In the Kitchen with Jayden!

The weather has been so perfect lately, unfortunately I have been too sick to enjoy it. Holed up in my room and not wanting to move, I've missed many opportunities to play with my favorite little men, Jayden and Silas! My Great Nephews & I have lots of fun together, which is why everyone else gets the title of Uncle or Aunt while I am simply.... Becky. "C'mon Becky, Let's go play waterguns!" "You feel better, Becky? Can we play?" These questions killed me, because the answer was always the same.... "Not today, Jayden. I don't feel well." Soon he stopped asking me. 3 weeks passed and not fully up to playing yet, I found Jayden in the room watching t.v.. "Want to make cookies, Jayden?" His sat up and got real close to my face and asked, "Are you better? Can we eat them?" We went to the kitchen only to discover that I had no more flour! GRRR!! I hate that. Meanwhile, Jayden was rummaging through my baking drawer and found Mnems! Hmmm... Improvise Becky! I can't let him down another day. I found a box of cake mix and still no strength to be creative.... I looked up a Cake Mix Cookie recipe. Yes, They have them! I've never tried it, but I figured, Hey! If it doesn't work out ... I can blame it on the 3 year old! LOL!! Turns out, they are Foolproof! Either that, or I have a Baking Genius Great Nephew! Hmmm.... something to ponder. I did mention 2 nephews. Silas kept me alert by crawling around my legs and pulling himself up on my pants, which were loose and I had to make sure he didn't pull them down. So, with everyone having a job to do ..... we began.

"Can we eat Mnems too, Becky?" start with 1 box white cake mix and 1 bag of M&M's. 

"What's the first step, Becky? What do we do first, huh?" Jayden drug the step stool all around the kitchen until I put it in one place and told him to stay there. Did you know a 3 year old talks non-stop? AND ... he only talks in questions?? This was going to be fun! What did I get myself into??

Beat 1/2 c. (1 stick) softened margarine until light & fluffy. Scrape down the sides. Add 1/2 box of cake mix.

"That's excellent, Jayden! You didn't drop any of the cake mix!" "Don't worry, Becky! I know what I'm doing!" oh. ok.

Add 3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar.

Let's not tell anyone that he was curious about the textures and flavors so he kept sticking his finger in things and tasting it. "Mmmmm." Then he'd hop off the stool and say, "Wait, I have to wash my hands! Make the water warm, please." hehe.... a kid after my own heart. and I didn't even have to tell him to wash them.

Throw in 2 eggs.

"OMGOSH, Jayden! You're a Super Helper!" "Thank You, Becky! You're Awesome, too!" I swear I'm not making this stuff up! He really says these things! His Mommy & Daddy have done a Great job!  "What's the next step, Becky? What do we do next?" "Can I do the bunella?"

Add 2 teaspoons of Vanilla. "Mmm... that smells good, Becky!"

He tasted the Vanilla because it smelled good. "Yuck! That doesn't taste good, Becky! Do we have to put it in?" "Yes, Jayden. It's like perfume. It will make the cookies smell good." "ok then." Before I forget, he actually smelled the cookie before he bit it. "mmm.... smells like bunella!" lol.... smart kid.

Gently turn on Sweetie and mix for 2 minutes.

"What's her name again?" "Sweetie." "Oh, yeah, she's pretty." Aww... he's just trying to butter me up.

Make sure you watch it, so it gets mixed correctly.

"What the next step, Becky?" "Can we put Mnems in now?" "What do I do now, Becky?" Do you ever get tired of hearing your name? Not when it's said over and over by your favorite 3 year old. ; ) "I'm a Super Helper, Becky!"

At 3 years old, Jayden is an Excellent Scraper of the Sides!

He did this surprising well, getting every spot and scraping it down. "You're Amazing, Jayden!" " I'm a Super Helper, Becky!"

Hey! Becky has a picture just like this one.... Must be a requirement to bake.

He looked at the spatula for a bit, wondering if he should. "Do you want to lick the spatula?" I didn't have to ask twice. "What do I do next, Becky? Can I put Mnems now?"

"Are you sure we put in ALL of 'em, Becky?" Yes, put in all of them,
Along with the rest of the dry cake mix  and mix it by hand just until the cake mix is wet.

He only put in the M&Ms and I mixed the batter. "Hurry Becky! Can I put them on the paper?" "What are we going to do now, Becky?"

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

It took him a few minutes to figure out how to squeeze the scoop. But he got it. Squeezed with all his might. I wish I could've recorded the grunts he made.

Well, We're going to have 1 giant cookie here. Make sure they are at least 2 inches apart. They will spread.

"I'm a Super Helper, Becky!" "Did I do a good job?" "You did a Good Job too, Becky!" "Thank you for feeling better!" Ahhh.... does he know how to grab a girls Heart or what??"

"I take your picture, Becky! Your turn!" He has pretty good aim. I only held the camera steady. This is the 5th pic that he was happy with. It wasn't blurry. "You Look Gor-Just!" <3 he's so SWEET!!

I LOVE that he had a smile on his face the whole time and he was genuinely enjoying himself. "What's the next step, Becky?" He never lost interest.

It's very important to put more M&Ms on top to make them look pretty. See how well the red dots worked out?

Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the middles are just set. Remove. cool for 1 minute then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

He got so good at scooping the cookies up, after a while, he had 2 on the spatula! He's so Impressive!
Notice the cookies in the background? They're flipped over. We'll work on that.

 "Can I put them in the oven, Becky?" "Not this time, Jayden. It's hot. When you're older you can do it." "I'm a Super Helper, Becky and I'm going to get older!" "What do we do now, Becky?"

"Don't just say CHEESE, Jayden, smile and show your teeth!" He just wanted to eat the cookie.

He's SOOO ADORABLE!!

He did a Fantastic job! Dee-Lish-Ush!

Hmm.... I'll have to play around with this Cake Mix Cookie idea. I can see lots of flavors in our future! Stick around.

Don't look at me.... my hair's a mess, I'm sweaty & Exhausted! But, we had the BEST time!

"Don't just say CHEESE, Becky! Smile and show your teeth!" "Why I aughta...." The little Stinker turned my words around on me. But, seriously, sick or not ... I had the Greatest Day! Jayden didn't lose interest once and want to quit and he took his time with everything. He was very patient which is important in baking and very rare in a 3 year old .... especially with as much energy as he has. I didn't really do anything except take pictures, direct him and bake the cookies. He's a perfect student. You can find this M&M cake mix cookie recipe at best-ever-cookie-collection.com.

The whole time, Silas Crawled around my legs, picking up the M&Ms Jayden dropped on the floor (see the chocolate on his face?) Shhh.... don't tell his mama!  LoL! He's next .......... in a year or two.

~Happy Baking & ..................... Don't forget your Apron!

HALLOWEEN TURKEYS

Once upon a time, there was a lonely bowl of leftover misfit Halloween candy, that noone wanted to eat. All of the good candy had been pulled out long ago and with less and less traffic going by, well, eventually they were all forgotten. Weeks had passed and the owner of the bright green bowl was getting bugged. She didn't want to throw out the goodies in it, but, you can only eat so many candy corns, you know?

Two small pumpkins sat inside, along with an almost full tube of bright red icing used for fake blood, A couple of paper cups of chocolate frosting to give to naughty trickers to make it feel like gooey poo. A few round Peanut Butter Balls had rolled out of their torn package and mingled with the multi-colored Candy Corn, too.

The cute little pumpkins decided to take fate into their own hands and hopped out of the bowl so their owner would see them and use them in a recipe for something good to eat! She saw them! She did! She boiled them down to make pumpkin puree to flavor some yummy cupcakes. What better way to get a kid to eat their veggies? Just make them into a treat!

The tiny cupcakes, now are cooling, and the rest of the misfits are wondering what to do. They are now INSPIRED by the pumpkins to change their destiny ....... They want to do something, too!! The two colors of chocolate frosting are the first to get an idea. "A cupcake should be covered!", says the  chocolate frosting so he jumps on in a squiggly oval pattern. Then the lighter frosting says, "Move over! I want to get on, too" Not to be outdone by the fancy pattern of the chocolate, the tan frosting squirts 3 stars right behind him.

The Candy Corn squeeled, "We will not get left behind! All we ever do is lay around and wait!" So, three of them jumped on the stars, standing straight up and proud. Now they won't be lonely, but they worried about leaving their round, little peanut butter friend behind.

"Do something! Quick! think fast!" The Candy Corn yelled to their friend. The Peanut Butter Ball hopped on in front of them and nestled nice and cozy in the Chocolate mound. When he looked up, he noticed the sad look on the Bright Red tube of Icing. With a tear, the Bright Red Icing sniffled and sadly asked, "What Can I do? There seems to be no room for me!" The Peanut Butter Ball may not have the Biggest Heart of all, but he was not about to leave his friend behind. He simply said, "Come now, Waddle (hehe ... get it?)  on over here and splash some pretty color on my face." The Bright Red Icing squeezed an S on his face because he thought that he was SWEET!

Well, all of the leftover candies were no longer misfits, indeed! They all worked together to change their Destiny and found their own INSPIRATION by the encouragement of others. They each appreciated their own abilities and the use of others, too. They are THANKFUL for their FRIENDSHIPS ...... Just like I Appreciate You! Thank You, My Friends! Happy Thanksgiving!

HALLOWEEN TURKEYS

The Props

1 box of white cake mix
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of applesauce
3 eggs
1/4 cup of Pumpkin Butter (a.k.a. 2 little pumpkins)
1 cup of water

The Cast

1 can of Chocolate Frosting
1 can of White Frosting
1 bag of Candy Corn
1 bag of Peanut Butter Poppins
1 tube of Red Decorator Icing

Preheat oven to 350*. Place mini cupcake holders in cupcake tins. Add wet ingredients to cake mix. Beat for 1 minute on low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides. Beat for 3 more minutes on medium speed. Fill a freezer baggie with batter and snip a small piece of the corner for pouring. Fill each cup almost to the top. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Remove from oven and empty onto a rack to cool. Assembly: Fill 2 pastry bags with Chocolate frosting and add a small amount to White frosting to add a tan color. Please follow the story to assemble.

Happy Baking and .......... Don't forget your Apron!