Baking with my brother

My husband and I were in Ohio last week for a few days, and we got to spend some quality time with a lot of friends and family. My little brother is a lot like me, and at age 11, he's old enough to help with baking but not old enough to really handle the oven. Over the few nights that I was home, we bonded over egg-cracking techniques and the importance of putting ingredients away as you use them (because Mom gets mad if you don't!).

The first night I was home, we baked the cake mix cookies, this time with chocolate cake mix and chocolate icing. Doug has renamed them "Cakies." We added sprinkles for effect.

We took some to my grandma's house the next day and talked about our mutual love of baking, as well as my 10-year-old cousin's new-found finesse with baked goods. Samantha has been churning out yummy cookies and beautiful cakes, and Doug has decided we need to have a bake-off with her, Grandma, me and Doug.

I think I take for granted how easy it is for me to crack and egg without getting shell in the bowl, and Doug was also a bit overwhelmed when I tried to explain the idea of using egg whites for a recipe (he watched me separate the egg for that recipe). But it was really good to bond with Doug over baking and to teach him some tricks of the trade as we did it.

We made chocolate chip peanut butter cake another night before my sister and brother-in-law visited. Then, the night before we left Ohio, Doug and I made Cakies again, this time with spice cake mix and cream cheese frosting.

He's a pro in training. And that family bake-off could be *quite* interesting :-)