The New Year

I am making my first ever New Year Resolution. First some background: While I love to cook, and I love my family, the only way the two mix is the point where the food I have made meets their lips. My resolution is to involve the family in the process - planning, shopping, and cooking. I actually began this process a few weeks ago. Eamon, who is nine, has many ideas for meals and snacks. These are usually dishes that that he loves, and I have made only once or twice because of the time involved. However, he really loves Olive Puffs. These are not difficult, so we bought a load of puff pastry and olives. He made several batches, froze them, and then I helped him bake them for parties throughout December. He was happy with the results, and even took them to a school party. I think the teachers ate them.

This weekend, Mylos (18 months) and I made pizza dough. He loves the kitchenaid mixer. His contributions consisted of adding scoops of unmeasured water and flour to the bowl. He loved this. Luckily he only partially filled the 1/8 cup measure each time, allowing him to add many scoops while not changing the proportions much. Later he mixed shredded cheese, flour, and salt (he loves the salt shaker) in a cast iron pan while I prepped the pizzas. The kitchen was a mess.