those northern skies: mini-chefs

C has always loved to cook and bake or at least she has said she does. For two years she has been bringing home cookbooks from school and pouring over them making plans.

I’ve done some baking with the girls but I’ve always made the mistake of trying to do it with both of them, which ended up in chaos with a frustrated Mom.

Fortunately, my parents have always baked with them when they are visiting so the girls have gotten the basics. In fact, I’ve been very impressed with my Dad’s patience and the time spent explaining the whys and wherefores with C.

I’ve let C make banana bread by herself a few times. I would walk into the kitchen have her read some instructions out loud for me. I would answer any questions she had and then walk out and let her complete that step then I would wander in again (I would fold clothes or something like that in the interim) and have her read the next step. As a result, I knew she could do it.

Although they have not done much of their own cooking or baking both the girls spend so much time watching me that they know exactly where everything is. Consequently, when she announced two weeks ago that she wanted to make crab cakes, I said sure. So last Thursday, she made crab cakes, cornbread, and frozen veggies. She did awesome and the food tasted great.

Last night she made Crispy Chicken and Garlic Roasted Potatoes (from the Penzey’s Catalog). The potatoes were fabulous and the chicken was tender with a sorta crispy coating.

K oves gingerbread and as many of you know the girls often make gingerbread cookies with my parents. This week, the theme for the reading and art studies in K’s Kindergarten class was gingerbread people. The made a gingerbread man and they read Jan Brett’s book Gingerbread Baby and other related activities.

At Christmas, I bought a pan for a ‘giant’ gingerbread cookie. Dad and Mom were tired of doing gingerbread so they made other food with the girls including Blueberry Muffins, Scones, Pecan Pie, and Homemade Noodles. Consequently, the pan has not been used.

Yesterday, I decided to make a giant gingerbread cookie for K’s class for their unit. I decided to use a gingerbread snack cake recipe from the latest Penzey’s Catalog. It was a little dry – because the pan was a different size than recommended – but still tasty.

This is K with her teacher Mrs. C.