Baking Adventure With a Two-Year-Old

On Monday I started baby-sitting an adorable little two-year-old boy, named JJ. I still wanted to bake, so I knew that I had two options . . . either bake while he is napping or try baking with him! Since I had run out of eggs yesterday that meant that either I had to go to the store (yuck) or not make English Muffins like I was planning on doing this week.  I decided that it would be just as easy to make PIZZA for lunch with him!

A couple weeks ago, Roland and I had made up a bunch of pizza dough and froze it, so it was as simple as one, two, three! After defrosting the dough over night in the fridge all we had to do is: roll the dough out, put the sauce and cheese on, then cook it! Pretty simple! JJ had fun helping me out! He helped at each step, and had to taste test everything that we did . . . yep, even the dough! He liked the cheese the best and was busy picking the cheese off and eating it almost as fast as I was trying to shred it and put it on!

After it was done cooking, it was LUNCH TIME!!! So, we got to try our creation right away! JJ told me that it was “YUMMY!” Even though I had lots of fun helping him roll out the dough and spread the sauce, I have decided that unless I am going to bake something that is pretty simple and doesn’t take that much time to make, I will just bake during his nap time! I don’t want him to get board with it or frustrated with a more complex recipe, but I do think that the next time I bake cookies, I will have to use my little helper!

My little helper with flour on his face with our creation before it goes into the oven!

The First Snow of the Season

When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, I asked Roland, “What is all that white stuff doing out there?” He, being the smart-aleck that he is, replied without missing a beat, “It is falling on the ground!” haha Boy, do I love being married to that goofball, life would be boring without him! After his remark this morning, a Primary song has been stuck in my head ALL day . . . okay, since it is only noon, it would be more fair to say ALL morning!

Looking out my window into my "backyard" of woods!

“Snow is falling all around,
On the rooftops,
On the ground,
Snow is falling on my nose,
On my head and hands and toes.”

Can you tell that I am a Primary worker since I know this song? (Yep, it is in the Primary Song book, look it up, you will find it in there . . . but under a different name, I think, the “original” verse is about rain, which would have worked for yesterday!) How about that when I sing it I have to do the actions that go along with it? (My Primary kids would be so proud of me and would sign along, then ask to sing the “Once there was a Snowman” song!)

Wednesday Baking Adventures

I have recently realized that ever since my sister-in-law started her new blog about cooking, that I have been baking something every Wednesday. I know that I have been baking before that, but I don’t think that it was every week. Lucky for Roland, it seems to be a habit that I am getting and even looking forward to each week! Since I don’t have pictures of my last few weeks of my creations, I will just tell you what they are, and then someday I will remake them and post about it!

Previous weeks Wednesday Baking Adventures have included:
•    Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze
•    Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
•    Lemon Spice Muffins
•    Carrot Cake Bread
•    Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
•    Braided Cheese Bread
•    Banana Bread
•    Potato Rolls

My new goal is to post a picture of what I bake each week! I don’t only bake on Wednesdays, but I want to post every Wednesday something new that I baked. My oven gets more exercise than just once a week, in fact this week I baked some Braided Cheese Bread on Sunday to go with lasagna that we had to celebrate my dad’s birthday and I baked bread bowls on Tuesday to go with the chili that we served the missionaries for dinner!

This week I decided to take a walk down memory lane! One of my fondest childhood memories is going down to my Grandma Jefferson’s house and baking with her! I don’t know how often we would do it, but I always remember having so much fun! We would make bread and rolls, and then deliver some to some of the older ladies in the neighborhood. I love spending time with my grandma, she doesn’t bake so much now, but whenever I make homemade bread or rolls, I always think of her!

Today I made cinnamon rolls! This was something that Grandma and I would make together too!  I remember my grandma teaching me to measure out the flour, and I would make a HUGE mess, but Grandma would always smile and tell me to try again!  One of the things I love most about baking cinnamon rolls is how the cinnamon just fills the whole house! As I was cooking today, and thinking about my grandma, I was thinking to myself that I hope my daughter will be able to look back and have wonderful memories about learning how to cook too! Someday I will have to teach her, but as for today, I am going to enjoy my cinnamon rolls smothered in cream cheese frosting!

Here are my fresh out of the oven cinnamon rolls! I can't wait to eat one!