Good Food and a Warm Kitchen
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to grow up with your dad being Gordon Ramsay or your grandma was Julia Child. Can you imagine knowing how to cook a perfect steak and knowing what duck confit is by the age of 8? (I just had to google what duck confit was…) I have had a lot of good cooks in my life, but a lot of my cooking experience comes from the simple exercise of “just try it” in my adult years. So, in a way, Waylin and I are learning together.
I don’t think I could ever narrow down the one thing that I love most about motherhood, but I really enjoy teaching Waylin how to do something new on her own. I am always equal parts of wanting her to learn and be independent vs NEVER.GROW.UP. I have a feeling that internal battle lasts your whole life. Time moves on, so let’s enjoy it together, right?
Waylin was begging to help me in the kitchen on a taco night. I decided I would let her wash a tomato for me while I was cooking the meat. I don’t think there has ever been a tomato in the history of tomatoes that has gotten that long of a bath before. 🍅 She frequently asks me if she can wash vegetables now. When we’re out of tomatoes, we move on to sweet potatoes!
She really enjoys the independence and I am always very proud of her!
Making her own avocado toast was a huge highlight for her this summer. She talked about it for DAYS afterwards! I didn’t know if giving a toddler a butter knife is a good idea at the time, but we always talk about safety in the kitchen when we are cooking together. I want her to be confident, but also smart. So, the next cooking adventure may be a little alarming, but…
WAYLIN MADE A SCRAMBLED EGG! 🍳
I don’t know how old I was when I made my first egg, but I think it was when I was an older kid. I remember one incident very specifically…back in the 90s, you could be home alone without anyone questioning you or your parents’ parenting skills. My mum did her best as a single mother putting herself back through school and raising two sisters that hated each other every minute of the day. While my life isn’t representative of those same hardships, I STILL don’t know how she did it all. Some nights, she wouldn’t be home until late so we sometimes got really hungry and decided to “help” by starting early.
That particular day, I really wanted some scrambled eggs. I didn’t really understand how to use the knobs on the oven, so the next best thing was the microwave. We had the trademarked microwave oven on a cart setup. So, I took out a frying pan and put a beaten egg inside it. I put it in the microwave and decided 2 minutes was good. I stood by peering in the window for the first 5 seconds and everything seemed okay! The turntable was turning, and it looked hot in there. Right before I completed turned away, I saw…the 4th of July of all SPARKS and FIRE! 🎇 My mum actually came home seconds after this happened and that was the day I learned what not to do with a microwave. 😁
We actually make eggs pretty regularly now! She is really good at it and she will eat all of her eggs which makes me really happy. In true Salfelder fashion, she does like ketchup with her eggs too! ❤
We also made sweet corn in the air fryer for the first time! OH MY GOODNESS, that is a regular rotation in my household ever since we tried air frying it. It tastes like it has been buttered and comes out for the juiciest, crisp corn you’ve ever had! 🌽
We do 390 degrees for 8-10 minutes and flip/shake halfway! I put a small amount of oil on the cob and then sprinkle with some seasoning before we throw them in, but they are a family favorite here! Our air fryer is a little workhorse in our house…I use it daily!
I’m laughing so hard because when I took the first picture, I was trying to convince her to put the EARS of corn near her ears and she was giving me this look like, “Come on, mama…I know you’re just doing this for the ‘gram and a cheesy “dad joke” kind of thing.” 🤣 Yes, yes child. I am! Nonetheless, she did it and we both thought it was funny! 👂
We have even tried our hand at baking! 👩🍳 My MIL gave us a fresh chive plant and I had been craving zucchini bread. I came across a Pinterest recipe for Zucchini, Cheese, and Chive Buttermilk Bread! I wanted to post it here because it was absolutely perfect!
Zucchini, Cheddar cheese & Chive Buttermilk Quick Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (I just used the milk we had on hand and mixed some vinegar in it…learned that from MIL!) 👋
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (use an Old Cheddar)
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 cup shredded zucchini
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.
Whisk the melted butter into the buttermilk mixture.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mix, and gently combine. Don’t over mix the batter.
Stir in the shredded cheese, shredded zucchini and chopped chives.
Line a 9 x 5 baking tin with parchment paper and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
TRUST ME! You need this bread in your life! I will be making this over and over again this summer! The garden fresh chives are DEFINITELY a good move! :)
We also tried our hand at baking something sweet! Now, sweet desserts are not my biggest passion. I think that’s just because I know I would eat an unreasonable amount of whatever I made before I share with others. 😩
We had a dreary day of rain that kept us inside and that meant we were bored by mid-afternoon. Waylin is a big outdoorsy kind of girl, so when it’s stormy, we have to get creative! I picked up a box of “better quality than normal boxed cupcake mix” and we decided to whip up some icing. This is actually Waylin’s first time licking a spoon/whisk! I know! How dare I wait this long for her to have this monumental childhood experience! 🤪
Going through all these fun memories of us in the kitchen this summer so far has me wondering if we should start a cooking show! 👩🍳👩🍳 I think it would be so fun! Too bad I don’t have a multi-million dollar kitchen to film in. “That 70’s Cooking show” will have to do…
Either way, I love my little Iron Chef and can’t wait to see what we cook up next! ❤
