Baked

For her birthday LP got a "Girl Gourmet: Cake Bakery" set. Promoted by Duff of Ace of Cakes it is a baking set for children 4 and up that involves fondant and fancy cake decorating tools. Almost on a daily basis since her birthday LP has been asking...begging...imploring to make a cake. Never mind that I tried to convince her to bake a real cake with me using the fruit we harvested this weekend - she wanted to use her fancy new kit.

Yesterday I relented and got everything ready while LP and AK were at day care. I put batteries in the stand (which we ended up not needing because that would have required patience and a steady hand), bought a new can of non-stick spray and laid out all of the key components.

After washing their hands the girls got to work.

• Step 1: Mix cake mix with water measured in the "big end" of the spoon. Try to get as much batter in the bowl as possible and try not to lick the spoon 15 times - there is not a lot of mix.
• Step 2: Pour/push batter into mold. Don't be discouraged that the batter barely fills the mold, it will rise.
• Step 3: Put the covered mold in the microwave and clean up the extra water or powdered mix any helpers may have inadvertently spilled on the floor while you wait.
• Step 4: Read the instructions carefully and mix fondant powder with water measured from the "small end" of the spoon. If you use the big end of the spoon by mistake plan on adding lots and lots of confectioners sugar until it starts to look more like fondant. Then add another spoonful.
• Step 5: Roll out fondant. I am guessing this works if your sous chefs are not 4 and 2 and if you actually used the right amount of water.
• Step 6: Get the fondant on the cake. Due to mistake during step number 4, you may just end up putting the fondant on the cake like frosting.
• Step 7: Decorate and eat.

• Step 8: Accept that the cake was even smaller than a cupcake. Go out and pick the first ripe berries from your raspberry bush instead.

• Step 9: HIDE THE GIRL GOURMET SET.

SUGAR!!!

A few weeks ago the girls and I were at Stew's and they had colored sugar on sale post-Easter. It was orange and yellow and super pretty. I couldn't resist and bought a couple to save for cookie or cupcake decoration.

LP is the girl who never forgets. Last Friday before leaving for day care she reminded me about the sugar and asked if we could make cookies to decorate when she got home. That was the plan, until I got a call that she hadn't behaved and had attempted to kick one of her teachers. Sigh. Very out of character for her, but nevertheless, a punishable offense, so no cookie making fun.

Yesterday she again requested that we bake after I picked her up. I then spent part of my nice, quiet day alone making and rolling cookie dough. I even cut out two trays of cookies so that all the girls would have to do was decorate and we could pop them in the oven.

As it turned out, we brought some friends home from school to help us decorate the cookies. It was very nice to have some extra helping hands (thanks D and J!), especially since AK decorated a single cookie and then proceeded to eat an entire mini cup of sugar (only about 1 teaspoon's worth, but still...).

Once the cookies were cool we added some gel icing as the finishing touch; Shockingly, AK proceeded to mainline the BRIGHT PINK tube into her mouth. The younger kids (LP and her buddy "Bubub") tried to use as much icing as possible on each cookie, and the lone big kid created beautiful pieces of edible art. They all created quite the mess.

By then it was 5:30. So we decided to order dinner (and make penne for the kiddos). It was nice to have guests on a weeknight, sort of made the week seem like it would a day shorter. Except, of course, with the kids being pumped up on sugar and friend-adrenaline, it did make the night time routine a bit longer. What with LP crying that she wanted to have a sleepover and all.

Of course, after the whole rigmarole, the Hoos decided that he doesn't like sugar cookies all that much. Good thing we make them more for the experience than as a dessert (although they are pretty darn good if you ask me).

Death By Carbs

I love bread. In fact, I took on a new project of trying to make bread from scratch. I was inspired by a recipe, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. It seemed simple enough.

But apparently I spoke too soon when I set my Facebook status earlier this week to "making bread. A first...I have never heard of homemade bread hurting anyone, yet."

On Monday, I mixed the flour, water, salt and yeast, let it rise, and then put it in the fridge to chill. I also took AK to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought pizza stone, the one piece of required equipment that I did not yet own.

