We've been expanding our horizons at our house lately. It started with Bella. The other day she came into the kitchen and without any word from me, took out a pot, a can of soup, and a spoon and brought them all over to the stove. Then she pulled up the step stool, climbed up, and started to 'cook.' She put the pot on the stove, vigorously shook the can upside-down over the pot, and then stirred the imaginary contents. Then she took a taste. I just stared in slack-jawed amazement. She's 17 months old! When did she ever pay such close attention as to learn all that?? She even seemed miffed that no soup actually came out of the can. I think she really intended to cook, not just pretend. Such a big girl she's becoming.
So, she started the trend for learning new domestic skills and we, her devoted fans, followed suit. I signed up to bring a cake to Benjamin's preschool's cake raffle fundraiser. When I signed up, I thought, "How hard can it be? Just throw a mix in the oven." Then they made the announcement that no cake should be over $25. That's when I knew I was in trouble. No mix, no matter how moist and fluffy it promised to be, ever cost that much, so there must be more to this. I found out that most often they are lavishly decorated. So, here was my chance to learn a new skill. I bought a butterfly cake pan, frosting tips and bags, etc., and I made a cute, amateurish cake.
I did it from around 10pm - 1am, since that's the only time I have free but I had a blast. It was fun to mix the colors and consistencies and see something actually take shape. Costco could do a much better job, but I was proud of my little creation.
Finally it was Kelly's turn. He went gung-ho and got bags and bags of peaches, plums, and crab-apples and turned our kitchen into a disaster area making jam. In the end, considering the cost of all the supplies - pectin, jars, lids, fruit, etc. - we probably could have gotten it cheaper from Smucker's. However, once again the point was we learned new skills and wow - that's good jam! So, we have been having fun in our kitchen and all becoming little domestic goddesses.
What's Benjamin done, you ask? Well, besides supervising, he tried something new recently too. We went to a nearby town's Oktoberfest and they had free pony rides for kids. Last summer he was too freaked to ride a pony, but this year he was so excited. I was proud of him for doing it and he couldn't get over the thrill of having ridden a 'horse.'
3 comments:
I can't wait to try some new things in our new kitchen... space space space... so much space... our apartment kitchen was barely big enough to make toast. LOL.
Your cake is so adorable, and I sooo have to learn to make homemade jam. YUMMMMY.
I'm impressed with you cake, and also that you stayed up so late at night to do it. I would have gone with a movie or PBS kids. And don't you love how little ones get these ideas and then go for it. Michelle has taken to moving the chairs around the kitchen to try and reach my laptop or the phone or really anything she thinks she should be playing with.
That is great! I love the cake you made, it turned out so cute. Congrats to Benjamin for riding a "horse" too!
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