We were supposed to get several inches of snow, so I was fairly sure local schools would be closed. Still, I hesitated to text neighbors in case they were still asleep. John said go for it, so I asked Shawn if she were awake and school closed. If so, would Logan like to walk with us? Surprisingly, Logan was still asleep at 7:15! John and I walked to the creek in gentle flurries as the sun tried its best to poke through the clouds.
Mid-morning Shawn asked if Logan could come over, and of course, we were delighted to have him. John paused in the checkers game when Logan found the green silicone oven mitt. It is shaped like an animal’s head. Logan moved it to make it appear to talk, then tossed it up in the air.
They resumed the checkers game.
As the fellows played, I made some dough. It was one of those recipes that called for the yeast to be added with the flour, using a mixer. While it sat for 20 minutes, John and Logan read a short book together. Logan agreed to help make the coffeecake, so he washed his hands with soap (in front of me) before kneading the dough with his hands.
He did very well rolling the dough with my heavy rolling pin.
Painting the dough with melted butter was a piece of cake easy for him. His touch was light, so he didn’t tear the dough.
He sprinkled the pecans and chocolate chips evenly. I couldn’t have done a better job, so I presume that is amazing for a 7-year-old. Well, maybe I’m a klutz. One long edge was left bare, and he used his finger to apply water, which acted like glue to seal the roll.
He finished! As he skipped off to play with John, I covered the roll with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. It can be baked from 2 to 24 hours later.
Before you ask, I’ll tell you that I did not do this kind of thing with my children. I didn’t have the patience. Today patience was on the other foot, because Logan had to wait as I got things ready for him.
John helped Logan memorize a Bible verse before they had a killer game of balloon/volley ball.
Mehrling Muse 
Teaching him to cook is a great activity!
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I classed it as learning to be unafraid of yeast dough.
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Some of my favorite childhood memories were of playing at your house and rolling out dough and sampling it before you baked fresh bread. I can’t remember, but I guess it’s possible you didn’t give us access to the real deal in your bread making. Instead, you might’ve given us small pieces to annihilate 🙂
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I would not have thought children would be interested in cooking all those years ago. I made bread all the time then. This coffeecake business is new to me — I’m still experimenting. So far, nothing has been rejected or thrown away.
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Going to have some cooking competition in the house this year Anne, don’t start him on cakes.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Ha! Ha! I don’t think Logan could catch up to Nathaniel with cakes, although our grandson does not like writing with icing.
xxx bread-baking hugs xxx
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Some of my most favourite ‘kitchen’ memories were standing next to my Grandma and ‘helping’ her cook, bake and make. As a child between zero and ten, she taught me so many recipes and ‘how to’s’ that I found a love of cooking and making things from nothing.
Logan is making so many beautiful memories with you Anne, and they’ll be with him forever. Well done, fabulous neighbour of Logan. You are enriching his life in so many ways. ❤ ~ Cobs. x
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I think we all had a good time playing today. I was hoping some snow would accumulate so we could make a snowman, but sadly, none did.
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How lovely you all are together, you, John, and Logan, the neighbour’s boy! It’s as if he is your honorary grandson. Checkers, baking and balloon play – what could be more fun for a 7-year-old, right?
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Yes, he is an honorary grandson. Logan also played some games on the computer and watched a little television. I never heard the word “bored” the whole day.
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My guess is he loves you and his parents do too!!
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And we love them in return!
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It’s amazing the things you can do with children when you aren’t responsible for them every single day! I think Logan has an awesome snow day!
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John is much better with children than I am. We are blessed to have time to just play. Retirement is glorious!
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Yes I can’t wait for retirement! It seems to be a lot of fun:)
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Your parents make the most of retirement! It is truly great.
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They certainly are making the most of it and they’ve definitely earned it!
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Logan is going to be sorry that Winter will end soon (well … presumably Winter will end soon) and he won’t have any more snow days within which to visit with his kindly neighbors. Does he visit you during the Summer months when he is out of school as well?
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Sometimes we see Logan once or twice a week, and other times we can go for almost a month without seeing him. It’s fun to be able to do things on the spur of the moment. Our grandsons were here the last two summers. They enjoy playing with Logan, too. I don’t think he came over much last summer, because both David and Nathaniel were working.
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It is always good to have young blood in your lives – that keeps you young as well, even if you don’t want to roll on the floor like a worm. I just sent you a link to a gruesome spider – I wanted to put it in the spider blog but I put it in the coffee blog – don’t ask me how that happened, so feel free to delete it – this is why I don’t tweak my blog!
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And now, my eyes are running together, so I am off to bed – hopefully you wake up to no snow tomorrow morning.
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Anne
An activity filled day for Logan, John and you. He is such a loving boy and seems to think you are all his age and considers you his own grandparents. I think you are creating such a blanket of security and happiness for him and memories he can look back on when he is bigger. I think involving children in cooking is a marvellous way of keeping them engaged both with the dough and with you. The memories created through cooking with a grandparent will live for ever. He might even come back to ask for the pictures later to keep in his scrapbook, when he grows up.
Did the coffee cake turn out well ? How does the yeast work if the dough is refrigerated ?
Susie
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I hope the coffeecake turned out well. Logan knew from the beginning that it was his to take home. It might have been too late for them to cook it that night. There are recipes called “rising on ice”, and this was one. Being chilled does not kill the yeast; it just slows it down. I’ve used the technique for years.
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Oh, I didn’t realize the cake was for Logan’s family. I always thought yeast died at low temperatures. New information.
Thank you,
Susie
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I have a recipe book from a yeast company, and there is a section on refrigerator recipes. I just looked on line, and there was a statement that any yeast dough can be put in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. You take it out and let it rise before baking. It actually lasts longer than that, because I’ve done it. I’m sure I’ve used dough that was two weeks old. It was covered with plastic wrap and didn’t dry out.
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Whew ! That is really good to know.Thank you, Anne. We have recipes where we use yeast in rice flour and if the batter is kept in the fridge( like if there is extra batter),the pancakes cooked with refrigerated batter does not rise like it does the first day. But like you said, maybe we need to let the batter come to room temperature and then use it, perhaps the yeast can act then.
Susie
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That looks delicious! I used to make cookies with my sons. I always had to make a double batch of cookie dough as they would be scarfing down as much cookie dough as we turned into baked cookies! Fortunately this was before all the hoopla about eating raw cookie dough. To be honest I still love raw cookie dough!
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We ate raw dough, too, and we’re still alive.
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And doing good!
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I want to hire Logan to do some of my baking! Cute kid, and so patient to be able to work with that kind of dough. Have you baked this tasty treat yet?
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Logan was surprisingly patient with our project. I think he bought into it because I told him he was going to take it home. I got to thinking later that his mother could have been annoyed. What if she had decided to have no chocolate in the house? or was in the middle of a no-carb restriction? Giving food to people could threaten relationships! You can tell when I’m wearing my pessimistic hat.
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Not pessimistic, you’re realistic. Big difference, especially in today’s world.
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