Cooking With the Kiddos

Jillian and Ethan are starting to learn some hands on cooking things with me these days. We did start with toast! Jillian makes her family "the best hotdogs ever" according to her brother. She makes them in the microwave. She also makes her own lunch - because she wants to! And often makes Ethan's lunch too.
So on this day we made our first batch of Rice Krispy Treats!! The lesson involved the differences of electric stoves and gas stoves, which mine is. Ethan is on a stool, btw.
I had Jillian read the entire recipe and get all the tools and ingredients together before we started cooking. The first photo shows them melting the marshmallows in the butter.
It's hard to tell, but they have plastic bags on their hands, which I sprayed with non stick Pam and they are patting the mixture down into the pan. It was a fun lesson. Next time we are going to try adding maybe some mini chocolate chips and maybe some dried cranberries. And then we might try using Cocoa Krispies!!
I tell them, if you can read you can cook. And if you cook what you like, you will become a really good cook!
Our next lesson will be eggs.

A Recipe From Old

Nothing new here, but always a winner, and every bit is eaten. My Aunt Kay has a big family gathering every summer and that is where I first had this salad probably close to 20 years ago.
Not an exact recipe, but this is how it goes.

Chop small bite size

fresh tomatoes - I do seed them

cucumber - 1 english

red onion - I smallish, chop this a bit smaller

package pasta - my fave is vermicelli. angel

hair is too fine. spaghetti would be 2nd choice

good seasons zesty italian dressing - the packet

I used to use the bottle kind, but making it

from the packet really is better

Johnny's Salad Elegance - liberal amount!

I keep about 1/3 of the prepared dressing, and add it just before serving, unless I am serving it right after having made it. The pasta absorbs dressing as it sits.

Have you found Anna and Kristina's Shopping Bag on Oprah's new network yet??? I'm still loving it, though it can be hard to find. After their reviews I have ordered a few new cookbooks. Do you think my cupboard has room??? Lynn let me know that one of the clubs is having a fund raiser, selling gently loved cookbooks!!! So I was able to clear out about a dozen books to make room for the new ones...
One if from Jaimie Oliver, a basic book and I'm enjoying just reading it. Really good info. I also ordered another Indian cookbook online tonight (dang having that Amazon prime account!!) which I read about in an old Sunset magazine I was going through this weekend. I'll let you know when it comes how it is.

For some bizzarro reason, my long standing wooden cutting boards decided to try to turn into a boat or something! I came out one morning and it was so NOT FLAT anymore!!! It was just sitting on the counter! Why in the world would that happen? So now I will be shopping for new cutting board. Poor me....
I am going to start eliminating some of the tools and not much used pots, bowls from my kitchen and make it more functional. One of the things I love watching cooking shows is how organized and uncluttered their work space is.

Chat with you again SOON!