I believe in teaching children cooking skills from an early age. For a start, it shows them the whole store to table process that food goes through, they develop an understanding of the basics, and they're more likely to eat what they've prepared themselves. My nine-year-old and her friend are on the back veranda eating scrambled eggs that were totally completed, go to whoa, by the girls {Annabella took great delight in showing Hollie all the steps}. They're smooth, creamy and delicious and would give Bill Grainger a run for his money {Annabella follows Bill's method, but doesn't need to use a cookbook anymore.}.
I keep reading about a generation of people growing up without the most basic of domestic skills, of being unable to identify the most ordinary vegetables {when there are kids who can't identify a potato you've got a problem}. That's so sad. There's nothing more satisfying than choosing a delicious, nutritious meal, shopping for the best ingredients, preparing it and serving it up. I adore the challenge of coming up with new ways to 'eat a rainbow' so we get all the nutrients we need.
Tonight our nephew's coming to dinner so I'm making my new love - rib eye steaks - on the bbq and serving it with fresh beetroot relish and a rainbow 'coleslaw'. I've got red cabbage, spanish onions, carrots, zucchini and walnuts for the salad - and I'll dress it with a red wine vinegar and chilli dressing. Yum.
Eva is 3 and loves, loves, LOVES helping me cook. She sets the table, helps put dishes away, takes things to and from the fridge, helps stir and pour and roll out, etc. She has to taste every ingredient I put into anything, it was quite funny the first time she stuck a piece of raw onion in her mouth after she had munched a chocolate candy. At the grocery store, she gets to pick her own fruit for breakfasts and lunches (invariably strawberries, bananas, apples, or grapes but whatever), puts veggies in the cart, etc. I grew up in the kitchen, my first toys were measuring cups and spoons. I love having her help me in the kitchen, and I think it helps her not be a picky eater. I don't understand not wanting your kids to help you cook, but Nolan didn't really know "how to" let her help until a couple tutorials from me. I know Nolan and I are going to have busy careers in a few years and I'd rather her choose to cook herself and her brother something instead of eating packaged garbage.
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