Cooking with My Kids

Five of the Kids Making Pizza

I've been raising children for 23 years now and by the time I've "raised" them all (you know, to the magical age of I'm-never-moving-out-18) I'll have been raising kids for 35 years. That's a lot of kid time and a whole lot of meals, especially as there are so many of them.

One in a while I let go of my OCD self and let them help cook. The results aren't always perfect and I find myself looking over shoulders and correcting, but usually they have a good time. Kids are always more likely to eat something they've helped prepare, so it helps me avoid uneaten meals and rounds of, "Ew! I can't eat that!"

Another Pizza Night

Not all of the kids are adept at cooking and several just flat out would rather eat, but my 8 year-old, Ian, is something of a whiz in the kitchen. Ian is on the Autism spectrum with high functioning Asperger's. He is bright and cute and loves to be in the kitchen with me. He is also frustrating as hell and some days just the sound of his voice makes me a nervous wreck - you never know what he'll be ready to dish out on any given day. Once I have him in the kitchen, though, he is calm, focused, ready to learn and non-argumentative. A perfect helper and very good at what he does.

Ian Cooking Spinach

All of the kids have helped when we make pizza together and they all love that; they can choose whatever toppings they like, stretch their pizza into whatever shape they like and take as much time getting it together as they like. Beyond pizza, though, the other kids don't really like to be in the kitchen helping ... they'd rather hover like buzzards waiting to go in for the kill.

The Littlest Munchkin, Lara, Making Pizza

Not too long ago Ian asked (as always) if he could help prepare dinner. I was making fried chicken that night and was convinced there was nothing he could help with. He watched me use a standard breading procedure for chicken cutlets and then announced that he could do it.

I reluctantly told him he could and then explained "wet hand - dry hand" to him. Off he went. He did so well with it that I almost couldn't get the chicken fried fast enough. He truly excelled at breading chicken. I was so amazed and proud I had to take a picture of him - which he loved.

Ian Breading Chicken

As soon as his part was done and I assured him there was nothing else I needed help with, he ran off and got into trouble with his siblings. But, while he's in that kitchen with me, with his hands flying and his brain chill and concentrating on the task at hand, he's fine. We talk, he asks questions about what we're doing,  and he even tells me, "I'm learning so much from you, mom!". This from the same child who will tell me he hates me when I won't let him have his way.

I'm thinking a culinary path is in his future, and that would be just fine with me ... because some day HE will be the one making dinner for me.

Dear Michael Ruhlman, This is Why I Cook

Food writer, Michael Ruhlman wrote about why he cooks and asked of bloggers to share as well why they cook. This is my response.

The first, and I'll admit, seemingly conceited thing that comes to mind for me is, "I cook, because I can." That's true and not so arrogant as it comes off ... really.

I cook because I love to eat.

I cook to nourish my family in the best way possible. Letting someone else do it removes me from the process of knowing exactly what goes into our meals.

I cook to earn money. I develop recipes and take photos for a living (and write about the process), and that end of it is ever fascinating and ever educational. I learn something new each day by doing.

I cook to remember. There is nothing so memory provoking as the aroma or flavor of a food loved as a child. Nothing. I make my grandmother's brownies or my great-grandmother's brown sugar cookies or my mother's fried chicken to recall all that was good and pure and wonderful about my childhood - even if it wasn't all good or pure or wonderful.

I cook to create new memories. Yes, the common thread here is that food is central to my feelings of well-being and health, and I aim to continue building those feelings in my children and their children. I want them to have memories of love and home and nurturing all rolled into one loaf of bread or layer of cake. The more I cook, the more chances they have to watch and learn and begin to cook for themselves.

I cook to live. Eating is truly secondary for me to the creation process that takes place each time I make a dish. I tell people often that cooking is an art like no other with an instant gratification (or let-down, whichever the case may be) that you can't get by creating with any other medium. Paintings can take days to months to complete. Books are the same. Recordings, movies, sculptures - they all take much more time to create and to be appreciated. With food, the 'yea' or 'nay' are immediate - you know if your creation was loved or liked or hated before the creation is gone.

I cook to bring others happiness. There's nothing else to say about that.

So, I echo Michael Ruhlman - what are your reasons for cooking?