Baking Cookies

Tomorrow my son turns 8. (How did that happen so fast?) And when your birthday falls on a school day, what do you do but bring in birthday treats to share with your class. It's also a great opportunity to interrupt the day and get out of some class work.

This year, he opted for cookies. To be specific, chocolate chip/M&M cookies. Last year he went the traditional cupcake route. In kindergarden he opted for chocolate covered strawberries. They didn't go over too well with the class, but his teacher loved them.

Before I became a parent, I used to think about how much fun it would be to have kids and bake with them. I only have one kid. And he loves to bake (and sing and dance, but we'll get into that another time). But I found that with a little guy, my baking efforts became less about the process and more about the results. As in refridgerated cookie dough.

Sure, it's great when you're in college and discovering a whole new set of food groups. And it's great if you need some dessert in a hurry.

But for the purposes of baking, only real butter, real chocolate, real sugar and eggs, and a Kitchenaid mixer will do. There is something about a kid and an electric mixer. Kind of like a kid and a mud puddle. Just doesn't get much better.

So today, I'm baking birthday cookies. From scratch. Because I can. Because he asked.

Saturday, we bake lava cakes!