Em

My Emily and I have something in common: we both love to cook. So many of our classic Emily moments, which have gone down in our family history, have been food-related, starting at a very young age.

She used to horde food in her cheeks, like a squirrel, when she was really little. Especially fruit snacks. Oh my goodness, she loved fruit snacks! (In fact, she loved them so much I had to stop buying them for a while, because she couldn't get her mind off of them if they were in the pantry.) Emily instigated mischief with a bin of flour and her sister Katelyn when they were just toddlers. She painted the bathroom door with a chocolate ice cream cone. She sang a song about broccoli: "I know that broccoli is a special word for tree...doo a diddy diddy dum diddy dee...." And she ate it. She eats just about anything, and usually likes it. She likes the foods her sisters refuse, but she also appreciates the sweet stuff.

For her classroom treat today, she requested donuts. That's my girl!

A few weeks ago, she browsed through a cookbook and picked this recipe for lemon bars.

I have never made lemon bars before. Honestly, sometimes I like them, and sometimes I don't. They have to be baked just right. Well, Emily baked them just right. They were so tasty! I was so impressed.

Emily tends to do that. She impresses me, takes me by surprise, and makes me realize how I've underestimated her.

Happy Birthday to my Emily.