look out betty crocker

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not particularly domestic. It’s a generational thing; my grandmother has a couple of ‘specialty’ dishes that she simply rotates and my mother jokes regularly about her aversion to being the mom-in-an-apron type. The other half are a family of caterers, so I’d like to think that I have the capability inside of me somewhere…now just to find it…
Despite my lack of home economic instinct, I have found myself being a little more adventurous in the kitchen lately thanks to more time at home and a well-equipped kitchen. Oh, and a hungry boyfriend willing to sample my, sometimes disastrous, efforts.
Last night’s attempt was banana muffins. I spent most of the evening defending myself against Ian's tormenting chirps from his bar-stool, positioned mid-kitchen, while I continued to make one novice mistake after another. In an attempt to quiet him, I got him mashing bananas but, alas, it would have taken far more than that to distract him.
In all fairness, it would have been hard for anyone to sit quietly as they watched me

• meticulously measure out 500g of flour rather than 500ml and then wonder why it was so heavy
  'That is A LOT of flour, Rox...'
• sift the wholemeal flour only to discover that I had sieved out all the wholemeal bits and then throw them back at the end declaring that I knew exactly what I was doing
  'Should you be doing that? Why didn't you just buy white flour then?'
• mess half a pot of cinnamon just to get a 5ml spoonful
  *resigned look*
• question the 50ml of baking powder called for in the recipe and thus doubt its accuracy and authenticity
  'Rox, perhaps you should just stick to the recipe…'
• proclaim how perfect my muffins were while prying them from the oven, poke one to check they were cooked and hurriedly shove them back into the oven in a state of alarm as I watched it sink back into itself
  'Like I said, maybe they need another 5 minutes.'

After all the fuss they turned out quite well, if I do say so myself, and we sat drinking tea and eating fresh banana muffins in my living room at the end of another long, London day. Maybe someday I'll be a true domestic goddess, conjuring up culinary pleasures to the delight of friends and family, but for now the entertainment involved in the experience is all the fun I (and perhaps Ian too) need.