Learning in the kitchen

I may have mentioned before that I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my kids working with me in the kitchen. Most of the time I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than have the kind of "help" they so eagerly offer. But I would like my boys to be self-sufficient, maybe even proficient when it comes to food preparation.

That said, I was actually quite excited when my culinary friend at the Kitchn sent me a few recipes to try from a book she is reviewing, "Picture Yourself Cooking with Your Kids" by Beth Sheresh. Knowing that these recipes were kid-friendly in nature, made me want to try them out and relinquish some of my own kitchen neuroses.















The first one I attempted was a biscuit recipe. Simple enough but I am generally not a great baker and mine tend to taste like hard little hockey pucks. So, it was nothing short of miraculous that these turned out fantastic!

I was preparing an old standby, Midwest Chowder and biscuits seemed a perfect match. I had the dough mixed and sitting in the fridge when Ethan got home from school. He was more than happy to help me with the rolling and the cutting.















I'm really not sure what was so magic about this recipe. Maybe because I was extra careful not to handle the dough too much or let the butter warm up. They just hit the spot. Even Keith, who eats my dinners when they are cold, sad leftovers was incredulous that I made the biscuits myself. He thought they were "the kind from the can" which I honestly have to take as a compliment. I don't generally try to compete with Pillsbury.















It was a good dinner for a snowy evening.


A few nights later we tried out the Ginger Applesauce Cake which was every bit as good as it sounds. Two for two! Not bad in my book. This one provided lots of opportunities for stirring and measuring which both Ethan and Drew wanted to try.















I have long looked forward to the day that Ethan could read recipes for me because that is a genuine help with my short term memory all but demolished in recent years. Sometimes I feel like a demented hamster scurrying back to my recipe to check and re-check ingredients and amounts. Although he stumbled over a few words like "incorporated", his skills were a big help.

The boys circled around like vultures waiting for the cake to cool enough to eat. It was delicious with a little whipped cream. Sweet but not too sweet with half a cup of sugar and a quarter cup of maple syrup.















The dreadful low-light picture does not do it justice but you get the idea.