baking with kids

ready, set, bake

Baking is wonderful and something I love to do.  Even more fun is to bake with kids.  They're so excited and fascinated by the process.  Learning their way around the ingredients, how to measure, the wet and dry combining process; it's a fun edible science and math experiment in the kitchen.

This is one of my baking buddies, Miss A.  She came over the other day with her brother, Mr. C.   I had promised them that the next time they came over we would make cookies so that was our plan.

As it turns out Mr. C's idea of making cookies was to allow his sister and I to do all the baking while he played the part of Official Cookie Tester.  And, might I add, he was rather impatient for those cookies to be done.

Miss A and I got down to business, put on our aprons and got out my "Famous Chocolate Chip Oaties" recipe.  Mr. C. wanted to know why they were famous, had they been on t.v.?  Did someone famous invent them?  I told him that it was a recipe I had created and I simply call them Famous because everyone who eats them really likes them and wants more.  Needless to say he was less than impressed and informed me that unless they've been on t.v. they can't be famous.  Maybe I should send a box to Ellen?

One of the things I love about baking with kids is how curious they are.  Miss A wanted to taste everything.  Of course we decided that the chocolate chips were pretty tasty.  Surprisingly she liked the oatmeal, even raw, and requested a large spoonful of her own to nibble on.  We had two kinds of sugar and she tasted both of them.  Then we got to the baking soda.  Miss A asked if she could taste it.  I was a little surprised and said, "I'm not sure you want to do that."
"Why?" she asked.
"Well," I replied "it's a little bitter tasting and I'm not sure you're going to like it."
"But I want to taste everything." she said.
So I let her taste it.
Her face scrunched up a little and she said, "It's not really bitter but I don't like it."
"Want some chocolate chips to wash that down?" I asked.
Of course the answer was yes.

We wound up making two batches of cookies the regular variety and the peanut butter variety.  The recipe is below and we're sure you're going to enjoy it, just like we did.

Famous Chocolate Chip Oaties

1/2 C butter
1 C evaporated cane juice crystals
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla
1 C + 2 T white whole wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 C chocolate chips
1 C rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375
Blend together butter and sugar until creamy
Add egg and blend well
Add vanilla and blend well
Mix together flour, salt and baking soda and sift into butter mixture
Blend in chocolate chips
Blend in oats

Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet
Bake 10 minutes
Let sit on baking sheet 2 minutes
Move to rack to finish cooling

For the Peanut Butter variety:
Substitute sucanat for the evaporated cane juice crystals
Add 1/2 C chunky peanut butter

musings on left-overs

Today's blog entry is a guest post written by my Aunt Carol (and yes that's capitolized because I think she's "just capital"). She'd sent these musings to me as an email but I loved it so much I wanted to share her thoughts with all of you. With her permission here they are:

Your article on sequential eating is an affirmation of the way that I've been cooking all my adult life.

When our children were small I used to save the empty aluminum trays from tv dinners, putting left over entree portions in the main compartments, add some frozen vegetables, half a baked potato, left over pie filling in the dessert compartment, etc. I would serially fill the various compartments when I'd have the appropriate left overs. Then cover each tray with aluminum foil – I did not mark what was inside, who had the time for nice details like that? :-) When Yosef and I went out to dinner, our kids had the treat of choosing a "mystery tray" – a wholesome form of gambling (but pretty safe because they were meals that they already liked anyway) and each one would be getting something different. The baby sitter would heat them up and our kids had exciting meals, telling us the next morning what each one had had (I never heard about trades, though that might have been possible).

I imagine that like you, most of your readers, still having one or more children living at home, prepare meals for families. As an older widow with occasional guests, I often freeze part of the cooked ingredients for a recipe before assembling let's say half of the total recipe, I also freeze individual portions of stews or soups, or what will in future be pot pies or Shephard's pies, so that they'll be ready for the crust or mashed potato topping when I am making those things for other meals.

The dishes that I do not like to freeze and defrost later are quiches (they get soggy and the vegetables get too soft when frozen, defrosted then reheated). I make mine crustless, just rubbing a bit of butter around the bottom of the round flat pan, to grease it, sprinkling on a layer of bread or toast crumbs before adding the sauteed vegetables, grated cheese, and then the custard. I try to plan to first serve this entree when I have guests coming over. However since this is an easy and favorite dish with me, I sometimes grate different kinds of cheese (another good use for left overs) on different portions. I usually cut my quiche into wedges, and may decide that half will be cheddar, and half Swiss, etc. I change the side dishes during the subsequent days--baked potato, reheated grain with spices, or different salads. This makes for a tasty variety and and easy way to use up left overs.

What is even more delightful is that I have a friend to whom I often give a portion or two of something tasty that I have prepared; she does the same with me. This way we both have more variety in our meals. What I give to her often becomes a treat for lunch at home, before she leaves to teach at the university; what she gives to me becomes a delicious, surprise dinner. As you can anticipate--we also share many recipes, enjoying one an other's tastes in food and both being whole grain, organic food enthusiasts. Many people think of inviting friends over for a meal, but sharing dishes to be eaten at home is also a generous, friendly gesture and fits well into the full life of commitments that many of us choose these days. It does not replace sharing sit down meals with guests, it's rather a personal catering with love, service.

I want to explain that it's not a one-on-one direct exchange--I give her A so she gives me B. Rather when, for example I baked muffins (and I'd been explaining to her son the difference between cupcakes which are a new treat to most Israelis – a few enterprising women have even opened successful delivery of home baked cupcakes for special events services- and muffins), I saved and froze a few of my last batch of corn muffins that contain niblets. Then when I baked oat-berry muffins with raisins and maple syrup, I packaged up a few of each, along with a baked apple and some chestnuts and gave them to her when we next met.

A few days later when we again met she brought me a wedge of a delicious cake she'd baked that contained chunks of apple and some grapes in the batter and gave me a jar of her home made granola - which I plan to sprinkle on a sliced banana, top with yoghurt then enjoy for breakfast.

Savoring the cake with a cup of tea, enjoying this breakfast gift, these are, to me, like little hugs.

photo courtesy of Manuel Flury | Wikimedia Commons