There comes a time in the childhood of every self respecting kid, when he or she realizes that a younger brother or sister can be easily led down the garden path. Straight into a life of crime. It’s really a piece of cake-with an Easy-Bake Oven.
My sister received an Easy-Bake Oven for her birthday. I turned shades of jealous that I didn’t know existed. When I was a kid, an Easy-Bake Oven was a highly desirable item to have in one’s toy collection. The fact that my sister got the Easy-Bake Oven, and not me, made it that much easier for me to plan a kitchen crime spree. She was also 4 years younger, and 4 years more gullible.
There was one and only one rule where the Easy-Bake Oven was concerned: PARENTAL SUPERVSION REQUIRED.
I can’t remember where my parents had to go. I just remember feeling dizzy with excitement as I watched the family car pull out of the driveway, and saw that opportunity had come calling. I remember a sense of danger, too. Knowing we didn’t have much time.
I bet I made my sister plug the Easy-Bake Oven in and turn it on. I wanted to implicate myself as little as possible. And I also told her right up front that we weren’t going to bother with any of the little mixes that came with the oven. We were going to make something from SCRATCH.
We worked quickly-though I don’t recall accuracy being a priority-measuring and stirring, and then laid out a dozen tiny cookies. The Easy-Bake Oven eagerly swallowed the miniature cookie sheet, and we waited, anticipation high, during the few minutes it took to bake our illicit treats.
When the cookies were done, and cooled, we discovered in the very first bite that we had done something terribly wrong. We had baked a batch of rocks. Honest to goodness stone cookies.
I panicked! What were we going to do? Part of my original plan had been to eat every bit of the evidence (though at the time I don’t remember cutting the recipe in half, so we are talking hundreds of itty-bitty cookies between the two of us.) I took the first action that came to mind. I threw the cookies outside for the birds.
I love birds. I enjoy watching them come and eat the bird seed we provide for them. But they let me down that day. Or maybe they had good intentions of coming to the rescue, but they just couldn’t seem to make any headway when they tried to eat our mistakes. And so there lay our cookies-out in the yard-in plain sight…
I know that I got in trouble. Big trouble. I was probably grounded. Maybe for life. But I learned a couple lessons, too. First, the aroma that filled the house provided our parents with a pretty powerful clue as to what my sister and I had been doing in their absence. And second, when it comes to baking, following the recipe really is a good idea. Because baking powder and baking soda are NOT interchangeable.
Unless, of course, rocks are what you are shooting for…
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Dear readers, I thought I’d repost this today in the hopes of adding a little bit of laughter to your day. Has it been a long week for you as well? It sure was for me. Have a great weekend!
What I remember about the Easy Bake is that the cakes really didn't taste so great. Even when you did follow the recipe! Love this story Valerie :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! The Easy Bake was definitely over rated! The next time my parents left we used the big oven...
ReplyDeleteI laughed!
ReplyDeleteOnce, as a kid, I shop lifted a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and shoved it in my mouth just before we all got in the station wagon and then each member of my family began to ask "What smells like peanut butter?". It was a scary moment.
Ms.G. Thanks for the laugh in return! That's hilarious!! I bet for a kid it WAS a scary moment!
ReplyDeleteI was the older sister too--although only a little bit older. I took advantage of my sister many times, up until 14 months didn't make a big difference as far as age goes.
ReplyDeleteI love this story! It's easy to see why you didn't enter a life of crime.
I used to mix concoctions and put them in little bottles, then place them in the freezer. My grandmother became very frustrated with all the weird exploded bottles that seemed to come from nowhere.
How's this for a laugh ... Any cookies I bake now come out like your Easy Bake Cookies ... Seriously. I'm a kitchen failure, but I know how to find good bakeries :)
ReplyDeleteMary-I always figured it was the job of the older sister to terrorize the younger sister a little-I never terrorized my own grandma though! ;) Thanks for another Friday laugh!!
ReplyDeleteJoanne-I look at it this way. We can't be good at EVERYTHING. We have to leave room for others;) A good bakery is so important!
If I ever had an easy bake, the raw mix would have never made it to the oven. (I still like the taste of the batter over the finished product!) :O)
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
We have that same problem in our house, Lisa! Chocolate chip is the best:)
ReplyDeleteHa! You can imagine our disappointment when my Father cut the electric cord from the back of our easy bake oven because we couldn't be trusted.
ReplyDeleteI had an easy bake oven, too. It lasted until I burned a cake and smoke got into the kitchen. My dad immediately got rid of it. I remembering crying for what seemed like days.
ReplyDeleteBTW You did make me laugh with this post. I hope all is well with you. Take a deep breath and go make funny faces at yourself in the mirror. Seriously, it helps:~)
Tina-you poor thing! You didn't even get the chance to make stone cookies, did you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sara! I'm beginning to see that the Easy Bake calls up a lot of unpleasant memories for a lot of us LOL! And you are right! Funny faces do help:)