Pancakes & pizza anyone? Homemade recipes and life lessons for all

Cherishing the countless little pleasures at Gramma and Grandpa’s house You could say we stopped in Baton Rouge to smell the roses... cookies, pancakes and pizza.

The first stop of our summer road trip landed us in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, my husband, Andrew’s, hometown and college town.

Here’s a little of what we learned at Gramma and Grandpa’s house:

EVERYTHING’S BETTER AT GRAMMA’S.

While my 7-year-old daughter, Maya, and mother-in-law, Betsy, were baking cookies, Maya stated “Gramma’s cookies are better than yours, Mom.”

I quickly replied “Everything’s better at Gramma’s.”

I do pride myself on baking good cookies, but I can’t argue with Maya on this one.

Click here for this week’s sweet treat: it‘s the #QuakerOats oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Gramma prefers to hold the cinnamon when adding M&M’s and peanut butter chips!

HOMEMADE PANCAKES ARE DELICIOUS!

I usually consider pancakes made from a box mix “homemade” as they are a step craftier than L’eggo my Eggo.

But Gramma Betsy whipped together these fluffy homemade pancakes (of course we added chocolate chips) and I’m pretty sure there’s no turning back.

HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUST?... YES PLEASE!

Make-your-own-pizza night is a Christmas Eve family tradition at Andrew’s parents house. It is such a fun activity that keeps everyone circling back to the kitchen for more chats and food!

You could say we celebrated Christmas in July with a pizza night this trip. This no-yeast homemade crust recipe was a new one for us and it was a huge hit.

FEED THE FISH, FIND THE FROGS AND CIRCLE THE LAKES!

During these challenging times, take the time when possible to enjoy the little things, the moments and conversations with those you love.

Step outside. Circle the lakes. Walk along the shore. Feed the fish. Find the frogs. Find joy in cleaning up water balloons all over the grass because the water balloon fight was SO. MUCH. FUN.

You’ll never regret any of it.

BE GRATEFUL FOR THOSE WHO SAY YES TO ONE MORE STORY, ONE MORE SONG OR ONE MORE HUG.

Kudos to those grandparents and family members and friends who sit with our children, love our children and help them grow.

Kudos to those who have time and patience for one more story, one more recipe, one more bike ride, one more lap in the pool, one more lesson - even the firm ones, one more Lego tower and one more hug.

That’s why our little ones are waiting by the door for the Grandpa Bill’s of the world to come home from work.

And that’s one of the many reasons we love Baton Rouge.