Dear Reader Column 03-28-11

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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Today I'm sharing photos from my recent cooking class with 5-to-8 year old kids. If you missed the original column, I've posted it below. To see the cooking class photos (they'll make you smile), goto: http://tinyurl.com/EGGCLASS

(Reprint of cooking column)

ALL ABOUT EGGS. It was my first time teaching a cooking class at Primrose School and it was marvelous. Students learned how to crack and separate eggs by hand (the kids were messy, but very impressive), scramble eggs (they ate for lunch), then we made deviled eggs, and each child took some home to share with their family.

Nineteen students, ages five to seven, 447 eggs, three teachers from the school assisting me, along with my husband "Mr. Bob." Not only did the students learn new things, this teacher learned something new, too. You'd better mean what you say when you're cooking with kids. My instructions, "When you're done putting the filling in your deviled eggs, if you've broken some of the egg halves, raise your hand and I'll show you how to mend them. We'll put a Band-aid on and fix them right up."

But worried Amy asked, "Mrs. Suzanne, how are we going to eat the deviled eggs if there's a Band-aid on them?"

I loved cooking with the kids, but I think my favorite part of the day was when we read the book GOOD EGG, by Barney Saltzburg. It's a simple story about teaching an egg to do tricks. Open a flap in the book, slide a strip of paper and the egg actually sits, speaks, rolls over, and shakes (Yes, we were all standing up shaking our behinds!) and of course every egg needs encouragement: "GOOD EGG" we were all shouting together after each page. Two times reading the book and it was back to egg class. I'm including a book in each of my upcoming cooking classes. I can't wait for the next class when we make cupcakes from scratch, because the book I've chosen is WHOPPER CAKE, by Karma Wilson and Will Hillenbrand. Grandpa makes Grandma a cake, but Grandpa gets carried away with the ingredients and ends up mixing the cake in the back of his pickup truck. So of course, I'll be mixing my cupcakes in the back of a huge kid's truck, using a plastic shovel.

It's easy to fall in love with kids especially when they ask, "Are you coming back again Mrs. Suzanne? This was fun."

The kids were adorable, yes, they were all GOOD EGGS.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

** It's blue, it's paperback, AND it's almost here! The paperback version of my book, MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY (if disorderly) LIFE will be released April 5th. You can preorder a copy at your favorite online book seller, right now.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Comments

[JP]

Loved the photos. Reminded me of when my third grade class made edible mud with worms. I had some plants in my classroom and one of the children spotted a worm. Can't remember exact title, there's a children's book about eating worms. So we made edible mud with worms: make instant chocolate pudding, add broken oreo cookies, (or any with chocolate cookie) and gummy worms. Voila! Edible mud with worms. Great fun.

P.S. How about THUNDER CAKE by Patricia Pallaco? Seems you are integrating children's lit with cooking. Fun, fun, fun! Keep the photos rolling.

[SL]

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved the pictures, the children and yourself look mighty happy and like you are having tons of fun. I'm one of your biggest fans!

[SW]

Your pictures remind me of the times I had with my five grandchildren. Sometimes they were all five here but most of the time they came in pairs or alone. We always had Camp Grandma (nevermind that Grandpa was always around and participating!) There were crafts, trips to nearby places of interest, visits to the local zoo, and cooking. And when they went home, Grandma always sent a photo journal of their time at Camp Grandma. From the beginning, our one grandson wanted to cook. His favorite was Dirt Pudding which was easy for small hands to make: Oreo cookies, Jello pudding, and gummy worms. They all wanted to make that as they came along. Then cookies, muffins, and cakes. Now that they range in age from 14 to 20, we don't have Camp Grandma, but we have visits, lovely, wonderful visits where we catch up on their activities and sometimes we craft and bake. Your grandchildren and their classmates will long remember their cooking lessons and the times they spent with you.

[GC]

The photos are wonderful! What fun you all had and I am sure the children went home to rave about their cooking class.

[RV]

THE PICTURES WERE GREAT...CAPTIONS AS TO WHO EVERY ONE IS WOULD BE GREAT TOO!!!!