Hannah has taken on an internship this year so on Mondays it’s just Norah and I. Norah is a dynamic young lady full of creativity and a passion for cooking, baking, eating and food! She loves to work in the kitchen. She loves to host friends and family for meals and is always concocting up a new recipe. She excels in breaking me out of my “comfort zone” in the kitchen. The other day we were having a friend over for dinner and I was pressed for time and decided to make a vegetable fritatta. Norah insisted (she is a very persistent child) on making a quiche instead. I argued we didn’t have time to play around with a crust nor did I have much experience with quiche but I gave in and we ended up with one of the most delicious meals we have made in a while!
In the new year we thought it might be fun to make Mondays our baking day and to strive to make new things we have never made before. Yesterday we made a new york style cheesecake from this recipe. I have always thought cheesecake was an overly involved and tricky cake with a long list of ingredients but we found it was quite easy and simple really. We didn’t have enough graham crackers on hand so we substituted some homemade gingerbread men left over from the holidays for the crust. We also added a bit more lemon than called for. Santa brought Norah a citrus press for Christmas! It was rich, creamy and delicious with the perfect lemon zing. Norah and I were both beaming as we undid the spring form pan.
Next week…… bagels!!!
Alice says
Amy I can remember when your girls were running around red hill farm and (Norah may have even been crawling?!) I think it’s great that you are encouraging your girls to follow their own paths and nurturing their own individual gifts. Norah’s cake looks amazing!
Norah should do a bake sale or something- we love good desserts and I am a terrible baker myself when it comes to anything beyond basic cookie and cake recipes. I think most desserts out there are overloaded with sugar and just don’t have that special homemade taste. Who know’s maybe you have a master baker on your hands!
I enjoy reading your blog, it’s always inspiring and uplifting, thanks for sharing.
Alice
Tracie says
Oh, I just love this! How fun! And what special memories you’re making along with all those yummy baked goods.
joy says
Hi Amy, in the past, you’ve touched on the fact the your girls are home schooled. Any interest in sharing in a post a little more about the approach you take and maybe even what a typical day/week is like? Are they required to take tests of any kind by the government, say at the end of each year to say what grade equivalent they are? You can probably tell from my questions that I know very little about what homeschooling actually entails. I’ve just recently started to question whether the “formal” (public) school education is the best route for my girls who are 8 (3rd grade) and 5 (still in preschool this year). You do everything so well, I thought I’d ask and I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering about how you approach it. Thanks!
Alicia P. says
She is so cool. I love how she’s standing while looking into the fridge. She looks like a pro already. 🙂
julia says
what a special time for you and her to have together and what fun to set aside time to do something that she loves and is inspiring for you as well. that cake looks amazing!