pancake molds:: kitchen tool of the week!

So, you know how much we love pancakes! And things shaped like hearts.

So we couldn't pass up another Saturday without making it a pancake morning, but this weekend, we dug out our pancake molds. Of course, they're heart shaped. But they also come shaped like dinosaurs, trucks, snowflakes, butterflies, gingerbread men, flowers, airplanes... you get the picture. You can find them in your grocery store.

We added Anjali's handprint cookie cutter to the mix too, but found that it really works better for cookie cutters with tiny spaces to just make the pancake first and then cut the shape out.



But they still taste the same. Yum, yum!

And guess what? Our heart shaped pancake mold? Well, they make wonderful butterflies...


Especially with that amazing blueberry syrup!

for the love of football, hearts, and chocolate!

Oh, it has been rather busy around these parts.
We've been doing lots of writing, playing, working, And oh yeah, cooking and eating, And then the Super Bowl decided to happen, and even though we have been tv free for all of Zeal's life, and this is the first year he has seen any of the frenzy that is football, he has recently become of a football fan thanks be to his grandpa, a lifetime 49er junkie!

So Zeal decided we were going to have a Super Bowl party! We talked about where the game was happening, who was playing, learned about some of the players. After all that, he decided we were going to have a 49er party anyway, the good, loyal fan that he has become.

On the menu? Red Velvet cupcakes, with gold frosting and chocolate footballs. Take that Saints! You too Colts!

Here's a little peek at the process...

We started by melting some dark chocolate in a double boiler and putting it in a pastry bag which we used to draw our decorations. Zeal got really into this process and came up with all types of decorations. This is really the highlight of the post, because these little chocolate treats are really where it is at! They were quick, easy, and fun to make! They would make GREAT valentine treats!










Yes, that's little Anjali's hand, made by tracing this cookie cutter.


And since the cake recipe wasn't really worth repeating, I'll spare you those details. But here's the scene and story of the day:
when the kicker missed the ball and fell on his back! (poor guy)





But I will recommend these little tools and ingredients:

here's a great little tool for little bakers - the silicon baking cup. We have them in moons, stars, flowers, and now little cupcakes molds:

They're worth giving a try!

And don't forget to stock up on that Natural food coloring for moments like this when your kids ask to make RED cake! Yuck!

But, I sure am thankful for all that chocolate. I am going to need it! Did I tell you, the editing process has begun on my next book, which is none other than Thinking Outside the Recipe: Cooking Activities to Nurture and Nourish the Creative Child!

cooking tools to help kids get creative

Cooking with a child is another wonderful way to connect: with each other, the world, and our unique creative selves. It allows us to explore natural materials, mimic real scientists, and learn ways to approach future problems. As children play with recipes and ingredients, they ask questions and make discoveries that will lead to a greater understanding of their world. So with an eye towards encouraging our kids to really get cookin', here are a few wonder-filled tools that help can us cook up some good old-fashioned curiosity and creative fun together.

Read the rest of this piece on The Savvy Source

Juicing fun

Oh the joys of a trip to Central California, where winter means oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit. Yum!
We came home with TONS of them, picked from the grandparents' tree, where we know they were grown with much love!
And here's Zeal's new favorite kitchen gadget - the citrus juicer:



The one we used is a Braun, and was sooooo easy to use. It also strains out a lot of the pulp and all the seeds as it was juicing. A far cry from the old hand citrus juicer that has been a staple at our house for years. With the large quantity of citrus we were processing, we couldn't have done it with that old one. No way.

As for the juice, it didn't last long enough to take a picture of the final product. Mmmmmm. Nothing like fresh squeezed juice.

our favorite sippies

Cheers to all the companies who are now making sippy cups that are safe for our toddlers to be drinking from!!!!

Here are our favorites:



The Foogo sippy, made by Thermos, (yes, this is how she carries it around).

and,



The Safe Sippy.

The best thing about both of these (as opposed to other stainless sippies out there, is that these don't leak and have that "must suck to get anything out of it" stopper. And oh yeah, they are chemical, plastic, and BPA free. Yippeeeee!

tools to kitchen creativity

Cooking with a child is another wonderful way to connect: with each other, the world, and our unique creative selves. It allows us to explore natural materials, mimic real scientists, and learn ways to approach future problems. As children play with recipes and ingredients, they ask questions and make discoveries that will lead to a greater understanding of their world. So with an eye towards encouraging our kids to really get cookin', here are a few wonder-filled tools that help can us cook up some good old-fashioned curiosity and creative fun together.