That evening I arranged the racks in my oven appropriately, carefully placing the stone and required pan for water in it. I also got other items ready on my counter so that I would be ready to go yesterday when I got home from work.

My plan was to get the dough relaxing on the counter and set the oven preheating while I fed the girls. Once they were done I could just pop my dough in the oven and the house would be filled with the wonderful scent of fresh baked bread in no time. The Hoos would be wowed by my homemaking skills and I would be in bread nirvana.

I should have known.

The girls were out of sorts when I picked them up. AK was starving since they had started her on a new schedule giving her snack at 2:15 instead of 3:15; she was also exhausted since I forgot to send in a pacifier and she only took one nap and had been awake since 11:45. LP also did not nap and ran out of her classroom door with a few other kids when another mom was frozen in place holding the door open.

When we got into the house I quickly removed the bread dough from the fridge and placed it on the counter to relax. I then set about calming LP and AK, mostly by giving them a slightly early dinner (it was 5:30 and they usually eat at 6).

Once they were set up, I got the oven preheating to 450 and shaped my dough. At 6:15, I decided it was time to get the dough in the oven. After spilling cornmeal all over the floor (it kept the dough from sticking to my cutting board, but nothing kept the cornmeal on the board), I finally got the dough on the stone. It looked beautiful.

I then got hot water out of the tap and prepared to pour it into the pan in the oven. Apparently this provides steam which makes your bread nice and crusty.

As soon as the water hit the pan, I knew I had a problem. My problem - I forgot about the properties of GLASS. A Pyrex pan, heated to 450 degrees, does not take kindly to having hot water poured in it. It immediately cracked into a million pieces in my oven.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning glass out of the oven. And cleaning corn meal off of the floor without the use of a vacuum (I tried, but it wasn't very helpful in keeping my girls calm). No one was hurt. But no one got any homemade bread either.

We still have a loaf worth of bread dough in my fridge. I think I will wait to try again until the weekend.

Mish Mosh

Various thoughts and moments from the last few days:

• Nursing Dee the other morning, I was propped up in bed with my pillow against the wall behind me. LP, the little mimic, climbs up next to me with her baby, puts the Hoos' pillow behind her, lifts her shirt and feeds her dolly.
• Do you think he does it on purpose? After being awakened by Dee, as my feet hit the floor next to our bed to go check on her, the Hoos asks, "Do you want me to go get her?" Little late buddy.
• Last night LP had a meal that was almost entirely protein! Hard-boiled egg white, chicken and steak! Sure it was drowned in ketchup (the protein starts out as a vehicle for getting the sweet red stuff to her mouth), but still! This is HUGE.
• Dee and I went to a farmer's market today. One of my purchases was zucchini. I grated one up and mixed it in as I made meatballs earlier. I swear they are the best meatballs I have ever made - very moist and sweet! I baked them and will heat them up for dinner in a pan of sauce and serve them on fresh bread I also got at the market.

Finally, over the last few months I have been baking at least once a week. This week Leonard's had blueberries 4 pints for $5. I couldn't resist. I made the Hoos' favorite blueberry cake, a recipe from my mother-in-law. I highly recommend it and it was very easy:

Elaine's Fruit Torte

• Cream 1 c. sugar and 1/2 c. butter or margarine together.
• Add 1c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, dash of salt, & 2 eggs.
• Place in 9" spring form pan.
• Cover entire surface with one of the following or a combination of 1 pint blueberries, 24 halves pitted Italian plums (skin side up), sliced apples, sliced peaches. (In winter frozen or canned blueberries or peaches may be substituted. If using canned fruit, drain and wash off syrup well.)
• Sprinkle top with sugar, a little lemon juice, flour (if fruit is very juicy), and cinnamon (use a heavy hand).
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or till toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Drats! Foiled Again

Last night I was checking my email (I am a bit obsessive compulsive about it) and I had an email from a friend with a job opening at her company. Being eternally curious, I figured I might as well check it out.

Of course, it sounds like the perfect job for me. I kid you not, it combines my past experience, my current work and a whole bunch of my interests and it is about five miles from my house. Can you say frustrating?! Frustrating because I am quite pregnant (28 weeks and counting!) and intending on taking the summer off for maternity leave. Not exactly an employer's dream prospect.

