The Next Top Chef

Vanessa is continuing to love to cook. She made crab cakes last week.

She broke open her first egg. She was so excited she was shaking . . . and on Saturday she got to help with 4 eggs. Good thing we love scrambled eggs! This also provided for another extended discussion on why we won't eat raw eggs. And if you think about it, this provided for a nice cause and effect activity -- can't eat the eggs until we cook them. She'd love to work at the stove top, but we have some time before that. Last night she settled on being held near the stove top to watch me stir simmering alfredo sauce. She begged to stir: "Nessa help stir?!"

Vanessa even tried to vigorously whip the eggs with a fork. And this girl can put down some scrambled eggs! She doesn't always have a preference, but every so often she'll eat all the eggs she can get her hands on.

And Grandma (or a great name a friend coined for her: "Grand-Jan!") let Vanessa make pizza! Grandma figured out that Vanessa loves turkey pepperoni -- duly noted! And Vanessa chose to put broccoli trees on her pizza. I have to say it was scrumptious!

Art 202

Vanessa is exhibiting quite the interest in drawing. And it's fun to watch!

"An elephant! Draw Daddy's truck! Toes." Come join in the ". . . party! Elephant and a party!"


"See party? And the balloons! Wow . . ."

"A present for you!"

Have you seen the SS Elmo episode about birthdays and presents? Mr. Noodle, with the help of friends, learns how to wrap a present. Early in the day yesterday Vanessa came to me with a block and asked for paper. It didn't take me long to figure out that she wanted paper to wrap her present, especially since once I handed her the paper, she then asked for tape. :) We sat together while she worked really hard to fold the paper and tear the tape. She didn't do all the folds on her own -- she asked politely for Mommy's help. And she also asked for help to cut the tape into smaller, more workable pieces. Sometimes the pieces would stick more to her little fingers than to the paper, so she needed a little help with that too!

"Happy to you!"

She carried the present around most of the day and would "give" it to us over and over. It's neat to see her developing the concept of giving. I can remember when I was between 4 and 6 and I wanted to give gifts to those I spent most of my time with. For instance, I'd sneak into Mom and Dad's bedroom and take something that already belonged to them. I'd then wrap it with whatever I could find (sometimes I just hid it behind me) and then I would give it back to them. (And let me make it clear that I wasn't playing Robin Hood by taking from one to give to another -- I always gave back whatever it was to the original owner. :)

Why not?

Vanessa deserved a treat last week for eating really well. What's better than eating right out of the brownie dish?! It was the end of the brownies, and some parts were already petrified, but she was able to enjoy the chocolate nonetheless. :)

A few additional comments from the treated . . .

The next Julia Child?

I think I read somewhere that Julia Child was 32 when she began to cook. (I've always loved Julia Child and her wonderful seemingly carefree personality.) And although you don't read about her ever cooking from packaged mixes, I'm sure she would support this step as good place to begin for a girl who just turned 2. Vanessa already loves to cook. My earliest memories in the kitchen are from when I was about 3, so I'm all about letting Vanessa try simple steps to get started.

Last Thursday I decided to let her do almost all the work for making Martha White's blueberry muffins. She proudly chose the bowl and spoon to mix with. (I couldn't persuade her to use a smaller bowl and a better utensil for scooping and pouring . . . but hey, this was her thing -- trial and error, right?)

"Mommy, I'm pouring?"

"Mommy, I'm mixing?"

"Mommy, I'm scooping?"

"Mmm . . . smell good? I put in oven?"

(Mommy had to convince Vanessa that it was safer for her to let her mommy put the muffins in the oven. Understandably, it was hard for Vanessa to give up control of something she worked so hard on. But she got to help push the buttons for preheating. And she listened patiently for the timer to beep when the muffins were done.)