From Fiddler on the Roof.... can you hear it? Tradition! Now that we are home more often, there's more opportunity to reach back in time to see what our ancestors might have cooked or done on the weekends.
In the first image, it's clear that I'm reaching back far before most of my NY relatives, maybe even back to the old country, because luckily for my American ancestors, NY challah is a given. Challah in our town? Our state? It's sweet enough to be dessert. Yuck.
early April
mid-April
mid-April
early May - clearly quarantine has improved my baking skills
early May
And the new observance we tried one evening:
The kids are clear about one thing: the challah can stay.
There was a cooking hobby at camp this summer, which amazed me, quite frankly. With all of the allergies and dietary requirements out there these days, you'd think it was easier to take kids into the woods with the threat of ticks than it is to take them into a kitchen with knives, nuts and gluten. Those ticks must be really nasty because every camp we've visited has either a "cooking" or "culinary" hobby available to the kids. So different than when I went to camp...
Each week I would receive a list of ingredients from the cooking specialist as one last double-check to ensure there were no allergy issues. For this particular week, there was nothing suspicious, but I also couldn't figure out what they were going to cook.
When the kids are little, I try to engage them in the kitchen. That's what all of the experts say to do. But all of the kid-friendly recipes ask the adult to crack the eggs. This didn't fly with our little guy:
It's the warm smells of baked goods which cheer up rainy days. Today my chef-in-training learned how to crack an egg, and I learned how to use the pause button while recording so that you, my dear reader/watcher, can be spared from long clips of monotony while waiting for something to happen.
What we might call a win/win all around.
And in typical fashion, Adam was available when there were mixers to lick.
Somehow, both of them magically disappeared when it was time to clean up!
As a treat, the A-team went for ice cream one afternoon during their vacation week. By the time they got home, it was almost dinner time. Who's really hungry for dinner? No one. Who thinks everyone should eat dinner anyway? MLM. What's a mom to do? Crazy faces!
Adam's plate
Ashley's plate
Adam's proud macaroni addition
Bonus points to those who can identify all of the ingredients used!
One by one, Ashley is learning how to use new tools in the kitchen. Today's lesson: vegetable peeling. With great determination, Ashley showed those golden beets a thing or two.
MLM had a few busy baking days. First up was the celebration at camp. This didn't require any baking, but it did require assembly in an un-airconditioned kitchen. One layer was ice cream and one layer was Cool Whip, so I sweated out the preparation hoping nothing would melt too quickly. After this sweaty kitchen experience and seeing how well the Cool Whip held up, I'm no longer surprised at the urban legends which claim it's only one chemical away from turning into styrofoam. But it is kosher and gluten-free enough to be used with this group.
Parfait: marble pound cake (or macaroon for the gluten-free guests), ice cream, strawberries, cool whip, strawberry garnish topped with an Elsa/Lightning flag crafted by MLM one late evening.
Turning my attention to the homefront, I returned home to whip up the second culinary treat of the day, this time with fewer chemical additives. Not only was it A+A's bday, but Karly was coming to join us! And yes, there were a lot of strawberries. Our kids seem to like them in their cakes.
Thanks Betty Crocker Bake-N-Fill! Vanilla cake, chocolate pudding filling, topped with fresh sweet cream and (more) strawberries.
I am so proud of these two. They asked to help unload the dishwasher the other day. Together they dutifully marched off to get their stools, set them up and patiently waited for me to carry over the silverware. I hope this continues for many years!
Bet you did a double-take when you saw the title of today's post, right? Well, it's true. MLM purchased a fun, but completely unnecessary, kitchen toy. The citizens think it's fantastic!
Yesterday's post was a cliffhanger, right? Did they like the quesadillas? Will they want to eat them again? Will Mommy have to make an alternate dinner on the spot? Roll the tape:
In today's homeschooling lesson we covered foreign cuisine: quesadillas. (OK, so I had some leftover chicken that needed creative reworking.) Adam and Ashley rose to the occasion and were fantastic chefs-in-training.
Muchas gracias Karla! Thank you for recording the whole process.
