Plano Profile July 2009 : Page 42
taste&style DINING IN Vegetarian Fried Rice is a good recipe for children age 8 and up to make, with adult supervision. cooking with children creating delicious memories at home L IKE MANY OF US, I learned to cook at a young age in the typical fashion—making cookies with my mom by my side. We started with sugar cookies then moved on to chocolate chip, progressed to peanut butter (you had to press the dough down with a fork, an added step), then advanced to Snickerdoodles (balls of cookie dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar placed exactly the same dis- tance apart on the baking sheet). Eventually as a teenager, I tried my hand at making more complex dishes, like cinnamon rolls and cakes totally from scratch. (Remind me sometime to tell you the story about confusing baking soda for baking powder.) I received top honors in my Family Living class in high school for my “well balanced” menu of Ginger-Ale Glazed Baked Ham with scalloped potatoes and roasted carrots. And I’ll never forget my first “dinner party” at age 17 when I made Beef Stroganoff for my entire family. That I can recall all of this after so many years is not only a testa- ment to my great memory but to a love of cooking for others that has lasted a lifetime. Thanks, Mom, for all the encouragement! 42 PLANO PROFILE JULY 2009 Teaching your child to cook If you want to spend quality time with your children, you need look no farther than your own kitchen. Just like reading a book together or playing catch in the backyard, cooking can provide a valuable bonding experience. And the life skills your little ones will learn in the process go far beyond basic cooking and kitchen safety. As Mollie Katzen writes in her book Honest Pretzels, working with recipes also helps children improve their math, science and language skills, reading comprehension, small motor skills and hand-eye coordination, while boosting their con- fidence and self-esteem. Trying different ethnic cuisines will also raise their cultural awareness, she writes, as well as food literacy. I’ve also found that when children have a hand in preparing a dish, they are more likely to sample foods they normally might not try.
Dining In
Barbara Walch
Like Many Of UsI learned to cook at a young age in the typical fashion—making cookies with my mom by my side. We started with sugar cookies then moved on to chocolate chip, progressed to peanut butter (you had to press the dough down with a fork, an added step), then advanced to Snickerdoodles (balls of cookie dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar placed exactly the same distance apart on the baking sheet).
Eventually as a teenager, I tried my hand at making more complex dishes, like cinnamon rolls and cakes totally from scratch. (Remind me sometime to tell you the story about confusing baking soda for baking powder.) I received top honors in my Family Living class in high school for my “well balanced” menu of Ginger-Ale Glazed Baked Ham with scalloped potatoes and roasted carrots. And I’ll never forget my first “dinner party” at age 17 when I made Beef Stroganoff for my entire family.
That I can recall all of this after so many years is not only a testament to my great memory but to a love of cooking for others that has lasted a lifetime. Thanks, Mom, for all the encouragement!
Teaching your child to cook
If you want to spend quality time with your children, you need look no farther than your own kitchen.
Just like reading a book together or playing catch in the backyard, cooking can provide a valuable bonding experience. And the life skills your little ones will learn in the process go far beyond basic cooking and kitchen safety.
As Mollie Katzen writes in her book Honest Pretzels, working with recipes also helps children improve their math, science and language skills, reading comprehension, small motor skills and hand-eye coordination, while boosting their confidence and self-esteem. Trying different ethnic cuisines will also raise their cultural awareness, she writes, as well as food literacy. I’ve also found that when children have a hand in preparing a dish, they are more likely to sample foods they normally might not try.
Cooking tips: first, keep it simple
If you make cooking together too complicated, most children will lose interest.
So for starters, choose a recipe that’s a snap to make, like Kid Friendly Cheese-y Veggie Pizza, especially with the younger ones. As they get older, if they have a real interest, they’ll want to take on something a little more challenging, like Vegetarian Fried Rice. But be sure to set aside a good block of time to work together. Cooking with children takes time and patience so don’t be in a hurry. And don’t ever leave a child unsupervised—it could be a recipe for disaster.
Read each recipe thoroughly before starting, then have your child assist in putting together his or her mise en place, a fancy French term that means to have all of your ingredients measured out and ready before you even start. But know their limitations. Small children shouldn’t be working at the stove or taking things out of the oven.
But they can certainly help to wash fruits and vegetables, as well break down foods by hand, like snapping off the ends of asparagus or tearing lettuce into bite-size pieces for salad.
Making healthy choices
Cooking with your children is also the perfect opportunity for you to teach them about nutrition and making healthier food choices. Usually you can get children to eat more vegetables and fruits if you package them in something else that they love, like pizza, pasta, quesadillas, pancakes, or muffins. And how hard can it beTo make a scrumptious Yogurt Fruit Smoothie? (Kids love pushing the onbutton on the blender.) Ask your child to help you assemble a fruit salad, or toss chopped apples or pears in their favorite green salad.
Making your child a part of the cooking process from the beginning is important: have your little chef select the recipe they want to make, help youSearch for the ingredients in the pantry and at the grocery store, and then prep the food and cook it according to their skill level. This way they’ll “own” the recipe and you’ll be surprised how much they enjoy the experience without realizing they are eating healthier.
Recommended resources
There is an abundance of cookbooks written for children and young adults available on bookstore shelves these days. Cooking with children is obviously a growing trend.
Teri Tanner, managing partner of Legacy Books in Plano, says she has found that parents often gravitate to books that reflect their own personal cooking style when selecting a cookbook for their child. After all, this is going to be a team effort. SometimesThis includes cookbooks written by celebrity chefs, like Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, and Paula Deen, who all have popular cooking shows on television.
Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook is always a good seller, she says, as are the books from DK publishers. These include DK’s Kids’ Fun & Healthy Cookbook written by Nicola Graimes, DK’s Childrens Cookbook, Quick & Tasty Recipes for Young Chefs by Katharine Ibbs, and DK’s Cook It Together by Annabel Karmel, who also wrote The Toddler Cookbook and Mom & Me Cookbook.
But Teri says there are so many good children’s cookbooks available these days that parents should have no difficulty in finding the perfect one for their child.
My close friend, Ann Tompkins, agrees. Ann works for Hicklebee’s children’s bookstore in San Jose, California, which has been in business since 1979. Ann is my “go-to” gal when I need suggestions for gift purchases for my kid friends. Good Housekeeping’s Illustrated Children’s Cookbook is a popular selection, she says, as are the aforementioned DK books. There is also a series of books written by Mollie Katzen which are geared to specific age groups, like Pretend Soup for preschoolers and Honest Pretzels for age 8 and up. For teens, she says the two books written by Sam Stern sell well— Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook and Get Cooking.
I would also suggest sitting down and making a homemade cookbook with your child filled with all the wonderful recipes you make together… some day they’ll thank you for it.
Publication List
