The Bake With Your Child Challenge

I get a lot of Meme's and hell I even do some of them. I've done Oddmix's Weekly Words Challenge once, it was cool and I should do it more. But I want to throw out the gauntlet to everyone I know and all of you lurkers.
Bake something.
With your child/children.
Baking is great. Baking is something that you don't have to be able to cook to do. You see, I cannot cook worth a crap. But baby, I can BAKE. Baking is awesome, because unlike cooking - there is no intuition, there is no tasting and testing that is really involved (there is one exception and I'll get to it). Baking is a very specific set of instructions. Do step one, do step two. Etc. If you can follow instructions, you can bake. When you are done, you have a sweet treat to share, and how much fun is it to sit down with a treat with the person/persons you love most in this world?
I think that sometimes people are intimidated by baking because COOKING can be so complicated. Don't confuse the two. Like I said, I cannot cook. But my mom taught me to bake and if I can do it ANYONE can.

So here is the challenge. First of all, I challenge you to make PART of your item from scratch. Nothing is wrong with a cake mix, but for God's SAKE make your own icing. No break and bake cookies or cookies from a roll. Everything has to AT LEAST be mixed up by you. And seriously, buttercream icing is easy (my completely not scientific method - one stick of unsalted butter, one bag of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla, a splash of milk, put in some powdered sugar - about a fourth of the bag - then using a mixer and keep adding more until it just looks right. And tastes right. This is the only unspecific thing I do when I bake. And it is always delicious. Just have plenty of butter and probably an extra bag of powdered sugar around. And yes - I always make too much.)

The most important thing is to let you little person help. My oldest helps me pour in ingredients and stir, and then he is specifically in charge of putting on sprinkles in all sprinkle possible situations. If we are rolling something then he does the rolling. Sort of. But he is completely IN to it. And the joy is worth the mess.

I think that this will cause chaos and fun in your kitchen. But I am anxious to see how many of you will take up the challenge to create something with your kids in the kitchen.

Here is our creation. It is a devil's food cake (from a mix) with buttercream icing. Covered in, pink and purple sugar sprinkles. And nonpariels. And these little sugar flower decorations.

I didn't say it had to be good.

The gauntlet has been cast down. Let's see what you guys can do!

The Bake With Your Child Challenge

I get a lot of Meme's and hell I even do some of them. I've done Oddmix's Weekly Words Challenge once, it was cool and I should do it more. But I want to throw out the gauntlet to everyone I know and all of you lurkers.
Bake something.
With your child/children.
Baking is great. Baking is something that you don't have to be able to cook to do. You see, I cannot cook worth a crap. But baby, I can BAKE. Baking is awesome, because unlike cooking - there is no intuition, there is no tasting and testing that is really involved (there is one exception and I'll get to it). Baking is a very specific set of instructions. Do step one, do step two. Etc. If you can follow instructions, you can bake. When you are done, you have a sweet treat to share, and how much fun is it to sit down with a treat with the person/persons you love most in this world?
I think that sometimes people are intimidated by baking because COOKING can be so complicated. Don't confuse the two. Like I said, I cannot cook. But my mom taught me to bake and if I can do it ANYONE can.

So here is the challenge. First of all, I challenge you to make PART of your item from scratch. Nothing is wrong with a cake mix, but for God's SAKE make your own icing. No break and bake cookies or cookies from a roll. Everything has to AT LEAST be mixed up by you. And seriously, buttercream icing is easy (my completely not scientific method - one stick of unsalted butter, one bag of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla, a splash of milk, put in some powdered sugar - about a fourth of the bag - then using a mixer and keep adding more until it just looks right. And tastes right. This is the only unspecific thing I do when I bake. And it is always delicious. Just have plenty of butter and probably an extra bag of powdered sugar around. And yes - I always make too much.)

The most important thing is to let you little person help. My oldest helps me pour in ingredients and stir, and then he is specifically in charge of putting on sprinkles in all sprinkle possible situations. If we are rolling something then he does the rolling. Sort of. But he is completely IN to it. And the joy is worth the mess.

I think that this will cause chaos and fun in your kitchen. But I am anxious to see how many of you will take up the challenge to create something with your kids in the kitchen.

Here is our creation. It is a devil's food cake (from a mix) with buttercream icing. Covered in, pink and purple sugar sprinkles. And nonpariels. And these little sugar flower decorations.

I didn't say it had to be good.

The gauntlet has been cast down. Let's see what you guys can do!

A Change of Perspective

When we were in our early 20s, my friends and I used to howl at stories of people's parents who had witnessed or DONE disgusting body function things to one another. The story of your mom's tampon getting stuck and your dad going to help her get it out.......you get the picture. Horrifying, hilarious, such intimacy. We knew we would never engage in such revolting body things - and certainly not in front of other people. My boss once told me, back then, that she'd had such a bad migraine that her husband had had to put her suppositories in.........which we retold over beers - HOWLING! Old married people, you disgusted us! It was very nice and comforting to know that we would never be icky, "body function doing in front of other people", sort of individuals. Surely this ailment was generational......right?

This was before we had our own long term relationships, or given birth where against your will you poop in front a of a bunch of people.......so these sort of things seemed so alien. But I was reminded of how far away I am from that person last night.

You see, my oldest son just discovered that he is male and cannot poop in public. Previously he could poop in public, with the help his little take along toilet seat insert, we could manage just fine. But yesterday, after not pooping for two days, he realized he had to go. Then, when we got to the stall at Epcot ladies room......he discovered his inner MAN. And couldn't go. We had multiple attempts. He truly HAD to go. But after the tears and so much drama that I won't even go INTO it here......he begged us to let him wait until we got home.

We drove home convinced he would poop his pants and we weren't going to punish him....after all, it's hard to be three and he's a very good little guy. He was very upset about the whole thing.

As soon as we got home we rushed him to the bathroom and after a couple of minutes I popped in to check on our progress. He looks up wide, teary eyes and whispers "It's stuck Mom, help."

You know what happens when you don't poop for a few days? Your body make a large rock like product.

And to show you how different a person I am from the person who once cracked up over beers at stories of bodily functions, I'll tell you I didn't even think twice. I grabbed some toilet paper, grabbed the offending object and pulled.

Some day when he's being 16 and giving me attitude, I'll threaten to tell the story of the time I pulled the poop out of his butt. That should straighten him right up.

A Change of Perspective

When we were in our early 20s, my friends and I used to howl at stories of people's parents who had witnessed or DONE disgusting body function things to one another. The story of your mom's tampon getting stuck and your dad going to help her get it out.......you get the picture. Horrifying, hilarious, such intimacy. We knew we would never engage in such revolting body things - and certainly not in front of other people. My boss once told me, back then, that she'd had such a bad migraine that her husband had had to put her suppositories in.........which we retold over beers - HOWLING! Old married people, you disgusted us! It was very nice and comforting to know that we would never be icky, "body function doing in front of other people", sort of individuals. Surely this ailment was generational......right?

This was before we had our own long term relationships, or given birth where against your will you poop in front a of a bunch of people.......so these sort of things seemed so alien. But I was reminded of how far away I am from that person last night.

You see, my oldest son just discovered that he is male and cannot poop in public. Previously he could poop in public, with the help his little take along toilet seat insert, we could manage just fine. But yesterday, after not pooping for two days, he realized he had to go. Then, when we got to the stall at Epcot ladies room......he discovered his inner MAN. And couldn't go. We had multiple attempts. He truly HAD to go. But after the tears and so much drama that I won't even go INTO it here......he begged us to let him wait until we got home.

We drove home convinced he would poop his pants and we weren't going to punish him....after all, it's hard to be three and he's a very good little guy. He was very upset about the whole thing.

As soon as we got home we rushed him to the bathroom and after a couple of minutes I popped in to check on our progress. He looks up wide, teary eyes and whispers "It's stuck Mom, help."

You know what happens when you don't poop for a few days? Your body make a large rock like product.

And to show you how different a person I am from the person who once cracked up over beers at stories of bodily functions, I'll tell you I didn't even think twice. I grabbed some toilet paper, grabbed the offending object and pulled.

Some day when he's being 16 and giving me attitude, I'll threaten to tell the story of the time I pulled the poop out of his butt. That should straighten him right up.

Saturday Night Frolic

Okay so while in the hurried frenzy of baking a cake for Kurt's birthday at work (he requested carrot cake apparently just to be a pain in the ass. Note to all co-workers, if I offer to make your birthday cake -the choices are white, yellow, chocolate) the hubby says to me "you know you bake for everyone except us."
Oh crap.
He's right.
I've turned into my grandmother. Pies, angel food cake, Watergate salad, persimmon pudding, choclate cake, buckeyes, for the Martha Circle at church, for the Walnut Street club, for the Women's republican club, for the Past Matrons and Patrons of the Eastern Star, for the various homes of the recently dead........for everyone.
Except us.

I am not my grandmother.
Here is my first step in the road to making sure that the majority and the BEST of my baking efforts are for my family, who deserve them more than anyone else in the world. Little Sacthmo and I made what are probably the best SIMPLE chocolate chip cookies I have ever made, nothing much in them except the dough and the chocolate chips. They are wonderful, and as always, I had the best assistant chef ever.

Saturday Night Frolic

Okay so while in the hurried frenzy of baking a cake for Kurt's birthday at work (he requested carrot cake apparently just to be a pain in the ass. Note to all co-workers, if I offer to make your birthday cake -the choices are white, yellow, chocolate) the hubby says to me "you know you bake for everyone except us."
Oh crap.
He's right.
I've turned into my grandmother. Pies, angel food cake, Watergate salad, persimmon pudding, choclate cake, buckeyes, for the Martha Circle at church, for the Walnut Street club, for the Women's republican club, for the Past Matrons and Patrons of the Eastern Star, for the various homes of the recently dead........for everyone.
Except us.

I am not my grandmother.
Here is my first step in the road to making sure that the majority and the BEST of my baking efforts are for my family, who deserve them more than anyone else in the world. Little Sacthmo and I made what are probably the best SIMPLE chocolate chip cookies I have ever made, nothing much in them except the dough and the chocolate chips. They are wonderful, and as always, I had the best assistant chef ever.

There is an "O" In the Word Peony

This is from Indy, a friend there sent it to me. Apparently it took about 45 minutes before someone actually pulled over, went inside, and helped them out with their spelling.
Good Times.

There is an "O" In the Word Peony

This is from Indy, a friend there sent it to me. Apparently it took about 45 minutes before someone actually pulled over, went inside, and helped them out with their spelling.
Good Times.

BEST SEARCH TO END UP HERE IN A WHILE.......

 

"CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT A WANG"

 

Why yes, yes you can.  Anything else I can help with, please let me know.

 

 

 

BEST SEARCH TO END UP HERE IN A WHILE.......

 

"CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT A WANG"

 

Why yes, yes you can.  Anything else I can help with, please let me know.