For those of you in the US, we’re coming up on the last holiday of summer and I’m doing my best to take a couple days off. What about you? Our original plan was to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine but with temperatures inching up to 100+F and a heat index of 110, I decided we’re staying in. Heck, even with the curtains pulled, my office is still a sauna. But, we also want to have fun this weekend so today thru Saturday, I’ll be sharing one simple play idea. If you try it, be sure and let us know how it works out. I give you, the Kitchen Olympics. This is fun and easy and all ages can play because everyone gets to suggest an event. One you have your list, add the names in a hat and pick 4–5. Here are a few ideas: spoon-and-ping-pong-ball relay, cup stacking, paper-plate toss into a mixing bowl, “carry three ice cubes across the kitchen using only a spatula,” or build the tallest tower from plastic cups. Remember, everyone invents one event. Bonus: ridiculous athlete introductions and homemade medals.

I’m loving the story you’re creating and thought, hmm, what else could make this fun. Then in my pre-morning tea creative burst, I thought, a baking challenge. Now, for those of you new to the community, I’m a fan of reality cooking shows, in a former career, I taught Hotel/Restaurant management classes to college students and chef’s apprentices so shows like the Great British Baking Show (Bake-Off, to the rest of the world), fascinate me. Since time in the kitchen with kids is also the #1 reply on our survey, I thought we’d help our adventure trio have some fun in the kitchen. Argh! I’m super wordy today. Ok, your challenge, if you choose to except. Use your skills to bake a batch of cookies for Barnaby and crew. You have until Sunday to share your bake picture. Best bake as voted by the judges, will receive an all-access pass to the culinary sessions from the Unplug & Play summit. Let’s go! Welcome bakers, to your Technical Challenge! For this round, you are flying blind. You have been provided with the exact ingredients you need, but the instructions have been... edited. You will need to rely on your baking instincts. We are looking for an even bake, uniform size, and perfectly golden cookies. On your marks, get set... BAKE! The Ingredients: 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 cup butter, softened 1 ½ cups white sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract The Instructions: 1. Prepare your oven and baking sheets. 2. Combine your dry ingredients. 3. Make the cookie dough. 4. Shape the dough into uniformly sized balls and place them on the sheets. 5. Bake until perfectly golden. 6. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. To complete the challenge: Post a photo of your finished cookies in the comments below, along with a note telling us what oven temperature and bake time you ended up using!

Well, this week I baked on Friday and I’m stove topping this morning. @Henry Hunter has a great baking Community, Crust and Crumb Academy, he was also one of our summit speakers #Bread as Science with Chef Henry sharing simple bread recipes you can make with your kids. Every Saturday, in his community, he hosts a bake along. I just learned how to make Accordion bread and now, I’m working on a batch of English muffins. What’s in your oven? Also, summit recordings go away after Aug 31. You can still purchase an All-Access pass for $16. Looking for more kitchen fun? Check out: #Building a Healthy Food Foundation w/ Chef Andrew #Indian Cooking with Varsha #Simple Science w/ Food Scientist Dale #Kitchen as Connection with Chef Krista #Playing in the Kitchen with Elliott

I created this image, with the help of AI. It features our community mascot, the kid and his friend. This is where we have some fun. I’ll start the story, and everyone builds on it one sentence at a time. Let’s play!

For those of you who have children, what are the biggest lessons parenthood has taught you? Not just practical things, but things about patience, responsibility, relationships, money, time, priorities, or even yourself. And if you don’t have children, you can still join in. What do you think people should understand, prepare for, or learn before having children? I’m curious because becoming a parent seems to change the way people see life in ways you probably can’t fully understand beforehand. So what is one lesson you wish you had known earlier?