different strokes.

Growing up, I never, ever got to lick the brownie batter bowl. Granted, my mom didn't make brownies a lot, and I can't think of one time when she ever made cookies. I don't say this with a tinge of anything other than understanding, she worked full time, drove us around, made dinner; there just wasn't time for baked goods unless it was a special occasion, when it would be brownies or cake. We always had ice cream and store bought cookies, so I'm not suggesting we went without.

I remember one day I was at a neighbor's house - their mom was a stay at home mom - the very best kind of mom - and she was baking. She called us downstairs to come and lick the bowl. At the time, being about 8, this was a foreign concept to me.

"Come on! Before my brothers get there!" Beth had squealed. I was confused. I got down there and watched her and her brothers literally lick the bowl with their tongues, all three of them, like it was the last drop of water in the watering hole before the dry season. Mrs. Mom encouraged me to step in before it was all gone. I asked if it had raw eggs in it, as I had been so carefully trained. "Well yes, you can't really make good brownies without raw eggs. Why dear?" I dismally told her I wasn't allowed because of salmonella. She did her best not to stare at me in disbelief. "Oh, well that's good of you then. Sorry about that. We'll make sure you get a warm brownie before you go."

That changed things. Granted, even if I had been a bowl-licking aficionado like I am now, I probably still wouldn't have joined in. I developed an intense dislike of germs at an early age and never found myself able to share food with anyone other than my dad without gagging. But I didn't realize this phenomenon of licking the bowl was so widespread until that point.

Wanting to eat the batter of something delicious doesn't need to be modeled to be considered because of course we'd asked our mom if we could. But she always said no, because we could get sick. "With what?" "salmonella". Before I could even pronounce it, I was aware of this evil little microbe. This germ- and we know I don't like germs- was apparently present in all delicious uncooked things. "What does it do?" "It makes you toss cookies like you've never tossed them before. All day. And you want to die." Now as far as I know, my mom has never had salmonella. And she loves raw brownie mix. But to her salmonella might as well be kryptonite.

So, I inferred from that exchange that like most fun and delicious things, there was a forbidden aspect that prevented them from being enjoyed at all times. So, I was surprised when I found out that most people do indeed lick the bowl. I've spent the better part of my time after college baking so I can have the batter, making up for lost time and savoring every fingerful. Honestly though, the thought of taking my tongue to the bowl still makes me queasy with disgust, so I'm of course very dignified and use the spatula.

I don't mean for my mom to sound uptight or unreasonable. She has her moments, as all moms do, but I mostly think its funny that this forbidden act, perhaps the sin of all sins (and risk of all risks) that I remember from my childhood is actually something that most people do regularly. As for my mom, well, she did let us have ice cream for breakfast, which definitely counts for something.