What's a better cooking project for the letter C than a triple threat? :) Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures this time, but Emma enjoyed dumping in the dry ingredients, and I introduced her to the pleasure of eating raw cookie dough. Yum. And I don't think she'll soon forget that cookie starts with C!
We just used the Tollhouse recipe, which I love the taste of, but don't particularly like how they flatten out.
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12 oz. package) chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra
This is a fun book with a lot of C words (although at first Emma called the crocodiles "alligators"). It is the story of a monkey stuck on an island who outwits some crocodiles to get a bunch of bananas. The illustrations are zany and the text rhymes, which provides a lot of opportunities to look for little Cs.
Monday, February 9, 2009
B Week in Review
Yesterday at church, my husband entertained Emma by writing letters on the Magnadoodle and having her name them. We discoved that she knew the entire alphabet. Once again I'm feeling both extremely proud of her and a little bit useless myself. :) But I take comfort in knowing that she only knows lowercase a and b, and she only knows the sounds for a handful of letters. So we will continue on. Also, we're having fun!
Seeing and saying the names and sounds of the letter are easy for Emma--she is a quick memorizer. And the repetition works well. Reading is also a big hit, but that is no surprise either, considering we are total bookworms at this house. The letter books are adding more variety than our current collection. Writing continues to be a bust for Emma's little hands. But she is beginning to draw some actual shapes--a circle here, a triangle there--so we will keep trying.
Cooking is probably our favorite. Not only does it yield some delicious snacks, but we're having a marvelous time mixing. Art project are hit-or-miss, probably because I haven't really done too many of them with Emma before. She really enjoyed the butterfly this week, though, perhaps because she has a pair of butterfly pajamas that are her favorite. :) Our "Do" activities seem to be a bit hit-or-miss as well, depending on what I think up. I will have to be a little bit better about brainstorming.
Seeing and saying the names and sounds of the letter are easy for Emma--she is a quick memorizer. And the repetition works well. Reading is also a big hit, but that is no surprise either, considering we are total bookworms at this house. The letter books are adding more variety than our current collection. Writing continues to be a bust for Emma's little hands. But she is beginning to draw some actual shapes--a circle here, a triangle there--so we will keep trying.
Cooking is probably our favorite. Not only does it yield some delicious snacks, but we're having a marvelous time mixing. Art project are hit-or-miss, probably because I haven't really done too many of them with Emma before. She really enjoyed the butterfly this week, though, perhaps because she has a pair of butterfly pajamas that are her favorite. :) Our "Do" activities seem to be a bit hit-or-miss as well, depending on what I think up. I will have to be a little bit better about brainstorming.
Goldie and the Three Bears by Diane Stanley
This book is, obviously, a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which I've decided is a story I just don't like. Goldie is kind of a brat, and kind of demanding (to quote: "Goldie knew exactly what she liked--and exactly what she didn't.") Seriously, do I want to make my toddler even MORE picky? But I suppose at 2 she's too young to pick up the subtleties. As for being a B book, it was okay. It has less B words than one would think, especially because the bears don't show up until the final third of the book. But it was okay, and Emma seemed to enjoy reading it.
Banana Bread
Cooking continues to be a favorite activity. Emma loves to "dump it" into the bowl, after which crying with delight, "we dooed it!" (We're still working on pronouns and irregular past tense verbs. :) My husband helped out this week and even tried to get her to crack an egg, though I don't think she liked it all that much. But we all enjoyed the yummy results.
This recipe is your basic Betty Crocker version.
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired
1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms of 2 eight-inch loaf pans, or 1 nine-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened. Stir in nuts. Divide batter evenly between pans.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, or 9-inch loaf about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
4. Loose sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.
This recipe is your basic Betty Crocker version.
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired
1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms of 2 eight-inch loaf pans, or 1 nine-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened. Stir in nuts. Divide batter evenly between pans.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, or 9-inch loaf about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
4. Loose sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.
The Big Bug Ball by Dee Lillegard
Another random library book that turned out to be a great study of the letter B. This book tells the story of all the bugs getting together to have a ball (surprising title, eh?). The rhyming text is fun, as are the illustrations of differet types of bugs dressed in different kinds of dance garb. (Though I must admit that after several years of living in New York City, the picture of the cockroach at the buffet freaked me out some).
Butterfly
Our art project this week was to make a butterfly. I had orignially thought to stick two hearts together as wings, but to emphasize the letter, I took a 12x12 piece of cardstock, folded it in half, and drew a big letter B, with the straight edge on the fold, like so:
Then I cut out along the B with scissors, careful not to cut through the fold. Then we whippped out the crayons, and Emma colored the wings:
To finish it, I punched a hole in the top, and put in a plastic twistie-tie (like from a loaf of bread) to make the antennae. I really would have preferred pipe cleaners, but I didn't have any. I guess I will have to stock up on toddler art supplies. The finished product:
Then I cut out along the B with scissors, careful not to cut through the fold. Then we whippped out the crayons, and Emma colored the wings:
To finish it, I punched a hole in the top, and put in a plastic twistie-tie (like from a loaf of bread) to make the antennae. I really would have preferred pipe cleaners, but I didn't have any. I guess I will have to stock up on toddler art supplies. The finished product:
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