Soothing cookies

I love cooking with my son. He's so inquisitive and loves to be involved. We pull a chair up to the counter so he can look into the mixing bowl. He loves the measuring, pouring and mixing. It's a side of him I don't get to see when we are rushing around most days of the week.

We have been cooking together since he had enough of an attention span to stand on a chair at the counter. It has been a learning experience. There was the time when he was very young, just 2, when I poured all the ingredients into separate bowls to make it easier for him to measure. I turned my back to see them all dumped mostly in the bowl, then the counter and the floor. His aim wasn't quite what it needed to be. And now, the time before this cookie adventure when he measured one of the liquids all by himself and gently poured it into the bowl without spilling. It's been fun to watch him change while doing the same actions. It's mostly fun to hear his giggle.

We made lavender cookies. They are light and have a hint of lavender, but they don't smell over powering.

The recipe is from Recipzaar, but I've added my changes below.

Makes 36 cookies.

* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon lavender flowers
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Put eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla and lavender into blender and run until well mixed.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
4. Add other ingredients and stir until just mixed.
5. Roll about a teaspoon of dough at a time and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press onto cookies with a fork.
6. Bake until they just begin to brown about 11-13 minutes.

Shiny Green Sweater

I finished big N's sweater! He of course told me it was too scratchy to wear. He was so excited about it when I started it. Oh well, it's big enough that he can change his mind a few times and still wear it once or twice.

I opted not to block the sweater. It's a very casual piece and since it was done all in one piece, I didn't have to worry about everything fitting together.

Happy 4th birthday, little guy.

Knit wish list

It's really easy to add to my list of things I want to knit.

My next knitting project will be Something Red. Honest! I won't do anything else. Ok, maybe a hat for Pete and Neva is asking for a sweater.

Stages of Packing

When you first begin to pack your house, you are completely organized. One box for a particular type of items, perhaps some of your desk, neatly organized into multiple boxes and clearly labeled. Then you get to the 2nd week of packing. At this stage, if it's in the same room, it ends up in the same box, still labeled clearly. Lastly, you end up with boxes that just say "stuff" and you're tired and cranky with your spouse. He is of course, tired and cranky with you.

I hate moving.

Shiny Green Sweater -- in progress

This is the sweater I am making for big N. He asked me to make him a shiny green sweater. I originally picked out a gorgeous washable wool in what I thought was a shiny green. Big N told me that it was not the right color. He picked out an inexpensive green/grey yarn and insisted that it was shiny. I have a lot to learn about colors, don't I!

I have really come a long way on his sweater. It is coming out a lot larger than I wanted to. I goofed just a little! I glanced at the raglan length and knit to the size 6 instead of the size 4. I did not realize I had gone so much larger it was until he tried it on and it looked like a poncho on him. That was when I decided it was a good time to split off the sleeves. I went ahead and made the rest of the sweater body the size 6 length so it won't become a belly shirt when it does finally fit him in the shoulders. He insists this is shiny green. I have the sleeves left to do and the band around his neck. It's really coming out nice. I may have to make one for my daughter.

The pattern I am using is from here

Big N did have one comment for me, "Mommy, could you fix my sweater so it's not too big." Poor child, I'm not pulling it out. He will eventually grow into it.