Baking with Children

I like to bake and although cakes are not my specialty I have been practicing this summer.  I'm hoping that by Bryce's birthday in August I have it together enough that I am not a bawling mess just before the party because the cake is falling apart as I frost it.  I have had some success, yay!  And I realize that although buying a cake is easy, it is really important for me to do homemade, I want my kids to remember how I made their cakes and hopefully even when it's ugly they will love it.  The second I get out my mixer both kids start pushing chairs toward the counter so they can "see" too!  Sometimes it's much easier to wait until they are both napping to bake but on the days I have my patient pants on I let them help me.

 Ready mom!

I recently discovered the secret to baking with children is to prepare all of the ingredients before they are aware you are going to bake.  I have had serious stress trying to keep Dietrich from dumping, pouring and mixing while I re-read recipes and measure ingredients.  This also works great for when someone has a melt down, I haven't actually started baking yet and ingredients can sit for quite a while and wait until everyone is ready to move on.

 Lenorah did fall off of her chair once a few weeks ago, but since then she has realized to be careful and fortunately she wasn't hurt.  So while I am aware this might not be super safe, I also think kids can figure things out and learn from their mistakes, and I'm always grateful when mistakes do not include doctors visits.

 "Turn it on now mom!"

 This was one of our best baking experiences to date.  Dietrich was super patient and waiting to add ingredients until I told him.  He was also very careful and didn't spill.  We have had times where half the ingredients end up on the counter and I wonder what kind of crazy person lets her kids help her bake.

 Lenorah helps too!

 After things were mixed up Lenorah had a melt down and Dietrich said he was tired.  So I got everybody off for a nap/rest and was able to finish up on my own.  This particular cake has a meringue topping that bakes on top of the cake.

 Then you add a layer of whip cream and strawberries and the second cake topped with more whip cream and strawberries!  This cake was a little easier than usual since it didn't take any actual decorating, that is always where I lose it, trying to get buttercream frosting to stick to the cake without the cake falling apart.

 We shared this after dinner with Grammy and Papa, Auntie Bekah and cousin Arielle.  Everyone seemed to seriously enjoy it and since Bekah asked where I got the recipe I will share it here for anybody who wants a delicious summery dessert!

(from taste of home magazine)

2 eggs separated

1/4 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sugar plus 1/2 tsp sugar, divided

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup 2% milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 pint fresh strawberries sliced

1/2 tsp sugar

1. Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottoms of two greased 8 in round baking pans with parchment paper, grease paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, beating well. Beat in vanilla extract.

3. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.  Transfer to prepared pans.

4. With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy.  Add remaining sugar, beating on high until sugar is dissolved.  Continue beating until soft peaks form.  Spread over batter in pans.

5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely in pans on wire racks (cakes will be thin).

6. In a large bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form (I added a 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for a little more sweetness).  Loosen edges of cakes from pans with a knife.  Carefully remove one cake to a serving plate, meringue side up.

7. Arrange sliced strawberries over top; sprinkle with sugar.  Gently spread with half of the whipped cream.  Top with remaining cake layer, meringue side up; spread with remaining whipped cream.  Top with more strawberries.  Refrigerate until serving.

Winnemucca

Back in 2009 Bryce and I took a roadtrip to Yosemite National park via Nevada.  We drove through Winnemucca and stayed in a dry little campground just past Winnemucca.  If you have never driven through Nevada, it is FLAT and you can go about 5 million miles without seeing a rest stop let alone a town.  So we vowed to never go back.  And then my little brother moved to Winnemucca.  So last Wednesday we loaded up the car, woke up the kids and took off on a 10.5 hour drive to visit my brother.  

The smartest thing we did was to leave at 4:00 in the morning.  We seriously debated going back to sleep when the alarm went off at 3 but I knew we would regret it.  I had told Dietrich the night before that I would wake him up really early to get in the car to head to Uncle Paul's.  He asked if I was going to say "WAKE UP!" I told him no, I will say in a sing-song voice, "wake up Dietrich, it's time to get in the car."  Well he woke up on his own around 3:15 and was very concerned that I was going to forget to take him with us.  He then reminded me I was supposed to say "wake up Dietrich, it's time to get in the car."   He spent the next 15 minutes running around like a crazy person giggling, fortunately he fell right back to sleep once we hit the road.  We were able to make it half way before stopping for breakfast and the kids even went back to sleep after that.  Lenorah, who is a HORRIBLE traveler only cried for the last hour of the drive.

And we have arrived!!

Of course both kids ended up in bed with us the first morning even though Paul and Kate have a very nice office that they had their own bed's set up in.

Paul and Kate had just got a new pool, and it proceeded to be too cold the first few days we were there to use it.  But here are the kids checking it out while Uncle Paul cleaned it.

 We spent the first day relaxing at the house and visiting.  Paul took us on a drive around town to show us where he used to live and where some of his friends live.  Winnemucca is a booming place and there are houses and new developments going in everywhere.  There is no lack of work in this little town that is for sure!

Uncle Paul got out his little motorcycle and took Dietrich for a ride.  I'm going to say he loved it.

Uncle Paul has an amazing shop and the kids kept wandering off to play in it.  He had music going and I walked in to find the kids having a little dance party.  Later we found them with screws and a screwdriver and decided they couldn't be in the shop alone anymore.

 On our second day there we all went out to lunch and then did a little shopping at the Boot Barn where Kate works.  I found a great Carhartt sweatshirt and vest! Then we took off across the dessert to explore.  It was funny how we would point out every tree and any water that we noticed.  We even found some places with old foundations where people must have settled many years ago.

When we got home we busted out the go-cart that Paul found at the dump.  It is almost exactly like the one we had when we were kids.  And it took just as much work to get it running.  The kids had been playing on it in the shop and were so excited to discover that it moved!

Lenorah loved her ride so much that she threw an amazing fit when she had to get off to let Dietrich have another turn.

Lenorah is wearing a weird combination of outfit and pajamas because I thought it would be hot the whole time and didn't bring pants...oops.

 On our last day there the weather was finally hot! So we spent the whole day sitting by the pool and jumping in to cool off.

 

                                     

 Paul and Kate were amazing hosts.  There house is super comfortable and clean and there was always lots of good food for every meal!  We also had a great time watching a new show Shameless together every evening, we are going to have to catch up so that we can keep talking about it with them!

On Sunday we got up as early as we could and left just after 7:00 in the morning.  And then we started the longest drive of our lives.  The kids barely slept and Lenorah fussed and cried for hours.  This Dragon Fly hitched a ride from Nevada all the way back to Spokane.

 Also, this guy is awesome...

 On the drive down we stopped three times, on the drive home we stopped 6, 7, 8 I don't remember, too many.  The 10.5 drive took us 12 hours on the way down, and 14 on the way home.  It is a VERY VERY long time to be in the car with a couple of small children.

 Lenorah literally cried for hours and we thought we were never going to get home, or maybe kill each other trying to survive it.  But then as soon as we drove into Spokane she fell asleep, and she stayed asleep, even moving her into her bed in the house.  So that was nice at least.  We had a great time and we are already talking about going back next year, but not before we buy a mini-van!!!