Hey! This week on the Joy the Baker Podcast over at Homefries, me & Joy are at it again!
We discuss a few topics such as:
You won’t want to miss it! Come check it out!
Also! We want to hear from you! If you want to ask us a question, Email us!
Infusing vodka seems complicated, right? You’ll be surprised how easy it is! When you take super ripe strawberries and let them sit in vodka for a few days, you get something UTTERLY delicious. The berries let out all of their bright red juices RIGHT into the vodka. You end up with a vodka that smells and tastes like strawberry perfume. Think Strawberry Shortcake meets booze! It also transforms the clear liquid into the shade of my favorite childhood treat- a cherry Slurpee. Summer perfection!
The only problem you’ll face with this Strawberry Vodka is that goes down a bit too easy…especially on a HOT HOT day. That could be fun if you have some sprinklers to run around in. Adults in a kiddy pool! Haha!
So, let’s get started on this infusion! It takes up to three days to complete and then we’ll discuss what to mix with it! Sound good? Now I want you to go pick up two pints of strawberries & some vodka and pick out a cool jar to “brew” it in. Meet me back here and I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do with it.
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Friends! Remember how I took that Jam Making 101 class from Rachel Saunders at Blue Chair Fruit a few weeks ago? Well, I picked up some goodies for a lucky reader! Someone will get a copy of the Blue Chair Cookbook and 2 DELICIOUS marmalades…
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Here’s a frequently asked question….
Good question! I’m still venturing through this myself…but here are my tips so far. Let’s get started!
FIRST: Keep it interesting! MIX IT UP!
Make silly faces with food. Cut out funny shapes & have them guess what they are!
Cooper ate a WHOLE English cucumber yesterday because I cut it up into triangles, rectangles, squares and circles. SCORE! It’s hard to make an oval out of a cucumber. Try it.
Get kids involved in food prep!! Put them to work! They really like eating the food they make!
Teach them how to clean up because a good cook always cleans up. (My mom drilled this into my head!)
Get them excited about eating! Cooper loves going out for Indian food because there’s a promise of a mango lassi! He even orders it himself at the restaurant! Teach your kids how to behave in restaurants. Waiters don’t bring Mango Lassis (sp?) to misbehaved boys.
Encourage them to try new things. Cooper LOVES spicy foods and found love in a bowl of Chicken Tikka Masala! Who knew? It’s only because I told him it was a dip for his naan. He kept dipping the naan into the bowl, then he grabbed his spoon and ate the rest of it!
Turn snack time into a COUNTING GAME!
Cooper can count up to 10 pieces of popcorn! Sometimes he thinks 14 comes after 10. Fourteen is his favorite number this month. He also prefers the letters D & F.
Speaking of letters…Spell words with food! Make them guess the letters. Teach them how to say your nickname because it’s cute when they say it in their kid voice. I like when kids say “bean.”
Add greens to their smoothies! Tell them it’s a MONSTER SMOOTHIE!! Tell them it turns them into a superhero.
When it becomes part of their routine, they’ll point out when you forget to put the green stuff in.
Just don’t let them touch the blender! That’s not safe. And keep the blender unplugged ’til you’re ready & and they’re out of the way!
Make food part of your drawing!! The turtle I drew sure loves bean crisps! Wouldn’t they be cool as tree trunks?
Turn healthy juices into popsicles! Here’s a popsicle made with Pineapple Mango Carrot Ginger Juice! Cooper has no idea that he’s consuming carrots. He hates carrots. Haha sucker!
If a child is hungry, they’ll eat! Don’t force food on them. They don’t like that. It’s a control thing.
They like to show you who’s boss and it’s definitely not Tony Danza.
Let them see if hummus is a good face moisturizer and try not to cringe in the process! It’s important for them to explore the taste & texture of food…even if it ends up jammed into their ears! Always do this before bath time!
A few more tips:
-Write down a list of all the things your child eats. Refer to the list when you’re in a food rut. You might forget something! Pull something out of your bag of tricks.
-If they’re not touching their food ask them “How does a SHARK eat an apple?” Watch them show you. They like doing this. Always go for the powerful eating animals. Tigers, rhinos, lions & bears work well too.
-Give them the foods they’re least likely to eat FIRST! If they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat just about anything. If I give Cooper a piece of buttered toast first, he’ll eat it, then ask for MORE TOAST while totally ignoring the bowl of strawberries on his tray. Greedy! Also related–Don’t give them too many options!
-Let your child watch their friend eat broccoli. It’s a positive spin on peer pressure!
-Don’t panic when they don’t try something. Keep at it! (I’m still trying to grasp this one!)
And there you have it!! A few tips based on feeding my almost 3 year old.
Do you have any tips? I bet you do! Let’s discuss!
There isn’t a better way, in my opinion, to welcome someone home after a week away on business than with a huge slab of Triple Berry Galette. Casey has been gone for the past week which means I’ve been eating salads, playing single parent, organizing my closet, catching up on girly/trashy shows, wearing face masks, hogging the couch, plucking my eyebrows in random parts of the house and really wishing I had a reason to bake something. I woke up yesterday morning with the intention of making a pie and that’s what I did. I made this one. My husband was coming home and he deserved a pie for his hard work.
A trip to the store for some fresh berries while drooling over this crostata from Lottie & Doof, and a text with my best baker friend about the difference between a galette & crostata helped me make this ridiculously easy pie. It’s free form. It’s gorgeous. It’s rustic. It’s charming and the crust is earth shattering! Like…I can’t BELIEVE I made this crust-CRUST. The berries are juicy, dark & delicious. They’re the epitome of summer.
I must confess that I hogged this galette like I hogged our couch this past week. Even though I gave half of it to the neighbors, I cut a small slice for myself EVERY TIME I walked past the kitchen. I purposely avoided the kitchen for 4 hours before Casey came home or else there would have seriously been none left. Pie so delicious… you must give half of it away and then hide it. Good thing I’ve been binging on salads….
A food related photo everyday until 2012. Here’s week 22:
162/365 Spinach salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, walnuts, bacon & ricotta salata.
161/365 Ingredients for the Cabbage Apple Slaw with Maple Glazed Pecans.
160/365 Making a batch of Freezer Burritos.
159/365 Apples, pretzels & letter cookies with Cooper.
158/365 SUN!!!! And a cocktail outside in the backyard. YES.
157/365 Afternoon snack- water, raspberries & a chocolate granola bar.
156/365 Strawberries & oranges for snack on a rainy day.
June 5, 2009 Little Bebe Cooper & Claire
June 07, 2011 Cooper & Claire!!
We had a little impromptu meet up with my good friend Jessica and her daughter Claire this week! They were visiting from Portland! Even though they haven’t seen each other in awhile, Cooper & Claire immediately picked up where they left off….just like me and Jessica. I love that in a friendship. Cooper woke up from every nap this week looking for his “Cware.” The sweetness!
Lock your daughters up because my son is a chick magnet.
