Sylvia's First Cake

Sylvia helped me do a lot of things to get ready for Eric's birthday last month. She wanted to bake him a pretend cake but I suggested we go ahead and make a real one. I let her come up with the recipe all on her own. She loves being in the kitchen with me and I was impressed that she had such a good idea of how to make a cake. It actually turned out looking like a cake although there was a bit too much baking soda for it to taste yummy. She let Eric help frost it and we all tried a piece. Dan wasn't around at the time so he tried a piece later on. I thought he must have liked it better than I did because he ate his whole piece. He didn't realize that we only expected him to take a bite and said he forced himself to eat the whole piece.  What a great dad.

 

 

Cake
1.5 cups flour
2 eggs
2.5 T baking soda
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 shredded carrot
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Bake at 350 degrees for 33 minutes.

Frosting
1 cup plain yogurt
3 T brown sugar
8 drops blue food coloring

Kristina's Baby Shower

I had the privilege of spending more time with my cousin Kristina this fall.  Her daughter was born at 28 weeks and spent a couple of months in the NICU at UIHC.  I visited frequently and watched as that little girl (and her mama) grew in many ways each week.  Shorty before they headed home as a family, we had a baby shower for Kristina.  My sister-in-law was gracious enough to let us use her house which is beautifully decorated and much cleaner than my house has ever been.  I enjoyed preparing most of the food, a few decorations and the games.

 

the spread

Becky serving up the polka dot cake

one of the many cute baby items for Sofia

the girl cousins

Kristina with her shower hosts

 

For those of you who are interested in party planning details...

invitation and shower activity

baby shower scattegories

identify the children's book character game

I saw a polka dot cake on pinterest and wanted to give it a try.  So, I borrowed a cake ball maker from a friend, did a successful test run of the cake and managed to pull it off again for the shower.  I also saw this frosting idea online.  You'll be seeing this again from me since it was such an easy way to pull off a fancy cake.

 

I also tried my hand at cake balls and some tissue paper flowers.  Sylvia and I worked on the flowers together.  I thought they'd be a little tricky for her but she mastered the petal making very quickly.  She ended up making the majority of the flower petals and I just had to put them together.

Baking with the Kids

At some point with Sylvia I realized it would be easier to invite her up on a stool to join me in cooking and baking rather than shooing her away from my ankles. The time has now come to do the same with Eric. It's a little trickier this time around because Sylvia still wants to participate.

Making Pizza

Sylvia and I made pizzas for dinner a few nights ago. She's getting pretty good at spreading the ingredients out and not just piling them up in the middle of the pizza. Most of the cheese still ends up in the middle and a lot of the sauce ends up on the counter. Both times we have made pizza she has put one piece of pineapple on each piece of Canadian bacon. It's very cute to watch her concentrate while she does it.

Red Beans and Rice

Sylvia got an early birthday present from her great aunt Sarah. She loves the new apron. I'm hoping she'll be able to start cooking us dinner if she helps out in the kitchen enough.

Baking

Recently I learned that it is easier to invite Sylvia up on a stool while I cook instead of having her pulling at my pant legs and whining. I try to let her help when possible but it's not always easy. We've made cookies a couple of times recently and that has been her favorite.

After making the dough, Sylvia ran her finger along the top of the bowl and tasted it. When there wasn't any more on the edge she took the spatula, stuck it in the bowl, and spread some more on the edge of the bowl.



Sylvia poured most of the ingredients into the oatmeal raisin cookies we made tonight. She especially liked being able to lick off the beater.