h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

PaperKid's been earning to cook, informally and piece-meal (she still prefers me to deal with cereal, but she likes to fry her own ). I was given a cookbook yesterday called Let's Cook with Kids (please tell me I'm not the only one that got the giggles, thinking of "To Serve Man") and PaperKid wanted to try a recipe right away, all by herself. So she picked out the recipe for Cloud Pudding, a basic corn-starch thickened milk-based pudding. I did make a point of telling her that burns easily, so don't turn the burner on past halfway, and stir constantly. The recipe directions said to heat the mixture to boiling, and simmer until thickened. I have a feeling that she may have just heated it to boiling, because, after pouring the pudding into a bowl and leaving it in the fridge for 3 hours, overnight, and then finally 24 hours, it never set. I suggested pouring it into a pan and reheating it, and that did the trick. Unfortunately, I didn't remind her about milk's burnability. The pudding didn't taste scorched, though it *was* a little brown and had flecks in. I liked it, but that could be because I *like* salty/sweet--y'see, PaperKid couldn't find the 1/8 teaspoon, and forgot how fractions work, so she put 1/4 teaspoon in. Twice.

Makes perfect sense - 4 plus 4 *is 8, isn't it?

Wonderful that you're teaching her. My stepmother wouldn't let me cook until I was 14 because I'd burn myself. Then she left and I learn to cook at about the same speed my father did. On the first day we spent half an hour trying to work out the complicated combi oven, that didn't come with instructions.

When I left for university a lot of the people in halls couldn't do anything beyond boiling pasta. Someone got a cookbook and we learnt how to make cheese sauce together. By Christmas we'd managed to work out how to do a full roast dinner. I still stun my parents by the fact I can now make my own bread, cakes, and other fairly complex things.

[Makes ]

Hiccup has always been a better cook of cakes than me

I can't remember how old her and her friend were when the wanted to cook a roast dinner all by themselves, 9ish, we were allowed in the kitchen but weren't to comment unless something was really going wrong.

They did great, cooked the chicken as per instructions on the packaging, roast spuds and stuffing 'cakes' rather than balls went in good time. They cut up their carrots and weren't too sure how long they would take but weren't going to ask so went for poking them until they were done.

It was the cabbage that stumped them, turned out niether of them had an idea how to cook cabbage,and chopping it looked tricky, very remiss of me to leave such a gap in their education, so they grilled it in leaves

Apart from asking us to get the cooked chicken out they did everything in terms of preparation and serving. They pointed out as there was chicken and stuffing cakes and spuds for us they had done the cooking and we had to do the washing up!

well, they grilled the cabbage leaves under the grill is wot I meant..

Grilled cabbage? Never tried that - was it edible?

well, it dried a bit and in some places was a little crispy,but still raw, kind of toasted, warmed up cabbage but it was 'edible', with plenty of gravey, and mint sauce, not the best cabbage they have ever tasted mind

The opinion was raw cabbage in coleslaw is fine, smothered in gravy and mint sauce, edible but odd

How old is paperkid now Amy?

I let t'Boy cook an omelette by himself last weekend. He did well following my instructions. He chose to have bacon in it and cheese on top. Need a new non-stick pan though. He was SO proud of himself. All part of my drive to have him able to cook me dinner asap.

Next stop spag bol.

Amy, are you glad that tomorrow's journal will be the last one you have to write?

writng, Amy says, piece of , have you seen the reading I do

There's a difference between writing when you have something to say, and writing every day no matter what.

yes,sorry, I was being my usual frivoulous self and posting off the cuff

PaperKid was 9 on my 11th h2g2 anniversary (July 11).

I actually have 2 left to go, because I haven't written anything today yet. Though either tonight or tomorrow will be things to try to draw the non-h2g2ers in, maybe (I've been posting the links on fb, except for the journals that have been nothing but placeholders). Maybe both days, actually--I could do 1 day as links to other NaJoPoMo journals and the other to other stuff.

Go for it!