Kitchen Time

Kitchen Help.  Not Kitchen....Help!!!!  But help in the kitchen.  That is the stage that Cole has galloped his way into.  I rustle the bread bag or rattle the pans and I hear my little buddy rounding the corner to check out what is happening in the kitchen and see what chair he should push over to the counter.  I admit that the organizer and "clean-as-you-go" woman in me has to squelch my initial impulse to tell him to put the stool away or that there is nothing for him to help with.  But when I pause to think, I go through the list of cooking steps and find one that a two-year-old can do.He's a stirrer.  He excels at his job.  Usually.  He is finding out that some things are easier to stir than others.  I am finding that some bowls are easier to stir in and spoons easier to stir with than others.  He explores, experiments, practices using those motor skills and taste tests each concoction.  Flour, baking soda and baking powder don't make a fabulous treat but he's determined to be positive with a hesitant "Mmmm!" before discretely pushing that bowl aside in favor of the crumb topping mixture.I have never really loved the kitchen but I am loving this.  I'm discovering that cooking and baking and kitchen discovery is so much better with a friend.  And these Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies were a yummy treat to create.  Normally, the five bowls the recipe required would have had me running the other direction but with my professional stirrer at my side, it was the perfect way to pass an afternoon.  These are good.  If you enjoy sugar cookies and blueberry muffins like we do, you'll love this sugar cookie dough-based recipe.The two-year-old is extra.  You'll have to find your own.