Our little sous chef

Grace LOVES to play in the kitchen. If she isn't busy in her play kitchen at our house, or her play kitchen or Gram's, or standing on her stool with me in my kitchen, then its a safe bet she is standing on her stool at Gram's house helping Gram. And looking the part is extremely important, so she has aprons and chef hats at both houses. This one, at Gram's is a little on the big size, but to be fair, it is meant for all the grandkids to be able to wear. It probably fits Colton or Carson far better than Grace!

When you work in a kitchen, "mis en place" is very, very important. This is the process of assembling the ingedients before you start cooking so that you don't miss anything. Translated it means "In its place". At home, I rarely take it to the extent that Gram does. Look behind Grace and you can see all her pinch bowls lined up with eggs and vanilla, and measuring cups with sugar and oatmeal. To me, that's just more clean up, but it does help Grace see what is coming next.

At our house, Grace does not care for the stand mixer. Its too noisy for her, it kind of scares her. This picture makes me laugh, because she is standing right up there and looking into the mixer to watch everything come together. In Round Rock, we have a Young Chefs Academy, which I am really looking forward to taking Grace to one day. They have classes and events for kiddos starting at age 3. We still have a year to go, but I think Grace will really enjoy that. On Sunday, we were in Target, taking advantage of the fact that we can still shop for Grace's birthday with her sitting right in the cart. That won't work at Christmas time, but for now, she doesn't even know the difference. Anyway, we stopped and looked at a row of toys that included the Easy Bake Oven. Its recommended for children 8 and above. At this rate, I think she will be well beyond the Easy Bake Oven stage by the time she turns 8! Check out the gallery from the link on the right to see more pictures from today.

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Grace's Birthday pictures

Count Brenda and I into the category of fans of Portrait Innovations! Leading up to Grace's first birthday we took her to have her picture taken at Sears every 3 months so that we could watch her grow. Each time it was a difficult experience. Nobody at Sears seemed to be able to get Grace to interact at all. It usually came down to Brenda and I deciding on 1 decent picture out of the set to use. For Grace's 2 year old picture, we decided to try someplace different. We went to Portrait Innovations. Talk about a great experience. Just like in the previous times, Grace was fussy and not at all interested in having her picture taken. The difference was that this time, the photographer took her time to draw Grace in and make her feel more comfortable. We took some family shots and used lots of different props to keep Grace engaged. It also helped that they took a ton of pictures! Not only did they take lots of pictures, we used 2 different studio rooms and several diffe...

I can do it!

Today was our second class at Young Chefs Academy in Round Rock. Grace was very excited to be going back this morning. We have talked a lot about our class over the last couple of weeks. Grace already has plenty of enthusiasm for spending time in a kitchen, which is something we have been instilling in her at home for some time now. This week, even though this was just our second time in our class, it was a joy to see her confidence grow. When we walked in the door, Grace was still a bit timid, clinging to my leg. She was happy to be there, but she just still needed a few minutes to warm up. By the time Miss Lesley Ann got us into the kitchen, and I got Grace's jacket off, she was already starting to warm up. This was familiar now. Miss Lesley Ann helped her get her apron on, and then it was off to wash our hands. Unlike last week though, I didn't have to take her. She had confidence in where she was, and what the routine was. Miss Lesley Ann was no longer a stranger and the on...

C'mon Mom, it's just PB and J!

When Mommy makes Grace a sandwich, she takes lots of time to cut the sandwich in small, manageable pieces for Grace. Mommy also has a thing for clean fingers, clean hair and hopefully clean ears. There is certainly nothing wrong with this approach. I applaud her enthusiasm for Grace's manners. However, sometimes... well, come on... really. It is just peanut butter and jelly. At this point, I should probably take a moment to thank the sponsors of this particular blog entry, Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Gramma's Strawberry Preserves. Gramma's Strawberry Preserves and Peach Butter is only available at a small pantry in Tyler, TX. She doesn't advertise, she doesn't sell her products online, heck, she doesn't even sell her products period... But those in the know, know where to go to get their jelly fix. Since I am down to my last jar of Strawberry Preserves, and I am completely out of Peach Butter, it must be about time for another journey to East Texas. Since Gramm...

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