Our Little Baker

Jill's Journal: When the girls couldn’t play outside in the snow all day (it’s cold and we don’t have proper snow gear), it seemed the perfect time to do some baking. Erika has read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s entire “Little House” series and in one of the later books, a grown-up Laura visits her daughter Rose in San Francisco and shares some recipes of the time. Erika has had her eye on two: German Honey Cakes and French Croissants.

Erika graciously got her sisters involved in her baking (I suspect mostly because 20 straight minutes of hand stirring is tiring!). Both of the recipes turned out fine in spite of vague directions like “Bake in a moderate oven,” but neither were a huge hit with the girls. It was a great lesson though in modern techniques and conveniences (and tastes) vs. those of a century ago. It’s amazing to me how even something like kitchen time can turn into a homeschooling lesson…I’m not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse of the homeschooling Mom!