baking with Zoe

pan of make-Ann-twitch cookies

Ok, not wanting to go to bed with just that last post, I felt the need to share something a bit happier.  I’ve been doing a lot of baking with Zoe, recently.  We’d done some around Christmas time, but that’s when I learned something about myself.  I’m a perfectionist.  Well, actually, I was well aware of that already, but I thought that I was the type that could set aside the perfectionist when need  be.  But watching Zoe try to cut out cookies was torture.  I would twitch trying to keep myself from grabbing her when she would inevitably fold a cookie in half or not cut the shapes out just right.  So I thought that maybe baking with Zoe wouldn’t be an activity that we both could enjoy for a while.

Zoe making brioche dough

But I decided to try it again a few weeks ago, but this time baking muffins, which didn’t need to be shaped or rolled or cut.  Success!  We had a ton of fun and ended up with muffins.  So then I tried bread.  The Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipes just require that you mix some ingredients together, and then the next day shape them into a rough approximation of a loaf.  More success.  More fun!  More baked goods.  Less success on the losing weight thing, but with yummy muffins and fresh bread, who cares?  Then I tried pizza, which required rolling, and which had previously made me twitchy when I watched Zoe try rolling (there is no asking her to not help with something), and I learned that if I just let her roll it out until she tires herself out, she’ll let me finish it up and everyone’s happy.

Measuring out ingredients with Zoe does point out a need for us to work a bit more on our numbers.

Me: Ok, we have to measure out 7 cups of flour, can you count with me?

Zoe: Yeah!

Me: [scooping one cup] All right, one…

Zoe: …two

Me:  Oops, not two yet honey, we’ve only measured one cup so far. [scooping the second cup]

Zoe: …three

Me: Right, three does come after two, but we’ve only got two cups in there now.

Zoe:  seven … eight … nine … four … seven … two!

Me:  Ok, now you’re just messing with me

…

And finally, I leave you with a final video showing you why I cannot stop baking with this girl.