Baking with children, challenging but fun
When I think about this column entitled Through My Kitchen Window, I envision people looking through my kitchen window while I bake. I wonder what they would see.
They would see a baby strapped into a highchair or playing in a playpen while a 5-year-old girl sloppily stirs batter. While shouts of joy and laughter ring out loud in the small kitchen, I attempt to focus on following the instructions of the recipe, making the correct measurements and adding just the right amount of ingredients.
Yes, baking with two young kids is definitely an added challenge to an already challenging experience that is baking but all in all it’s a good experience, a memory I will cherish forever.
I think the best part is the little chef in our house asking in a little voice, “Can I help?” I hope my answer will always be, “Yes.”
My answer will be yes to the chaos. Yes to the mess, flour all over the kitchen counter and floor. Yes to the little hands rolling dough balls for cookies. Yes to the big smiles after we’ve pulled freshly baked cookies out of the oven and they’ve cooled enough to enjoy a sweet treat.
Baking is something I fondly remember doing with my mother when I was little and it’s just as much fun baking with my own children. I hope it’s a tradition they carry on to their own children some day.