Her pic nic

This was an impromptu pic nic...

She announced she was having one...

and I was invited.

Orange soda, chips, and pineapple.When you have an impromptu pic nic, you check the pantry and grab a few things. We ate chinese afterwards.

A little girl's pizza

Grasshopper and Snowden decided to make some pizza.

The kitchen was all theirs...

They pull out all the ingredients...

Ready for the oven.

And no, it was not eadible this time around. :-)

Science and food

Fish is such a staple of Portuguese food.

Snowden will eat seafood. Grasshopper prefers to study it.

This ended up being squid in tomato sauce.

The coconut girl

Grasshopper's request from Lee Lee's supermarket was a coconut. She has had them before, but she recently had it at school as well as part of a lesson on how the conquistadors survived in the places they found.

She set about cracking the thing.

The milk was collected.

She calls this "the meat"

Snowden helps

She is less passionate about the coconut, but loves a challenge.

Dinner Chez Grasshopper

The girls have been participating more and more in the cooking and baking.

They usually perform tasks such as mincing onions, or cutting something into small pieces.

Whenever possible I explain how the tasks are part of a bigger picture.

Grasshopper decided to make her own soup, using ingredients of her choosing. My participation was limited to suggesting that the onions be sauteed. She did that and developed the rest of the recipe.

She took notes and can repeat it later.

Some of the ingredients were: potatoes, spinach, garlic, and the juice of tangerines. Color was an important element.

it turned out very edible and tasty. The time spent in the kitchen with my daughters is rich in love, tolerance, and creativity.

Making bread

This gift from my sister sat in the pantry unused for years. But no more, the girls and I are on our way to becoming creative bread makers, or padeiras, as we say in Portuguese.

I had to find the manual online.

We used recipes from this book.

This was the simplest recipe - white bread.

It turned out really well. It is delicious.

It was a really fun way for Snowden and Grasshopper to spend a day off from school. I'm ready for more.

Asparagus

One more cooking lesson for the youngens. TJ wanted to serve asparagus to our guests and off we went in search of some, placed the in water for plumpness and then cooked them.

The cold bath to stop the cooking method.

In the butter with garlic sauce.

It was simply divine, and check out the nutritional value.

Eggs

Grasshopper seems to have a fascination for pealing. She tried pealing the shell off hard boiled eggs.

Gently.

Almost done. I love teaching them tricks I have learned myself.

She will add this to a potato salad. One more skill under her belt.

Grasshopper's Birthday

Snowden and Grasshopper helped make the cupcakes for the party.

We have developed a groove.

Snowden took charge of the frosting.

I applied it.

Happy birthday Grasshopper!

Potatoes

Little hands peel the potatoes and while at it, express a bit of creativity.

The potato people.

The beginnings of potato salad.

Grasshopper's spaghetti

What can an 8 year old make herself for lunch? I taught my youngens how to make home made spaghetti with tomato sauce. I generally saute diced tomatoes fresh or canned, with onions, olive oil and Italian spices.

Grasshopper grabs a can of diced tomatoes and warms it up a bit. She later determines that it wasn't cooked enough and it needed the onions. I am loving the cooking lessons.

Vegetables for dipping

Grasshopper was my helper on the 4th of July. She washed and dried the vegetables to be served before the meal.

She's an all around artist.