No More Men in My Kitchen

I'm pretty good about sharing my kitchen with the fam, but I'm about to ban all men from it.  Hop & his very first best friend, Will, wanted to cook Red Fish Stew on Saturday, and me being the wonderfully nice mom I am (insert hysterical laugh here) allowed them access to my kitchen.  I figured since they are leaving in a year and a half for college, it was time for them to start learning to cook things on their own.

Hop started skinning & dicing the Red fish & Will started chopping the onion and making the roux.  I had to talk them both through the process, thankfully they caught on pretty fast.  In the picture to the left, Will (on the right) has started cooking the roux, and Hop (on the left) was dicing the fish.  I was proud of Will, he said the roux smelled like his Granna's Jambalaya.  I told him that he was so smart because when you make Jambalaya, you make a roux.  I think he was proud of himself.  Sweet Will!

Here is the finished product.  We decided to half the recipe because there were:  the two of them, Henry had one of his best buds, Josh, over that day, and then me.  It was just enough to feed the 5 of us.  There was about 1 serving left in the bowl.  It all went smoothly, but I have one HUGE complaint...those boys did not clean up my kitchen.  I don't mind you cooking, but you better clean up after yourself.  It's funny, I remember my mom saying the same thing to us growing up.

I pointed out several times what needed to be washed by hand & what needed to be rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher.  The trash from cooking needed to go into the garbage can & that garbage taken outside; counter tops needed to be washed off; and clean dishes they cooked with should have been put away.  Did any of this happen?  No it did not, and that leads to a very frustrated, very unhappy mommy.  I don't mind you using my kitchen, but you better leave it like you found it...and for some reason no one ever does.   So, I'm thinking about posting what I expect if you use my kitchen.

Momma's Rules for the Kitchen

1.  Yes, your momma lives here, but she does not like cleaning up your mess when you cook,
      CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
2.  If you are unsure about what you are doing, ask questions first before you do anything.
3.  Have a wonderful time cooking.  Any other questions can be answered by reading rule #1.

Since football is over for the year, I think the big boys are going to plan a fun night that includes cooking in my kitchen & hanging outside around our fire pit.  I guess I better get the rules posted by Wednesday.  I'll choose to look the other way as they make a mess in my kitchen & I'll help them clean up after it's over...maybe.  ;)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley