In The Kitchen With Mimi

Ever since Mimi was a wee little thing, she has been fascinated by the art of cooking.  She was the only four year old that I knew who would rather have watched a cooking show instead of a cartoon. 

I can’t help but wonder if the love of cooking is a genetic thing.  Mimi’s grandfather was a well known and highly sought after chef in New Mexico and of course her father is a wonderful cook as well. (We simply aren’t going to talk about her maternal side now, are we?)  Mimi’s latest obsession has been with cake decorating.  If she had her way, she would watch the cake challenges on the Food Network constantly. 

So when I called home from work last week, I wasn’t too surprised when she asked me to bring home some marshmallows and  powdered sugar.  Apparently she had decided to bake a cake and had planned on covering it with rolled fondant.  (The marshmallow version tastes better than the traditional.  Personally, I think they are both nasty even if they do look pretty)

Immediately after I got home and handed over the requested supplies, Mimi got to work.   When I offered my assistance, my budding pastry chef merely shooed me away with a stern warning not to peek at her artwork. (Could she possibly have forgotten who she was talking to???) 

An hour or two later, Mimi happily presented her completed work of art.  She explained that she had intended on making some sort of alien.

See the scary alien eyes?

But then somehow it morphed into…something else.

Interestingly…it tasted about the same as it looks.  (How on earth does one mess up a box of cake mix???) 

When I came home from work today, I found that Mimi had once again put on her toque and had baked some yummy carbon-flavored chocolate chip cookies.

Obviously, she gets her baking skills from her father’s side as well.  I wonder if I can convince her to wait until the cooler days of fall before I teach her how to bake.  Sigh…