Great Grandma Day

 Elizabeth declared yesterday Great Grandma Day by the time it was finished.  We started in the morning making my grandma's cruschiki, or Polish bow ties, something we had every Easter when I was growing up.  I'd go to her house on Good Friday and watch her.  That's how I learned to cook.  I watched her and I watched my mom.  You can learn a lot if you just observe.

So yesterday was the girls' turn to watch. Or so I thought!  They are quite comfortable in the kitchen and it wasn't hard to let them do all the steps with just a little instruction.

   Like here, where I thought I was going to show them two ways to separate eggs.  I was quickly hip bumped out of the way as they took over separating the eggs with complete confidence. They knew what to do and did it.

 Using the mixer wasn't an issue either.  Sometimes we forget how smart they are.

 I did show them how to put themselves into kneading, the one task I find boring.  Look at Elizabeth's stance.  She was putting her muscle to the chore.

 Rolling was a little harder for Adelaide, who said, "the dough just keeps coming back!"  She was eating more than she was rolling.  Raw dough. Ugh.

The object was to get it paper thin, my Busia's cruschiki didn't have a bite to them.  When you take the first bite it's supposed to fall apart down the front of your shirt.

 Cut them with a pizza cutter, put a slit in the middle

  Give them a stretch to make them even thinner and twist into the bow

 While Adelaide kept stuffing the raw ones into her mouth Elizabeth carried trays outside where we had the deep fryer going

    Back inside and cooled, the powdered sugar was sprinkled on and they were ready to eat.  Adelaide decided she doesn't like them but Elizabeth pulled up a chair and started gobbling them down.  I told Adelaide that she was going to have to teach HER children how to make them.  We then decided she could take her children, all ten of them, to their Aunt Elizabeth's house for their lesson. 

 Phew!  A hard morning's work.

   Later that afternoon they came back for a spaghetti dinner with the sauce recipe from my Sicilian grandmother's recipe.  While we sat at the table talking about the things we cooked and ate that day and where they came from, Elizabeth said, "This was Great Grandma Day!"