Cooker Ryan

If you ask Ryan what she wants to be when she grows up, you'll get a myriad of answers but the most common is a chef (although often said as 'cooker').   Move over Giada, her new favorite cooking show is Extra Virgin (referred to as 'vava viva' by Ryan) on the Cooking Channel.  Anyway, she is always wanting to help out in the kitchen so she gets her own work station and all my scraps to have at it.....

She can also make a mean smoothie now....

In other news, these two are best buddies..... 

And there aren't too many words to describe this girl....

Baking cookies....and the subsequent sugar high

It was about time the girls and I busted out a batch or two of a Christmas must-have.....sugar cookies.   My helpers were all too eager to help and, in all honesty, wanted to do everything themselves.  I may have been asked to 'go sit on the couch' a few times so they could do it all their own way.  But this was going to be a joint, fun, holiday bonding occasion damnit and I was staying put.
If only they could channel this determination into cleaning their room:
They quickly adopted their own jobs....Reese was master roller, Ryan was chief decorator.
And then we learned the hard way why 'chief decorator' requires at minimum a Pre-Kindergarten degree.
Still working on sprinkle control.....obviously.
So we tried out a new job on her.....cookie watcher
And the take home lesson of today? Probably best not to bake sugar cookies at 4:30 in the afternoon....or else this is what your living room will look like after dinner.
Shield your eyes from the pull-up on Reese.....I don't even want to talk about it.  Two rather bad (and I mean bad) accidents in underwear in the last 2 days + impending birth = throwing in the towel  (#2 speaking) for the time being.

le cordon bleu

I should enroll Ryan....she has really taken to this 'cooking' thing and I now find her peppering her speech with "teaspoon", "pinch of salt", "herbs".   All that Giada is starting to pay off.
When I cook, I give her my scraps and she whips up her own creations....tasting along the way.
Side note...but is it just me or has Kraft Mac and Cheese not tasted the same for about the last year or so? I think it tastes disgusting and hello? We're talking Mac and Cheese here - how is that possible? Anyway, I now prefer to make my own but I had a few boxes leftover in the pantry so I let the girls keep their own stash of noodles to 'play' with. They love it. Cleanup is relatively easy on those occasions when Reese spills her bowl ALL over the floor.
She uses her knife and the cutting (upside down of course) melts my heart - such thought and precision in that head of hers.
Adding a 'pinch' of her 'herbs'
The seriousness kills me

Giada

Ryan is mildly obsessed with Giada de Laurentiis, which couldn't make me happier. When Reese naps, we'll sometimes sit down and watch our 'cooking show' together. We now bring our little Target side table (which weighs all of 2 pounds) into the kitchen so Ryan can 'play Giada'. She's even been known to ask to watch episodes on my computer. Now if this could translate into a cooking sensation by age seven, I won't object.  She's a pretty mean egg cracker, if I do say so myself (minus the one I found prematurely cracked all over the inside of my fridge...but whatev)
Watching intently:
Stirring ice with her sous chef:
Checking on her baked goods, clad in two aprons....like any diligent chef.
Another day, another menu to create.  Reese found banging her spoons as loudly as humanly possible more enjoyable than the finer arts of the culinary craft.
Sous chef is out of control. Chef has resorted to covering her ears....so hard to find a good assistant these days.

Cooking interlude....

Our theme this year for the annual Christmas gift exchange was 'cooking' - so keeping with the theme, I started a Britt family cooking blog mainly to get my mother to start sharing her recipes "oh you know I don't write this stuff down, I just make it".  Thanks Peg.  Anyway, the family is always on the lookout for delicious recipes so, blogworld, feel free to send my way if you have any you want to share!  I have two trusty helpers who are always more than willing to assist in the kitchen.
http://cookingwiththebritts.blogspot.com/

Sucker....

