Baking Traditions

I don't do as much holiday baking as I used to. When the kids were small, I'd spend an entire weekend in the kitchen, making fudge - chocolate and peanut butter - brownies, sprinkle cookies, zucchini bread, cakes, and cookies, cookies and more cookies. Dick and I would both take giant platters of it to work and we'd still have enough at home to nibble on for a couple of weeks.

I got the baking bug again this year. I made my list and headed to the grocery store today. Then I prepared my work area - moving everything off the counters. And I found a willing helper - Naia thought she was queen of the world when she didn't have to share these with anyone. The thrill of licking the beaters never gets old.

Naia was a big help with the zucchini bread. She grated the zucchini, tasted the brown sugar (to make sure it was still good, of course), measured and poured ingredients, and opened the oven for me. We watched it - impatiently - rise in the oven and were cutting into it before it even had a chance to cool. This was Naia's first experience with zucchini bread and she pronounced it deeelicious.

Naia also measured and mixed all the ingredients for the sprinkle cookies, which are my personal favorite. Butter, graham crackers, chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts and condensed milk. Yum!

And every helper should be responsible for the dishes, right? While I cooked chicken, made chili, and started a big pot of beefy macaroni, Naia had a great time - and made a great mess - with three sinks-full of sudsy water. And afterward? We watched the Grinch together. Merry almost Christmas!