Kicked Out of the Kitchen and Loving It

For the last few months, I've been kicked out of the kitchen more and more frequently. My daughter's been bitten by the baking bug, and she is staking her claim to the family kitchen. She picks out the recipes, takes out the ingredients, and gets cooking, and she is determined to do it alone (at least until it comes time to deal with the hot oven).

If I close my eyes, I can picture her chubby little hand and her giant smile when I first hoisted her up on a kitchen chair and handed her a wooden spoon. She was my eager assistant, first alone, then with her brother and her sister, for years, until she lost interest, too tween and too cool to hang with her mom in the kitchen.

But now she's back. On her own terms. Without mom at her side. And I couldn't be more proud or excited that she's chosen a path to independence that produces sweet treats, even occasionally sharing the dough with her brother.

Bella's current favorite cookbook is Teens Cook Dessert written by Megan and Jill Carle, two teenage sisters with gorgeous photographs. It's real baking from scratch with personal introductions that really speak teen/tween. I'd love to meet these inspiring young women and thank them for getting my daughter so excited about cooking.

Happy Wordful, Five Minutes Wordless, and Way-back wednesday.