Impromptu happenings work well in our neighborhood. It was the day before Shawn’s birthday, and I found out that Bob and his brother were in Georgia for a construction job. Logan (10) had a day off from school for Veteran’s Day, so it seemed a perfect time to get together for an early dinner. You’d think, with my intrusive camera history, that I would have documented the occasion. No, there was not a single picture of Shawn, not one! I’m very sorry now, because this is where the best shot would have been.
When Logan came in, I quietly suggested that he might stay after lunch, and we’d bake something for his mother’s birthday. He was amenable. I measured the dry ingredients after getting out the equipment we’d need. He was right there to measure the shortening, a job that could have been quite messy but wasn’t.
Cutting in the shortening was fun for a short while, so I finished that.
Logan was back to help stir in the liquids.
Painting was easy for him. I melted the butter and poured it on the rolled-out dough, and he used a pastry brush to spread it.
He did a lovely job of scattering the chocolate chips and nuts evenly on the dough. He also learned that water acts as glue on dough. I moistened one edge so that it would stick when the dough was rolled up.
We repeated the process to make a smaller roll. The small one was for them to taste while it was warm, and the larger would be Shawn’s birthday breakfast. This was a quick yeast dough that took us only two hours from start to delivery. I can’t tell from the photo if Logan was proud of himself or only posing at my request. I can tell you I was pleased with him for sticking with the project.
Happy Birthday, Shawn!
What a perfect little helper! I´m sure his mom was pleased.
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A new baker in the neighberhood
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I was amused that Logan didn’t know what shortening was. He tasted it and said it wasn’t sweet. I’m sure I was equally ignorant at his age.
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I try not to use it.I’m a real butter gal.
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I use real butter, too, but not for biscuits. The coffeecake Logan and I made was biscuit dough with yeast.
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I would use lard if I had some ‘real’ lard.
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I’d love to use real lard again. My mother always cooked with it. Humko was the brand.
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You have to buy off of the internet because the stuff in the grocery,or at least mine, is terrible.
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Good to know. Thank you.
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What a lovely gift all around!
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Baking with Logan was fun.
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That looks tasty!
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YUM!
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He did a wonderful job. It was a good idea to bake together, Anne. I have never had a child help me in the kitchen and I do not know how that would go. Haha.
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My children never cooked with me. Logan is easy to have around, and I enjoyed having him in the kitchen.
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Never? How come?
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The children weren’t interested in cooking, and I didn’t urge them to learn. It was so much quicker and easier to do things myself. I should have made time for it. Neither of the girls cook. Both live with men who do the cooking. My son conjures up very interesting combinations, things I would never put together. His dishes are good, though. When and how did you learn to cook?
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I hear you. Before I feel the same with Markus but he likes to help and we now enjoy cooking together. Your girls are lucky! I am curious about the food of your son, very interesting. What does he make usually? I learned how to cook when I lived on my own. I knew nothing about taking care of myself and had to figure out how adults do it! I started with simple food and progressed to recreating meals I had from travel. Unfortunately I never learned Filipino food, which is a shame because my mother cooks well! Oh well, we cannot eat Filipino dishes anyway.
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Son John $pencer likes Indian food, so he often cooks rice and adds a packet of seasonings. I’m the only one who would eat it with him, so he often gives me a taste. He jazzes up scrambled eggs with hot sauce and sometimes makes sandwiches with cheese, bacon, perhaps a little meat, and lettuce. When he eats with us, he’ll taste what I’ve made and add spices or sauces to liven it up. I sometimes wonder if he really belongs to us, because he doesn’t like sweets. I cooked my first meal two weeks after we married. My mom was 1,200 miles away, and we couldn’t afford long distance calls, so I learned how to cook from two cookbooks that were wedding presents. I was amused that you had to figure out how adults took care of themselves when you moved out on your own. I guess I was a like that, too.
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Sounds like your son enjoys big flavors. Has he been to Asia? He will like the food here a lot. And cooking from books is cool, too. I am glad the recipes were correct! Sometimes they do not always turn right. It was fun to live on my own and be responsible for myself. Important lessons!
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$ loves highly-seasoned foods. He has not been to Asia, but I agree he would love the food. You were brave to be out on your own.
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Omg that looks delish!!! You had me at chocolate chips!! 😀
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Does anything beat chocolate???
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Nothing does!! 😀
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It looks scrumptious!!! But you didn’t post the recipe. Maybe I could get my human to make some for me.
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For you, I’d substitute tuna for the chocolate chips and nuts.
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Sounds even better!
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Looks so good
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I hope the coffeecake was good. I used some of the same dough the next day in biscuit form, and everyone liked it.
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Looked amazing!
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And here I am doing as little carbs as possible.
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We aim to go easy on carbs, too. The fellows are OK, but I’m pre-diabetic.
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What an awesome baking time!
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Logan took breaks to watch TV, but he came back to participate in all the steps.
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That’s awesome! It can be tough to keep kids involved for that long of a process, but what an awesome lesson about what comes from patience
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I hope there was some enjoyment on his part.
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I’m sure there was!
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A terrific activity for Logan (learning about how water acts as glue on the dough!) and he probably felt so happy presenting that to Shawn!
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I think we were all pleased with the day’s activities. Our neighbors are very special.
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You are a fabulous surrogate Grandmother, Anne. You will be one of Logan’s most important people for the rest of his life!
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I think Logan will remember us. He loves spending time with John, too. John gets a lot of history into Logan’s head!
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I am sure Logan was proud. Any time a kid has a chance to learn a “grown up skill” they are very pleased, no matter if they show it or not.
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Logan probably had his mouth set for dark chocolate chips! I hope he was allowed to have some.
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I wonder if Logan was ever watching Nathaniel cooking and was inspired or just liked the idea of Nathaniel’s training. I follow a woman who writes a cooking blog and she has a very young granddaughter who baked her first loaf of bread last week. I have a lot to catch up to with these two youngsters!
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I’m not sure Logan ever saw Nathaniel cooking.
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A gift that is not only tasty and visually appealing, but one from the heart. Lovely!
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Dark chocolate didn’t hurt.
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I want to move into your neighborhood, Anne. That coffeecake looks delicious!
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What a welcome addition you would be to our neighborhood!
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