kitchen helpers

That afternoon stretch from about 1pm to 4pm is tricky to navigate around here.  It is the time of day when I am grieving the loss of naps for some (who said that they could give those up as they got older?) and trying to find a bit of quiet for myself.  So, in effort to buy some of that valuable time yesterday- I gave the girls some helpful tasks.

I have gotten rid of most of the plastic around here and so bamboo and wood make up the bulk of my cooking tools and cutting boards.  After several trips (literally thousands) through the dishwasher, they were looking pretty worn. The girls each got a little cup of mineral oil, basting brushes and off they went.  Warning** this is a very messy project!  Old clothes/aprons are a must!  We had to do a bit of swabbing with paper towels on some of the items because of the excess quantities of "paint", but all in all it was fun for them and helpful for me.  We were on a roll.

Next, I trusted Emma to shred up the zucchini and store it for the winter.  She certainly did shred!  It became a race for her to see how quickly she could make one zucchini disappear.  Hannah's job was to measure green stuff into 2 cup portions (that's what my recipe for zucchini bread calls for) and put it in freezer bags.  She was gagging the whole time her hands touched the cold slimy "guts".

Thanks girls...I think.

Have you heard of this stuff?

It is a fruit puree that you can use in place of the fat (oil and butter) in your recipes. I found it in the baking isle at the grocery store. So far, I really like it!  It worked great in my zucchini bread recipe, and considering that it calls for 1 cup of oil (!!) I was glad to find an alternative.

My curtains are coming along SLOWLY and I am not really sure that I even like them.  Isn't that just the pits to invest time into a project that doesn't turn out how you had hoped?  After cutting 540 squares I am not quite ready to scrap this one yet though.