The Very Best Baking Team

I am by no stretch of the imagination a talented cook. Yes, I can pull a meal together for guests, but do I enjoy cooking? At this point I'm not sure. I know as a stay home mom it is part of my job description, but I can think of several other things I would rather be doing than cooking. I do, though, like to bake (different than cooking as my wise mother- in- law pointed out to me once). Maybe it has something to do with chocolate, licking the batter, or the smells, but recently I think my love for baking has a lot more to do with the support staff I have been given in the last five years. My older girl has loved to help in the kitchen since she was big enough that her eyes could peak over the counter's edge, and now that my youngest is just about that age, the story is no different. The two of them together could play restaurant, iron chef (yes, iron chef), and grocery store everyday, but when I say the magical words referring to baking or they hear the mixer going, all bets are off and they are lugging their chairs/stools to get a better look, help, and of course, sample the goods. Obviously baking with your child is not just fun and games (although they don't have to know that). Lessons in measurement, science, and reading coincide with all of that chocolate goodness beautifully.

I don't know whether my children will grow to be chefs or bakers, or both, but I do know that when they make their own cookies in their own house there will not be a doubt as to where their first memories of those smells, tastes of batter, and flour spills came from.