There are days where I am entirely incapacitated by shyness, and days where I am emboldened by the perfect combination of a caffeine high and sense of duty. Because at Blue Sky Church we talk to people even if we’re shy. Sometimes I walk up to someone with a giant cheesy (or welcoming, hopefully) smile, and then I just say, “Hi,” and continue on because my mind has gone utterly and completely blank. There are also a handful of people that I talk to energetically one week and smile to the next. I tend to think the first is the lesser evil.

Ava has no shyness or inhibitions whatsoever. Yesterday we were at our apartment complex’s pool, and one of our neighbors was sunbathing. Ava asks (loudly, as toddlers do), “Can I go wake her up?”

“Um, no.”

When the sunbathing neighbor “finally” dipped into the pool, Ava headed toward her, armed with two rubber ducks. She gave her one and plopped down beside her with the other. They talked and played until we left the pool.

She’s been able to talk since an absurdly early age. All the talking I don’t do to strangers, I did with her. And the fruits of that are being reaped now. She does not stop talking. And she does not have a filter.

She and her dad have a couple songs set to the tune of the retro “Spiderman” song. (You know: “Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can.”) One is Benjamin’s: “Benji Man Benji Man, does whatever a benji can.” And one is the pizza man’s… He does whatever a pizza can. She sings this to every pizza man who happens (ha) to stop by our door. Luckily, no one has taken offense to it yet.

And she actually learned to recognize McDonald’s at a shamefully early age. Fifteen months old going down the highway, she would yell, “Nuggets!” Yeah. So the fact that I found this recipe in college on the back of the Bisquik box has come in handy. It’s super gourmet, as you might expect from any recipe with the word “nugget” in it.

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Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

2/3 Cup of Pancake Mix

1/2 Cup of Parmesan

1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Paprika

3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch strips, then cut in half into nuggets

1 Egg, Lightly Beaten

3 Tablespoons of Butter, Melted

Method

Preheat oven to 450 Degrees.

Line a baking sheet with foil and oil or butter it.

Dump all your dry ingredients into a Ziploc gallon plastic bag or pie plate and mix.

Cut your chicken as directed.

Lightly beat your egg in a bowl.

Dredge 1/2 your chicken in the egg, then in the dry ingredients (either by shaking it in the Ziploc bag or evenly coating it by flipping it around in the pie plate or other shallow dish).

Repeat with the next half.

Drizzle the chicken generously with the melted butter.

Bake for 7 minutes, then flip all the nuggets.

Bake for a additional 5-7 until cooked through. But note they are best when they’re not overcooked. But also remember to kill the salmonella. Yes. This is the real challenge. Best of luck!

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As previously mentioned, this is on the back of the Bisquik box, with apparently is somehow related to Betty Crocker, I guess.