Sunday, December 21, 2008

Cooking with kids

I like to bake. I'm not so big on cooking, as in meat and vegetables, but I like making cookies, pastries, etc. Always have. My mom used to let us make all kinds of things--angel food cake, cream puffs, cookies and cakes. Most of the time they turned out well, but I do remember a recipe where I left out a key ingredient in a boston creme pie (I think it was baking powder...) and the end result was pretty dreadful. Live and learn.

My son likes to bake, too. He usually doesn't like to eat the stuff he makes, no matter what it tastes like. So, I don't let him do it that often, because I can't eat a whole carrot cake by myself (well, I could, just don't want to.) He is pretty adept in the kitchen, but there are times when I am about to lose patience...well, maybe I DO lose my patience. We have one of those battery operated cookie presses that we usually use to make spritz cookies at Christmastime. Being Christmas time, we decided to whip up a batch. We got out the appliance, the recipe book, etc. Son decided that instead of spritz, maybe we should make cream puffs instead. Cool. He put the machine together while I mixed up the dough (very easy recipe.) We loaded the shooter but it wouldn't work, took it apart, re-read the assembly directions, put it back together. Still not right. Finally it dawns on me that the shaft is moving the wrong way--he put the batteries in backwards! Okay, fix that problem. Load up the dough, shoot it on to the cookie sheet and bake. This is the only reason to bake a recipe with this appliance, getting to shoot the dough onto the sheet. He has now discovered a whole host of other treats we can make and shoot...

But, they turned out GREAT!! We decided to make them into profiteroles, because I didn't feel like making a custard filling. Filled them with vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce, EXCELLENT! Ours looked just like this, really, they did!


1 comment:

laurai said...

My favorite things to do are often project work that ends with a discrete cut off and, typically, a product or sense of, "that's done! Onward!" (e.g., puzzles, baking, books). It's also stuff that I can do alone (and often prefer to), allows for a fresh new start with each return to the activity, and makes order out of chaos. That's why I like writing and editing too. I just finished a puzzle and may go to Goodwill today to find a new one...I'll be thinking of you.