My most eager baker assisted me with this one. Actually, it’s gotten to the point now where I’m the one assisting her, which I totally adore! She gets really into it and unlike the usual ‘dump, stir, lose interest’ category that most kids fall into (including Wee One #1), she really wants to be involved in every part of it. So sweet!!

The weird thing about cooking and baking your way through cookbooks is there will eventually be a recipe no one wants to try. For some reason the word ‘cheesecake’ doesn’t sit right with the kids, and my husband and I are not huge fans of dairy. Well, correction. Dairy isn’t a fan of either of us. Once it was out of the oven though, and the whole house had this wonderful cheesecakey smell going on, the kids caved and each had a piece. And then another. And then more the next day till it was gone.

This was recipe #11 from Baking With Kids!

The recipe has you crushing crackers, you could just use ground graham (or wheaten) crackers.	Melt the butter and mix it in with the crumbs and the sugar.
Mix it till it’s mostly combined.	Once it’s in the well greased springform pan, press the mixture flat.
Now mix the ricotta and sour cream in a big bowl with your mixer (or a spoon).	Crack the eggs into a separate bowl to avoid shells in your cheesecake!
Tip the egss in!	She likes to watch the kitchen power tools very carefully.
Now add the icing sugar and the ground almonds. This is also when we grated the lemons and added both the zest and the juice from the lemons to the mix.	Sooooo creamy. Pour it over the crust!
Normally I’d say ‘sprinkle the slivered almonds on top and away you go’ but this Wee One is very specific about the placement of each almond sliver.	It’s her work of edible art!
Bake at 300F for 1 1/4 hours, then turn off the oven and leave it inside without opening the door for another 1 1/2 hours till the oven cools off. Then take the cheesecake out of the springform and serve it either as it is or with fresh berries!

When I first read this recipe, courtesy of non other than the most delicious Bakerella, I sat stunned. I was in awe of the amazingness of the overall concept, I was totally paralyzed by the urge to get up and make it right now and I was also a little concerned for my waistline. She even put a warning on the most decadent picture of this extremely sinful treat that says MAY COMPLICATE WEIGHT LOSS. Indeed, Bakerella. Indeed.

I did get up and make them right away though. They were ready for the kids after school treat and dudes – they were extremely happy kids when they walked in and smelled this seriousness. I was declared best mommy ever once they tasted them – duh.

The simplicity of this recipe makes it all the more awesome. If you can make chocolate chip cookies and you can make brownies, you’re golden. The only thing I am ever not keen on with Miss Bakerella is all the boxed stuff used in the recipe. So the original recipe calls for a Betty Crocker brownie mix and a Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix.

I however? Just. Couldn’t. Do. It.

So I made a double batch of Good Housekeeping’s cocoa brownie batter and a double batch of Good Housekeeping’s chocolate chip cookie dough.

Brownie Batter: 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract	Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan.	I doubled the recipe so I’ve got a whopping 2 cups of sugar here!
Mix the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.	Melt the sugar in the butter and add the eggs and vanilla.
Then add the dry ingredients and mix till it’s all combined. Brownie batter done!	Start on the cookie dough now by measuring out the sugars and the butter.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, with the egg and vanilla.	Measure out the chocolate chips and add them in too.
Cookie dough done!	Now comes the magic!
Grease a 13″ x 9″ pan and pour the brownie batter into it. Then dollop the cookie dough over it. Just look at it! YUM!	Bake it for about 35-40 minutes at 350F!
These brownies turned out so well words cannot describe.

I’m participating in Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

As you know by now, I’m a pretty monogamous knitter. If I have more than one project on the go, I will forget about other projects and they’ll never get done. Although there is the exception right now of my Beekeeper Quilt, which is more of an in-between projects project than an actual always-on-the-go kind of project. Other than that, I’m an extremely loyal knitter.

However.

I currently have two pairs of socks on the go because after being just a few rows into the Flying Arrows I’m making for the principal of my kid’s school, I was reminded that a wee little person I care about was about to turn one. The connection is weird and totally fueled by the internet. She’s my dear friend’s fiancee’s best friend’s kid. Yeah, I know. She’s way sweet and her mother and I are eerily similar so I set to work on finding the perfect sock pattern right away. The only trouble with socks for little people is it doesn’t take long for them to grow out of them. Sometimes, the kid grows out of the socks faster than it took to knit the damn things. Sooooo, legwarmers it is!! Plus bright pink legwarmers on chubby little legs is so freaking cute it hurts. You know it does.

So here is the one finished Flying Arrow sock. It’s actually a pretty quick knit and I haven’t had to rip it back at all. Score for me.

This is how far into the second sock I was before I tossed it aside to cast on for something wee and pink and cuter.
This basket of deliciousness is what will be taking up my evenings this week. I settled on Socks for Mary Janes, but because of the whole ‘babies grow way too fast to knit them cute stuff’ issue, they are going to be legwarmers. With no heel to turn and no toe to decrease to, I really have no excuse on these taking long to knit up. They really need to be knitted up this week because, yeah I have stuff to do! That stuff may or may not include posting a whole lotta recipes and crafty tutorials burning a hole in my hard drive – and it may or may not include this other basket of deliciousness. My Knit Picks order came in the same week that I finally caved and checked out the yarn store out here in the woods. Well, technically it’s actually in the closest ‘city’ to us (and I use the term city really, really loosely). They have a lot more nice yarn than I thought and I managed to hold back and only pick up 4 balls. Go me!!