99 word prompt : too many hands
June 13, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about the work of many hands. Is it a cooperative effort or something else? Go where the prompt leads!
If you want to participate, here’s the link: https://carrotranch.com/2019/06/13/june-13-flash-fiction-challenge/
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Mom used to say, “Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the salad.”
I never understood what that meant until our family reunion. I was 12, and found it amusing to have my 60 year old grandmother, 80 year old great grandmother, and 40 year old mother haunting the same kitchen.
“Where is the lard?” Grandmother asked.
“I am not putting cream into the gravy, lard in the biscuits, or frying anything!” My mom yelled out. “Everyone, get out of my kitchen!”
So…everyone but mom descended upon the Fried Chicken Palace, while mom ate her avocado toast in peace.
That’s me. Sitting with my avocado throwing my mother’s frying pan out the window! 🤣
I don’t know how I would have coped back in those days. The only person I can bear helping me with the cooking is my husband, believe it or not. We just know each other’s moves exactly, so it all runs smoothly!
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You’re fortunate to have someone you can work with in the kitchen. 🙂
People follow the advice of their day. Now it’s “avocados.” In the 1930’s and 40’s, doctors recommended smoking cigarettes for their “health” benefits. In the 1960’s Crisco and margarine were thought to be healthier than lard. Who knows what evils lurk in this decade’s “healthy choices.”
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I can picture it! But I was intrigued by the age differences. “Your” mum bore you at an older age than any of the mothers before.
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It’s fiction — however, my mother was 37 when I was born. My DIL was 40 when my granddaughter was born.
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That’s right. Some families have three or four generations in the time that others have two.
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But lard is delicious!
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Never could develop a taste for it. Even with lard in pie crust it’s like coating my lips with nastiness. 🙂
So many things are an acquired taste. I love butter in cakes and cookies instead of oil. A lot of other people can’t stand butter in anything.
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Ha, ha! Mom chased everyone out of the kitchen on threat of avocado (healthy fats) instead of the crispy fry stuff (but, oh, yes, I developed a taste for it — the lard). I used to coat my horse’s face in lard to keep away flies (hmm, I wonder if I could do that next time I go hunting rocks). We’d ride and smell like bacon!
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Mom used to make cookies with bacon grease. When you’re a kid, you don’t know the difference until you have peanut butter cookies sans the bacon flavor. 🙂
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