Grandpa's bday

Seems any excuse we have now to cook or bake brings out the equipment--both baking and the camera!

With Grandpa's b-day the day before my due date, we didn't want to take a chance in trying to go out, but we did plan on the traditional homemade pizza and cake (chocolate) for Grandpa.  Beanie wasted no time in getting all the ingredients for me and getting started--

We timed it so that it baked and cooled during naptime.  Amara woke from her nap ready to decorate!  First the icing, with a little help from dad--

Then the really important part, the sprinkles and candles, to make it really super special for Grandpa.

After our dinner and dessert, it was present time.  We got dad a hat with LED lighting on it, that he'd asked for, and Amara got him a big bag of his favorite mini-tootsie pops for his truck--an ongoing joke between them.  We had a great time, Amara loved playing hostess, and we know Grandpa really loved all his treats! 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Superbowl Sunday

Amara is becoming quite the sous chef in the kitchen...and what would the Superbowl be without snacks, right?  After naptime, Eric got down to the business of making his queso, guacamole, and pedro sandwiches.  It's a fine line of interest vs. disaster when it comes to cooking with Amara, but she was really into it and we did our best to give her jobs where she could succeed and the right tools to do so!

A favorite was tearing the velveeta chunks that Eric would pre-cut into smaller hunks for her. Perfect.  Then she helped him run the blender and pour the rotell in, started the microwave and voila, one recipe down!

Onto the guac--smashing the avacados with the masher proved successful!  Sometimes she likes the flavor and sometimes not, but Eric got her the perfect small round tortillas, so she had a buffet of grapes, tortilla's and dips to keep her occupied.

We talked about doing cookies--Eric was going to make ginger for me, and we decided to punt--lest it take TOO long, but we did have time to get the pedros done.  By that time, Amara had moved on, but Eric and I enjoyed making a few changes to a family favorite and loved the results.

I think the next holiday to tackle is a cheesecake for Grandpa's birthday (a tradition) unless baby sister shows up--we'll have to see!