It was New Year’s Day and we thought, What would be fun to make today? Sous vide steak! Off to the butcher we went for a good cut of beef, but it was closed. New plan: lasagna with meat sauce. We could get everything we needed at the supermarket. At home, we assembled all the... Continue Reading →
Nama Gets an Apron–and Towels!
Our great pal Tina Silva gave me a very special birthday present this year. She designed an apron for our website and towels, too, with the sweets Liza and Annie most like to bake and the kitchen tools we use a lot. You'll see me here cooking dinner in my new apron at my friend... Continue Reading →
Hey, No Eating the Batter!
Mom was off at her tennis lesson and Annie and I wanted to make something delicious that she would enjoy when she got home. Dad said he'd help us. We chose brownies, one of our favorite desserts. We made one great change in the ingredients: instead of the unsweetened chocolate we used caramel chocolate chips.... Continue Reading →
Nama has a birthday!
It's not that I don't have plenty of birthdays--maybe too many!--but this one was really special. I hadn't been with my best girls at their apartment in nearly a year because of Covid. My pals Penny and Patty were invited, too.The table was beautifully set and the food delicious. Liza and Annie put on a... Continue Reading →
Baketivity!
I received a special gift from my good friends Maggie and Michael, a subscription to bake something different for each of three months. The kit comes with all the ingredients and the recipe. The last one was for red velvet cupcakes with the most delicious buttercream frosting. It was so yummy that my mom and... Continue Reading →
Super Bowl Special
Last Sunday night was awesome because Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl. Annie and I are big Tom Brady fans and were allowed to stay up late to watch him lead the team to victory. We had just the right treat for half time--the cake I made. It was a yellow cake with chocolate icing--LOTS... Continue Reading →
Shortbread Cookies
I especially like to bake on weekends. Last Friday night Mom and I found a recipe for a shortbread with nuts that looked good. It calls for pistachios but we substituted hazelnuts so we wouldn't have to do all that shelling. The dough is made in the Cuisinart, which I'm now learning to use. You... Continue Reading →
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!
Our friend Payton, who likes meatballs as much as we do, shared a favorite recipe with us. It comes from her great grandmother, whom she calls nammy. One day this summer, when the weather wasn't actually cloudy, she made these for her mom, Megan, and her brother, Ryan. Here she is about to pop the... Continue Reading →
A Pizza Picnic at Stonegate Farm
Yesterday our friend Michael invited us to have a picnic at his farm so that we could finally meet Peyton and her family and ride our favorite horse, Monty. There were TWO Namas there, Maggie and Colleen, and our moms and Liza and Annie's dad and, of course, Michael. After feeding the horses and walking... Continue Reading →
Young Chefs’ Club Brownies
Here is one of our favorite sweets. We should cut these brownies into small pieces so they will last longer, but we won't! Please send us a recipe for brownies you like to bake. (https://www.americastestkitchen.com/kids/recipes/best-bake-sale-brownies) --Annie and Liza
Liza, Culinary Camper
One of the things I did this summer that was really fun was a two-week cooking camp. I took an online course with Tastebuds Kitchen (https://tastebudskitchen.com/.We) were given the shopping list in advance so I had all the necessary ingredients ready and followed the teacher online along with other kids. I was really fast but... Continue Reading →
Unicorn treats
Nama has a friend named Megan in Pleasant Valley, New York, who has a daughter named Peyton. Peyton loves sweets as much as we do. She surprised us with these unicorn pops, which she got in a special shop called Samuel's Sweet Store in Rhinebeck. We hope to meet Peyton very soon. Peyton loves to... Continue Reading →
July Means Local Corn Salad
We like to go to The Maple Bank food stand in Roxbury, Connecticut for vegetables in summer. Starting about now you can get corn for one of our favorite dishes, corn salad. Here is Annie shucking the ears. After we've boiled the ears and they've cooled, Liza cuts off the kernels. This time we used... Continue Reading →
Happy Fourth of July!
This year decided to make a special cake because Grandpa Bob and Gail were coming to our Connecticut house to celebrate The Fourth of July with us. I put on my new chef's hat for baking. Since it's the Fourth, we wanted a cake that was, natch, red, white and blue! We decided on a... Continue Reading →
An Interview with Our Chefs
Annie: The best dish we’ve made so far was pizza with cheese and tomato sauce. I think I had five slices! Another good recipe is the one for black bean cakes. They are healthy and so are the banana pancakes we make because they have fruit in them. I like peeled cucumbers for a snack.... Continue Reading →
Who Needs a Pizza Stone?
We wanted a little more than scrambled eggs for brunch today and came up with the idea of making pizza on the grill. No stone necessary! The secret is to grill the raw dough first, then add the topping--we used Marinara sauce and mozarellla--and then grill it again. Of course it helps to have a... Continue Reading →
Good meals for all kids
Annie and I are getting healthier up here in the country because we have more time to think about what we're eating and more time to make healthy meals and snacks. We eat together as a family every night and talk about what we've been doing during the day. But we've been learning that many... Continue Reading →
Grandma Leslie and Her Kitchen Helper Cook up Spaghetti
When he was growing up, Hank's favorite meal was spaghetti with meatballs. Back then, he and I would go to a local farmer every fall and get a bushel of tomatoes. Hank's job was to load two dozen Mason jars into the dishwasher to wash and dry them, and meanwhile wash all of the lids... Continue Reading →
Wish you were here?
Here are our snacks for each of the Hogwarts House for Harry Potter movie night. --Annie and Liza
Tea with Liza and Annie (Video)
One of our favorite afternoon activities is having tea. Sometimes Mom and Dad and Mom join us but Annie and I are quite happy to sip our tea alone. By the way, the berries here are real, but we made the sweets out of felt! https://videopress.com/v/MvEyqvQq?preloadContent=metadata --Annie and Liza https://videopress.com/v/MvEyqvQq?controls=false&preloadContent=metadata
Sharing food and fun
When I am with my grandchildren, Liza and Annie, one of our favorite activities is cooking together. We love to make Dutch babies for breakfast, yummy hot soups for winter lunches, and grilled chicken on summer evenings. On the weekend what's more fun than baking cupcakes or an apple pie? Right now, we're living in... Continue Reading →