Wouldn’t it be nice to come home after a long day, sit back, relax, then eat a wonderful dinner someone else has prepared? It’s not as difficult as you think. The key? Teaching your kids to cook, even when they’re young.

You’ve got a lot going on – absolutely. But the benefits of teaching your kids to cook, even when they’re as young as three or four, only multiply over the years.  Think of it as an investment in your future meals. By giving kids the skills they need to eventually prepare a meal on their own, you’re giving them so much more than just food.  You’re giving them:

CONFIDENCE

That feeling you get when you accomplish a task is the exact same feeling kids get – pride.  Open the door a little bit and show them how to measure, how to whip and whisk, how to stir, one job at a time.  When you cook, allow them to take one task and do it well, whether it’s peeling carrots with a vegetable peeler, rinsing lettuce and pulling it through a salad spinner, or measuring each of the ingredients for a baking recipe. Begin by demonstrating the correct way to go about the task, then allowing the child to take it on – by himself.  Doing a task well will help build your child’s confidence, something that can go a long way at the end of a tough day.

Don’t feel like you have the time to really let your kids help? That’s ok – choose one time during the week (after-school, a Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning…) that will be your special cooking time together. By designating a special time, you can prepare for your extra help and give the little guys something to look forward to. You can even note it on your calendar with a special chef’s hat sticker or drawing if you like to give your child a visual clue.

MATH SKILLS

Kids of all ages are always shocked when I ask them to do math in a cooking class. The older the kids, the trickier the math. By relating math to something tasty, like cupcakes, or Ranch dressing, you’re giving math skills a positive connotation, and building on essential skills for school, and truthfully, life.

INDEPENDENCE

Giving a child the confidence and the skills needed to cook also provides a taste of independence. My own daughter is fearless in the kitchen at 13, and never hesitates to whip up one of her creations to share. She loves the power of making her own decisions, and mistakes, knowing that ultimately, what she’ll get is something to eat. Something new, and maybe something not so great, but that’s how she learns. She feels powerful, and in middle school, I’ll totally take that!

We’ve got our own rules (no using the oven or stove without permission, what size knife she’s allowed to use, general food safety etc.), and you should have yours too. Be sure that your rules are appropriate for your child’s age and skill level, and be on hand to help if needed. With success comes the ability to grow and to expand or change your rules if needed.

Don’t be afraid to buy a cookbook tailored just to your child’s age and to let him or her really take a good look through it. The younger the child is, the more photos the book should have, giving the child visual clues as to the end result. If your child can make something that looks like a photo from a book, well, that’s a boost right there, isn’t it?

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Just got back from BlogHer ’10 in NYC, and boy, what a weekend!

For those of you not in the know, BlogHer is a collection of female bloggers representing so, so many facets of blogging. Though I’m a huge fan of BlogHer Food (and am waffling on whether or not to hit it again this year), the “regular” BlogHer was just in NYC, my old stomping grounds. I knew it was a quick trip, so I registered and headed to the Big Apple for the conference.

I knew going in that this conference would not be focused on food.  Indeed, I felt lucky to pair up with a few awesome food bloggers at a writing creativity talk. But really, this conference wasn’t about the workshops. It was about the swag. And the parties. And the mommies.  Not really my cup of tea, based on where I’m taking Gotta Break Some Eggs, but still full of wonderful people, all in on the subject of blogging.

The Highlight? Absolutely hooking up with the folks from Got Milk & Egglands Best. I’m hoping to work with both of these terrific organizations to both kick-up the school assemblies I do and to provide great teen & tween-centric recipes for their sites, so that we can get everyone cooking!

The Low Point? I have to say, it was on the discussion of raising gourmet kids. Let’s preface by saying that the three women giving the talk were lovely. And that they absolutely have kids that eat more than buttered noodles (gimme a holla!). BUT…their kids are not really at cooking age, though the one does have a 9 year-old. All told, these women were not about getting kids to cook. They were about occupying the kids while they cook for the little rascals.  The mom of the 9 year-old said that she likes the child to have a job that takes a lot of time because she likes everything just so when she’s cooking.

