A BUN IN THE OVEN

Okay, I know I must have jinxed the weather with my column last week. Mea culpa, mea culpa! My only thought is that I should focus on indoor cold weather activities this week in hopes that I will jinx the weather right back to mild and sunny.

Toddlers love to help. Unfortunately for most of us, their definition of help is a little left of center. Dumping the laundry on the floor and then throwing it in piles up on the couch does not qualify as help in my book; however, Holbrook considers it one of his more philanthropic acts. Transferring leftovers, yogurts and juice boxes from the refrigerator to the trash is another one of his acts of humanitarian aid. However, knowing my cooking, the relegation of leftovers to the landfill may actually qualify as humanitarian aid to my family and friends, even though I'm sure the seagulls are none too happy with him.

Keeping a toddler busy is the only way I know to avoid their "helping" you into a long stay at McLean. If you can busy them with a task that checks something off your to do list, that's even better. I know I have said it before, but it can never be said enough: kids love to cook. Maybe it's the magical feeling of putting a lump of something in the oven and, voila!, getting a loaf of bread out an hour later. The process still seems pretty amazing even to me. I think watching a lima bean sprout into a plant is better than anything David Copperfield has come up with to date.

In cold weather, baking is the kitchen activity of choice. You heat up the house with the oven, you get a little warm yourself and then when it's all over, you have a tasty treat to share! An easy cooking adventure is making biscuits.

Hardly anyone makes homemade biscuits anymore. Usually I'm one of those people who believe that the advances in the items contained in your local store's dairy case are a benefit of living in this day and age. Need a pie? I'm using pre-made crust. Every time I try to make my own crust I end up with a mess and have to come up with a name that includes the word "crumble" and act like I meant for it to be that way! When working with children in the kitchen, pre-made is usually the way to go. Not so for biscuits. I'm not advocating never using the pre-made kind, but for this project, the more work the better.

Biscuits are really rather easy to make. Into a medium size bowl with high sides, pour two cups of flour, one tablespoon baking powder, one teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Your impatient toddler can stir this together until it's well blended. Chop up five tablespoons of butter or margarine, add it to the dry mixture, and let your toddler work it in. Try to get them to break it into little gravel size pieces.

Let your toddler add 1/2 cup milk to the dry mixture. You can use whole milk or buttermilk, but I tend to use whatever is on hand. Let your squirmy toddler stir this mixture. You will now understand why I emphasized "high sides" for the bowl. At some point your toddler will have to quit stirring and get his hands messy. This is the best part. Keep a plate with flour next to your work area. Have your toddler make a handprint in the flour with each hand, and then begin working the dough to form a ball. If the dough begins to stick on his hands, have him make more handprints in the flour.

Once the dough has been gathered into a ball, lightly flour your work surface and place the dough ball on the surface. Let your toddler work out his energy by kneading the dough for about a minute. Once again, anytime the dough becomes sticky, let your toddler add more flour to his hands.

You can roll the dough out with a rolling pin, but I have never been one to advocate giving toddlers anything that could cause grave damage if thrown. For our purposes here, using your hands to flatten the dough until it is about 1/2" thick works just as well - and lessens your chances of showing up at the Emergency Room. Once the dough is flattened, let your toddler cut out shapes with either cookie cutters or a cup. One caveat: brush flour onto the surface that will be cutting the dough prior to using it so that the dough does not stick. You can just use the same flour that you used for your toddler's hands.

Once your toddler has cut out his biscuits, place them on a cookie sheet. Bake them in a 450 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes. You don't have to worry about them burning because your toddler will not leave the kitchen until they are done. Plan on keeping the oven light on and practice saying, "Not yet, but soon" over and over. You can use this time in the kitchen to finish dinner.

When the biscuits are done, you will have a warm kitchen, something to serve with dinner and a toddler with a smile as wide as his mouth will stretch. The next lesson will be to teach him to clean up his cooking mess. Good luck with that one. I