Donut Maker

For Christmas we got Holly a donut maker. She really enjoys being in the kitchen and we'd like to encourage even more experiences in cooking. With her donut maker she got some kitchen tools as well. The other night we finally got some quiet time to break it in. The donuts are pretty quick and easy to make, offering nice results to a six year old.

We decided on cinnamon sugar donuts and they were AMAZING! Fresh, hot and melt in your mouth goodness.

Holly thinks her donut maker is so cool and is really looking forward to making more soon!

Gingerbread Play Dough

Today Holly made some wonderful smelling play dough, gingerbread play dough -- Yummy! The recipe was super easy to follow, very quick and just about the best smelling play dough we have ever made. She loves to do stuff in the kitchen, but even we can't eat to many baked goods. So, play dough fit the bill perfectly - a great winter treat to have some fun with. We broke out the gingerbread cookie cutters that Grandma Annette gave Holly last year - a fun way to use those too.

Gingerbread Play Dough

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 cup water

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp all spice

1 tsp ginger

Mix well. On medium heat stir for about 3-5 minutes until the shine changes a bit and balls up. Let warm for a few moments on the counter then play to your hearts content! Store in a Ziploc bag.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last night Holly & I spent some time together making chocolate chip cookies. Holly adores cooking and we do try to spend time each week together in the kitchen cooking or at least helping with food preparations. So, tonight was cookies - she had fun! The cookies turned out really good too... making for a perfect evening!

Shamrock Cookies

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day we have been busy reading stories, listening to music, decorating a bit, making art projects and shamrock cookies! Holly had a lot of fun rolling out her dough, using the cookie cutters and adding the green sprinkles with a gentle touch. It made for a really nice evening. They will be perfect for today and our St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight with company over!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Cookies With Uncle Don

This summer the boys purchased dutch ovens and have since been working on perfecting some recipes. Uncle Don has become know for his pineapple upside down cake, which Holly enjoys. The other day Holly was playing in her kitchen with 'Uncle Don' making pineapple upside down cake... all pretend. I shared this with Auntie Sue knowing she would appreciate that and Uncle Don heard all about it. Uncle Don then came up with the idea to come down and bake cookies with Holly... coking together for real.

Last night was the night they had planned. Uncle Don came down and they made cut out cookies with shortbread and icing. Kristina and Sarah also made them with her too! The cookies turned out great, Holly had a very hands on fun cooking time and Uncle Don had a good time, I think! :)

My Little Chef

Yesterday we had Grandma Linda & Grandpa Paul coming over for dinner. We wanted to make a special dessert to share and Holly wanted it to have bananas in it. So, I took a tried and true recipe I love and altered it to a Banana Lush. Holly helped to make it!!! She is a great little helper in the kitchen - in fact she is quiet fluent with making pancakes thanks to Daddy. I bet if you quizzed her she could list all the ingredients for pancakes from scratch! Here are some photos of her helping me yesterday and the recipes follows below:

Banana Lush

Crust:

1/2 cup butter melted

1 cup flour

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

*melt butter, add flour and nuts - blend well. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Let cool.

Layer one:

1 brick of cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup whip cream (cool whip)

Mix well until smooth.

Layer two:

1 large box of Banana pudding

2 cups of cold milk

Mix well until smooth

Layer three:

Cool whip

Sliced bananas

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

After our wonderful blueberry picking this past weekend we have been really enjoying some blueberry delights within our menu. Yesterday Holly & I made Blueberry Struesel Muffins together. She adores cooking as do I, so it's a good match for us. While Holly does get in the kitchen with us a few times each week - times like yesterday really drive to me to include her a lot more as I know she really connects with cooking! She likes the measuring and creating and best yet she seems to eat anything she cooks... no matter the ingredients!

Here is the recipe we used! It is very good, however I would probably add a tad more sugar and some cinnamon (about 1/2 teaspoon) to the recipe for added flavor. But, that is just me tweaking things... I can't ever seem to leave a recipe alone after I make it!

Cinnamon Streusel Topping
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose or whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons firm butter or margarine

Blueberry Muffins
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or canned (drained) blueberries

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. In medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until crumbly.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, vanilla and egg until well blended. Stir in 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Gently stir in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle each with about 2 teaspoons streusel topping.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm or cool.