I get it. That works for them, but it goes against every single thing that I (and this blog) stand for. Because kids CAN cook. Because teens and tweens SHOULD make a bit of a mess. And because these guys can absolutely CLEAN UP after themselves. It’s ok to work it through the whole way, not just the fun cooking part. ;)

Maybe teens & tweens (8 & up) shouldn’t cook every single night — we’re busy — but don’t ignore adding them in.  Just yesterday, I guided an 11 & 14 year-old to making chocolate eclairs, from the pate a choux, to the pastry cream, to the filling and topping with chocolate, completely from scratch. And they kicked booty. ‘Cause that’s what I’m about. And you should be too.

So, BlogHer ’10?

Meh.

Hooking up with Got Milk & Eggland’s Best?

Potentially awesome.

Realizing that this blog is actually really important in the quest to get teens &  tweens cooking good food on their own?

Completely priceless.

Stay tuned folks. New videos coming every week starting Monday, August 16. New recipes starting on Wednesday, August 18. And wait ’til you see what we’ve coming…

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Want to throw a cooking birthday party for your budding chef at home? You’ve come to the right place!

If you know me at all, you know that I am all about loosening up in the kitchen, and getting teens & tweens in on the adventure makes things loose by default from the very start. Nothing will make a kid’s eyes widen like sprinkling flour directly on them as they get ready to roll out dough or having them chuck things into a blender for fruit smoothies. Kids desperately want to be in on the action, and you need to do everything possible to make sure that happens, from making a holy mess to piping frosting to working with real yeast dough for the first time.

I thought that maybe a few tips on throwing the perfect kid’s cooking birthday party would be helpful to all of you out there on the interwebs. I’m giving it to you straight, without all that sugary-coating parenting websites will give, ’cause I know you can handle it.

Birthday Party Tip #1:

Prepare for the kitchen to get messy. There is no way around this. If it freaks you out (and that’s ok), then you need to go somewhere else to hold the party or throw a different kind of bash. You will not be comfortable and your child will totally pick up on this. Sorry, but it’s how it is.

Birthday Party Tip #2:

Limit the guest list.This really isn’t the type of party to invite little Isabella’s entire preschool class. In general, the younger the kids, the fewer there should be at a cooking birthday party. These parties are very hands-on and you need to supervise what the kids are doing and where their hands are. And booger cookies are soooo not yummy.

Birthday Party Tip #3:

Get some help. Have a (patient) friend be your back-up or even better, hire a teenager or mature tween from down the street to lend you a hand and help keep the kids happy. And don’t be cheap! If you’re hiring a teen/tween, pay them well and make them earn that money. Just be realistic in your expectations. After all they’re not a professional party planner, so be sure to keep that in mind. They’re really more of a kid-wrangler. Let them do that.

Birthday Party Tip #4:

Keep the menu simple. This isn’t the time for Baked Alaska. Make food the birthday child enjoys. Smoothies are super easy and much beloved. Kids love a good blender, especially a safety lesson that includes the term “wall smoothies” *hint: these are NOT a good thing* Pizza is safe, tacos are wonderful, fried rice is a snap and includes lots of stirring. Ethnic foods can be fun!

Birthday Party Tip # 4.5:

Pick a menu that will be universally appreciated.Your kid may loooove sushi, but that doesn’t mean all of the kids do. It also doesn’t mean that you should buy some frozen chicken fingers and call it a day. Just remember that even though you are there to celebrate the birthday child, a good host/hostess makes sure that their guests are happy, an essential fact we sometimes forget (Remember all those weddings you went to where there was 4 hours between the ceremony and the reception? That’s the kind of thinking we want to avoid, regardless of the excuse.) If you’re having a dish that may be considered a little funky by some of the guests, balance it out with something familiar.

