We had another great day of cooking with Misslane last week!

This time we tackled homemade pizza dough for Pepperoni pizza Rolls and  Chocolate chip Zucchini muffins!

Here are some pics of the kids in action!  They have really done an amazing job with their baking skills and I do believe have had a blast!     Next week is our last class in this series…………….but no worries, summer is coming and we have some great classes lined up.  Just look for info here on my blog under Kids Classes!

Its a question I wanted to pose seeing I have a daughter whose favorite food is sushi.

Yes, she is 14 and does have a well developed palate but I was wondering if there were other folks out there whose kids are asking to go to dinner for sushi ?  I guess I started her on it  early and I do enjoy a nice tuna roll and baked dynamite, but its one of those things that I just didn’t expect to hear from my daughter so often.  So please  let me know if there are other folks out there who have found a kid friendly, affordable place for sushi that won’t break the pocket book .

I  admit I am a bit of a foodie and  since I am always critiquing places I eat I may as well share my findings on my Blog.

Tonight we dined at Sushi Hana Downtown on 6th and Central.   Its become a new favorite of mine.  Great ambiance,  lovely restaurant, its actually quite a big place but usually empty in the evening.  They have Happy Hour from 5:30- 7:30 and Half  off  their sushi menu. They have a nice selection of sushi rolls and Udon,  Yakitori, and traditional Japanese offerings.

The Miso Soup is tasty, very rich and tasty broth, deep caramel colored and nice touch of tofu and sliced mushrooms and green onions.  ( Forgot to take a picture…)

Didn’t care much for the Squid salad which is one my daughters favorites. It was a little too chewy and rubbery,  maybe not cut  into small enough pieces and the flavor was lacking.

The  Sushi rolls however, made up for the lack of flavor and they were beautiful and tasty.

We decided on 3 rolls and here are pictures of two of them , Fire Roll and Love Knight.  They were similar. They both had shrimp tempura in the center and salmon, except one had avocado . Sushi was fresh and the right amount sauce.  I especially liked the one with the avocado and my daughter enjoyed them both.

I do hope that you will  take a night to check out Sushi Hana,  Downtown.  We just discovered it  a month ago, but I fear that they may not be around long if we don’t get the word out and fill the place with customers soon.  Since the price is right and the service is friendly, and the sushi is tasty stop by and give it try and let me know what you think.   They do a nice Bento lunch special as well, but I haven’t tried it yet.  Let me know if you have ?      Arigato!     Comment me and let me  know where you like to go?

This week in class  we had the pleasure of practicing our measuring and baking skills together and made Oatmeal Blondies and Silver dollar pancakes.

I think everyone had a blast  and the kids really enjoyed making and eating their creations!

The cool thing about these recipes is they use a  convenient baking mix we call Everyday Baking Mix.

It is easy to make and can be used for several different recipe variations.

I’m posting it here for all of you to try out……..it stores for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Just be sure to mix it up before measuring out for your recipes.  Enjoy!

Everyday Baking Mix

v 6 Cups all purpose flour

v 3 Cups sugar

v 2 Tablespoons baking powder

v 1 Tablespoons salt

In a large bowl, whisk together 6 c. flour (spooned and leveled), 3 c sugar, baking powder and salt.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 months. Whisk before using.  Makes about 9 cups

Use it to make the following 3 Recipes

Chewy Oatmeal Blondies

• 1 stick butter room temperature
• ½ Cup  packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½  Cup Everyday baking mix (spooned and leveled)
• 1 Cup old fashioned oats/ not quick oats

Preheat oven 350. Brush 8’’ square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and 2 sides with parchment paper letting 2’’ overhang on both sides.

Using an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg beat until combined with mixer on low, gradually and slowly add baking mix.  Mix until combined.  Mix in ¾ cup of oats.  Pour batter into pan.

Using a butter knife, smooth batter evenly in pan, and sprinkle remaining oats on top pressing gently.   Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Using overhang on sides of pan, transfer brownies to a wire rack to cool.

Toothpick test:  The toothpick test is one of the best and most accurate ways to judge the doneness of baked items such as cakes and brownies.  One simply takes a clean toothpick and gently pushes it into the middle of the pan.  If the toothpick comes out clean without any batter attached to it, you will know that the cake is done.  If it comes out still gooey and sticky more time is needed in the oven.

Silver Dollar Pancakes with chocolate sauce

WE made these with chocolate chips instead of chocolate sauce! Just put a  handful of semis sweet chips in the batter before you  cook them .  They are great either way.

• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 ¼ cups everyday baking mix
• 1/3 cup store bought chocolate sauce or chocolate hazelnut spread
• ½ cup vanilla ice cream

Caution hot stove or griddle!  Adult Supervision required for young children!

1. 1. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, egg and 2/3 cup milk. Add baking mix, whisk lightly just until moistened.

IMPORTANT ( DO NOT OVERMIX; a few small lumps are fine).

1. Preheat oven to 200. Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium, very lightly butter the bottom of the pan.
2. Drop 2 -3 tablespoons of batter onto the hot skillet or griddle.  Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside another 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Transfer pancakes to a baking sheet, cover loosely with foil and put into the preheated oven to stay warm. Continue to make pancakes with remaining batter, adding more butter to skillet as necessary.
4. Recipe should make about 12 pancakes.
5. In a small saucepan combine chocolate sauce with 1/3 cup milk. Bring to a simmer over medium low, and whisk until smooth.

Serve pancakes topped with chocolate sauce and ice cream.

Jam Sandwich Cookies

4 cups Everyday baking mix

1 cup (2 sticks ) butter cold unsalted , cut into pieces

½ cup milk

¾ cup seedless jam or jelly any flavor

(Recipe makes 36 cookies/  18 sandwiches)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.. In a food processor, pulse baking mix and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add milk; pulse until a thick dough forms.
2. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons on to cookie sheets, 4 inches apart.
3. Bake until cookies begin to turn golden but center is still pale, approx 12-14 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Spread flat side of half of the cookies with 2 teaspoons jam each
6. Sandwich cookies with the remaining cookies.

So our latest kids class started last week and was a big success.

The kids are having a blast learning some baking  and math skills while preparing some tasty treats.

Here are a few pics of the kids doing their THING while making home made pretzels.

Spring is here and summer is on the way. With that in mind its time to get ready for some exciting new classes and food science experiments that kids will love.

Cooking is a Science…or is it science you can eat?  Truth is its both, and  it sure can be fun experimenting with food!

When I first started cooking as a kid one of my favorite things was to do home made science experiments in the kitchen. My little brother and I used to pull out all kinds of cooking ingredients like flour and baking soda  from the pantry and look into the refrigerator for a liquid (milk, vinegar, oil, corn syrup, ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, ) and some leftovers and see what we could heat up, blow up or explode in the kitchen!  My mom would wonder what the funny smell was and then ask have you seen my meat tenderizer….I know I had a bottle here somewhere?

In honor of those kids who love science experiments and cooking, we will be teaching a Food Science Class with my friend Wendy Flybutter this summer! Its going to be fun time for all!

The plan is to take 4  weeks of classes and work with all kinds of foods such as (chocolate, breads, pizza, meat, eggs, and ice cream).  The plan is to create some fun cooking experiments that result in something fun to eat!

Where:   Third Street Arts

711 3^rd Street SW  87102

Kids Food Science Class

Ages: 9-14

Dates:  Mondays and Fridays   Beginning June

7^th , 11^th, 14, 18^th 21, 25, 28^th , July 2^nd

Register for whole session or individual Classes by

$25/ per class or   $140 for the complete session

Time: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm