Cooking on Vacation

I've decided that I'm officially broken in terms of cooking for my family.  Last night I made enchiladas & looked at the amount of food & went, "Is this enough? Do I make more?"  I had no clue.  It turns out I made exactly the right amount for us, but it was such a weird sensation.

I also taught N [age 11] how to make scrambled eggs.  He's becoming quite the little chef himself now.  He has no fear to try cooking new stuff.  So maybe he did get something from me after all. Sometimes I wonder what w/all the gaming he's wont to do. 

It's good that the kids are learning things in the kitchen.  Sometimes it gets on my nerves. for example, Elie cracked an egg all over the cupboard & it dripped down the front of the cabinets.  But she's 4  I took a deep breath & wiped it off.  And kept going.  You can't make an omelette w/o breaking a few eggs right...I'll be here all week....hit the tip jar on the way out....

But seriously, Grandma never really had me cook much & she still thinks rosemary is an exotic spice.  So I want my crew to be able to enjoy at least cooking for themselves sometimes!

Oatmeal Raisin Cake for my B'day Boy

Niall's favorite dessert is oatmeal raisin cookies, which makes his b'day cake rather anticlimactic sometimes.  Here's your big cookie honey.  But this year, I was able to find a recipe for making it into an actual cake, which turned out fabulous! I used vanilla buttercream frosting w/it.

Here is the original link for it w/recipe below:

Applesauce-Oatmeal Raisin Cake

Recipe courtesy Elizabeth Alston

Prep Time:

35 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

40 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water test
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup dark raisins
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 13 by 9-inch baking pan

Directions

Bring the water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan over moderately high heat. Stir in the oats. When the liquid returns to a boil, stir in the raisins and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats are soft and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar, applesauce, and oil. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease the pan. Put the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir to mix well. Stir the eggs into the oat mixture. Add the flour mixture, and stir just until moistened. Spread in the prepared pan and bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake starts to shrink from the sides of the pan and a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake is good served warm. Or cool completely, cover tightly, and store overnight at room temperature before serving or freezing.

Winter Break

The good news: 3 cooking days left & then a month off.

The bad news: 3 cooking days left & then a month off.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm endlessly cooking for a Girl's Night Out.  I feel like I have adopted a whole troop of girls & I'm sad to think I won't see them for a month.  It is a weird sensation. My job doesn't feel like just a normal job, I don't know how else to describe it.  Not that they all think I'm wonderful & the best thing ever, but so many of them have become 'my girls'.  I treat them how I would want someone to treat my kids when they go out into the word.  And I've developed...a friendship...a mentor-type relationship....a house Mom-thing....with a lot of them.

It will be so weird when those girls begin to graduate. I can't even ponder it yet!