Whoever writes all those fancy cookbooks has never been a parent. To begin with,
pages are never spill-proof, almost guaranteeing that somewhere in middle of mixing ingredients, a spill will cover remaining two ingredients listed. This means that parents must learn to improvise. Some would suggest that very thrill of cooking is experimentation. So what’s big difference between oregano and cayenne pepper, anyway?
Then there are all those "quick" recipes to "serve your family" gracing pages of women's magazines. NO recipe is quick with Little Helper's assistance.
For benefit of parents everywhere, I have taken my favorite cheesecake recipe and translated it into parentease. The non-parent version is available in Cooking By The Book -- a free bonus I offer with every purchase of The Get Happy Workbook at http:/ hehappyguy.com/happiness-workbook.html .
Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake (Parent Version)
Mix one cup of ginger snap cookie crumbs and one tablespoon of olive oil. Add more cookie crumbs to make up for ones that disappeared about same time your Little Helper walked into kitchen.
Press crumby oil mixture ... "Sorry, Little Helper distracted me." Press oily crumb mixture into bottom of a 9-inch spring-form pan, and up around edges about one inch. Put it in refrigerator to cool – best to slip it in safely behind broccoli and that thing that's been turning blue for three weeks in case Little Helper gets inspired
Soften three bricks of cream cheese, ideally in microwave. If you can't separate cheese from Little Helper's hands, let her keep doing what she's doing until cheese is good and soft. Cream cheese with one and a half cups of pureed pumpkin, three large eggs, two tablespoons of cream, and one cup of brown sugar. Keep mixing until creamy.
Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you are fortunate enough to have help at this stage, you have three options:
1.Rename it " Harvest Pumpkin and Vanilla Cheesecake". 2.Try scooping out extra cup of vanilla Little Helper poured in for you. 3.Start over.
