I thought I'd bring you up-to-date on how my Little Chef liked his gift. He was kind of quiet as I gave it to him, and a few minutes later I heard him say (completely unsolicited)... "I LOVE it!"

We turned around to start cooking, and on his own, he'd put on his apron, and put all his hand tools in the three pockets on the front of the apron. Can you say, "Photo Op?" (Unfortunately, mine didn't turn out well, so I don't have one for you; I hope you can use your imagination.) He walked around like that for about 15 minutes, until he said, "This is kind of heavy!"

He was really into the timer, and we used most of his tools in our week together. One night after going to bed, he couldn't sleep, so he came out to the kitchen and we stirred up some of his Great Great Grandmother's potato dough. There was some dialogue that went like this:

"I don't want to be Little Chef, I want to be Big Chef."

"Oh Noooo, I am Big Chef. You need more flour for your dough, so I'll be your Flour Girl."

That kid willingly kneaded two batches of dough, for a total of 40 minutes. (He was pretty cute, as he liked throwing in down on the board. I will say he slept very well that night.)

"If I can't be Big Chef, I'll be Strong Chef."

"Oh YES, You are Absolutely Strong Chef. I couldn't do what you just did, so you earned that title!"

He had learned about the middle cinnamon roll being the most coveted, so he asked if he could have any one he wanted. Of Course! We taught him how our family used to eat them, unfurling the roll as we went along, until getting to the last bite which was also the middle.

I hear he's been measuring, timing, peppering, shredding cheese and (especially) wants to cook after he's gone to bed. (Nice Try Kid.) I can't wait to cook with him again. I think he's going to be a baker!

(His little brother liked his phone, and Strong Chef has been leaving him new messages every day.) Those kids stole my heart. We all had so much fun, we decided to get together at least once a year, and maybe twice. We made every meal together, and created some family food traditions with new favorites I look forward to tasting again.

I gave his mom a copy of my own personal Favorite Recipes, which I spent two weeks pulling together. (Two copies exist...hers/mine.) She truly Treasured it and has already repeated some recipes we made while together. Neither one of us have many people in our lives who like to cook like we do (expect for all of you of course!)

Next year, Strong Little Chef will have his chef's hat, some cookie scoops and a few other things I've started a list for. Thank you all for your suggestions and allowing me to share this time with you.

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