See the rest of this article on The Savvy Source!

Straws! Fabulous Kitchen Tool of the Week

I admit to being a slacker on posting a weekly tool lately. Here's one I couldn't let slip by without mention: straws!

Last week, while searching through the pantry Zeal ran across a half-used packet of disposable straws we bought way back when and used for a building project to make newspaper dowels (rolling a straw up in a sheet of newsprint makes a sturdy dowel to use in all sorts of construction). So this week, among other things, he has been testing how long he can get a straw and still be able to suck up the liquid. Amazing what joy a simple tool will bring!

Did I say, "Enough for ONE pie?"

I meant 32!

Okay, it looked like we had picked blackberries enough for one whole pie, which we were actually pretty excited about.

Until... Zeal pulled out this old favorite kitchen tool - a pastry mold - and we decided to make a bunch of little snack pies instead. Now he's jumping up and down about it; he's so pleased!



So we ended up with 8 for us now (enough for dessert tonight and leftovers for lunches tomorrow)




and...


24 to stick in the freezer for yummy winter snacks:



And so begins our freezer journey... more to come, for sure.

Lego Crispies! (and our little kitchen tool of the week)

We got a new mold, in the form of Zeal's latest favorite past time, lego bricks!



We originally bought this to make lego cakes for a special party Zeal is planning, but they keep getting used as "trial runs". So fun!
Number one use for these molds - crispy revivals.



Here's a photo of the final product. You can't really see the circles on the top of the legos here. There's talk of painting the tops with melted chocolate next time. I like that idea!



Zeal is also aware that lego ice cube trays exist and is making plans for how he will use them (candy making plans, that is).

Molds are an especially fun (and easy) way to get kids excited about whatever it is you are cooking (biscuits, muffins, sidewalk chalk, etc. etc. etc.) We also have some other molds in the shape of: moon and stars, puzzle pieces, and lines (which we've made lemonade "stir sticks" out of. Do you have a favorite mold?

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Melon Baller

When hot weather hits (we're on the down slide now, whew!) watermelon is one of the best foods to help combat dehydration. And while it takes very little for kids to get excited about eating watermelon, they will also give a cheer for getting the watermelon ready to go if they can scoop out all that juicy sweetness with a Melon Baller.

Push the melon baller deep into the fruit and twist for perfectly round balls.



We also use a melon baller to scoop out the insides of zucchini when making one of Zeal's very favorite meals, zucchini boats or affectionally know as Zu-canoes! Luckily, we have lots of opportunity to be using it even now that the weather is cooling, because we're knee deep in zucchini.


And look what other fun a melon baller can bring:
Add some diluted food coloring to your melon baller (hold your finger over the hole until your ready) and use it for painting.

Great new snack plates!

I have this “thing” for divided plates. We have a nice little (growing) collection of them (found from garage sales, flea markets, and occasionally stores) and we use them regularly for snacks, picnics, camping, and lunches. Well, here’s my new find, of which I am very excited about.

Here's Zeal's inaugural run on them, enjoying an odd combination of 1 yellow peach, some fresh figs, and a few cubes of baked tofu:



These great little plates (I bought 4, for our growing family) are our new picnic and camping plates. They are made by Zak! Designs from 100% recycled melamine. I found them deeply discounted while on vacation, but you can also find them for sale here.

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Spoons

Make funny faces with them.
Play them.
Stick them on your nose.

The must-have kitchen tool of the century: the beloved spoon!

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Pitter

I'm generally kind of a "fingers" gal when cooking. Whether they be cherries, avocados, peaches, or plums, I prefer to just pick the pit out with my little nimble fingers than have to reach for a gadget somewhere to help. Well, no longer. After last week's experience making plum cake tartin , I'm a believer. While we all got to work on the recipe, my mom pulled out one of these little fellows (only hers was passed down from great grandma and looked much more antique and well-used), and of course, I gave her a hard time about it. "It really makes it easier," she said.

So it does, and now I'm hooked. And guess what? It's also a great little gadget for intriguing the kids to get involved - they love to carry the honored title of "official pitter".

