What are you been cooking today

[I Love Bimby!]

Everything looks great!!! And Julie that Bruscetta looks fantastic! Love summer for the fresh tomatoes from the garden with torn basil, a bit of EVOO and crumbled feta on some nice fresh sourdough 

Finally..... I'm getting back into some new recipes! Yay!!!  Just posted a GF Banana, Date & Blueberry loaf and have snuck in a warm slice with butter - yum!! DD will be excited in the morning 

[quirkycooking]

My 13 yr old daughter is making all our bread now - all on her own!  I'm so pleased!   

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

That is fantastic Jo! 

[Meagan]

How fantastic Jo!!

[quirkycooking]

... although I'm sure I'll still do it sometimes, as I do enjoy making bread! 

[cookie1]

Jo you must be proud of her and she must feel proud of herself. Well done.

I find bread making very relaxing.

Last night I made feta and bacon rissoles and rolled them in spinach leaves and steamed them in the Varoma. I was pleased with the result.

[Cornish Cream]

My 13 yr old daughter is making all our bread now - all on her own!  I'm so pleased!  

Jo what a achievement, you must feel immensely proud of her.It sounds as though she is going to be a great cook like yourself.

[andiesenji]

I agree wholeheartedly that teaching teens to cook or bake, be they girls or boys, is an excellent way to keep them from getting into too much trouble.
Not to mention that it impresses the heck out of their friends.

When my stepdaughter was about the same age and going through some troubled times (her mother died when she was 11), I got her interested in baking and decorating cakes.  I bought her one of the sets of Wilton's decorating tips and taught her the basics.
After she graduated high school and went out on her own at college, she was able to earn extra money by baking and decorating cakes, many for the professors and staff at the college.  Later, after her marriage and the production of four sons, she continued doing the same and it supplemented their income during some tough times. (She refused to take any help from me or her dad as she was fiercely independent.)  She also taught all her sons to cook and bake and be self-sufficient in the kitchen.  None went into it professionally and none of them ever got into any significant trouble and turned out to be responsible and worthy adults. 

It is amazing what a dose of self-worth can do for a child or teen who may be feeling a bit left out of things, or is shy. 
One of my friends has a son who was diagnosed as a slow learner and mildly autistic and had difficulty in school but after she took him out of regular school and enrolled him in a "technical" high school that had a course for "junior" chefs, he did exceptionally well and eventually attended the CIA school in northern California and now works as a sous chef at a big hotel in San Francisco.  Amazing, really.

[quirkycooking]

Very true, andiesenji!  My daughter has been getting more and more confident - she's always been a quiet, shy girl, and wouldn't even use the stove or oven because she was a bit scared of it - so this is a big step for her.  She's really taken to cooking lately - maybe I'll be out of a job soon!  Ha    She's also taken over the sewing, and has taught her dad how to hem his own trousers, since I'm a very big procastinator in this area!!! 

Yesterday avvie we made two loaves of spelt challah bread, 8 pizzas (everyone made their own, since we had extra kids for the evening and it kept them busy!) and pizza sauce, a gf lemon almond cake and anzac bikkies.  Today the boys are making pasta salad for lunch, and the girls are making taco salad for dinner - easy meals. 

[judydawn]

Thanks for sharing your stories with us Andie, I have to agree with you about kids in the kitchen.

Looks like you are heading for an early retirement Jo with the children taking over household chores and obviously loving their cooking    You must be very proud of them.

[judydawn]

Today I have made a batch of rolls, cooked rice for the freezer, did the first stage of almond bread and prepared toppings for pizzas I am making tomorrow by making some caramelised onions & 3 different sauces (basil topping, garlic sauce and megan's pizza sauce). Now it will just be a matter of making the dough and assembling them in the morning.

[cookie1]

You are all so busy with your machines, I feel mine is being neglected. I am about to make some cookies in it and then steamed puddings and custard. The slow cooker is doing the main meal.

[cookie1]

I've just done another batch of vegie stock and JD's Thick Cheese and Broccoli Soup. It is lovely. I'll take some over to the kind neighbour who gave us the broccoli.

[judydawn]

Pizza making day here, posted 2 recipes.  2 meals into the freezer which is great as it takes so long to make pizzas and I had mess from one end of the kitchen to the other. I'd done half the prep work yesterday to cut down on my time in the kitchen today but the reward is home made pizzas which doesn't happen very often around here.  I can see why people prefer to order them in though 

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

I find pizza making quite involved and messy too JD.  We really love homemade ones though. My deal is that I am happy to make them (with the kids helping), if hubby is happy to clean up afterward.