May 2004

I don’t know about you, but my Mum is a smashing cook. She’s one of these people who can knock up a fabulous meal out of virtually nothing. So it seemed only natural for Mum to volunteer to become a tester for the “Cook” badge…

Of course, my Six agreed to be her first candidates, and Mum had already spent half an hour with us during one of our Brownie meetings to talk to us about being safe in the kitchen - including how to handle kitchen utensils safely - and about the basics of food hygiene. We had then gone away and created posters to show these safety messages. I did mine on my computer, but some of the other girls drew theirs by hand. Brown Owl decided to pin them up in the kitchen at the Scout Hut to remind everyone.

Mum then arranged for my Six to come round to our house one weekend to do the actual cookery clauses of the badge. Mum had the kitchen laid out ready the night before, and pushed the table away from the wall so that we could all get round it. She had even managed to find six aprons, which were all washed and ironed and hanging over the backs of the chairs. Did I mention, Mum’s not only a good cook but she’s also very organised!

Unfortunately, I woke up the next morning to find that Mum had gone down with a throat infection. Not only could she barely talk, but she had a raging temperature as well, and Dad had instructed her not to move from her bed for the rest of the day.

“Never mind, Mum,” I said. “I’ll just ring the Brownies and put them off until another day.”

“No need,” said Dad. “I can handle this. What can be so difficult about cooking a breakfast…?”

Deep down I did agree with Dad. What could be so difficult? I should have seen the warning lights flashing though. Generally, Dad doesn’t set foot in the kitchen except to eat and occasionally wash up. The kitchen is most definitely Mum’s domain in our household.

“Right,” said Dad, when the girls were assembled. “First - toast. Now, where’s the… er… toaster?”

“We haven’t got one,” I replied. “You promised to fix the last one, but never got around to it, so Mum slung it out. She usually uses the grill.”

“Grill… right…” said Dad, looking vaguely round the kitchen.

“At the top of the cooker…?” I ventured.

“Of course,” said Dad, sounding more confident than he looked.
Dad spent a couple of minutes looking all over the cooker. I could tell he hadn’t got a clue how to turn it on!

“I think Mum usually turns this knob, and then sticks this long lighter in under the grill.”

“Of course,” said Dad, again. “I knew that…”

He turned the centre knob, just as I’d shown him. I could hear the gas being released from the eye-level grill. Dad aimed the lighter to where the hissing sound was coming from and, as he pushed the lighter button, the grill burst into action.

Unfortunately, Dad’s triumphant smile was short-lived. Mum had left a tea towel drying over the top of the grill. As the grill ignited, so did the tea towel! Dad just managed to grab the other end of the towel and he threw it into the sink, where he quickly poured water on it and extinguished the flames. Dad coughed.

“Well, girls. That exercise was just to show you that you must always check that there is nothing inflammable hanging above a grill before you light it. Right, shall we start again…?”

Amy - the youngest of our Six - burst into tears.

“Perhaps we should just wait until Mum’s better…” I quietly suggested. Dad looked relieved.

“Cornflakes anyone…?”

If you want to find out more about Brownies and Guides in your local area why not visit their excellent web site:

www.girlguiding.org.uk