I think it may be physically impossible for me to bake without getting some of the ingredients on me, the counter, the floor and sometimes even the cats.

Physically. Impossible.

Cooking is slightly better (I usually manage to avoid me and the cats – the floor and counter are still fair game) but baking is the impossible mission.

When I was younger I had my own book of kid-friendly, microwavable treats, including the best microwave brownies I think I have ever tasted. Needless to say, I made these brownies quite often. You could even say they were my specialty.

Before I learned the recipe off by heart, the page quickly got covered with sugar, flour, butter and any and all of the other ingredients that went into the brownies. It’s sort of funny to look through the book now – since that was the only recipe I really ever made, all the other pages are crisp and new, without a spot on them, until you get to the brownie page, which is almost falling out of the book and is wrinkled with use. I’m sure if you closed the book and looked at it from the top, you could still point out the brownie page.

Of course there was also the problem of the mess I made on the counter. But I was fairly good about it – the brownies took around 10 minutes to cook and by the time the microwave dinged its approval, most of the dishes were done and the counter was cleaned. It did take me close to the ten minutes though (and I always seemed to skip cleaning the floor – isn’t that what cats are for?) so I think you can picture the mess that I had to clean up.

The sad thing is that almost twenty years later, I still haven’t learned to bake cleanly. Today’s venture into making gingerpeople cookies (really, that’s what it said) was no exception. I can still clean up in less than ten minutes though – the dishes are drying in the sink, the counter and stove top have been wiped up, and I’ve thrown my baking clothes into the laundry and switched into a new set. Even the floor is relatively clean.

Apparently that is what cats are for. 😉