Twinkle Twinkle

I was a parent helper today at Cole's preschool.  They read Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani during circle time, made a book of their own with the same title to bring home, decorated stars as an art project (we'll use this star to top our Christmas tree), and played at being wild animal veterinarians.  

Here Cole puts some finishing touches on his Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star book.

The next theme in the creative play corner will be baking.  They'll be reading The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Girl, and The Gingerbread Baby (that's a lot of gingerbread!) and taking a field trip to a bakery. Alex got a jump on the theme tonight by baking Giant Oatmeal Spice Cookies with Cole. The whole house smells absolutely delightful.

Cole thought the creamed butter and sugar tasted just fine all on its own.

Giant Oatmeal Spice Cookies by Maida Heatter

1.5 C flour

2 t cinnamon

2 t allspice

1.5 t cloves

1.5 t ginger

.5 t salt

.5 t finely ground black pepper

.5 t baking soda

8 oz. butter

1 t vanilla extract

1 C each granulated and light brown sugar (Alex cut this in half)

2 eggs

3 cups quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats

(Alex added some trail mix heavy on sunflower seeds to the whole batch, then half the cookies got raisins while the other half got chocolate chip cookies (a nod to Cole's love for chocolate chip cookies))

*sift together dry ingredients (except oats)

*cream butter, add vanilla and sugars and beat to mix, add eggs and beat to mix

*on low speed beat in the dry ingredients, and then stir in the oats with a wooden spoon

*use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the dough for each cookie, form into a flattened ball 1/2 inch thick

*bake at 375 until nicely browned but not dark around the edges, approximately 12 minutes

These would make great cookies for taking on an autumn or winter hike in the northwest.