cooking dinner with the kids (well, actually, with one kid at a time)

I always have trouble getting into a summer routine, but this year it was easier, because there were a few things I knew I wanted to do.

And one of them was to cook dinner with my kids.

Bess is almost 11. Gamgee is 9.  And Lucy and Anna are both 7.

Great ages, marvelous ages, capable ages.  (Seriously, dear moms of young ones, it gets better and better. Harder in some ways, easier in others, but . . . better. Because they become people, more and more. And that is lovely.)


But anyway, Adam and I have four children. And that is not so much as some, but it is a fair amount of children as these things go, and while I love them when they're acting like a litter of puppies - all tumbling over each other and shouting and playing and shouting (So. Much. Shouting.) - I also really love spending time with them one-on-one, when I can pay real, focused attention to each individual child.

And it struck me that since dinner has to be made every night, and since each of them enjoys spending time in the kitchen (none so much as Bess, who is the sort of child who makes banana cream pies from scratch - pie crust and meringue and pudding and all), that taking one of them every weeknight as my Dinner Buddy - i.e., co-chef - would be a great way to get some one-on-one time in.

And it has been.

Now, to be honest, making dinner with a seven-year-old (or nine-year-old, or almost-eleven-year-old) makes dinner prep. take twice as long*, but that's an okay price to pay for some quality time with each of these small people I love who are swiftly ceasing to be small and so quickly becoming big people with personalities and loves and annoyances and hang-ups and joys and everything that makes up a person in this world.

I want to be there with each of them as they grow through these important years.

Making dinner is just one small way.

But it's a good way. And I love this time, and I am grateful for it.

Thanks be to God.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



*I lie. It's at least three-times-as-long.

Kid-Friendly Basic Recipe for Ice Cream Cake

The kid-friendly part of this recipe (besides the sticky-sweet final product) is that there aren't any unsafe ingredients (i.e., no raw eggs) and so it's snitchable at every stage of the process.

Also, please note how considerate I am in getting this super-indulgent recipe up before Ash Wednesday. :D

Ingredients:
-1.5-2 quarts ice cream
-1 package sandwich cookies
-1/3 c. butter
-candy, syrup, nuts (all or some, whatever you like best!)

Recipe:
1. Let ice cream sit out fifteen minutes or so, to soften.

2. Meanwhile, in food processor, combine cookies and butter until crumbly. (You can also do this by hand, crushing the cookies and mixing them with the butter, it'll just take longer.)

3. Spread cookie/butter mixture along the bottom of a pan (you can use an 8x12 baking pan; here I use two 8x8 pans, because I was making the cakes for my twins' birthday, and wanted to make them each their own).

The kids can help pat it smooth.

4. Spread half of the softened ice cream on top of the cookie crust,

And pat it smooth with the back of a spoon, careful not to disturb the cookie crust too much.

5. Cover the ice cream with candy, syrup, and/or nuts, whatever your heart (or the birthday kid's heart) desires:

6. Cover with another layer of ice cream - you can use a different flavor, if you like:

Smooth this layer down with the back of a spoon also. It might be getting kind of melty at this point, but just do your best - you're going to freeze the whole thing at the end, and it'll even itself out in the end.

7.Cover the second layer of ice cream with more syrup, candy, and/or nuts. My February girls each chose a different sort of heart candy:

Sweethearts for Anna, chocolate hearts for Lucy.

8. Cover the cake and stick the whole thing back in the freezer for at least two hours, allowing it to freeze solid.

9. Slice (carefully!), serve, and enjoy!

And now that you've seen the monstrosities that my daughters put together, may I recommend some combinations for a more grown-up palate?

Toffee Ice Cream Cake:

-Coffee ice cream

-Chocolate ice cream

-crunched-up Heath bars

-slivered almonds

-caramel sauce

-chocolate sandwich cookies for crust

Peanut-butter Chocolate Ice Cream cake:

-Nutter Butter cookies for crust

-cookie dough ice cream

-Moose Tracks ice cream

-Reeses Pieces

-peanuts

-chocolate syrup

Mint Ice Cream Cake:

-Mint Oreos for crust

-mint-chocolate ice cream

-cookies and cream ice cream

-crushed Andes mints

-slivered almonds

-dark chocolate chips

Enjoy!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Crocheted FOs: Pretty Potholders, Part II

I finished a pair of potholders from this pattern a few weeks ago; this is the second pair, so that I can have one pair out and one in the wash. I'm hoping that strategy will keep these from looking shabby for awhile!

The color pooling on these is slightly psychedelic, but I'm digging it!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell