Sous-chef....

..... and how I need one!  I have been cooking and then cleaning, then cooking again and I am exhausted from it all.  There is never enough counter space.  I make a dish and then have to stop and clean in order to have more space for the next dish. How did I make Thanksgiving dinner?  Oh yeah. I didn't; my mom and I did.

My mom is known in our family as the cleaning tornado.  She cleans all the time.  Any mess she comes upon is vanquished in seconds.  We were always amazed as kids at how we had a clean home and so many of our friends did not.  I remember one friend, I went over to her house and was astounded...every horizontal surface was piled high with whatever!  There was not one surface that was not 2 feet high with clothes, bags, mail or whatever.  And the kitchen was unbelievable.  A week's worth of dishes lay every where; sink, counters, even hidden in the oven!  This was not the only friend who had a dirty house.  It was common.  My mom was the unusual one.  Keeping a



house neat and clean was what she grew up with and was taught by her grandmother.  That gene skipped a generation.......





I try, but I am not up to the caliber my mom is.  But when she comes up and we cook a meal, we are a good team.  She keeps me focused and cleans up

As I bare my soul to all......a dirty kitchen.

PS.  This did get cleaned up....with help.