We like to cook!

Did you know this girl loves to cook? I think it started when we got her a play kitchen for her for Christmas when she was one, because she's been cooking every since. Sometimes you might get a dinner of Army men, sometimes it might be some play food (she loves to grill things!), sometimes it might be some **beans, you just never know what she'll come up with next, but of course it's always DELICIOUS!!!
As she's gotten a bit older, she loves to cook "real" things now though - she loves to pour in the ingredients and she'd really like to measure things too (but I don't always let her quite yet) and stirring........ohhh how she loves to stir! If I don't get her a chair and let her help, she's not very happy - and of course I almost always oblige.
I think the best part of cooking "real" things might be the sampling though. She wants to taste each thing before she dumps it in, and of course she must sample again once it's all mixed together. She's learning some good lessons I think - she's learning hand-eye coordination, patience, how much fits into a measuring cup (and what happens if we fill it too full) and she already knows that baking powder is NOT yummy and sugar is - what great lessons!!! I think we might just have to 'learn' some more tonight and bake up some cookies!!

PS - If you have a youngster and are looking for something different - get a small plastic tub, a couple bags of beans and a box of elbow macaroni. Throw in some old measuring cups and spoons and you'll be set. Riley plays with this (and her play dishes) for hours!!! She loves "cooking" with her beans!!