My youngest granddaughter, Katie, doesn't live in the same as town as her older cousins and I do. But I often go to her house for a short visit or to help when one of her parents is away on business and the one at home has to balance full-time work with child care. When they were younger, Katie and her brother, Luke, liked to help me bake chocolate chip cookies, brownies, or some other tasty treat. They would stand on chairs on one side of the kitchen counter, measuring and stirring the ingredients as best they could. But their real expertise involved licking bowls and spoons clean of batter.
Katie shares several characteristics with my mother. She loves rainy days and, even on sunny days, sometimes prefers to stay at home, quietly reading or working on a sewing project instead of playing outside. And she enjoys cooking. This past year her home was remodeled and Katie, now ten, has greatly expanded her cooking skills in an efficient new kitchen. She likes to experiment with recipes, such as adding cinnamon to chocolate brownies or lavender to sugar cookies.
On a recent visit, we made lemon bars, following my mother's recipe, but with the delightful advantage of a fresh lemon picked from the Meyer lemon tree outside Katie’s front door. Later that day, she persuaded her mother to take her to the grocery store to buy ingredients for cookies she could hardly wait to make. After dinner, she mixed up the cookies on her own. When it came time to bake the cookies, she asked for my help, explaining that the hot oven scared her. I showed her how to use a pot holder to get a firm grip of the cookie sheet and slide it onto the oven rack, then out again when the cookies were done.
The day after I left, Katie created another improvisation that she calls Tie-dye Cupcakes. I didn't get to taste them, but here's her recipe.
Katie's Tie-dye Cupcakes
2 ¾ cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 egg whites
1 ¼ cups milk
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Several shades of food coloring
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cupcake tin with paper cupcake wrappers.
Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. In a large bowl beat butter at medium speed for 30 seconds; gradually add the sugar and beat 2 minutes longer. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla to the milk and beat into butter/sugar/egg white mixture alternately with the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter among prepared cupcake holders. With a toothpick, swirl drops of complementary food colors into the cupcake batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.
Frost with powdered sugar frosting, adding color to match the cupcakes, if desired.
Katie and Luke don’t watch much television. So recently when their father said they could see the final episode of Gordon Ramsay's Master Chef Junior competition, if they'd get ready for bed first, they excitedly complied. I've watched adult segments of this show but had never seen the children's version. The two finalists, a preteen boy and girl competed with an impressive demonstration of culinary skills. I noted how attentively my grandchildren watched the show and realized that they have a medium for learning to cook that encourages their creativity.
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