Cooking --

--- with kids --

It's a fear that chased my SIL's mom instilled in her -- Her mom didn't want to clean up a mess and so neither does she.... This was not a terrible or messy experience. It doesn't have to be. It helps if someone, preferably the adult, in the kitchen knows how to cook. :)

It's nearly winter here, and the snow will pile up (especially if you listen to Poor Richard's Almanac) to the roof tops -- well not that bad -- but still -- I'm not driving if I don't have to. Couple that with the nice winter breeze coming through the windows and doors (it's a rental, eh) and it's the perfect weather to bake and cook. So Thursday night I made bread, an Amish White Bread, - mine did NOT turn out like the picture (bit denser) - but it's still good - especially if it's toasted with some homemade apple butter. (yum!).

Tomorrow, I'll make some more and maybe knead it less after the first rising. But tonight, I promised My Joy that we'd make cookies. She chose one and I chose one. We used a mixer, but she did do most of the work. It takes longer this way because we had read the recipes, gather all of the equipment and ingredients and then discuss how things were used, why we use a knife to level off dry ingredients, how to crack eggs (she'd done this before and this time there no egg shells!!), which setting to use on the mixer, how to use the mixer, why we preheat the oven, and why she needed to taste molasses (the face she made was one I hadn't seen before :) )

So we made chocolate chip cookies - which turned out wonderful and snickerdoodles - which are still baking. She did do most of the work - except the part that deals with the oven and hot cookie sheets - and there was the repeating of a couple of steps because she wanted to do more. Then I got to break it to her that we used lots of math and science while cooking. She was introduced to mixed fractions. I'm still smiling. And overall it was a great experience. We cleaned as we went, followed the directions, learned a little bit, and didn't have a flour fight, which is probably a good thing, especially if you saw the size of my kitchen. Not quick, but painless and fun.