Someone's in the Kitchen w/ Mommy {Crew Blog Hop}

I know that when my children were little, I would let them help stir the cake batter or mix up a batch of cookies. They weren't very old when they started learning to cook real meals, though.

On Addison's ninth birthday, I had the ingredients out near the stove so that I could make risotto to go with the meat that Tim was grilling. Unfortunately, Lauren, who was looking sickish earlier, started looking worse and I realized that I shouldn't wait until after dinner to take her to the Emergency Room. I remember telling Addison just to "follow the directions on the back of the canister." They told me later that the risotto turned out wonderfully. Even today she is known as the best risotto maker in our family.

A few years ago, Addison and Brennan started to get picky about what sorts of food I had available for lunches. They complained so much that I quit fixing lunch for them. I usually take care of making an allergy-friendly lunch for Lauren, but the big kids are pretty much on their own. They add stuff to the grocery list, decide who has time during the school day to fix the lunch, figure out what time we need to eat on a particular day, and so on.

They help with dinners often, but it's usually more of a helping role. This spring, Addison will be learning how to make more meals as part of her Home Economics course, and I'll get a couple night a week off of kitchen-duty. Before too long, it won't be "someone's in the kitchen with mommy" but rather "who's turn is it to cook dinner?"

The top-10 list of what my kids like to cook:

1. Cookies

2. Food for campouts (jerky, granola, trail mix, cheese coins)

3. Easy lunches like Ramen noodles or pasta

4. Picnic food

5. Pasta Alfredo (one of Addison's specialties)

6. Chicken and Dumplings (another of Addison's specialties)

7. Bubble-Up Pizza Bread

8. Sandwiches (well, only one child will eat sandwiches, but she likes to make her own)

9. Pizza

10. Death by Chocolate

Many of the Schoolhouse Review Crew bloggers are talking about "Schooling in the Kitchen" today. Be sure to visit the crew blog or click on some of the links below to find out what everyone's busy making.

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