Sunday Fun Day: Just Some

I thought I'd share a funny childhood story of mine this week.

I never really liked cooking or baking as a child.  I was always so terrified that I was going to mess something up, and then everything would be ruined.

Part of this frustration came from cooking with my mom.  She'd ask me to help with dinner, etc.  And if there was not recipe, I would have to ask her what to do every step of the way.  (Even to cook things as easy as spaghetti noodles.  I was pretty helpless.)

And inevitably, we would come to a point in the recipe when I would ask how much of something to add and the answer would be, "Oh, I don't know... Just some."  ...Um, ok.  So, what do you mean some?  "Well, I don't measure it.  Just pour some in."

What?!  What in the world does some mean?  A little, a lot?  The whole bottle?  Just a pinch?  I had absolutely no idea as to what she wanted me to get from "just some".

It drove me bananas!  I hated that part of cooking because I was terrified to mess our entire family dinner up.  So, I'd have to get her to come over and watch me pour whatever-it-was in.  And sometimes I got, "yeah, that's good." but sometimes it felt like, "NO, NO, NO, not that much!!!"  Mom was never mean about it, but the "just some" made me crazy.

How was I ever supposed to learn to cook if I never knew what I was doing?  Besides the fact that mom had to stand over my shoulder and watch me fumble around when she could have clearly done it faster and easier without me.

Don't get me wrong though, my mom and I had some great times in the kitchen.  My favorite memory is the first time she/we made Texas sheet cake.  And, as it turned out, the pan was too small.  And we poured the (liquid) icing on the cake only to have it run off the sides, onto the counter, down the cabinets, and onto the floor.  I remember laughing so hard trying to mop all of that icing up.

But, the point of the story is, I have now become the cooker/baker that I hated as a child.  I am coming into a love of trying new things.  But I am also trying so many new things that sometimes I get lazy and stop using the recipe.  So I start adding "just some" of this or that or whatever.  And you know, now I have to stand over Thomas' shoulder sometimes to explain to him how much "just some" means.

So, mom, I'm following in your footsteps!  So, you'll be proud to know, I am learning the full meaning of "just some".