Kids in the Kitchen

I grew up helping in the kitchen. It wasn't really a choice--we all pitched in to cook and clean up. My mom was patient to allow us to make messes, and enthusiastic when we wanted to do everything ourselves. She often decried a sister-in-law who never let her kids help in the kitchen because she couldn't stand the messes; she consequently ended up with cooking-impaired children. My mom, on the other hand, created four Cooking Machines. My sister has a "feed the world" complex and is deadly efficient in her goal to cook large meals for large crowds. My two brothers are creative and scientific in their approach to food-creation, researching things such as smoking meat, spicing sausage, and cooking with local ingredients. I straddle halfway between my sister and two brothers---I can be very efficient and produce large quantities of food, but also like the experimentation and use of local foods.

Now I am proud to announce that I have also created several Cooking Machines of my own. Before my son went off to college, we knew he would be living in an apartment. I was determined that he would have mastered several meals, and would be able to employ basic cooking skills. He learned how to scramble eggs, cook spaghetti and sausage-with-peppers, as well as the basic method for stir frying. He has been cooking for himself now for over 5 years, and is creative and adventuresome in the kitchen. He is not hesitant to try new things and has collaborated with friends to host dinner parties and serve his creations.

My older daughter had been independent in the kitchen for several years before she left for college---she could bake cookies and make a pie and put together a meal from a recipe. After almost 2 years in the dorm, her main goal was to have access to a kitchen so she could cook for herself. Now she is abroad for a semester, without access to a cafeteria, but sharing a kitchen with other international students. She made her first dinner last night in the resident hall kitchen--an invention of sauteed broccoli, peas, zucchini and young cheese from the Dutch market. She said it ended up being an Alfredo primavera, and was wonderful.

My youngest daughter is fast becoming a cooking whiz. She decided awhile ago to learn how to decorate cakes and has successfully created several beautiful cakes for special occasions. She recently roomed with two friends in London in a flat with a postage-stamp sized kitchen, and they fearlessly baked pancakes (after a few flops they figured it out), cooked their own soup and shopped for themselves. Yesterday, we saw a cooking show while we were working out, and she almost single-handedly made the scrumptious barbeque chili from the show for us for dinner. She even cleaned up the mess afterwards.

Soon I will be a superfluous accessory in my own kitchen. This is a good thing. There are still things out there I can show my kids how to make---complicated meals with multiple courses are a challenge for young cooks. Timing all the courses to be done at the same time takes practice and experience. But at least all of them have foundational and beyond skills for carrying on the family food fascination. I can't say I will ever leave the kitchen entirely to my kids---it is too much fun to spend time cooking together, even if all I really do is wipe up the spills and rinse containers for recycling. When they are all gone from home, I will have plenty of opportunities to make my own messes and clean them up and eat my creations.

Eventually, I will be guests at their tables and be told to sit down and be served. That might be hard to do. Surely there is a little job I could do so I don't miss out on the fun.