Tuesday was baking day this week. My oldest daughter has decided that during the holidays, she wants to bake something nice and give it away. So we set out to make Nestle Toll House Pie.
It was her idea so I really wanted to let her do all the work. So I did. I helped her decipher the directions so she didn’t waste ingredients by ruining something when she wanted to add 1 ½ cups of salt because she missed that the recipe said teaspoon, but when it all came down to it, it was her product. I watched. I bit my nails. I cringed.
Cooking to me, has never been about just throwing stuff together and making it come out okay. Sure, there are certainly things you can do that with but let’s face it, using proper techniques while cooking from scratch, especially baking from scratch, will yield far better results than stuff that’s flopped together.
Interestingly, my four year old has several techniques mastered. It’s not because she’s a better cook, but because she really enjoys spending time in the kitchen with me. So she watches and she learns. I mentioned that I didn’t help my oldest daughter, but my four year old did.
“That’s not how you fold something in. Here, let me show you,” she said as she got the stool.
And it had occurred to me that there are certain skills that should be taught and passed down to our children. Not just the difference between a teaspoon and tablespoon but cooking vocabulary like folding and cutting and the difference between soft and stiff peaks.
I spend a great deal of time baking during the holidays and consequently a great deal of time in the kitchen with my kids. Later today, the food blog will feature a recipe for Apple Pie Streusel. At the end of the recipe, you’ll notice a little section in italics geared towards helping you teach proper cooking technique to your young kids. I hope you find it helpful in your kitchen endeavors over the holidays! I will be including these ‘kids’ tips’ in blogs where I feel like the recipe is easily made with an extra helper.