Cooking with Kids - Tips from the Complete Idiot’s Guide
In my experience, cooking with kids can sometimes be only slightly less frustrating than cooking for kids. I’m no neat freak (a quick peek at my desk will confirm that), but the one place I really do like things to be orderly is in the kitchen. I admit, I kind of insist on it. If you’ve ever cooked with kids, of course, you know that “orderly” is not a word that springs to mind under the circumstances.
When the kids cook, eggs end up on the floor. Flour is swooped out of the mixing bowl, along with who-knows-how-much baking soda. Brand-new quart-size containers of yogurt are dropped from the top shelf of the fridge to crack and splatter the tile floor with unbelievably difficult-to-clean goo. But that’s what happens. If you’re going to invite your kids into the kitchen, you better expect it, and prepare for it. That way, you’ll all be calmer and better equipped to handle the chaotic fun of children handling food.
Some time ago I picked up a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cooking with Kids. Years passed, my kids got older, and gradually I taught them basic cooking skills here and there without ever cracking open the book. We learned quick breads and oven safety and knife skills. My kids can chop onions, bake a cake, and tell whether a hamburger is medium-well or not. So I never felt the need to supplement my homegrown teaching skills with the Idiot’s Guide.
But recently, while moving some cookbooks around, I came upon the bright orange book on my shelf. I pulled it out, opened it up, and realized that there was a wealth of information in this book that could have saved me a lot of angst during those rudimentary cooking lessons. Actually, there are a few tips in here I’m planning to put into play the next time the kids and I are side by side at the counter (see #2!).
1. Page 83 offers a terrific suggestion for getting young children involved. If they’re old enough to manipulate it, give them a plastic pizza cutter to cut soft fruit, sliced cheese, and bread. It’s safer than a knife but will get the job done and they’ll feel like they’re accomplishing something.
2. Page 128 recommends setting all your ingredients out on a tray before you start. As you use each ingredient in the recipe, put it away. This not only cuts down on cleanup at the end of the cooking time, but it also ensures that you won’t forget to add a key ingredient - if there’s something left on the tray, you’ll know you’ve forgotten to add it!
3. Page 133 suggests a solution for those times when things just aren’t coming together - Mom’s frazzled, the kids are off the wall, the recipe is just short of ruined. Just finish the recipe yourself, giving the kids something else to work on. Have them wash veggies for a salad or grate cheese or even crush cookies for ice cream topping - it doesn’t have to be related to the dish at hand. As long as they’re busy and feeling engaged, it’ll do.
These and other tips, along with a nice supply of recipes (which feature quotes from kids who tested them), make this book a handy tool in the arsenal of any adult interested in teaching a child to cook.
Other photos by me.
