Would you believe????

That I am writing this post on my laptop at the dining room table, while I stand here making waffles?

Yep.

I like to cook, but it can be quite something to have the energy some days in the midst of the wonderfulness of life. Now isn't that a nice way to put a spin on it?

So, one way I deal with that is to cook in bulk. And by that, I mean bulk way beyond the usual bulk cooking I do just to feed the number of hungry kids in our home! Our regular recipes obviously are much larger than a family of four would need. So, to make waffles and have substantial leftovers (look, if I'm going to stand here and mix all this up and then hang out in front of the griddle for what feels like forever, I don't want to have to do it again any time soon - I would rather spend more time and be done with it for a while) - anyway, we take our recipe and multiply it times ten. Now, I don't have a mixing bowl that large. I don't know that anyone does outside of a bakery. Maybe I should think about that? Hmmm. But,there really isn't space in our house for that either.

Anyway, back to the story (or ramble, as it may actually be).

So, I make LOTS of waffles and freeze quite a lot of them. Put it this way. I made waffles for dinner last night (recipe times five) and the kids ate it all as fast as I could get it off the griddle. So this morning I did a batch of ten times, and while the kids ate it, some had cereal, some did whatever, but since they had had some waffles last night, some of the novelty had worn off, so I had some more left. However, given the capacity of waffle irons on the market for regular people, it takes a long time to use up all the batter we made! We even had to leave some for a second cooking session tonight.

Gasp - I skipped church tonight (after a very busy day) because I knew that I had several hours of waffle baking ahead of me, as well as MANY loads of laundry (the down side of demanding the kids completely clean their rooms, including under their beds!!!!

So, anyway, here I am at 10PM, still cooking waffles. I have been at it since 7PM. The giant soup kettle I make my batter in (again, need something huge) is nearing empty! The kids helped quite a bit, watching waffles, laddling in batter, washing dishes, folding laundry, but now they are all safely tucked into bed. ]

What in heaven's name do you do while waiting for a waffle to cook?

Sort laundry
Scrub the outside of the stove
Start the stove self cleaning
Scrub the water cooler and floor around it (it sits right next to the stove)
Clean off the table - directing kiddos where to put things or one to watch the waffles
Listen to kids telling stories about riding the horse moments before
Put things in better order in the pantry
Kill the stray ant that somehow walked in
Trip over baby goat
Put diaper on said goat
Direct someone to heat up a bottle for said goat so said goat will quit crawling up my legs and nibbling on my pants
Remind kids to take their medicine/vitamins
Hook up the laptop and try to get on the internet, between waffles

I almost tried to find a way to pull out paint to start painting in here, but that would really just go very badly - paint in waffles, waffle batter in paint, paint on a kid, it just wouldn't be good.

Do you have any secrets for creative ways to pass time when you are stuck to the stove? Or am I just getting punch after about 50 waffles? I am thinking it is the latter. Time to go play Farmville on Facebook. Good night! Hope you got a laugh. Doggone it, baby goat just woke up!