I had a oreo cookie blizzard

At lunch time today I got a text from my almost 18 year old bff. She asked what the ear doctor and I had been up to the last couple of days. Like most teenagers, 52 hours is way too long to go without updating her on the condition of my life.

And I responded, "Not much...just working and walking to dairy queen for a treat at night"

I felt so lame and boring.

But I just realized that my response wasn't really accurate because last night I taught a 12 year old girl how to make spaghetti sauce.

Not sure if I've told you this or not, but I've been toying with the idea of teaching some of the kids in our church how to cook. Jaime Oliver has totally taken possession of my soul and made me deathly concerned about the well being and eating habits of the younger generation.

And so I had a 12 year old over last night to make spaghetti sauce. I chopped and she cooked. The look of guilty terror in her eyes when she squeezed the daylights out of a whole canned tomato and the guts inside the fruit squirted all over my kitchen was priceless.

When she clumsily dumped the bowl of chopped onions into the hot oil-filled pot I was bent over in two..the same way I bend when I've thrown a bowling ball and it veers into the gutter. Like my leaning body will in some way change the direction of the ball, or engender confidence into her little insecure wrist.

And the excitement in her eyes when we tasted the sauce to determine how much salt to add at the very end was so pure and genuine. She was so proud of what she'd made. So excited to learn more. So thrilled to have done it with me.

That's the effect that cooking good food has on people. It has this crazy ability to bind the souls of the chefs and warm the hearts of the eaters.