OK. I’ll be honest. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to teach your child at home just so you can pick and choose what they learn about. I admit, I do get a little giddy whenever a week rolls around that holds a subject I find interesting myself. Such is the case this week: It’s all about baking! Right up my alley. We’re going to learn about how bread is made, what each ingredient does in a recipe, how to measure correctly, how big bakeries are run, and more. Oh! And eat a lot, a lot of carbs. See why it’s a fun week?

We began today by making applesauce raisin muffins. They are virtually fat-free, so we didn’t feel guilty about slathering a tiny bit of salted butter on them after they came out of the oven. Mmmm….

We decorated paper cupcakes with glitter and paper sprinkles….then made our “dream” paper birthday cakes on paper stands. Don’t the cupcakes look yummy enough to eat??

We set up a “baking prop box” full of miscellaneous extra items from my kitchen that the kids can play with this week. I included a random assortment of things: Cake pans, bread pans, whisks, spatulas, aprons, measuring cups and spoons, a sifter, a pot holder, muffin tins, muffin liners.

When G tired of playing with “pretend ingredients,” I pulled out some old-fashioned oats so he could pour, measure, and learn how to level with a knife for exact measuring. He has had some practice in the kitchen with that already, but it doesn’t hurt to provide extra fine-motor control practice.

After he finished making his “muffins,” I asked him to tell me line by line his recipe so I could write it down. I remember doing this in preschool myself, and the teachers would put all of our dictated recipes in a binder for our moms as a gift. G announced that he was making blueberry muffins with oatmeal in them, and he proceeded to tell me what to do:

“We need to put one cup of sugar (dump it out), then oatmeal (’a little more….7, 8, 9, 11 cups’). Buy blueberries at the grocery store (only one cup). You mix them with a ’sat-yula’ (spatula). We put a little more sugar inside the bowl. We put it inside the sifter thing to chop it up. We put a little oatmeal in then grind it inside the grind-around (a.k.a., the sifter). Put it inside the muffin pan and put it inside the oven. Turn the oven to 8 times. Bake them and then we can eat them up inside our tummy. Yum, yum.”

For dinner, we dined on Gingersnap Waffles, circa Better Homes & Gardens, 1972.

3 cups crushed gingersnaps (about 50 of the small ones)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
3 egg whites

Combine crumbs, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Combine yolks, milk and butter; stir into cookie mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold gently into batter (don’t over-mix). Pour onto preheated, greased waffle iron. Makes 16 4″ waffles.