Cooks in the Kitchen: FACS Time!

One of Daniel's classes this fall was FACS (Family and Consumer Science- basically, your Home Ec)- he learned different sewing stitches, made a mini pillow of sorts, and an ear saver (a very timely sewing project that incorporated buttons) and then he did the cooking portion of the class in the end...all at home, of course. This meant I got to be his teacher in the kitchen. I also got to be the listener of all his complaints, sigh. But we got through it all just fine! And actually, with more practice and with each assignment, Daniel was a little more easy-going. He really is a very responsible and accountable kid. And I have to say, in school, he'd have only been doing a portion of each recipe/kitchen task, whereas at home- I made him do it all (rightfully, so!) and that was a lot to take in. He did great though!! And we've all gotten to enjoy such yummy foods in the process, too! Daniel is very glad this class is over though, haha! He starts PLTW (don't even ask) this week (okay, fine, I'll try...Project Lead the Way- see, what I mean? eye rolling! it's something to do with engineering, problem solving and design, is my understanding).

And now for pictures...though you'll notice they begin with Annabel in the kitchen! That's because the minute she heard Daniel had to cook for school, she was VERY jealous and then when I printed Daniel's FACS class recipes she really couldn't wait to get in the kitchen and do her own cooking, too. So, first up we have Annabel making Applesauce Cake- entirely by herself, even the oven part (which was her first time and boy was she SO proud!)- I had no part in this, except keeping her company. And taking pictures. The cake was very good and would make an excellent breakfast we all decided. After this success, she was further inspired to make more recipes and started digging into all the books I owned for her next recipe. I can hardly keep up with these kids these days!

Now we have Daniel in the kitchen this time!! Daniel's first assigned recipe was chocolate chip cookies. He needed a bit of prodding and encouragement, as well as time to get over the whole getting messy thing (he really takes after me, I hate getting gooey messy!), but in the end, he did 99.9% of the work and the cookies turned out great! We had no problem gobbling those things right up!

Daniel had to take pictures of his mise en place for every recipe, as well the end product, hence the Chromebook in the kitchen each time! Again with my shaking head- this is just all so weird.

That same day, Annabel was right behind Daniel in the kitchen making Black Bottom Cupcakes. She did most of the work, though I ended up helping to ladle the batter into the cupcake wrappers because you have to work pretty fast at it to catch all the drips. She felt less confident about this part simply because of the speed and drippage, but otherwise, she did everything again. These cupcakes were pretty tasty as well, though I was quickly getting too full to eat even one more tiny bite. And between two lunch times (the kids' new Stage 2 schedule, which stinks in my book but we'll just not go there, has one eating lunch at 11:10 and the other eating lunch at 1:00, with me eating somewhere in there, too), plus assisting Daniel with his recipe and then assisting Annabel with hers...I was literally in the kitchen ALL day that day. And the kitchen is my least favorite room. I hate to spend all day there, I don't love cooking that much At. All. I was so very tired that afternoon. But, yay for good food and awesome cooks!!

Another day, another recipe. This time Daniel had to make Apple Crisp. Annabel helped peel a couple of his apples, but besides that, Daniel did the rest himself and this time it was far easier. See? He just needed to get over it and then it went much smoother. Easy peasy! And this recipe used the microwave only, which was interesting, so no oven this time. Pretty fast recipe and it was mighty tasty, too!

The apple crisp assignment was paired with Orange Julius, which we did later that night as well. Ben and I liked that better than the kids did. Then again, neither of them likes orange juice one bit, so there's that. Fun recipe in any case!

Back in the kitchen again- Rice Krispies this time...also all in the microwave!

Almost done. Two more recipes left. This time it's Pizza bread, which was really good! The kids gobbled that right up! The recipe called for a half a loaf of bread, so Annabel made her own loaf, too, just to help use it all up. We're glad she did because it was that good!

Last recipe! Caramel breakfast ring- this was so good! And so easy! Also gone in minutes!