My youngest (and pickiest) daughter rarely eats what I prepare for dinner.  I think she would instead prefer a big bowl of cereal. I know I am not a gourmet cook since some days we just have breakfast for dinner.  But there are days that I pour my heart into making a carefully planned out dinner.  When I see on her face she doesn’t want it, I can get a little defensive.  She surprised me this weekend when she saw the homemade enchiladas and instead of leaving me feeling a little deflated, she made my day!

I opened my home for a cooking lesson in homemade beef and cheese enchiladas. My sister’s co-workers spent their Saturday afternoon here learning how to make this wonderful dish from a precious woman named Maxine.  She walked in the door with her bag  full of groceries and began to work.  The rest of the crew instead began to devour the homemade guacamole and salsa along with mimosas and wine.

Me and sis Lynda

The Gang

The recipe was very detailed and I was in charge of writing it all down to be typed up and emailed later to everyone else. It sounds like a simple task, but It was not as easy as it seems, especially with this fun group!  I was tasked with following Maxine (our master chef) around the kitchen with pen and paper among laughter, three stories loudly coming at me at the same time and various questions asked such as where a medium bowl might be, where the measuring cups are kept and do I have a potato masher for the beans?  I kept up pretty well though and hopefully I did not leave out any major instructions!

I am faithful most days to eat healthy, but after the first bite of the avocado I knew there was no use trying to show restraint.  I enjoyed myself fully and had leftovers as well.  This is when my daughter walked in and looked at the leftover enchiladas I pulled from the fridge.  She asked what was in them.  This may be a small step for most, but it was a giant leap for mom! I quickly heated them up before she could change her mind.  And much to my surprise, she actually liked them.  This makes everything worthwhile; the money spent on food, the time spent in the kitchen, the hassles of trying to write a blog when I am not a writer…she put a smile on my face!

adding tomatoes to rice

Delicious

The final product

Great Enchilada

So this was a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon and now I have made some new friends and have another great Mexican dish to share with my family and possibly a not so picky daughter!