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Apple-Corer-Peeler-Slicer

When Zeal was about 3, he saved his money for months and months. It took him that long to earn up the twenty dollars it took to buy this wonder-filled kitchen gadget, the handy-dandy Apple-Corer-Peeler-Slicer. It remains a favorite cooking tool to this day. This amazing, and kid-friendly (once an adult has set it up), gadget takes an apple and simultaneously cores, peels, and perfectly slices it in a matter of seconds.


With it you can:
-eat raw apple snacks
-let your child combine the apple pieces with any combination of oats, butter, brown sugar, agave, and cinnamon, toss together and bake until browned for their own special apple crumble. (a perpetual hit here!)
-dip the peeled skin pieces in a batter and make apple skin fritters
-blend the apple slices into pulp and eat as raw apple sauce, or
-cook the apple slices with water and cinnamon down into a cooked sauce.
-of course, just watching the whole phenomenon of the gadget doing its job is truly amazing.

And here's a precious little book you can pair with your apple creations:



A beautiful story about "an old woman who wants to make an apple cake. She sets out with a basket of plums, and along the way trades her plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, and so on until, as last she finds an old man happy to trade for apples from his tree. A story, beautifully illustrated, about sharing, caring, giving, and less importantly, being rewarded."

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Chopstick Friends

When Zeal was about two, my mom gave him some of these chopsticks (the elephants, to be precise, because we had just moved back from India and he was on a "hati" kick). He used them a few times and then we moved and they got put away.

Well, they have just come back in style. Lately, these little elephants have been marching through our kitchen and across our dining table faster and more often than you can say, "A person's a person no matter how small."

He's been eating pieces of tomato, spinach leaves, chunks of cheese, pieces of popcorn, his morning oatmeal, cucumber slices, rice and beans, and even whole pieces of toast using these nifty little tools. They are a novel utensil that even gets him trying things he might otherwise turn his nose up at.

And oh yes, don't forget to put your lips together, hold them TIGHT together, and blow as hard as you can until you sound like you are marching through an Indian jungle with all the confidence of a 4 ton pachyderm. You didn't realize you too could be an elephant, now did you?

Kitchen Tool of the Week: FUNNELS

What ever you do, don't forget to add a funnel or two or three to your kitchen for play, exploration, and yes, with all the help they provide kids with pouring and transferring from one vessel to another, they actually are a good functioning tool to have around.

And they make great masks when you just don't feel like having your picture taken.

Eat like a Bird

My dad used to tell me I ate like a bird. I'm sure he didn't mean this:

We went to the zoo for the day and came across this wonderful exhibit about adaptations. One of the tables was set up as a game to match the kitchen tool to the bird who eats most like it.



The Hummingbird's eating technique resembles the dropper.
When the Snipe eats it resembles chopsticks.
The Flamingo is like a strainer.
The Toucan's beak resembles tongs when it eats.
Pelicans eat in a similar way to the slotted spoon.


But here's Zeal just preferring to drink his carrot juice like a butterfly. Can you say "proboscis"?

Cooking Tool of the Week: Kitchen Scale

Add a scale to your kitchen for some extra math as well as fun. Kitchen scales come in all sizes, shapes, and colors and run the gammet in pricing. We picked this one up at the dollar store and it is working just perfect. Scaled by ounces, this is a perfect way for children to measure and compare the size of their cookies, energy balls, apple slices, or other cooking projects.

So the next time your children are fighting over the brussel sprouts, pull out the scale and show them that just because she got 5 of them, your 4 is equal weight! ;)

Cooking Tool of the Week: Pastry Brush

We all need to oil our pans from time to time. Painting pans is lots of fun for kids of all ages. You don’t have to have a fancy or expensive pastry brush to do the job. The best and longest lasting pastry brush I ever had (all the others lost their bristles too fast and they were ending up in our food) was a good paint brush I bought at our local art store. Any brush will do, but if you can find a brush that is between one and a half and two inches, that is usually best and most versatile for painting both larger pans and smaller areas such as muffin tins. Of course, make sure the brush you choose has never had any paint on it before. ☺

Scary Fingers: On Using Knives with Children

Learning to cut and use a knife is an important and valuable skill when learning to cook. Try this technique when guiding children in learning to use a knife: tell them to use "scary fingers". Pretend to be a scary creature with them and hold your curled fingers up in air. Then try it on a piece of fruit (or veggie) and practice holding the fruit in place. Last of all, add the knife to the scenario.