Birthday Party Tip #5:

Have an activity ready to go as soon as the kids arrive.Whether it’s free cooking coloring pages that you printed from online, or cooking wordsearches (I love http://www.thepotters.com/ for these!), or handy-dandy aprons that the kids color with fabric markers, have something to keep them busy, because you know someone will be early, and someone will be late. (Side note: whatever you do, don’t use puffy paint to decorate aprons. It takes at least 24 hours to dry and the kids will want to wear the aprons as soon as they can, so no one is happy. Plus, they’ll smear on the ride home or on your couch. Trust me here.)

Birthday Party Tip #6:

Lay down the ground rules before you step foot in the kitchen.No running, jumping, hugging, nose-picking, butt-scratching, hair-fluffing, or saying any of the following: Ewww, yuk, gross, disgusting, I hate that, or I think I’m gonna barf. Kids love to hear grown-ups say barf. They’ll crack up and you’ll get your point across. And make sure they wash those hands. A lot.

Birthday Party #7:

The younger the kids, the more you should measure everything out ahead of time. This will also cut down on the number of measuring tools you need to have on hand. Kids love to smell and touch and dump and whisk. LET THEM DO THIS. Have any spice containers open so that you can pass around the herbs and spices for them to sniff. The scent is really strong and it freaks them out, which is awesome, in a good way. They’ll be curious to see how those ingredients taste in the finished dishes.

Birthday Party Tip # 8:

The older the kids, the longer you can cook.Four year-olds just want to stir, mix, roll, and eat. Keep the actual cooking time to about 45 minutes for these guys. Older kids (from 7 to 15, really) can cook for about an hour and a half with no complaints, as long as you keep them moving. Lag time is a killer, so plan your menu really, really well.

Birthday Party Tip #9:

Build in time to eat. I usually try to allow 25-30 minutes for eating and talking. If you’re planning on including present opening, build that into the schedule too. Maximum cooking birthday party time should be around 2 hours. Write out a schedule for yourself and start on time. Be flexible and ready to adapt. If something goes wrong, make a joke about it and let the kids share in the laugh – they love to see grown-ups make mistakes too, and if you can roll with the punches, they’ll always remember that.

Birthday Party Tip #10:

Reward good behavior, acknowledge bad only when completely necessary. I always look to profusely praise the kids who raise their hands, use good manners, etc. Most kids will pick up on this pretty quickly. I even mention that I ask the kids with the best manners to help with the most tasks, and everyone wants to help. If you have high standards (and you should), let them know early on and they will do everything they can to please you. Everyone will have a great time and you will only need one glass of wine when you’re done, not a whole bottle. :) (BTW-Kids often act better when their parents are not around, so unless you know that you’re inviting a particularly difficult kid, you may be happier doing this one as a drop-off party).

Bonus Birthday Party Tip:

Have the kids clean up after themselves.No, not the kitchen, this is a party after all and you’re the one who decided to have a cooking birthday party at home. Have the kids (NOT their parents, and that is sooooo important) clear their places and gather their belongings. I’ve had kids as young as 4 take their own plates to the garbage and in return, praise them up, down, and sideways. You’re a parent, not a servant. Teach them young and they’ll have the habit for life.

Seem like a lot? It is. But, you can do it! Locally in Frederick, MD, you can contact The Kitchen Studio Cooking School for fab hands-on cooking birthday parties for kids. They can be reached at 301-663-6442.  You can also check out their birthday blog post here.

Or, if you still want to go it alone (you can do it!!) check out Backyard Birthdays. Backyard Birthdays will create a custom birthday party plan for your child and mail it to you so that you can execute it on your own. The best part? They’ll take care of everything from custom invites and thank yous to a timeline for how to run the party and recipes (which make a great and inexpensive party favor!) all for less than 50 bucks! You can also give them a call at 646-456-7671. Ask for Laura – she’ll be glad to help!

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