The magic dressing: Whole Foods sells this wonderful dressing that's almost good enough to drink! (You can also order it on Amazon--see below.)
About two months ago a friend called up with tons of leftovers on her hands. Following a wedding shower, she had way too much food, and we--the ones with 6 growing kids--were the lucky recipients of the yum yums. Little did we know that it wasn't the baklava and chocolates that we would like the most--it was this salad! Ever since, we've been addicted. (I recently had no shame in buying 4 bottles of the dressing at once.)
Enter Montessori food prep. Kids can wash and spin the lettuce (Spring Mix is good, but I'm not picky). They can wash and decapitate the strawberries. Now here's the fun part: they can SLICE the berries with your egg slicer (yippee!). And they can crumble the feta and sliced almonds.
It's been a long summer. Mothers all around me are looking a bit frayed (me included!). We all seem to be looking forward to a change in pace after giving our kids more freedom for several weeks on end. But it's been nice to see where their interests have led them during the free time....
At three-and-one-half years old, "Alleluia" has taken an interest in baking. No surprise, given that her 16-year-old sister "Wasabi" is amazing with a wooden spoon and oven mitts, not to mention quite capable with a camera and video editing software! This video is the result of passionate insistence on little sister's part. You see, for weeks she has been saying something about making "gummy pops," but none of us knew what in the world she was talking about. Finally, in exasperation, I got out the cake pop maker and said, "Ok, show me what you mean!"
She proceeded to imitate the gal on Nerdy Nummies, a Youtube channel we've consulted a few times when making birthday cakes. I followed her around the kitchen as she narrated, crumbled up a piece of whole wheat bread, and tore up small pieces of chewing gum.
"Gummy Pops"?!?!
"You're going to want to mix it with your hands," she said casually, as if she had her own cooking show and did this everyday.
It was just too much. Too hilarious. And it was going to be a bit too messy (if I had let her turn the machine on and melt the gum mixture). That's when Wasabi got out the camera and helped her make a REAL cake pop treat. We ended up with a happy afternoon, a fun video to send to Grandma and some of "Libby's Yummies" to share. (Oh, and this cute apron Wasabi decorated!)
Go ahead: follow the child and see where she leads you!
