“Go with the flow!”

These were words from my mom’s mouth, as she first taught me how to bake in the kitchen. In fact, I remember her showing me how to measure the vanilla in the cap of the bottle, and many other shortcuts when it came to cooking. I rarely saw my mom get in a tizzy as she moved her way through the kitchen. She had learned to go with the flow!

We had friends over for dinner last week and once again I delegated parts of the meal to our guests. It’s the only way to do it!

I went to the store to buy some last minute miscellaneous items, including asparagus, as I was going to bake it in olive oil, with seasonings, fresh garlic, and my favorite secret ingredient – saffron. And guess what? They were out of asparagus! So instead of thinking, what other vegetable side dish could I prepare, along with my prime rib? I decided that what I had would be adequate. Prime rib and freshly whipped sweet potatoes (made with a tad bit of orange juice, zest, butter, brown sugar and ½ and ½).

I had already planned on making a yummy green salad – how much food did we really need? Forget about the asparagus! I decided I would just “go with the flow.”

One of the couples ended up being late to our dinner, because of a broken down car on the freeway! Once again we were forced to “go with the flow” as we waited – and we ended up pushing our dinner out a bit.

Dinner was spectacular and our conversation was energetic and lively. We forgot about the missing dish and the late dinner, and ended the evening with a fabulous chocolate dessert (Sticky Chocolate Sponges – recipe too long for blogland!) cooked in my ramekins (individual portions cooked in small separate dishes) – which we all gave an A+!

It’s not worth being stuck in your kitchen – having to do things a certain way, with no freedom to budge! I definitely find more joy in entertaining when I’m not so hard on myself, and I’ve learned to “go with the flow.”

(For another helpful post, read Are you Free in Your Kitchen, here – and No, Not the Sprinklers, here.)

NEXT POST: Munchkins Part I (Planning Ahead and Laughter)