Cooking With Cutie E

Every time I smell wheat bread baking I am immediately transported to my childhood.  That deep, earthy, honey smell reminds me of my mom.  She showed love for others through her baking and cooking.  I always knew we were loved when she gave us a slice of warm wheat bread with melting butter or warm chocolate chip cookies out of the oven with cold milk.  It was her way of giving a warm snuggly hug.

When our children were small I included them in my baking and cooking days.  Each of them enjoy cooking, sharing recipes and trying many of my mom's recipes.  I loved that we share a love for cooking and baking.

Now that I am not teaching, I started planning foods I wanted to try cooking.  On the top of that list was to make Cutie E's baby food.  In the early fall Holly and I visited many farmers markets gathering fresh fruits and vegetables.  The goal was to use produce fresh from a farm and introduce him to variety of foods.  

I already owned Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and had tried many of the recipes years ago.  This time I was cooking for a soon to be toddler not school aged children and I wanted to make sure I was introducing foods at appropriate times.  Holly purchased Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel, it was a huge help with timing, combinations and how to prepare fruits, veggies and meats.

Needless to say I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  By October Cutie E had his own freezer stocked with all types of fruit and veggies.  This made my heart so happy.

Much of my cooking had to wait till Cutie E was napping, it was too hard to cook and take care of a six month old.  Of course the days I decided to cook or bake were the days he decided to take short naps.  those were the days I'd put him in his activity center  and set it in the kitchen with me.  What I was not prepared for was Cutie E's interest in what I was doing.  He wanted to watch the mixer or see what was on the stove.  Now, he wants to sit on the counter while I cook or bake.  He gets his own set of utensils to play with while Grammy uses her's.  He watches the mixer mix cookie dough, or the yeast to rise.

So far we have made his puree's (he does let us know which ones he doesn't like 😂😝),  many batches of cookies, breakfast muffins, wheat bread and so much more.  I can see us cooking together, sharing great memories of making yummy food whether it is family favorites or discovering new recipes together.