A recent article in our city newspaper encouraged parents who’d run out of summer activities to seize the opportunity to teach their kids to cook.
Brilliant.
Of course, it’s easy for me to say, because I love to cook. Always have. But I understand that not everyone knows how, and not everyone finds it fun. (My husband comes from a decidedly non-cooking family; nonetheless, he came to learn and enjoy cooking early in our life together.)
Aside from the health benefits of preparing a meal from scratch with whole ingredients, there are other reasons why cooking is a worthwhile life skill. Cooking is a gift we can give others. It can establish a separation from our workday. It’s a creative act, one that lets us experiment, explore and get our hands dirty.
Teach your kids, neighbors or grandchildren to cook, and you’ll help them get through college or their early out-of-the-nest years without starving or gobbling fast food. You’ll teach them to value good food, to respect what it takes to put a meal on the table. You’ll give them the tools to eat healthfully and well. And their future partners or spouses will thank you.
photo by qwrrty, used under Creative Commons license
Convinced? Then here are a few simple dishes and techniques that would be appropriate for passing along:
For younger kids
Have them help with basic preparation: stirring, whisking, scooping cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Turn grocery shopping into a learning experience by talking about healthy foods and having them help you count the items in your cart. Ask them to help make their own after-school snacks or build their own pita-bread pizza for dinner.
For middle-school kids
Involve them in menu planning. When you’re confident in their ability to safely handle a knife or work at the stove, teach them basic skills and ask them to help with ingredient preparation. Let them make a batch of cookies for the school bake sale. Talk about your family’s food traditions, and work together to make recipes that your parents made.
For high-school kids
Have each member of the family plan and prepare a special dinner once a month. Let your kids host their friends for dinner parties. Teach them these basics, and they won’t starve in their first apartment:
- how to sauté vegetables
- how to sauté a chicken breast
- how to make an omelet
- how to cook pasta and make a basic tomato-garlic sauce
- how to make a decent salad
- how to cook a hamburger
Part of my volunteer work at a neighborhood social agency—indeed, part of my goal for my food blog, writes4food.com—is to help people learn to cook simply and well.
How about you? Have you taught young people to cook? Please share your experiences by commenting here.
I love this post! Some of my earliest, happiest memories involve a chair pulled up to the kitchen counter helping my mom cook. Even the littlest among us can pour a cup of sugar into the cookie dough batter or help whisk the salad dressing. My mom always made a ton of Christmas cookies, and she always let my brother, my sister and me help–even with the tricky “cut-outs.” As I grew older, she let me experiment in the kitchen. My signature dish was tossed salad. My Teddy Bear Bread was a smashing success; my first attempt at glazed carrots, not so much.
As an adult, one of my greatest pleasures is cooking and putting a healthy meal on the table for my own family. I’ve continued the tradition of cooking with kids (without consciouslsy deciding to; it’s just how stuff works, very natural for me). My girls,aged 10 and 5, have been tasting and stirring at least as long as they have been speaking. Rosie, 10, recently baked bread all by herself. And Lily, 5, turned out some beautiful thumbprint cookies last Christmas. Tonight we all made pizzas. Mine is based on the tomato corn pizza featured on writes4food. Theirs are based on their imaginations. We have every combination of bell pepper, tomato, mozzarella, parmesan, olive, corn, that you can think of. Lily’s dough is in the shape of a turkey.
Cooking with your kids is good for their physical health, now and in the future. But it’s even better for their hearts and souls–and your own, too.
Thanks for the great comments and recollections, Beth! I agree: some of my favorite family memories involve cooking and eating together. My brother has framed on his kitchen wall a snapshot of him when he was probably 3 years old, standing in front of the sofa as if it were a stove, with a pot and a wooden spoon, playing chef. No wonder he turned to cooking as a profession!