What's Cooking?

I do not normally blog about food given that cooking and taking pictures of my cooking are not my gift, but it seems to be gifts God has given Kali and Ayla.

Kali and Ayla love to cook, bake and be creative with food. And Ayla is picking up on the photography, she loves to take pictures and she is quietly and closely watching our photographer friends and their work.

It started a couple of years ago when the girls started their own family restaurant. They set up a little outside sitting area and made menu's. As they seated the family under the trees they began taking orders. With their little aprons on they would run back and forth to the house and bring us our order. They never failed to bring the bill at the end.

Then the real cooking began. We made Ratatouille. Once we found a complicated recipe and did the shopping we began the 3 hour process of making it. It took a long time but the girls were so engaged and they really began to love cooking.

At ages 10 and 9, Kali and Ayla have become really adept at working in the kitchen. They often make their own lunches. Some of their favorites are cooking eggs with onions, mushrooms and rosemary, or frying a tortilla covered with onions, mushrooms and garlic powder with a bit of Parmesan cheese melted on top.

(I know your getting hungry, but at least I am not making you cry:)

The other day around dinner time Kali and Ayla asked if they could cook dinner!

I, of course, said yes.

For dinner they, with no help from mom, made crepes and set the table with all of the goodies we love to fill them with.

This last year they have mastered sugar cookies. Yeah for mom!
They have made sugar cookies from scratch with a friend and a couple of weeks ago Kali made them herself. If you have ever made sugar cookies from scratch you know it is a big job.

They have also helped make one of our favorite desserts,a raspberry danish, for me on Mother's Day.


This year for Christmas we gave them American Girl cooking books. These are full of great history and recipes and cooking tips related to the time era of the American girls.

Since then they have created numerous desserts. Mixing chocolate and peanut butter, making dog chow, creating a chocolate marshmallow delicacy. It seems the mixtures and creativity never ends. They even made us the most amazing chocolate milkshakes. They have made chocolate chip cookies and their own recipe of raspberry sherbet. Some of Kali's other favorites are her homemade salsa and her pizza roll ups.

Recently, they have become very interested in baking and decorating cakes. They have been learning from aunt Jamie about cake making. They have learned all about fondant and have had some great opportunities to make some wonderful things.

Their new favorite hobby, along with cousin Sadie, is to design cakes. We have a huge file filled with cake designs that they have come up with.



Kali with the cake she decorated. She made the flowers out of fondant and she did the flowers on her own.

Ayla with the cake she decorated. The decorations were also made by Ayla with fondant.

So, just a little tip, keep your eyes open for a future restaurant and or bakery I can assure you, you will be in for a treat. They have a plan, a name, a logo and a passion that won't stop!

It is fun and exciting to see what God may be doing.