Toddler Files-Operation Foiled baking

One day on a crisp spring morning a mom woke up to the heavenly aroma of some freshly baked cookies wafting through the door of her apartment. As if in a trance she got up following the smell and she immediately knew that Mrs.Scott next door was up and early doing what she does the best,baking her cookies and fresh bread for the weekend anticipating the arrival of her grandkids. Ah,she thought,how nice it would be if there would be some nice home made fresh baked bread and cookies on the table for breakfast. But following the thought she also sighed as till date she was a self proclaimed baking disaster queen. Somehow even the ready made rolls of dough got from the store which even a child could turn into absolutely delightful bunch of cookies ended up looking like shrivelled pieces of doughy flattened things which did taste like cookies but somehow lack the visual appeal. But the heavenly smell form the neighbor's home was acting like a stimulant and she decided to give her baking skills a try one more time. She armed herself with some enthusiasm and positive attitude which sometimes falsely gives some glint of hope to any person who is on the verge of washing their hands off something which their saner self had warned never to undertake.

Off she went the next day morning to the store,with a whining toddler in tow and marched through the aisles of the baking department of the store with a new found confidence. There she stood and stared at the things at her disposal. There just were too many choices,its criminal to give so many choices to a total amateur at baking. There were a mind boggling array of mixtures,powders,pans,sheets,nuts,coloring agents,spices,condiments,frostings,choices of flour etc etc. Clearly this was not her area of expertise,so she wondered where exactly to begin. She looked cautiously at the ready to make mixes available and was tempted to just take them home with her and experiement with them. But the new found confidence rejected such sane decisions and urged her to do things from the scratch,the positives quotes churned out thoughts that said "you can do it girl" it's just baking afterall not some rocket science. So she went ahead and got out her list for her cookies and gathered out the flour,chocolate chips and the essentials that the recipe dictated and proudly smiling to herself for not yeilding to the ready made mixes got them home and came. It was time to begin............

1.After feeding the hungry little busybody she set out to tackle the indomitable baking. She took out the hand mixer and spooned in said amounts of butter and sugar and started to beat the mixture. Just then the little busybody wandering around came to the kitchen and took one look at the running mixer in her hand and squealed in delight. She clapped her hands and settled down eyeing every detail. The mom let her little audience enjoy the show and kept the mixer down and went to get the eggs with a spring in her step. This is going so good,she thought.

2.She got the eggs out and about to clean them out and beat them into the mixture when she heard some slurping noise. There stood little curious george slurping the mixture which she had managed to reach it by standing on her toes! Mom marched the toddler out of the kitchen and that's when she heard a soft crash,her well intentioned eggs were now on the floor staring at her through a amusing yellowish mess. In her hurry to save her mixture mom had incidently left those eggs on the precipitous side of the sink which happened to gravitate towards to floor. "Oh,S#$%" she exclaimed under her breath and immediately realized she had the toddler still in her arms,she hoped the toddler would not pick the swear up. After cleaning it up she still was going on strong. Little drawbacks like these should never deter one when one is set on a mission afterall. So she got some more eggs out into the mixture and started to beat them up with her mixer.

3.Next it was time to add in the flour. So she opened the pantry to get the flour and added the said amount into the mixture.She turned around to get those chocolate chips into the mixture only to see little junior already spreading it around the floor and shoving handful of it into her mouth. No,No mom said,snatching away the chocolate chip bag from her and planting it on the table.

4. Phew,she thought as she added the chocolate chips and stirred the mixture. She then enthusiastically greased her cookie sheet,placed the cookie dough and lowered it into the preheated oven when she heard a squeal. Which toddler can resist the invitation of an open pantry afterall?there she sat in amidst of a sea of flour all spread around on the floor,over her hands and face and squealed. Mom almost fainted seeing the mess but then again who can resist the small toothy grin of delight and the mischievous glint in her big brown eyes. Mom went to hunt for her camera and started taking pics of this delightful performance (Yep,moms can be crazy this way,we do things which are not considered sane by some normal people) Meanwhile they both forgot about the cookie in the oven until ofcourse the mom noticed some nasty burnt smell. That was when the realization dawned !

Needless to say how Mrs.Scott's inspiration had disastrous results. Betrayed by her own olfactory senses mom now wishes she can seal off her windows and doors so no more heavenly smells escape into her home and mess with her brain this way. But then there are those captured moments of the fun she had with her toddler which perhaps made it all worth it!as for the cookies next time store bought Peek Freans serve just fine!