This time of year gets crazy for everyone. But dealing with food allergies, things get absolutely insane!!! Every event that we have over this week, next and the following will require some type of baked goods - Thanksgiving Feast at preschool, Caleb's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Gingerbread cookies for decorating at school the week after Thanksgiving...so I say that it's time to let the baking begin! Today we have the music of Trombone Shorty blaring (Caleb's current favorite pick), and we're getting ready to knock out some pumpkin muffins and birthday cupcakes. There's a lot of downside to managing food allergies, but one of the greatest upsides is the time spent in the kitchen with kiddos.
Caleb is a hoot in the kitchen. Thanks to Trombone Shorty, he can no longer walk normally, but struts around with some weird hip-hop gait; waiving a whisk in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. He stirs to the beat and he sniffs everything to see how the smell changes as things are added. He is also into making up "Spanish" words for everything that we're doing - it's hysterical. We've been doing this long enough for him to have his "jobs" throughout the recipe and woe be it if I forget and do one of HIS jobs before he does!
Corley is his alter ego in the kitchen - she's serious and doesn't wander off as much. She's a born instructor and talks the entire time as if she's on a cooking show. I get "in trouble" a lot since I tend to forget that I'm on our "cooking show" and I stop speaking to the camera! She's getting really good and has learned a lot of skills that I didn't know in college. It's fun to watch her creativity come out in the kitchen - she's a surprising risk-taker with some of her suggested combinations. And she's a huge help with reading recipes - which really comes in handy when we've got two boys running through the kitchen!
Nate's still developing his "kitchen personality". Right now it's mostly to create havoc, running off with whisks and contaminating uncooked batter with his sticky fingers. He definitely makes time in the kitchen exciting...and we do as much cooking as possible during his nap time! Oh well, he's got some growing and maturing to do, but it will be fun to see what kind of cook he grows into!
Although this time is busy, and the clock that someone seems to have on fast forward makes things a bit stressful, I am determined to make it fun. Will it be perfect? Probably not. Will all of our traditional treats taste like Grandma's? Most definitely not. But we'll make memories - many, many memories...and for that I am most thankful. Let the baking begin!
