Del Mar

BTS

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No, that’s not the BTS that the girls love, it’s the BTS us parents love.

Back to school!

I only bring this up because we had BTSN on our calendar and all I heard was ” if you take off the N, you have BTS” followed by giggles.

We have two 6th graders and a 3rd grader (gasps)!

6th grade down here in San Diego is also known as middle school which still gives me heart palpitations.

I know I know, boy have things changed. I mean sixth grade vs. kinder really is something. Something as in, we as moms had wayyyy more power over their looks back then, sigh.

Averi is at the same school but has a new building, and she was SO excited when we got to school and found out that her bestie was in her class.

They each had BFF bracelets for each other even after a summer of no contact. SO damn sweet.

The weather has been so ridiculously hot that almost all outdoor activities were canceled or postponed. I know if you don’t live here you’re rolling your eyes, that’s ok. Roll away, it’s hot AF for us San Diegan’s, we can’t cope in extreme weather.

However, we did brave the heat and attended the Family Fun Day at the Del Mar Races. My parents met me and the girls for the afternoon, luckily those clouds and a slight breeze saved us from overheating.

I think the girls enjoyed themselves, pretty sure everyone but Kaili and I won some money.

Easing back into the school time swing. Hopefully I will have a new recipe to share sooner than later. It’s definitely trial by error right now.

Baking with Kids

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The second session of my cooking class was International baking. I had 4 girls, all 8 years old (it can’t get much better than that).

We started off the first week making Venezuelan Alfajores sandwich cookies, Albanian cornbread with feta and green onion. Indian Nankhatai cookies and South African Karringmelkbesuits.

Since they were only 8, they were more about the creating, than the outcome. So I would invite them to use their creativity, after we completed the recipe.

This is one of the girls hand made cookie.

Each of the girls reminded me of our Aves, she would have loved being in this class.

I decided to start each day with a different approach, than I did with my cooking class.

I would find a book on video that had a story about a country that we were going to “visit” or a food that resembled one we would be making. They loved it.

And if you don’t know about StoryLine Online, and you have kids, you have to check it out!

The next week we made Egyptian butter cookies and Lithuanian sour cream pockets.

The sour cream pocket recipe did not work, something was off…

But who cares.

Next, we made mango cupcakes, and stuffed Georgian cheese breads.

I was really excited about this next recipe.

Mongolian sesame flat-bread crackers with a cream cheese spread.

But somewhere along the way, the soy sauce was heavy handed in the spread and it was too salty…inedible

But I will make that again.

We also made a really good cheese pizza.

And a not so good Romanian Easter bread.

The last day of class, I asked them to make something from the ingredients that we had left. Chopped style. They put so much heart into it. But…

You guys, this raised my blood pressure.

I just can’t with chaos.

But, they did so great.

They all used cocoa powder and chocolate chips.

Most of it wasn’t edible.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was to give them the freedom to create, with no boundaries.

I was very lucky to have that group of girls, It was such a great experience .

Cooking with Kids

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A few months before our trip to Greece I landed a gig to teach a summer cooking class to kids. The days, times and location worked out brilliantly with our schedules. I was given all of the recipes for the cooking session, then I went shopping for the ingredients on the Sunday before class or that Monday morning. There is a Pavilion’s right near the school, that was so handy! The company dropped off bins full of the cooking utensils and tools I should need beforehand, so all I had to do was unpack the groceries and prep for the class.The plan was to teach two separate sessions, three weeks each. The first session was a cooking class the second was a baking class.

My cooking group consisted of 3 boys and 3 girls, ages 6-11 and they were awesome!

Each day we made two dishes/recipes. I would get to the site early and prep all of the ingredients (mis en place), the cooking equipment we would be using, and presented it on a table for easy accessibility. I wrote on each recipe card who was going to do what. Little Billy (names have been changed) will cut onions, Rose will grate cheese and so on and so forth. That way I knew that everyone was participating throughout the entire class. After a quick demo of what we were going to make and asking them about some of the ingredients, we dove in. I didn’t do any of the cooking, they did it all. I guided them, I handled the hot oven, any boiling water and the washing of knives, but other than that, they did it all. And man, they kicked ass!

The first week we made.

Gumbo, flapjacks, carrot casserole, porridge bites, egg casserole, spinach mac n cheese, Spaghetti with meatballs, and omelettes.

They were pretty good eaters. I will say that by the second week, one girl was begging to stop using onions, HAHAHA! I feel like every recipe called for onions.

When we were done with both dishes of the day, we sat down and ate together. I would bring in juice mix and they would take turns making a pitcher of lemonade or fruit punch, yes, of course it was sugar free, not my first rodeo lunatics. Then, if we had any free time before the class ended, we would play heads up or trivia or maybe just draw Whatever they wanted to do as long as it wasn’t swinging from the rafters or playing chase, boys, I am looking at you.

The second week we made;

Mash and gravy, meatball stroganoff, brussels sprout and parmesan salad, hot dogs with a veggie chili, Naan personal pizzas, macaroni and cheese and a fruit salad.

This pasta recipe, you guys, was soooooo good. I know it doesn’t look great and honestly when I read the recipe I wasn’t sold. But it’s good, guilty pleasure BBQ side dish good.

I will share the recipe.

The final week we made said pasta salad, pizza pockets, veggie sushi rolls and eggs with pico de gallo.

It was a great first round of cooking.

Summer Bucket List

~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

Seven more days and I am going  start thinking about checking off  a summer bucket list. First things first of course, I’ll have  to make sure I can walk around upright and poop without crying. I have been reminded that holding a pillow on the incision helps ease the pain, it’s also good when sneezing, just in case you are being cut open anytime soon.

Do you have a bucket list for this summer or the rest of the year?  I have a whole truckload of ideas, Shane thinks I am overzealous, we’ll see.

I saw this on Babble.

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A few of those aren’t much of a bucket list, more like life, and I can assure you I am not doing any sort of Triathlon, mini or not.

I am going to see how many tasting rooms I can get the baby into before Winter rolls around.

I am desperate for a bowl of good Gazpacho so I need a fool proof recipe for that.

I would like to get my backside some sun so it can catch up with my frontside.

Our newly refurbished home is begging for some wall art.

I want to take Kaili to the zoo so she can hang with her peeps.

I will find a babysitter who wants to and can handle two kids. One  that I can trust enough so I can actually leave the house.

I would like to go on a date with my husband while said babysitter watches the kids.

And maybe, maybe if the stars align, I will get to see Dave Matthews for our 8th anniversary. Or get to see the ponies run at Del Mar, or maybe both?

What is on your bucket list?