cooking with kids | Nana's Whimsies

Mylee is tearing up the cheese for the soup.

Mylee is helping me make soup.

Chopped
I cook with my grandkids. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do. Whether or not this activity has had an effect on any of them remains unseen. What I do know, however, is that many of them like to cook. I have talked about Alastair’s love for food and cooking in my blog before. You might be aware that for a while, Addie contributed to my blog through a kids’ cooking segment. (She is now a very busy 7^th grader, so she hasn’t much time to fiddle around with my blog.) Kaiya and Mylee both love to help me cook when they visit, and it’s an activity we often enjoy together. Yesterday I watched Mylee make her presentation as Afternoon Kindergarten Student of the Week at her school, Willow Creek Elementary. One of the questions the teacher asked her was What do you want to be when you grow up. I was absolutely certain I knew her answer, as she has always told me she wanted to be a doctor. Anyhoo, her answer to the teacher’s question? “A chef,” said Miss Mylee. Who knew? One thing I will tell you is that when I was 5 years old, I would never have heard of a chef. The days of Food Network.

This is one of my favorite photos of my mom, helping Court do heaven-knows-what at their home in Dillon.

Happy Birthday, Mom
Yesterday my mom would have turned 89. She died when she was 68 years old following a long illness. Having myelofibrosis certainly didn’t stop her from enjoying her life, however, at least not until the very end. She was so, so young when she passed away. I miss her every day. I miss her especially when I watch my grandkids and think about how much she would have enjoyed her great grandchildren. She was unable to meet a single one of her great grands. She loved all of her grandchildren, but I think we all agree that she was partial to her girlies. I wish she could have met Kaiya and Mylee. I don’t know if you celebrate birthdays in heaven, but just in case: Happy birthday Mom!

Who Was Lady and Who Was Tramp?
The other day when Kaiya, Mylee, and Cole were spending the day with us, I brought out my apple peeler. It’s Fall, after all. The inevitable Apple Crisp. I don’t know why I think Apple Crisp can only be made in the Fall, but I never, ever make it at any other time of the year. And I never fail to make at least one in the Fall. Anyhoo, my old-fashioned apple peeler peels the apple in one very long strip. It is simply too tempting to ignore. So this happened…..

I told the girls they looked like the dogs in Lady and the Tramp during the romantic kiss scene in which the two dogs eat the same strand of spaghetti leading to the kiss, which made Kaiya giggle as only Kaiya can giggle. “Nana, what kind of dogs are Lady and the Tramp?” she asked. Now that is kind of a good question. I’m pretty sure Lady is a Cocker Spaniel and I’m pretty sure Tramp is a mutt. I haven’t seen the movie for 50 years, but I think that was the controversy. No?

Strapless
Yesterday morning I was in the locker room at 24 Hour Fitness. I noticed a woman getting dressed for, I don’t know, work? A social function? A wedding? It doesn’t matter. What struck me is that she was wearing a really pretty red dress with a square back that was cut a little low, but not inappropriately so. What I particularly noticed, however, is that she was wearing a red bra. I know this because the straps were entirely visible. I have noticed this many times before. Women nowadays use their bra as part of their, well, I don’t know, accessories? I wasn’t a bit horrified. I just remembered how when I was young, we went to all sorts of lengths to make sure our bra straps were hidden. We wore strapless bras, bras that crisscrossed in the back, halter bras, anything so that the dress hid the bra straps. Most were highly uncomfortable. If only……

Ciao!

Christmas in July
The Colorado weather is being finicky once again. Several rainy days in a row, with temperatures struggling to get into the high 60s. Seriously, Tuesday and Wednesday were so chilly I was toying with the idea of turning on the heat. I dug my heels in, however. I WILL NOT RUN HEAT THE WEEK OF JULY 4^TH!

How on earth does that tiny body stay warm?

Too Cold to Swim
I watched the four McLain kids Monday and Tuesday while their mom was out of town and their dad was at work. Dagny and Alastair had a dive meet onTuesday. A woman came to the door, and I cheerfully handed them off to her, hoping like hell it was the person with whom I had been instructed to send them. She seemed friendly, and the kids didn’t look panicked. I’m happy to say they were returned safely, if cold as a Russian winter. Seriously, Dagny – who has not a single extra ounce of fat on her little skinny body – was shivering like a wet dog after his bath. But she was proud of her 5^th place ribbon!

Seared Skin
Monday night, when Dave came to pick up the kids, I invited them all to stay for dinner. I was making a delicious dinner called Chicken au Champagne. Sounds like the perfect dinner for kids, right? Anyway, it involves searing the chicken in an oven-proof skillet, and then putting said skillet in the oven to finish cooking the chicken. I did all of that, and when the chicken was done, I took it out of the oven and set it on the rangetop so that I could find a pretty dish on which to serve the chicken. I set the serving dish down by the skillet and proceeded to grab the skillet by the handle with my bare hands. Seriously? Is there anything stupider that a supposedly experienced cook could do? I absolutely KNOW that when a skillet comes out of the oven, you are supposed tie a towel around the handle to protect you from your own forgetfulness. I quickly put my hand under cold running water and I’m happy to say that there was very little damage done. My hand hurt a bit that night, but it was all better by the next day. In the words of our friend Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Good Eats
I always thought Addie would be the grandchild who would be a chef. It’s true that she likes to cook, and is quite adept at the art. Still, I find that it really is 10-year-old Alastair who likes to eat and is knowledgeable about which spices would taste good on what. He has quite a sophisticated palate. One morning when I was babysitting and getting the kids ready for school, I watched as they all packed their lunches. Peanut butter and jelly for a couple, and plain turkey meat for one. But Alastair went to the freezer, pulled out a ciabatta roll, carefully cut it, toasted it, laid his turkey meat and swiss cheese on the bread, and put a lovely piece of

These are the spices he chose from his mom’s pantry.

green leaf lettuce on the sandwich. I half expected him to pull out a little half-bottle of a young pinot noir to tuck in beside the sandwich. The other night they invited us over for burgers and brats. Alastair had prepared shrimp for an appetizer. He had marinated the shrimp in wonderful spices and grilled them himself. They were simply delicious, as you can see from the photo. I will tell you that he doesn’t necessarily wear a helmet while grilling. I caught him just as he was about to take off on his Razor scooter.

Animators-in-the-Making

Shortly after seeing the movie Inside Out, Maggie Faith, Kaiya, and Mylee set out to recreate the characters using the medium of Play Doh. Let’s see Pixar do that! I invite you to notice details such as Sadness’ glasses and Disgust’s eyelashes.

L-R: Anger, Joy, Sadness, Fear, and Disgust

The actual characters: l-r, Anger, Fear, Joy, Disgust, and Sadness

Ciao.

Nana's Whimsies

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