Teaching the Boys to Bake!

I recently finished the book Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting and I really enjoyed it and some of the lessons it offered (it also brought back good memories of our time in Brussels and especially of my French friend Séverine and her parenting style).  The book includes a very simple recipe for Gâteau au Yaourt (Yogurt Cake) that children in France make all by themselves!  I've cooked and baked with the boys numerous times, but I always make it clear at the outset that I am in charge and they are my helpers and only are to follow directions.  Little Max especially has always begged to crack the eggs (he says he wants to "hatch the eggs") and I've always said no.  But this recipe is easy, and parents are supposed to walk away and let them just figure it out themselves.  So I did.  And I was amazed at what happened.  

I stayed within earshot and heard Grayson reading the recipe, and kindly giving Max directions (I made it clear that he needed to let him help and that they each got to "hatch" an egg).  A few times Grayson came running to find me to ask a question, and most of the time by talking through his issue he figured out what to do. 

And voila!  In the end they made a very edible (no shells!) yummy yogurt cake.  I was proud of them, and realized that as a Type A Mom I need to relinquish some of the control sometimes so that they can learn and grow.  Afterward, they were in charge of cleaning up the whole kitchen, including putting dishes in the dishwasher and wiping off the table.


This activity was such a success, I simplified my quiche recipe and they made us dinner the following week.  A few eggs landed on the floor, but it was still a success.  Quiche is one of Grayson's most loved dishes, and I think he was shocked to see how easy it is to make and that he can do it himself.  My boys are learning how to cook!

Here is the Yogurt Cake recipe:

Gâteau au Yaourt

2 containers yogurt

2 eggs

1 container sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

a little less than 1 container oil

4 containers flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Have Mom preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently.

Pour it into the pan.

Have Mom put it in the oven and bake it for 35 minutes.

Fondue!

We love fondue, and on this Sunday almost piled our kids in the car and took them to the Melting Pot.  Instead, we pulled our fondue pot from the basement and dusted it off, headed to the store for a blend of swiss cheeses and other ingredients, and made our own.  It was every bit as good as the restaurant's, and the kids loved it (well, Max thought it tasted kind of funny but Grayson gobbled it up).  We'll be making it again soon!

Christmas cookies

My two little bakers.

Make that three.

For the next week my floors will feel sandy, no matter how many times I sweep.

But it was fun, and the boys enjoyed every minute.

And they sure are yummy!

Gingerbread houses

On our first day of Christmas break I drove (with all 3 kids) all the way to the Michael's across town to buy two gingerbread house kits for the boys.  They were so excited, and couldn't wait to start putting them together.  First we made the icing - - and the kids loved licking the beaters.

Even Ella got a spoonful of sugar.

Next it was time to build - that was my job.  We then had to let them harden overnight before we could decorate them.  The wait was excruciating.  The next morning the first thing Max said was not "good morning" or his usual "breakfast!" but "decorate gingerbread house!."

Max had so much fun!

Ella ate cheerios and watched.

 Not bad!

Later that day Grayson decorated his - complete with a Pokemon ring above his name.  Classic.

Baking Gingerbread Christmas Cookies

School is out and the weather outside is frightful, so we're keeping busy baking cookies. Grayson requested his favorite - gingerbread - so that's what we made first. They won't be the last batch of cookies I'm sure.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

A few years ago my friend Amy sent me a link to a blog written by a lady who grew up in a big city and then married a cowboy and moved to the middle of nowhere with him to raise cattle and their 4 kids. The Pioneer Woman chronicled ranch life, raising and homeschooling her children, taking really cool photographs of cows, horses, and kids, and cooking scrumptious heart-warming food. I was hooked, and kept reading and following her photography tips and cooking her food. Over the last three years her blog has grown from looking - well - somewhat like mine (homemade) to something very slick and fun. And she has thousands - maybe millions - of readers. She just published a cookbook, and is currently on a book tour. So I caught up with her in Atlanta. After waiting three hours it was my turn to have my book signed and all I could do was mumble something rather incoherent about loving her blog and blah blah blah.



She was sweet and nodded and said thanks. Bless her heart, she was on hour 6 of signing books so I know that I was just another fan in a sea of women who wish-we-could-be-like-her (though I'll stay in the city, thank you).

Her friend Hyacinth and her sister Betsy were also there. We had a nice little chat and they signed my book too. I love it when totally normal, nice people become quasi-celebrities.

Our Little Gingerbread Baker

For weeks and weeks and weeks Grayson has been begging to make Gingerbread Men cookies. I think he got the idea from one of his favorite books, Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf, which is a modern day tale about the Big Bad Wolf (B.B. Wolf) and features Gingerbread Men cookies which the Wolf does, ultimately, eat.

So on a rainy Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago we mixed up some cookies following The Joy of Cooking's reduced fat gingerbread cookie recipe and substituting some whole wheat flour for some of the white flour.

The dough was really easy to work with, so Grayson was able to do most of the rolling and cutting.

And of course the decorating. He put almost all of the raisens on himself.

Usually when I bake with Grayson he looses interest after a little while and I have to beg him to help me finish (or bribe him!).

Not this time. Baking these cookies was his idea, and he saw them through to the finish.

Which is actually not that surprising. This little boy is very independent. One of his first words was "self" as in I will do it myself, thank you very much, don't help me Mom!

I have fond memories of him yelling at me "NO - SELF - NO - SELF" when he could just barely say Mama.

So on this day he did the cookies all himself. And he loved every minute of it. Even watching them bake brought him joy.

And yum were they good.