacher every day, so I agree, this is probably a better idea. Unfortunately, I don't cook. Luckily, I have a co-Room Mom and she does. Sorta.

So co-Mom made a crock pot deal and I was responsible for dessert. I decided on brownies and cookies. I've done brownies before and was pretty confident, but I've never done cookies, so I left those for last. SuperHubby wasn't home so I was flying blind. But I had Spanky to help.

We made the brownies. Things went pretty well. Nothing blew up and the mix tasted pretty good. My confidence grew. I thought we should make them something for breakfast too.

I made an apple struedel loaf. More confidence. I made cornbread. There is such a thing as too much confidence. The cornbread didn't look so hot and now it was time for cookies. Thankfully, SH got home right as I was prepping for the cookies.

The great thing is, the teacher's loved the stuff. Not the cornbread, but everything else. And no one died. Which is cool, because I've baked before and it hasn't turned out so tasty. There was the banana bread incident when SH and I were dating...

Now, everything I made came from a box mix. I understand that is just one small step up from pre-made, frozen, shove-it-in-the-oven-and-you're-done baking. But I did it. And I might do it again.

Next year.