whatcha got cookin' ?

Kenly has always enjoyed everything about the kitchen. She wants to know what everything is. She wants to smell the spices. She wants to crack the eggs. She wants to be a hands-on participant, actively involved, in the Brand kitchen. Who are we to squelch that enthusiasm and curiosity, especially if it means that we might have a night off in about 10 years, right?

Kenly and I made some chocolate cupcakes the other day in order to use the remaining icing that was left from her birthday. I'm really bad with proportions, so we had enough blue cream cheese icing to cover another cake when all was said and done. Since it keeps forever, we let some time pass so it would seem new again. Kenly helped every step of the way. I managed to help cook, take some pictures, and keep her from falling off the chair. I think I deserve a Wonder Woman cape.

I love, love, love that fat dimple on her elbow. I've been trying to capture it forever, and I didn't even mean to when I was taking this shot.



Enjoying the fruits of her labor.
I'd say she she gives her product a good endorsement, would you?


Just this past weekend, we passed most of a soggy Sunday cooking away as a family. We started by ridding the kitchen of four overripe baybanas (bananas). We made two different varieties of of banana bread. I'm not a fan of nuts, so we made a straight-forward batch of bread for me. Adam made his batch a bit more flavorful with toasted pecans and a healthy dose of clove and cinnamon. Once again, Kenly didn't want to miss a thing. She loved the finished product as well.

Since we've been home bound these days because of potty training, we've been trying to incorporate a few crafts to keep Kenly from going crazy or from begging to watch the television all day. So, I saw this idea here and we decided to give it a shot. I'd like to say that our finished product was too cute for words, but I can't tell a lie. Our owls are a bit homely, but we are please to have them flying above the play area.

We've also been practicing with a glue stick by doing simple collages with pieces of construction paper. We might get brave and move toward magazine clippings before too long. She really does understand how to use the glue stick even though she's holding it upside down in this photo. The fact that this glue stick goes on purple helps her to understand where the paper scraps should go.
We've been cooking up some fun here in the Brand household.