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Hip mom knows the key to cool: Be there Like most moms, I don't often admit it when I envy another mother. Instead, I silently appraise her well-behaved children, her sparkling career or her clean kitchen counters and wonder whether -- and how -- I might achieve such success for myself. But in Marie Conte's case, I'll make an exception. After all, who wouldn't envy a woman whose 17-year-old son still thinks she's cool? And who wouldn't be jealous of the fact that his friends think so, too? The story goes like this: Conte's oldest child, Mario, held a party, during which his mother did more than provide snacks and supervise clean up. "I invited the whole group of friends and she was dancing and singing with everyone," Mario recalls. "One of my friends who's in the choir came over and sang and my mom loved it so much, she started to cry." How did the teenagers react? They held a vote and conferred upon the Central Point woman the title of mom most cool. Amazing. Now, If this had been my house and my oldest child -- a 15-year-old daughter -- I can assure you, the title I came away with would have had nothing to do with cool. I'm prohibited from all but the basics of human interaction when it comes to my daughter's friends. "Hello," I may say. `How are you?" I can inquire. On a good night, I might be permitted to add: "The pizza will be ready in 20 minutes." Heaven forbid that I display any unfortunate tendencies toward action or emotion, let alone singing, dancing or crying. Once, when I was in a perky mood, I made the mistake of humming a song from the movie "Grease" while driving a group of girls on a field trip. Judging from my child's reaction, you'd have thought I'd stripped naked and started yodeling. "Mom!" she hissed. "Please stop!" And yet here is Marie Conte's boy telling me that he had a party and his mom boogied with the best of them. Proving that he's a normal teenager, Mario admits he was a little chagrined at first. "At the time, I was somewhat embarrassed," he says. "But I went ahead and went along with it." And when his friends decided his mom was cool, the incoming Crater High School senior went along with that, too. "She was somewhat of a popular teenager to begin with," he says. "So most of the things I've done, she can relate to." Does that mean Marie Conte is one of those loosey-goosey moms who try too hard to be pals with their kids? Far from it, her son says. "My mom does have some boundaries," he says. No bad language, for one. A midnight curfew, for another. And she always needs to know where he's going and who he's going with. "Man, if I just told my parents I was going to be out, they'd go nuts," Mario says. "Are my parents strict? Originally I thought they were. But then you go over to some people's houses and they're out until 3 in the morning and nobody even cares. That's not cool." For her part, Marie Conte is pretty proud of her newly hip status, not so much because she wants to be cool, but because she wants to be there for her children. "Oh, I was incredibly flattered," says Conte, also the mother of two girls ages 15 and 7. "All those kids are really special to me. I'll hang around them as long as they'll let me." From one mom to another, that's something to envy. Below you'll find a recipe for Mario's favorite mom-made dish: Chicken-fried steak. Marie "Cool Mom" Conte's Chicken-fried Steak 4 pounds beef round steak 1/2 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt* 1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves 3 eggs, beaten 2 cups dried bread crumbs 4 tablespoons vegetable oil Cut round steak into serving pieces. On waxed paper or in a large, flat dish, combine flour, salt and dried sage. Dredge meat in flour mixture until well-coated, shaking off excess. Whisk eggs in a large, flat dish. Place bread crumbs in another large dish. Dip meat, a piece at a time, into eggs, then into bread crumbs. Heat oil in large skillet. Fry meat in hot oil until golden brown, turning once, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels, then serve hot. NOTE : Chicken-fried Steak is Mario Conte's favorite birthday meal. Mom Marie Conte serves it with mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce. "It's not very heart-healthy," she notes. Send cooking questions to JoNel Aleccia, The Mail Tribune, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501. Call 776-4465, or send e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA