Teaching Children to Cook

When I was a little girl my mom worked at the Salvation Army. My sister and I eagerly looked forward to the treasures that would occasionally come home with mama. There were doll clothes, records (back when we used a turntable), board games and puzzles, and lots and lots of books. One day mom brought something special home for me. I was eight years old and my surprise was a copy of the Betty Crocker Children’s Cookbook. How I loved that book! I spent hours poring over the pages and as many hours preparing the recipes I so fervently studied. I can remember my mom helping me through those recipes until I was confident enough to tackle all of them on my own. It changed my life. It started a lifelong love with cooking.

That cookbook also provided a wealth of shared experiences with my mother. Some of the greatest conversations that I recall from my childhood and youth took place in that kitchen. I still have that cookbook, and have used it with my children. I count it among my true treasures, but the memories, the lessons that I learned from my mother and my passion for cooking are what I value most.

My Aunt Chris Bennett is an excellent cook. She is the one who taught me to make fresh pasta, the one who introduced me to exotic foods like couscous and kim chee, and the one who passed on many of the recipes that my family treasures today. (Chicken Broccoli Bake, Minestrone Soup, Texas Jack, to name a few.) I follow her example of collecting cookbooks, and at last count had well over 300 titles. Someday I may match her collection of over 1,000! I am thankful for all the wonderful cooking memories I have of my parents (my dad is a fabulous cook and can make Fettuccine Alfredo that you would almost kill for), and my Aunt Chris.

The Thanksgiving I was nine my mom let me cook the entire meal myself. This included looking up all the recipes, determining what ingredients needed to be purchased, making a list and going to the store to buy them. Mom oversaw this process and made suggestions, but was very hands-off the whole time. I prepared the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and made 3 different pies. I even made the gravy. My mom’s contribution was to lift the turkey in and out of the oven, drain the potatoes (both jobs I didn’t have enough strength to do) and, of course, be there the entire time to make sure I didn’t need help. It was amazing how much I did unassisted.

Before long I was preparing a meal (or more) a week…selecting a recipe from my cookbook, listing the ingredients and going to the store to purchase what I needed when mom did her weekly shopping . I loved doing this and soon graduated to my mom’s cookbooks.

I taught all my older children to cook and the year that Victoria was nine she made our Thanksgiving dinner all by herself. She still makes the majority of it every year, claiming it as her special responsibility. The other children each have their specialties and now I can go days without cooking at all.

Their desire to cook came about as they saw my passion for providing food for my family…food that tastes good, is healthy (most of the time!), inexpensive, and attractively presented (thank you, Sis. Crystal!) Like my mom, I took the time to teach them to cook and that investment is now blessing our entire family.

Cooking with small kids can be a joy --for them and for you. Cooking with older kids will pass on life-skills and create memorable shared accomplishments. Maybe a lot more will come out of the experience than a chocolate layer cake or homemade macaroni and cheese.

Here are some tips for teaching a child to cook:
1. Allow plenty of time. Neither you nor your kids will enjoy the experience if you're fighting the clock. It takes twice as long to cook with kids –but it's SO worth it.

2. Teach good hygiene. Teach them to wash their hands often and to clean and disinfect the counters. Have them use clean sponges and dishtowels.

3. Teach them food safety principles. Make them aware of dangerous bacteria and how they thrive. Teach them to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

4. Teach them the basics of ingredients. Explain how yeast works or baking soda. Show them the difference between granulated sugar, brown sugar, and confectioners' sugar, etc...the science of cooking is facinating.

5. Teach them to measure. Show them the difference between dry measures and wet. Let them practice. If they can measure accurately, they are on their way to successful cooking. Teach them the math of measurements--that there are four cups in a quart, 16 ounces in a pound, and three teaspoons in a tablespoon. (Sounds a lot like a homeschool math activity to me!)

6. Teach them to use the stove and the oven safely and properly. Show them the basic cooking methods--frying, steaming, sauteing, boiling, etc. As you progress, pick recipes that demonstrate each.

7. Teach them how to read and interpret a recipe. Let them read the recipe and discuss it with them step by step.

8. Teach them to clean up. Let them know that the job is not done until the kitchen is clean.

9. Be prepared for a few flops. Not every recipe is a winner. I remember being bitterly disappointed after making a dish that tasted awful even though the picture of it was lovely. At this point my family's reaction could have destroyed my confidence and killed my desire to learn to cook.

10. Take your children to farmer's markets, dairy farms, and to visit people who have farms or gardens. (Better yet, plant a garden of your own!) I grew up in a family who loved the land and not only gardened and preserved, but read to us books like Little House and Ralph Moody series. I grew up with an understanding of where food came from...that cheese was milk, salt and rennet processed to create cheese. I knew that tomatoes grew on bushes and apples grew on trees and grapes grew on vines. One of my own children, however, thought that tomatoes grew in cans. That's all they see in our society...go to the store and buy food! We started gardening soon after that.

In addition to giving your children a skill that will bless them all their lives, cooking with your kids reinforces math, science, health, reading and logical thinking skills. For all of us homeschooling families this is a definite plus!