If this job had come around a year ago, or even maybe 5 months ago when I wasn't so obviously pregnant, I would have been all over it like LP on sprinkles. Karma, fate, the winds, I am not so sure they are blowing my way. Or maybe they are...I went to the doctor yesterday and little Bun sounds strong and healthy and I survived the gestational diabetes glucose test without gagging or getting the shakes. I would definitely rather have all of the good energy on my side when it comes to my pregnancy and my kids than my professional development.

As an aside, why is it that little kids love sprinkles? They take more effort to eat than they are worth, they stick to your teeth and they don't even really taste. It must be the pretty colors. This comes up because yesterday LP helped me to decorate a batch of sugar cookies. If you mention "baking" to her, she immediately runs to the drawers in our kitchen, digs out her apron, throws mine at me, and drags a chair over to the counter so she can get to work. It makes me feel really good that she loves to cook as much as I do. Even though this means I am baking about twice a week when I used to do it only twice a year.

Baking Cookies

LP and I just finished baking a big old batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thanks to her help I have a feeling this will be the best baking ever. Note her adorable apron.

Posted with apologies to my friend Kiki, whose daughter hates sweets. Poor thing, we will save you some cookies.

Tis the Season

I really can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are now on to that dreaded period leading up to Christmas. For me, the next month or so means no desire to go shopping (because only crazy people go to the store this time of year, IMHO) but lots of gifts to give. I have squared away gifts for most of the family, but I have to worry about the folks from work and LP's day care teachers.

I didn't realize people at work gave gifts until my first holiday season here when I received several items and felt really guilty for not having something to exchange. After struggling to find gifts the following two years, I launched my genius idea to just give everyone homemade baked goods. My cranberry-walnut biscotti is typically a big hit. This year I am just not sure I have the energy to bake. I did whip up a batch this past weekend with LP helping, but I think it is a little bit too far from the actual holidays to count as a holiday gift. I am still thinking on what to do here.

As for the teachers, I have taken the bold step of offering to coordinate a group gift for LP's classroom. Another mom took this on last year, and I am figuring I should be up to the challenge - how hard can it be to pick up some Target gift cards anyway? And hopefully it is far enough in advance that I will actually have most of the cash in hand from the other parents before having to purchase the cards.

To be honest, I have never been particularly good at gift-buying. When the Hoos and I go on vacation we are the kind of people that don't bring back souvenirs, instead spending our money on food while there. We then typically end up looking for last minute gifts on the way to the airport or, on occasionally in the duty free shop. On our "honeymoon" to Canada the only thing we bought was a bottle of windshield wiper spray to fight the snow.

Gifts, schmifts, isn't a little love from me enough, folks?

Red Meat Monday

I don't eat red meat. I haven't eaten it since I was about 14. Nothing religious or noble, I just don't like it anymore. Unfortunately for the Hoos, he does eat red meat. But obviously not often, since I do the cooking just about every night. What he does it is a lot of ground turkey and chicken (and fish once a week). You name it, I can make it with one of those proteins: turkey meatloaf, turkey meatballs, turkey tacos, chicken piccata, chicken fajitas, chicken stir fry, chicken pad thai....

Because I have class on Monday nights and the Hoos and I aren't going to eat dinner together, I have started buying him steaks (and one night I left an "oven beef stew" in the oven for him following his mother's recipe). Amazingly, LP LOVES steak. She ends up eating more of the Hoos' steak than he does. Poor guy eats the grizzle to keep his little girl happy. And in case "Red Meat Monday" doesn't sound manly enough, his side dish is also a microwave baked potato (and occasionally a sweet potato).

At this point, I think the Hoos wouldn't mind not eating red meat on a Monday. BUT now that he knows LP is a fan, he wouldn't think of denying her. What a good daddy. Now I just have to come up with more options for boneless, skinless chicken breasts and ground turkey.

UPDATE
Last night when I got home from class, the Hoos put the kibosh on Red Meat Mondays. "Maybe once a month..." Looks like "my plan" worked and he will be more accepting of the lack of meat in our diets:)...

