"Mom, my toast didn't taste very good today."

This past Sunday after church, we were having toast for lunch. It was the "healthy" precursor to our Sunday Sundaes (our weekly bribe for good church behavior). Ezra served everyone toast with what he called his new "secret sauce". He later showed us that he had added a little sprinkle of nutmeg to go with the cinnamon and sugar we normally use. We all thought it was a nice twist to our standard toast.

Today I told Brendan to make his own breakfast while I showered. At our house, "making breakfast" generally means pouring yourself a bowl of cereal and milk. Brendan took advantage of my absence today and decided to do a little cooking on his own.

So as I was finishing drying my hair, Brendan came into my bedroom. Here is our conversation:

Brendan: "Mom, my toast didn't taste very good today."
Lisa: "Toast? You made toast?"
Brendan: "Yes, but it didn't taste very good." (makes a yucky face)
Lisa: "Umm, okay (trying to be patient while thinking of the mess in the kitchen). Did it get burned?"
Brendan: "No."
Lisa: "Well, why didn't it taste very good?"
Brendan: "Well, I tried to use Daddy's secret sauce. But I didn't know which one it was. (remember, he's still learning to read) So I had to use them all."
Lisa: "All of what?"
Brendan: "All of the little things."
Lisa: "You mean all of the little spices?"
Brendan: "Yes, spices."

I came downstairs to find his toast preparing station:
Here I have lined up the spices so they can be clearly seen. He remembered from Sunday what the nutmeg container looked like and found all of the similar-looking canisters in my spice rack:
And here is the tasty toast. That is a quarter-inch-thick layer of spices on the second slice!
And yes, that is also a snickerdoodle on his breakfast plate. I guess he found that in the freezer while getting out the bread. I'm not sure why he didn't finish that.

I think tomorrow I will stay in the kitchen while Brendan makes his breakfast.