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Cooking: A Family Affair

By Devorah Stone

Cooking shouldn’t be an adult chore - everyone past the age of three can stir the batter, or coat the chicken wings or beat the eggs.

Chances are, one of your first memories were sights, smells, and tastes from the family kitchen. Perhaps you remember your mother decorating a cake, or the smell of dinner rolls in the oven or the heat of hot chocolate on the cold day? Do you remember the first time you made cookies? Do you remember carefully measuring the ingredients of cookie dough, mixing the cookie batter, rolling out the dough, and cutting out cookies with cookie cutters? These are special memories everyone should have.

Children learn so much in the kitchen like how to read instructions, measure, count and family traditions.

Here are some tips to help children in the kitchen:

• Have a supply of cookie cutters in various fun shapes. Children can cut their sandwiches with cookie cutters instead of a knife.
• Young children can cut bananas with a dull plastic knife.
• Use ¼ cups four times instead of the big 1-cup once for little hands.
• Supervised older children can also cut French bread crust, pastry, filo, and cookie dough with a pizza cutter.
• Buy an egg separator it’s a little cup with holes but it makes separating eggs that much easier and faster.
• Children as young as three can use hand held eggbeaters.
• Small rolling pins for little hands are just right.
• For the little chefs in your kitchen have them shake up rather than stir ingredients with a sealed plastic container. Have them shake to their favorite song.
• Always have fun food items on hand like candy sparkles, food dyes, chocolate chips along with nuts and raisins.

Easy Recipes for Young Cooks

PEOPLE FACES

It’s also a wonderful activity for three or more children.

UTENSILS:

• Plates
• Dull plastic knives

INGREDIENTS:

• Round rice crackers
• Smooth peanut butter
• Avocados (pealed and pitted)
• Easy to spread cream cheese
• Cut up or peal a carrot into long strips
• Sprouts
• Cut up peppers
• Bananas
• Sprouts
• Cubed can pineapple

Adult: Prepare the above ingredients.

Everyone: First spread the peanut butter, avocados, or cream cheese on the round rice crackers. Then make faces by using the cut up carrots, peppers, sprouts, and bananas. Cubed pineapples make great crowns.

APPLE CRUMBLE

Here’s a classic apple crumble the whole family can make together. A crumble topping is easier and faster than a traditional pie -crust but just as good. It’s a good dish to make for two or more people; one person can do the topping while the other does the filling.

UTENSILS:

• 2 Large bowls
• Measuring spoons and cups
• Large wooden spoon
• Dull knives or forks
• Baking pan

FILLING:

• 1 cup berries in season or frozen (blueberry, raspberry or black berries) or pealed plums or rhubarb (diced).
• 2 cups grated or chopped apples (Mackintosh or Spartan)
• 1-tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar (4 tablespoons if you are using blackberries or rhubarb)

TOPPING:

• 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1 cup All-Purpose flour
• 1-tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Adult – Preheat oven to 375.

Filling:

Adult – peal and cut apples (and dice rhubarb if using them)

Everyone – Mix berries, rhubarb, or plums with apples. Measure cinnamon and brown sugar and add to fruit mixture. Stir well. Set aside.

Topping:

Everyone: Measure and mix flour and rolled oats.

Cut in vegetable shortening with a dull knife and/or fork till mixture is crumbling.

Press half this mixture in the base of a pan. (Make sure those hands are clean, first!) Covering the bottom and a little of the sides.

Pour fruit mixture over the bottom crust. Sprinkle rest of dry mixture on top.

Adult: Put in oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Growing Up Cooking Kids love learning to cook and they get a huge sense of empowerment from being able to fix their own food. Single parents can gain moments of peace at dinnertime by letting kids cut vegetables when they are young. These early steps prepare kids to cook things on the stove and some day they'll even surprise you and volunteer to make dinner.

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