Me and My Shadow

Lately LP has become very clingy. She throws herself at my legs if she wants me to pick her up and once I pick her up she refuses to go back down. I try to place her down and she pulls her little legs up as far as they will go and wraps them around me like a little koala bear.

Yesterday I was trying to make meat sauce to accompany our spaghetti dinner. LP battered my legs insistently and when I finally picked her up she was determined not to be put back down. In fact, she wanted to help. So, I gave her a wooden spoon and put her to work. After a short time the meat was browned and safe for consumption. So, as we stirred the sauce together, LP would periodically remove her spoon and lick the tomato sauce off of it. She then ventured on to picking up small pieces of ground turkey, and after a quick check that they weren't too hot, slurping them off the spoon. I think she ate more protein last night then she ate in the last three days combined. My right arm is sore from holding my 22 pound dumpling on my hip, my kitchen floor is spattered with sauce, but the sauce was better than ever.

To top it all off, last night I had to run over to the grocery store after dinner. LP got so upset when I went to leave that she tried to steal my pocketbook and hide my keys. The Hoos has to pick her up and take her out of the room so I could sneak out. When I returned, I swear she said, "Yay!" as she ran into the kitchen to greet me. I definitely don't want to encourage her to be dependent on me, but I have to admit, every once in a while it feels really good.

Now We're Cooking

Tomorrow, the Hoos, LP and I are going to my Aunt and Uncle's for break fast. This is the meal that traditionally follows the 24 hour fasting of Yom Kippur. It is more like brunch at night.

In honor of this gathering, LP and I baked cookies this morning. LP was in charge of cleaning off the paddle (the mixing attachment to my standing mixer) and she very successfully removed any remnants of cookie dough - although a lot of it ended up on her clothing. Suffice it to say, when I took the paddle away, she was none too pleased with me.

I then scooped her up and carried her over to the sink to clean her up. While hosing her off, we also filled the mixing bowl with warm soapy water to let it soak. This became LP's favorite part of cookie making. She came up with multiple ways to have fun with the resultant bubbles. She would lather them on me or herself, strain them through a mini-strainer, pick them up with a mixing spoon....

She then noticed the real bubbles on the counter and insisted on introducing them to the mix. Not being a total glutton for punishment, I took the bubbles and LP outside. For the first minute of bubble merriment I was too busy making bubbles to notice the beautiful large rabbit in the back of our yard. LP noticed right away and began pointing and babbling. She then made her "rabbit face" (you would think this would be wrinkling your nose, but LP is still learning so instead she squints her eyes and the result is more akin to Clint Eastwood than a rabbit) and crawled into my lap and we both sat on the grass and watched the bunny until he hopped away.

What a great morning.

If I Do Say So Myself

I am very proud of myself. Dinner has become a struggle with LP, but tonight I managed to work a miracle.

First, she refused to eat the Gerber Graduates Chicken and Carrot ravioli. I don't know if it is the texture or what, but as soon as one of them touches her tongue she scrunches up her little face, pushes it out and pushes the entire container of them away.

Next, I tried to give her a Chik'n Patty for protein. Yes, it is tofu, but they taste good and are healthy than frozen process chicken patties. When she turned her nose up at the patty, I was momentarily stuck without a clue. She had meatballs last night and I really like for her to get something relatively nutritious for dinner...

I decided to boil some water and make her some pasta. At least the sauce has vegetables.

Then, inspiration struck: homemade mac and cheese. I vaguely remember the instructions from Alton Brown on Good Eats and I start melting a tablespoon or so of butter and add in the equivalent amount of flour. When I think the roux is good to go, I add in some milk and stir. It looked a little thin, but I decided to be patient before pouring the mess down the sink, and it works because it starts to thicken! Finally, I mix in the only cheese I have in the house - American cheese. I think maybe Alton Brown said that it was good to use because it melts nicely (she says hopefully). Surprisingly it turned out pretty well.

In the meantime LP ate the Chik'N; when I asked her to taste the macaroni she seemed to enjoy it and actually "asked" for seconds and thirds! This might be my most successful dinner in weeks!