...a lesson in "more is NOT better".

Susan reminded me that I had never posted the explanation for "Rachel’s Mystery Mass".  I was almost at the end of the post below when I received "the call", so needless to say, I stopped what I was doing and forgot about it.  So, while I begin complete writing the conclusion to yesterday’s post, for all those inquiring minds who are DYING to know what "it" was, here ya go (a h e m, yes, I am fully aware everyone but Susan has long forgotten about Rachel’s experiment, anyway…that was soooo "last week" 😉 ).

Rachel likes to cook.  Rachel likes to cook food Rachel likes to eat.  It is important to note that unless food coloring is involved, Rachel NEVER cooks–or eats–anything green.  She would be perfectly happy to subsist on carbs, milk, peanut butter and chocolate…she practically does.  Before I receive any lectures on being a child-directed parent or how my child will pay for this "later", save your breath.  This is the one area I’ve failed as a parent*** (the one I’m admitting for this post, anyway;) ), but for the record, my kids are three of the healthiest children I’ve ever met.  Outside of the infrequent stomach bug or a mild, seasonal cold, they don’t get sick; I’m thankful since the age of three, doctor visits have been rare for all of them. 

I’m convinced the not-eating thing is genetic.  I’m a visual eater.  Apparently this tendency is gianormously magnified in subsequent generations.   My kids are not only visual eaters, they’re also texture and olfactory eaters.  That just means if a dish doesn’t look, feel or smell "right", they’ll never know what it tastes like.   

Which is a shame because I’m a daa-emn (two syllables, please, I’m Southern) good cook.  This isn’t spoken with a false sense of pride, an over-inflated ego, or any delusions.  I mean, come on…isn’t it okay to admit it when you KNOW you’re good at something?   There are waaaay more things I’m terrible at, lol, I imagine that might make better blog fodder, but for now, let’s focus on the positive. 

Anyways, this post isn’t about ME, but somehow I managed to make it about me, which IS, in fact, an over-inflated ego at work.  Back to where I was headed.

For Christmas, Tad got the fam a waffle iron from Williams-Sonoma.  When I saw their signature wrapping paper under the tree, I have to admit, it made me a little tingly inside.  While I despise shopping in general, shopping in gourmet kitchen stores feeds my soul.  It might seem odd that he’d get this for us, but the story behind it is our children LOVE homemade waffles.  Tad’s parents cook a famously delicious breakfast when we visit,the highlight of which is their waffles.  We’ve resisted a waffle iron purchase for years to keep it a Noni & Grandy "treat", but homemade waffles beat out sugared cereals any day of the week and Tad thought it a good time to bring the "tradition" back to Tennessee (we just don’t get to visit often enough).

While the end result suggests a lot of effort went into their preparation, there’s really nothing to making them, especially with a "good" waffle iron; it signals when it’s preheated, then signals again when the waffles are done.  All you have to do is mix the batter and determine their toastiness.  It’s one step up from an Easy-Bake Oven.  Heck, maybe even one step DOWN!

Rachel’s culinary repertoire consists of brownies, cookies, cupcakes and scrambled eggs, so when she asked if she could branch out with waffles, I figured she could do it with her eyes closed. 

But I forgot one thing.  She’s still a kid.  Have you listened to what she eats??  Sugar, sugar, sugar and sugar, just as long as it’s not green sugar unless M&Ms are involved.  Sooo, while there is no sugar in the waffle batter itself, what goes on top?  LIQUID sugar…in this case, strawberry syrup, her child’s equivalent to my "nector of the gods".

So there you have it, mystery solved:  The picture is a waffle, covered in half a bottle of strawberry syrup.  Rachel miscalculated if a little is GOOD, then a lot will be BETTER.  She learned the lovely lesson that "Too much of a good thing may not be such a good thing after all".  She won’t forget it, even SHE couldn’t eat that crapload of sugar. 

Oh…and your guesses, SHE LOVED YOUR GUESSES!  Yvonne was closest with her guess of a funnel cake, with  Claudia and Ogre close behind with dough-related guesses.  Rachel’s FAVORITE guess was James’ "fried vomit" suggestion (LOL).  Because OF COURSE I can’t limit my favorites to just one, Susan’s son, The Inquisitor’s guess (a big old dead leg that’s been
torn apart and the skin is all
crumbly and loose and it’s really old), and Jenny’s squid guts made me squirm.  We loved a few of y’all getting your family to guess (Susan’s other two thought it was chewed up pizza, and her DH thought it was the most common guess, a version of Rice Krispie Treats), and Heather’s daughter Rachel thought the same thing.  And since Iris asked, I named the picture "Grot" because that’s what I was thinking when Rachel asked me to take a picture in the first place!

*** What’s up with me divulging my parental failings????  Twice in two stinkin’ posts….

** s i g h **  Don’t tell my kids….;).