January 16 - The Great Farabee Family Snow-Day-Eve Cook Off!

I've lived in North Carolina for more than 10 years now, and every year I've been here it has snowed. Most of the time it isn't much: there's been winters where we've made it out with only a dusting here and there.  There have been at least two major snow storms, however, that have complete shut down the area.  Those resulted in the only adult snow days of my life, and they were glorious.

Despite living down south for so long, there's a memory from my childhood that persists when it comes to incoming bad weather.  A memory of running downstairs, turning on WCSH (the NBC affiliate out of Portland, Maine) and hearing the most exciting music ever recorded by humans...

That opening theme music meant that school might be cancelled.  And what could be more exciting than that?  I would sit there in the living room with my little brother, our eyes locked on the scroll on the bottom of the screen.  We were always looking for "Bath," and since it was alphabetical, it was absolute TORTURE to turn on the TV and see "Brewer" and know that we'd have to go through the entire list to get back to the start of the "B's." We'd watch as kids across the state got the good news, and the crushing disappointment of seeing your city skipped over on the list was unmatched in the kid world.

As I'm writing this, we are currently in the midst of one of those pretty decent snowfalls that I mentioned earlier...

The view from my front door...the snow is still falling hard

Snow days always brought with them warm, stick to your ribs, comfort foods.  So to prepare for our own impending snow storm, last night Elliot helped Elizabeth and I make a comfort food dinner. He's been picky lately in what he eats, so we decided to fix something that would be right in his wheelhouse: Beanie Weenie Corn Bread Casserole.


First, Elliot helped me chop up hot dogs and put them into a baking dish...

Next, he helped me slice up a green pepper...

Then, he added two cans of baked beans...

Then it was time for a puzzle break...

And then it was time to mix it all together...

 

For the next phase, Elliot helped Elizabeth make the cornbread topping.  First, he cracked an egg and beat it...

Then he added a box of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix and helped his mom pour in the milk...

And finally, he added a can of creamed corn and mixed everything together...

I poured the cornbread mix on top of the beanie weenies, and cooked it according the directions on the cornbread mix box.  After about 20 minutes, this was the result...

Elliot was pretty proud of his efforts...

The result was not fine dining, but it was tasty and perfect for a snow-day-eve dinner.

Cooking is a huge part of my life and one of my favorite hobbies.  It's something that I want to pass along to Elliot (and to Eleanor, once she can hold more than just her head up), so getting him involved in meal prep last night was a step in that direction.  I'm going to ask for the kids to help more and more as they get older because I want them to love cooking and to find as much joy in the preparation of food as in eating it.

Elliot really got into it last night, as he's in the phase now where he wants to help out as much as possible.  We all went back for seconds, which I think is a good sign of his cooking skills. And I'm willing to bet that the leftovers will be perfect today as we watch the snow continue to pile up outside our door.