Kids Cuisine

My daughter is constantly bringing home children’s cookbooks from the library.  Most often, I admit it, I’m a terrible mom, and we end up returning the books several weeks later, unused.  For the longest time, I would look at the recipes included in most of these books and simply shake my head.  I could make that, only my version would be much tastier.  Or they are recipes for things like milkshakes — do you really need a recipe?  Ice cream, milk, fruit or flavorings, and you’re good to go, no recipe required.   Yesterday though, the light bulb finally went on for me, and I finally understand the purpose and point to children’s cookbooks.  They are meant to teach confidence, and I saw it first-hand yesterday afternoon.

The last book Abigail had brought home from school was Chocolate Chill Out Cake and Other Yummy Desserts -- A Kids Dish cookbook.  When I saw that the author was Nick Fauchald, an editor for Food & Wine, I was encouraged, but once again, I saw the same silly steps and same silly recipes in this cookbook.  My kids, though, insisted I pick up the ingredients to make three of the recipes in this book, and yesterday they made the first one. Yogurt On A Stick is a basic freezer pop, and the recipe consists of yogurt, strawberries, and honey.  Now, my first thought was how much easier it would be to just buy a tub of strawberry yogurt and use that.  Or even easier, buy some squeeze yogurt and throw that in the freezer.  But I watched my daughter get out the blender, all the ingredients, the measuring cups and spoons, and then both kids donned aprons.  They took turns measuring and dumping, and then Abigail got the important job of manning the blender.

They did the entire recipe by themselves, and that’s when I had my epiphany.  Both kids measured and assembled and tasted, and took great pride in their work.  Most importantly though, they’ve added a new level of confidence to their kitchen skills.  They’ll be tackling another recipe later this week, and they are both already looking forward to it.  I know I’m looking forward to seeing them work together again, and I’m looking more forward to watching my two young children begin the journey towards confidence in the kitchen.

Yogurt On A Stick