Cooking and Baking

Cooking and baking are two ways my girls and I can spend some quality time together while capitalizing on learning opportunities as well.  We've been in a sort of cooking frenzy here the last few days and I've welcomed the chance to let Hannah and Leah help out.  

Yesterday we made a traditional banana pudding complete with Nilla wafers.  It was a simple recipe, which always works best with little ones.  I let the girls pour the milk and pudding mix into the pan, then I took on the task of stirring it while it was on the hot stove.  While I stirred, the girls lined the bottom of a dish with cookies and sliced up a few bananas (with plastic knives I might add).  The end result?

Two thumbs up from Hannah.

Leah liked the cookies more than anything else.

Our final product!

Carrying on with our baking theme, today we made Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies.  These were mighty tasty if I do say so.  I measured out the ingredients and the girls took turns pouring them into the bowl.  After the dough was mixed, I set up two stations where the girls rolled the dough into little balls, then dipped them in sugar.  The best part arrived after the cookies had been in the oven for 8 minutes.  We got to take them out and place a Hershey kiss in the middle of each one.  We made sure to make real kissing noises each time we put one in.  Two more minutes in the oven and we had a perfect afternoon snack:  warm cookies and cold glasses of milk.  Just right for a very chilly winter day.

The girls were such good helpers, and they really enjoyed themselves.  In fact, Leah has added becoming a baker to her list of what she wants to be when she grows up.  Her current list goes something like this:  a baker, a librarian, a medicine woman (a.k.a. pharmacist), a doctor, and a mom.  I'm okay with her achieving her goals.  Just as long as I receive a steady supply of cookies!