Happy Meals

One of our homeschool traditions is "making a meal" once a month. The student and Mom pick a date, develop a menu, and prepare it together. This is great for bonding time, practical life skills, and nutrition education (I still remember one menu suggestion that included ham, very sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, sweet drink, and dessert. How about...NO!)

That said, we actually didn't start our meals this school year until November. Marianna was first, cooking with me on Sunday. (One problem is finding a good day--cooking together is pretty time intensive.)

Her menu was eclectic: baked spareribs and light biscuits (actually yeasted rolls) from The Little House Cookbook, veggies and dip, and homemade peanut butter ice cream with chopped Reeses cups. I turned the oven higher than suggested in the cookbook, so the ribs were a little crusty, but we actually ate every bite of everything offered, probably a first and last accomplishment here!

Here are some photos of our afternoon. The rolls started with a "sponge". Yeast, water, and flour are beaten together and set aside to grow.


And grow it did:

Next come more ingredients, kneading, and rising. Finally more eggs, fat, and sugar are added, and the dough is rolled and cut:

These were very popular!

Here is Marianna scraping ice cream out of the machine and enjoying quality control. Yum!