Little Baking

Holly got this baking set (from Barnes and Noble) for Christmas. We've (she's) made a few things out of it. Last night was the second time for brownies. We have also donescrambled eggs. There's a recipe for meatloaf, rice, lasagna, squash, broccoli, fish, pot pies, polenta, risotto... I was happy to see the book had more than just desserts. The recipe for the brownies filled up all 6 silicone baking cups and 1 pyrex little custard cup. Yes, they were delicious.

Before she and Julia (and Alan) started baking she got out a piece of paper for each person, drew a circle in the middle, wrote the person's name and what color cup they were to get and set the cup on the paper. She didn't like my idea of just making a list on one sheet of paper to remember who got what color cup. I think matching the person to their color cup was one of the most important steps in making these brownies - to her.

Oliver got a set of prep bowls from my mom for Christmas. I used them last night to facilitate the girls making the brownies. I measured the ingredients and put them in the prep bowls so all they had to fuss over was who got to stir and who got to dump. They did a good job letting everyone have a turn at both - sometimes I wish they all were a little more lenient on the Even Stevens - Holly knew exactly who had dumped what and kept tabs on how many turns each person was allowed to take.

In the words of Mary Ann Hoberman in The Seven Silly Eaters:

They all take turns in mixing it.
They all take turns in fixing it.
It's thick to beat and quick to bake -
It's fine to eat and fun to make -

It's Mrs. Peters' birthday cake!

...which is also fitting because they girls decided since Alan's birthday is this month (on the 28th) it was an early birthday party for him. They wrapped up some of his toys and made a big production of giving him presents after they ate their brownies - and he was happy to play the part of birthday boy/gift recipient.