Cooking with Kids and Snow Days!

The forecast is for 6-10 inches of snow and ice—and I know I will be home with the kids again.  Welcome to February in Nebraska!  You can only let them watch so many movies and eventually they run out of homework.  One project all of my kids have gotten into is cooking.  They WILL learn how to feed themselves so that when they move out, they will not live in a drive-thru.  I am really not worried.  They all like to cook, especially the little guy.  He has his own apron from the Culinary Institute in Napa that he puts on every night to help prepare dinner.

Teaching kids to cook is like going to class.  They learn math (measuring), science (how ingredients work), PE (someone has to do the dishes!), and religion (please God, let this turn out!).  It’s not just cooking—it’s being together in the one room of the house that everyone naturally congregates in. 

Over Christmas break, Aunt Jean came to visit and brought me a wonderfully incredible crepe pan.  If you are a foodie—pans are EVERYTHING!  It’s like having the right tool for the job.  Anyway—it’s a wonderful pan.  I can make crepes in it—so you know the pans great!  All the kids got into making crepes.  We discussed that the recipe was the same as pancakes, without the leavening.  We discussed fillings and made many—savory and sweet.  Eggs and mushrooms for the savory, and fruit, whipped cream, chocolate and sprinkles for the sweet.  It took us less than 5 minutes to whip these up—and everyone got a chance to make a few.  It was great.  How many 6- and 10-year-olds know how to make crepes confidently?!  The wonderful thing is that I can call on the way home and put one of the kids in  charge of dinner—and it’s started before I get home!  They get a sense of accomplishment, and we all get dinner!  What a win-win situation!  Take some time to cook with your kids—the mess is totally worth it!