Who, you may ask? Me. I am the biggest sucker for anything Gwyneth. She apparently is a love/hate kind of figure and I for one, adore her. Therefore with a few clicks of the good ole computer mouse, this beauty is in the mail and will be in my waiting hands in time for the weekend to start.
Should you be as obsessed as I, you can find it here.

Mickey Mouse Waffles at Home!!!

Anything that anyone has ever considered.."good", "funny" or generally "cute" about this blog is due 100% to my wonderful, beautiful, tireless wife Leslie.  Accordingly, I will do my best to not bring the overall quality down with my post.

Each Sunday I try to take Ryan to our little breakfast spot Spencer's Grill.  It's been around for a really long time (see photo evidence below) and they serve pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse.  Aside from a little grub in our tummys, it's a chance for Ryan to sharpen her Smuckers Jelly packet stacking skills as well as her "pincher's of power"...she uses those to make the little creamers explode.  The waitresses all know us by name and they all either love our little terror or the big tips Dad leaves amongst the wreckage....probably a little of both.

My mom loves hearing about this little outing each week for many reasons, one of them being that her Dad, My Grandpa Bucko, served Mickey Mouse pancakes at the dinner he ran for over 30 years...Bucks Grill.

Thanks to my moms wonderful friend, Carolyn, we now have a Mickey Mouse waffle iron of our very own.  I just brought it home from my last trip to Dallas and we took it for a spin this morning....here is how it turned out!

What...you don't stir with one hand on your hip??

Juice is always a priority - "I do both Daddy"

Hurry up with the photo - I've got Mickey to eat!

Note to all readers - Leslie doesn't allow Ryan (or me) sit on the counter on most mornings....this morning was special - it was a Mickey Mouse Waffles morning!

Thanks again Carolyn!

Nothing says Turkey Day like Makers Mark....

I had some help in the kitchen this Thanksgiving.  Ryan was right by my side while I made the Sweet Potato Casserole and Bobby Flay's Pumpkin Bread Pudding (thanks to his Throwdown with the Pioneer Woman).

A pastry cutter and a miniature bottle of Bourbon, a deadly duo....

And not to leave Reesey out, my own little mini-turkey: 

Shake-shake

Thank you to the Pioneer Woman for two great cooking feats yesterday:  for dinner, I made her pasta with tomato cream sauce - it was delightful, sinfully fattening, but oh so good.  Both Ryan and Grant ate it up, 3 for 3 at dinnertime is rare and a big success in my book.

For dessert, we made the most heavenly sugar cookies I have tasted in quite some time (let alone made, all by myself, and from scratch!) ---- 'all by myself' would be a lie, little Ms. Ryan was right there with me to help smash the dough down and put a little 'shake-shake' on top (sprinkles).

Sadly, all of this happened yesterday because precious, little Reese has been home sick with a fever the last few days.  Thank you Reese for taking one for the team and allowing mom to be home with you thus giving us edible meals again!   Part of the fever culprit would be those two little puppies that popped up in her mouth - you can somewhat see below in this pic - you can tell in her eyes she isn't feeling well....It just makes you want to grab her, head to bed and cuddle - the one positive of a sick babe, they sure do want to be around and love on mom:)

Not quite Giada, just yet.....

Well, dinner wasn't a total success but it was definitely better than Martha's sorry excuse for a meal.  I was very proud of myself b/c the meatloaf looked good and smelled great but it was only so-so in taste.   The mushrooms, on the other hand, were delightful.  They will make a tasty little leftover snack today.

Iron Chef Ryan

Ryan has become quite the helper now that she's no longer the 'baby' but the 'big sister'. Here she is helping mom in the kitchen (and let's face it, mom can use all the help she can get):

Pizza night - plenty of 'shake-shake' (Parmesan as Ryan affectionately calls it)

Feta cheese - yum! And sticky!


Another night, another edible meal - this time onto the potatoes:

Stirring is her favorite part - whether you want/need her to or not, she will stir and stir with all her might.