calzones

I would first like to make this small announcement:  Dexter completed the first semester yesterday afternoon!  And even better than that, we now have two weeks of vacation!  We don't have much planned at the moment. . .just rest and relaxation, and then head up to Massachusetts later next week.  Hoping for snow!

On Thursday, we were having calzones for dinner, something that Dexter and I both love, but I don't often make because of the dough-making process.  I thought that they'd be a nice celebratory meal for the end of the week, though, and went ahead. 

Kyalo insisted on helping.  I had no real choice - otherwise he was screaming in the kitchen.

First, there was kneading:

I gave Kyalo a little piece of dough to work with, and he loved pinching a bit of flour and rolling it into his dough. I think he was proud of his work because he carried that piece of dough with him all through the grocery store later in the afternoon.

After the dough rested, and we picked Dexter up from his second-to-last day of school, we needed to roll the dough out:

 {Mama's mixer looks on}

and lastly, we needed to clean up!

I love that he was so interested and happy to help.  I hope he'll always love working in the kitchen.  I can imagine many hours creating in the kitchen.  What I don't love, however, is that he can push the chairs that he was standing on, and climb up to the sink or the table or the stove.  I have a feeling those chairs are going to be my nemesis in the days to come -- I'm not always going to want him to help in such ways, or to have such easy access to the stove.  I'll just look forward to the day when he can do the dishes on his own.