kids cooking
My 12-year-old son loves to cook, and I’m not talking ready-mix pancakes; he enjoys whipping up concoctions like Irish salmon pie.
This ambitious little hobby all started with a fruit plate. Because his father has always been fond of cutting up lots of fruit on weekends, by older son decided to perform the task as a Father’s Day favor when he was eight years old. He cut the fruit (with instruction and supervision from me) and arranged it carefully on a plate, taking such care that he even cut up apple slices into letters so he could spell “dad” with them. He was so proud and so were we.
After that experience, he asked to cook more and more. I am one of those people who, more often than not, would rather just perform a task myself rather than have to show someone how to do it. Sometimes, however, I was just too tired and not in the mood. But other times, I was able to muster the energy to give him a culinary experience he would not have had without my help. After each foray into the kitchen, he got better and more audacious. Now, at the age of twelve, he makes fabulous salads, salmon cakes, scones, omelets, pancakes, crepes and a number of desserts. He loves to cook and I’m happy to let him.
We all lead hectic lives and often take many shortcuts when it comes to getting food on the table, so encouraging my son in the kitchen has had some unexpected dividends. A while ago, my son had a friend spend the night and decided he wanted to make pancakes the next morning. Much to his friend’s surprise, he pulled out the cookbook, the flour, sugar and eggs and proceeded to mix it up. His friend stood by amazed and said, “You actually make these things?” He had truly never seen pancakes made from scratch.
Our family also benefits by another set of hands making homemade food in another sense: foods made from scratch are generally healthier and better for us. It is not always possible to cook full meals and we often welcome shortcuts. But there is something to be said for making time at least once a week to start whipping, measuring and timing. An appreciation for healthy and well-made food is most easily learned in childhood and teaching them to make homemade meals is a priceless skill they will use all their lives.
Furthermore, kids need to understand that it is not just Mom who works in the kitchen to feed the family. As their culinary skills develop, they can take more responsibility for feeding themselves and the rest of the family. Also coinciding with the idea that it’s not Mom’s “job” to slave away in the kitchen is the fact that men who cook are marvelous models for both girls and boys. Girls need to see men who are willing to take on some of the family responsibilities beyond simply bringing home a paycheck; boys need to see that the kitchen is the realm of men and women alike. And all children need to learn that they, too, are responsible members of the family.
If we are willing to assign household tasks like setting the table, emptying the dishwasher and taking out the garbage to our children, why not add cooking to the list of things they can do? Getting kids into the kitchen does not have to be a big production and take a lot of time. Even the simplest of starts has a cumulative effect on a child’s ability and sense of accomplishment. Start with deviled eggs or a fruit salad or even a cheese ball. Pull out your favorite casserole recipe or make some special punch. Sit down with your child, open a cookbook and start discovering the possibilities!
You may be tempted to try a cookbook for children first. However, so many of these are a frenetic jumble of pictures that makes it difficult to really focus on the recipes. I realize this is an attempt to draw kids in and make cooking interesting, but looking at some of these cookbooks is enough to make even the most focused of people feel like they have attention deficit disorder. The only kids’ cookbook I like is Emeril Lagasse’s “There’s a Chef in My World.” The recipes are well laid out, easy to follow and very complete. What I love best about the book is that it does not underestimate kids by giving dumbed-down, kiddie recipes. It is full of wonderful international recipes that can make any child feel like a gourmet cook.
However, my kids mostly use our trusty “Better New Cookbook” as well as the “Pillsbury Complete Cookbook.” These are full of great old standards. But there are many cookbook possibilities and it is likely that there is at least one in every home.
Beyond standard kitchen-cooking, camping lends itself well to teaching kids to prepare food. Using a campfire, every meal is a cooking adventure for the kids. It is a great time to allow for experimentation as well as generalized cooking craziness. For grilled cheese, our kids like to melt butter in two halves of a heated sandwich cooker, press dough into each half, and fill one side with cheese. Then our family has contests to see who can make the most beautiful, perfectly golden-brown grilled cheese. I, of course, am usually the winner; but they are quickly catching on to the no-burn technique. Also, we always keep a bag of frozen dough in the cooler for camping trips. Yes, it does melt and bloat, (keep it tightly closed so it doesn’t escape the bag) but it is perfect for a number of yummy camping treats like “camping pies, made with the dough, a sandwich maker and pie filling.” Bread dough or biscuit mix, some pie filling and a dutch oven makes a great cobbler.
We’ve also done a fair bit of experimenting with the dough, including wrapping it around a stick and cooking a curly biscuit, wrapping it around a hot dog for a pig-in-a-blanket (be sure to heat the hot dog first), as well as a number of funny, sometimes failed, made-up recipes. All of these are easy and enjoyable for kids to cook themselves.
In addition to the all the bread dough madness, we’ve developed our favorite standards. Fish filets, garlic, onions, tomatoes, green peppers and some olive oil wrapped in an aluminum foil “packet” is really one of the most tremendous camping dinners we have had yet. Our kids especially like to make dutch oven nachos, not to mention those s’mores everyone loves so much. All in all, cooking outdoors is a natural and easy complement for cooking in the kitchen.
Children are so capable if only we give them opportunities. We put them in sports, we nurture their musical ability and we work hard to prepare kids for life. But so often we forget to teach children basic skills, especially boys; and more specifically, we forget to teach them to cook. Remember how inspired you were by your Easy-Bake Oven?