Cooking From Scratch

On Monday, Henry wanted to make strawberry lemonade.  His intention was to squeeze the lemons himself.  I told him it would be hard work.  He shook his head No and made the motion of using those big, restaurant-size metal juicers.  I informed him we did not own restaurant equipment and then made the motion of squeezing the lemons by hand.  After going through a bag of eight lemons, his muscles were tired.  He pureed some strawberries, made a simple syrup, added extra water, and let it chill.  He allowed us small tasting glasses and it was quite good.  It tasted fresh.

A few days later, he took the easy route and used a bottle of lemon juice to make his second batch.  

Meanwhile, Josiah kept the lemon theme going.  He's been going through Nana's cookbook and has been making all sorts of things.  A lemon chiffon cake was on deck.  He had to separate seven eggs.  After getting through two or three, he accidentally dropped some yolk in the whites.  I told him he had to start over, so he did, but I didn't realize that he only got a new bowl for the whites.  The yolk bowl kept stacking up, so when it came time to add them to the batter, he sort of guessed.  The cake turned out really good though.  It was exactly how I thought it should be - soft and fluffy.  He sort of rushed the icing because he was eager to try it, so the sugar and butter were not completely incorporated.  It wasn't broken like it looks, just not entirely mixed.  But it still tasted quite good.  Lemony.

Later in the week, it was Henry's turn to make dinner.  His intention was to stick with his classic orange chicken meal, but we were out of the 'box' of orange chicken.  We did have chicken tenders, so he looked up how to make the orange sauce and got to work.  That was quite good, too.  

Josiah finished out the week by making homemade pizza this evening.  He was very excited when the dough came together and it looked and smelled like real pizza dough.  I think he'd change his sauce and cheese ratio next time, but I thought it tasted great.  

Josiah and I headed to an antique store - his idea.  He was on the prowl for something, but he would not indicate what.  He saw a set of giant silverware that he really wanted to get for our dining room.  He also loved the Seal of the United States.  I told him it would be a looking trip, not a buying trip.  I'm trying to get him to think about things for at least a week instead of buying on the spot.  He's a shopper for sure.  On the way home, we stopped by the peach stand.  I was so happy to see them back.  That led to a peach cobbler a few days later.  

Mid-week, we all went to an Escape Room.  The theme was a 90s video store and you had to break in to get your tape out of the drop box because you forgot to rewind it.  It was a beginner room, but it was not easy by any means.  We requested two clues and made it out with 9:45 to spare.  The boys figured out the last puzzle to get the drop box open.  Every tape had "Nothing Personal" on it.  They figured out that PERSONAL stood for the types of movies (Private Eye...Opera...Action... I can't remember them all) which corresponded to colors on their boxes which was the order to push the buttons in Caroline's picture.  I was impressed.  We had only walked out the shop door when they said they were ready to sign up for another one.  

At the end of the week, Caroline went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta with the student ministry.  She invited a friend from school, which made it more fun.  When I picked her up that evening, she listed all the fish and sharks and marine life that they saw.  It sounded impressive.  Hammerheads.  Otters.  Dory.  Nemo.  Unfortunately, she and her group were unexpectedly put on a food fast.  I gave her cash-a-plenty, but the aquarium did not take cash, and she could not find the leader to use his credit card.  The aquarium was two hours away, so it was a long day to not eat.  Poor things.

Henry spent the weekend with Todd in Gaffney, SC.  Since Todd was not in Texas when Henry turned 13, the trip got a little delayed.  Their first stop was the Beacon Drive-In where Todd went as a kid.  Todd got chicken livers and fried okra.  That's a southern meal.  There was a little market next to their hotel and they got homemade ice creams.  Besides the feasting, they visited Cowpens National Park - a battle from the Revolutionary War.  Henry did the activity book that was handed out and they gave him a cow pencil to fill it out.  That was my souvenir - his pencil.  I do love pencils.  They brought back a book for Caroline and a walking stick for Josiah.   Henry got a National Park game as his souvenir.

In the downtime they went to an arcade and bowled and played games.  When they got home, Josiah asked Henry if he was a man now.  

While they were gone, Caroline and I did a few puzzles.  And we played a lot of Organ Attack.  That's been the game of the hour.