Cooking with Friends

Last weekend, we had friends over for pancakes, and it reminded me how much I love cooking with friends. Instead of stressing about preparing everything in advance, I simply set up different cooking stations with everything our friends would need to help us prepare. Very Montessori! (Hoss, of course, set us his own station on our bed. That boy loves the sun.)

For example, my friend was bringing the pancake recipe, so I put out all the ingredients that she requested in advance, as well as the measuring cups, etc. Then I set up another station for making fresh-squeezed orange juice. While our friends got busy at their stations, Matt and I set up the table with an electric griddle, so everyone could sit around making their own pancakes while we chatted.

It worked perfectly! Setting out ingredients is a lot less stressful than getting everything prepared and making the kitchen presentable before guests arrive. And honestly, I think people enjoy things more when they contribute to the process (as long as it's not an arduous and frustrating process when you're trying to enjoy yourself!).

It reminded me that I want our next house to have a giant kitchen with a gargantuan island facing out to the dining room table and the living room. I want to invite people over, toss them aprons, dole out jobs, and stand around chopping, cooking, and chatting together. That would be the life!

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