The Gift that Gives Back
On a whim I gave Louisa a new kid’s cookbook for Christmas. She hadn’t requested one, but I thought she might enjoy one nevertheless. I did some research and found a cookbook that was published in 2004. It’s not written by one of the current celebrity chefs. Instead, it’s a “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook for kids, that received great reviews, particularly for having recipes that a kid her age could manage independently.
I’m happy to report she has taken to it better than I expected. Yesterday morning she prepared blueberry pancakes from the recipe in the book. Today I went food shopping with a list that included ingredients for another 5 or so recipes from it. At lunch she prepared the BLT salad you see in the photo above.
For dinner tonight she prepared the Hula Stir Fry. Some of these recipes include short-cut ingredients such as frozen vegetables, crackers, or canned fruit. But the fact that she can follow a recipe from beginning to end with very little input from me builds her confidence as a cook. The recipes have been good, family friendly food. And, better yet, I didn’t have to cook them. And that’s always a good thing.
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An early start is never a bad thing but I believe one should always start with cooking techniques instead of recipies.
Well, she’s been learning techniques by my side for years. This is her chance to use them a bit more independently. What I didn’t mention in the post was that she’s been making scratch pancakes from a different recipe on her own for a while. So it was good practice for her to try a different recipe for pancakes on her own.