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This year I am making Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie and a side spinach dish. As you can see we love pumpkin, and I personally love to eat with the seasons and what is more seasonal for autumn then pumpkin.
Liv loves our baking days. She loves to mix things. Just last week at a La Leche toddler group I go to she went over to a child's kitchen set, picked up a bowl and a spoon and started to "mix." I couldn't believe it, guess I need to get her a kitchen set sooner then later.
As a child my mom loved to bake and cook, but did not have the patients to teach me along with her cooking. I remember the smells and taste of her dishes, but I also remember getting shoed out of the kitchen when I even went in for something to drink.
Because of this I was never taught to cook or bake, but I have made a huge effort to teach myself. I can not remember who said "anyone who can read can cook" but this is a huge part of my learning since I love to check out cooking books from the library.
I still love the classic cookbook by better homes and gardens. This book is one of the few I own and I often use it as a resource to make up my own dishes from their's with simple modifications or to just read and cook right from the pages.
I also think working in restaurants has helped greatly. I always asked the cooks how they made things, and was very lucky to work with great cooks who loved to show me and tell me how they cooked.
This is a skill that it not often passed down anymore. Too many people have no idea how to cook and get most of their meals from a take-out menu.
Our weekly baking days is a great tradition for Liv and me. And its wonderful to start Liv to understand how to cook and where her food comes from.
Tommorow my kitchen will be covered with flour and sugar and so will my clothes (I need to get myself and apron) but it will also be filled with wonderful scents, laughter and great memories and spending time with my daughter.
