Kid in the Kitchen

by Amy When I was a kid, my sister and I used to go over to a friend's house and her dad would gather us in the kitchen and we would make bread. I don't remember exactly how involved we were in the pre-dough stage, but we got to make our bread into shapes and then he would bake them and we would eat them. I knew when my kid started being able to help out in the kitchen – and being very excited to help out – that bread was going to be one of our projects.

Today she was looking for something to do and I decided it might be the right day. I found a recipe online (from Jamie Oliver) and we went out to get our ingredients.

When we got back into the kitchen she was a little impatient as I read through the recipe and figured things out, but once we got started she got her hands right in.

It was a little messy:

...But once it was time to knead the dough, she knew exactly what to do.

The problem with making bread is that you have to let it rise twice, so instead of just mixing, baking and then eating, there is a bit more of a wait, but we got through that extra time with a bit of a dance party.

Eventually the bread came out of the oven.

It smelled like bread and it looked like bread, but we had to taste:

I think she approved.

(And while we had all the ingredients out, and since we had bought yeast, we made some baked doughnuts too...

Amy is mom to two year old Maggie and a 6 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind. She also shares a blog with her husband at boughner.ca where they talk together about parenting a daughter.

A veggie bread they'll love

by Krista When I first saw this recipe posted on @refashionista's blog I knew I had to try it. It's a recipe for bread that makes use of your leftover veggies. It looked very simple, and her description really sold it. I knew that I would love it, but secretly hoped the lils would too, so that I could get a few more portions of vegetable into them.

I was so excited to try this recipe that I actually bought and cooked far too many beets for our family. Armed with the leftovers the next day, I asked the lils if they wanted to make beet bread. They jumped at the idea, and even started singing a song that sounds remarkably like the Batman tune... "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-naaaa beet bread!" They knew what was going into it, yet were still excited. It might be because I compared it favourably to banana bread, or it might have been that it look like this just prior to going in the oven:

They sampled within minutes of it coming out of the oven, and were instantly in love. I get asked at least weekly to make beet bread and willingly oblige, as I love it too. You can make the recipe with any leftover vegetables, but truth be told I've never tried!

@Refashionista's Beet Bread (slightly modified by me)

1 cup white flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 - 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup salted butter, softened 2 eggs 1 cup mashed/pureed cooked beet 1/3 cup milk

-preheat oven to 350

- stir together flours, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

- beat together sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy.

- blend in beets.

- add dry ingredients and milk, alternating, in three additions. Be careful not to overbeat.

- pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick comes out dry when testing).

My lil helpers. Woo is singing the beet bread song!

Krista is married to Willy and mom to a 4 year old son, Woo, and 2.5 year old daughter, Goose. You can find her at Life in the Hutch or on Twitter @kgraydonald