Let’s bake!

My son and I love making cookies on a rainy day. I know now to make this a truely memorable experience with these nifty tricks:

  • Make the dough a day in advance, and keep it in the fridge. Cookie dough also freezes well, so I like to make a large batch and freeze half for later.
  • While your cookies cool, and your children are otherwise occupied (in my case: building some new Lego creation), create some colorful icing for decorating.
  • Place small amounts of decorations in a muffin tin, this keeps your table organised. When we are done decorating, we put the leftover decorations aside. My son mixes these in a bowl of yoghurt for a festive desert that evening!

    www.cookingwithmykid.com

  • Display your children’s creations on a pretty dish or cake stand. They take a lot of pride in their work.
  • Place the cookies in a transparant zip lock bag, then attach this bake to a decorative tray. This makes a great present for grandma or an aunty with a sweet tooth!
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  • Remember your child’s attention span is a lot shorter than yours, don’t be surprised if they are bored after making 3 cookies. In their minds this is still helping and they will take the credit for all the work! This always makes me smile, because it does mean my son takes pride in his creations.
  • Nigella has provided a great cookie recipe in het book “how to be a domestic goddes”. Me and my 4 year old have made multiple batches of these cookies, and they never disappoint! These cookies are tasty, with and without the colorful icing.

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  • I love making chocolate chip cookies. All my son does is make dough balls and press them flat, but he has so much fun!
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Find more tips for cooking with children here.

Great birthday treats

My son recently celebrated his birthday. He handed out these lovely creatures for some festive fun. We just combined these googly eyes from Flying tiger and simple carrots. This made for a healthy snack and a fun simple trinket for the kids to take home.

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Last time I made these beautiful cars, but my son really enjoyed being able to join in this year. This made all it feel extra special for a toddler in the “I wanna be independent” fase!

Bookmarks made with love

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My sweet mother bought me a laminating machine the other day (thank you mum!). And I must say I have been feeling very inspired! I used this machine to create a beautiful gift for my son’s daycare lady’s. They are like second mothers to him, which makes them extra special!

I drew 3 bookmarks with a black marker. One with a lucky theme with clover fours, one with a love theme with hearts and one book marker with a party theme with balloons. After this I went crazy with the coloring pencils. Of course I wrote a personal message on the back of the book marks and I added a foto of my toddler. To preserve the book marks I laminated them first, after which I cut them out. I attached ribbons with a bead that can stick out the book they read.

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I attached each marker to a beautiful bouquet for a festive surprise. Of course you could also let your toddler do the coloring for a personal touch too.

Wrap up!

Today I had lots of fun wrapping a gift for a family member. This blog used to only evolve around gift wrapping. With the season of giving coming closer, it is time for some gift wrapping inspiration!

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As you can see in the photograph I take gift wrapping very seriously. Here are my tips:

  • Get some pretty wrapped sweets or chocolates and use double sided tape to stick them on your package
  • Use real ribbon! It looks so much better than that plastic stuff.
  • Use feathers and/or chenille for extra decoration around your bow.
  • Decorate a peg. Use this peg to attach your card to the ribbon.
  • When wrapping a softer item. Create an envelope with the wrapping paper. This ensures a tight finish.

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When you wrap presents, please don’t hold back. It’s like your Christmas decorations, less is not more…

For more wrapping inspiration:

Mmmm monster cookies

The other day I felt a strong craving for some decadent American style chocolate chip cookies. After dome experimenting I found a recipe that works for us.

I made the dough a day in advance and I pulled the dough out when my pre-schooler seemed bored. We had great fun slicing the cookies and watching the oven do all the work.

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After this we enjoyed these satisfyingly chewy cookies with a tall glass of milk, yum!

I turned this recipe into a lovely coloring project. You can download MonsterCookieColoring here.

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Monster cookies (8 to 10 cookies)

  • 250 gram selfraising flour
  • 200 gram light brown sugar
  • 100 gram butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon of milk
  • 250 gram chocolate chips
  1. Mix the sugar, butter and salt well.
  2. Stir in the eggs and milk.
  3. Combine with the flour and chocolate chips.
  4. Form a roll of about 5 cm in diameter. Wrap the roll in cling film and rest for 30 minutes to 3 days.
  5. Slice your cookies and place them well spaced apart on a baking tray.
  6. Bake at 190 degrees C for 10 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy your baking and coloring project!

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