Baking Banana Muffins

I love cooking and especially baking.  I can remember countless hours of watching my Grandma Ryan bake in her farm house kitchen.  Watching her knead the dough for her famous cinnamon rolls and kolaches or pinching a pie crust just right was like watching an artist fill a canvas.

My mom likes baking and cooking too, and I appreciate all the hours she spent in the kitchen creating meals and yummy baked goods.  I think back with envy at the fact that she worked a full time job, raised three kids, ran us all over for our activities, and fed us (and often our friends) home cooked meals.  I work part time, have two kids not in activities yet, and I feel overwhelmed half the time!

I have a few recipes that Owyn has been helping me with since before he was two years old, and now Zoee has started joining us in our baking adventures.  We make mini banana muffins and mini pumpkin muffins that we keep in the freezer so that we can zap them in the microwave for a warm muffin anytime.  We also make chocolate chip cookies (Daddy's favorite) from time to time.  Owyn, I think, has the banana muffin recipe nearly memorized and can tell me what comes next before I can even check the card.  He is "the sifter" in our house.  If a recipe calls for sifted flour, he's the man for the job.  He also likes to use the antique nut chopper to chop the pecans and walnuts that I add to my muffins (their muffins are plain, mine have nuts).  Zoee now pulls up her own chair and helps us when we bake.  She is the bowl holder, for now.  She has had a shot at sifting, don't tell Owyn, when he was at school one morning, but he's not ready to give up that job full time yet. 

I hope they always want to help me when I bake or cook.  I hope they enjoy cooking and baking when they grow up.  And I hope they carry fond memories with them of our time in the kitchen.  Just like my memories of growing up in a kitchen.