Zoom Cooking with Grandparents

“What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.” – Rudolph Giuliani

Zoom Cooking

  These times sometimes require an abundance of grandparent ingenuity, too.  Grandma Cheryl has introduced Zoom cooking to her long-distance family.  To sign up for a free Zoom go to zoom.us/sign up on your computer or ask local teens to bring over a laptop or Chromebook sign you up and show how to use it.  Then schedule a time to meet online with multiple people for Zoom Cooking. Facetime and Skype are also available. Fair warning, you will have only 40 minutes before being kicked off  Zoom unless you pay for a subscription.

Pumpkin Cookies

  Cooking something easy like pumpkin cookies is a good start.  To save time, gather all of the ingredients and cooking utensils before the Zoom, heat  the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl whisk together 2 ½ cups flour,1 teaspoon baking powder,1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In another bowl use a mixer to mix until light and fluffy: 1 stick of softened butter with 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup brown sugar.  Then add 1 ¼ cups of canned pumpkin puree, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla on medium speed.  Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. You want to keep the fluffiness. 

  Use a little scoop to drop on the cookie sheets and use a spoon to flatten slightly.  The cookie does not flatten while baking.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

  While baking you can make the frosting and catch up on the latest family news. For the frosting, cream together 8 ounces of low-fat cream cheese, room and 3 tablespoons butter, and1 teaspoon. Gradually add powdered sugar until you like the consistency. When the cookies bounce back up when touched, they are done. Ice when cool.

  Your time will probably be up for now.   You can make arrangements to call back and have pumpkin cookies and apple cider together.

Homemade Playdough

  Although it can’t be eaten, making and playing with playdough is another fun on-line activity. Mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar together and place in 3-quart saucepan. Stir in 1 tablespoon cooking oil and 1 cup water tinted with food coloring. Cook and stir constantly over low to medium heat until mixture looks like dough. Remove from heat, cool, and knead. Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. 

  Spend the rest of the time reading books out loud or talking.  Next time challenge each other to make playdough animals and people while chatting. More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Sketches: Mike Nowicki

Windows Inspire Delightful Cookies

Observe Colors and Light and Reflections

Have you ever taken young children to admire the brilliant colors of stained glass windows close up and watched them touch the colors with wonder? They are delighted by the light reflecting on their hands and often like to stand in the colors on a bright day. Children also love to make these easy and edible stained glass cookies all winter long.

Cookie Recipe

  Here are the Ingredients:  2/3 cup butter, 1  1/4 cup white sugar,1 teaspoon vanilla extract,2 eggs,3 cups all-purpose flour,2 teaspoons baking powder,1/2 teaspoon salt,3 Tablespoons  milk,40 fruit flavored hard candies (Life Savers or Jolly Ranchers melt well.)Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with tin foil sprayed with cooking oil. Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in vanilla and eggs.In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 

Make Stained Glass Cookies

Add to egg mixture alternately with milk. Chill the dough and take out only what you need for a few cookies at a time. It will be easier to form cookies. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. To make window frames, cut into 1/4 to 1/2inch-wide strips.  Form into stained glass window frames with geometric designs inside. You can also make stained glass cut- out cookies. Cut out large cookies and take out dough in small areas and replace with candy.

 Keep colors separate, place candy in double plastic bags and a thick grocery bag. Help children carefully crush into smaller pieces with a hammer. Place candy pieces in the holes. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Ten -minute cookies will be crunchier. Check on them often as they bake, however. Cool well on baking sheet until candy is hard. Carefully lift cookies off the baking sheet with a pancake turner and by curling the tin foil slightly. 

Stained Glass Drawings

  To makestained glass style paper windows fold a black 

Make Stained Glass Drawings

piece of construction paper about 5”X 8” in half. Think of how you wish the window to look when the fold is open. Draw guidelines for groups of triangles, circles, rectangles, or a picture on the folded paper and help children cut out the shapes.  When you open the folded paper both sides will be symmetrical. Glue wax paper one side covering the holes you made. Paint one waxed paper section at a time with white glue and cover with one-inch square pieces of different colored tissue paper. You may overlap colors to make a stained glass look more realistic. If you want a shine, paint on Modge Podge. When dry, hang in a window. For more fun with children see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, wnmufm.org/Learning through the Seasons live and podcasts; Facebook and Pinterest.