In the kitchen with Zed.

My son told me he wanted to go to El Salvador over spring break to do a service project with other kids from Wesleyan. I gave him half the money for the trip, assuming he'd earn the other half. He immediately booked his airline ticket without knowing how he'd come up with the rest of the scratch.

It occurred to me: he could have a "bake sale" at the Pratie Heads concert last night. So he spent a couple days choosing recipes; we bought the ingredients and he set to work. Yesterday he cooked all day, he never even got out of his pajamas. He made:

• Cheddar Cheese Coins
  
• Chocolate Raspberry Bread (it was actually a brownie recipe, but owing to some slight over-cooking we felt a different spin, name-wise, would be prudent)
  
• Mocha Brownies with Chocolate Squiggles on Top
  
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
  
• Rice Krispie Bars

I dropped in and out of the project area all day, washing pots and wiping down the counters, trying to double-check that each required ingredient went into the bowl once and only once.

Zed's a pretty good baker - and still he let me help him! So it was all good.

Finally we packed up the treats and left for the show. How I fretted over the impending bake sale! Of course I always worry about whether people will come to my concerts -- and take it personally if attendance is sketchy. This time, I also had to worry Zed would be stuck with a lot of unsold goodies. And it would be My Fault because my music isn't good enough to attract a crowd. Like I needed more anxiety!

Everything went fine. There were people enough to fill a sufficient number of chairs, they were happy and laughed at our jokes, the number of musical glitches was not intolerable ...

Menticia even came and, though she may have found the show a bit boring (she denied it, but of course I worry), she very much enjoyed helping Zed with sales at intermission.

He came home with way too many leftovers but admitted it was his own fault for baking without moderation.

Luckily, today my singing student/painting buddy came over for a lesson today and left with all the leftover Rice Krispie bars. Then we had Zed's uncle (my ex-brother-in-law) and wife over for dinner and packed some treats into them - and packed more into their hands when they left.

Zed's net: around $60. Not bad for a first bake-sale! Watching him fuss over his pots, pans, and baking sheets was first-class entertainment.

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