Sarah Pinneo is a food writer and a mom. This month she branches out with the publication of her debut novel Julia's Child (Plume 2012). The book is a comedic story about a foodie mompreneur who starts her own organic toddler food company. Since the book--and real life--are full of challenging moments in the kitchen with kids, Sarah drops by to share a few tips she's learned along the way.
"I'd always seen myself as someone who welcomed her children into the kitchen... And yet here we were wrestling for the rolling pin." --Julia's Child, p. 117.
Inviting preschoolers into the kitchen can pay off, because kids who help with the cooking are more likely to try new foods. In an ideal world, during that witching hour between four and six pm, you'll have them contributing to the effort instead of clinging to your leg while you try to get dinner on the table.
That said, handing out tasks to your preschooler is not without its risks. In Julia's Child, I have a lot of fun with the consequences. (Flooded kitchen? See page 61.) In real life, it takes a little planning and a leap of faith. I didn't get it quite right until after my second son was born. But since then, I've learned a few tricks which make things a little easier.
Safe Tools: and by "safe" I mean for both the child and the kitchen. Try these tools to let kids participate:
• The chopstick solution: Go ahead, kid, stir that batter. But not with a spoon. A very small child cannot help but fling dry or wet ingredients out of a bowl when using a spoon. Instead, let them stir with a single chopstick. It's hard to coat the ceiling with pancake batter when you're armed with a chopstick.
• Stay put: use a silicone potholder or sil-pat mat underneath the bowl, so the bowl doesn't slip off the counter and crash to the floor.
• Cut the cheese: while your preschooler can't debut as a prep chef with your drop-forged cleaver, that doesn't mean he can't cut. My kids love to cube feta cheese with a butter knife, or slice cheddar using a wire cutter.
• Peel away: your preschooler can safely use a vegetable peeler with some coaching and good decision making. Always teach a child to peel away from his body, and always start with a very long vegetable. Set your child up with an English cucumber or large carrot. Teach him to hold one end in his non-dominant hand, and to start from the middle of the vegetable peeling forward. The first couple of times you'll have to stand there and repeat those instructions. (Away from Jack. Peel away from Jack. AWAY FROM JACK...etc.) Eventually, this becomes a very safe kitchen task. At 6 and 8, both my kids are excellent peelers. And the only person in our home to ever bleed after using the peeler is my husband.
• Mix it up baby: while my two boys have always loved taking their turns with the buttons on the blender, the truth is that many things can be blended just as effectively in a plastic jar with a tightly fitting lid. Introduce your child to the wonders of physics by allowing her to shake up the salad dressing this way. (Can baby say emulsion? Good job!)
Accessible Surfaces: When we remodeled our kitchen, my children were 3 and 5, and I was already convinced that they could be excellent sous chefs, if only they could reach the countertops. I'm not very tall myself, and so the biggest indulgence of our renovation was a section of countertop at a reduced height. While standard countertop height is 36," most three-year-olds are only two inches taller than that. My shortie section of counter is 32" tall, and fitted with 24" stools. It's the most popular spot in the kitchen.
Those stools have thick stick-on felt covering their "feet," because they're dragged so often around the kitchen.
Here's another thing I learned by accident: a side by side freezer is the handiest style if you want your kids to be able to access both compartments before they hit puberty.
And finally: aprons. These hang in a handy spot, and I don't scrub quite so many stains out of tee shirts anymore.
"Take one organic food venture. Add two kids. Season with mayhem."
Julia's Child by Sarah Pinneo (Plume 2012)
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Love this, thank you!
the chopstick idea is awesome!
I cook regularly with my 3 year old, and have been introducing my 1 year old to fun in the kitchen, too. That said, a recent attempt at baking a cake ended with screaming when my 1 year old turned the mixer on with the butter coated beaters lifted... butter everywhere. But the cake was great and he was very proud of his ability to dump sugar in the bowl :)
I love the chopstick idea! I'll have to try that.
I recently did a post on cooking with our kids (they start young here) and all because of our piano bench. It's a brilliant way (if not exactly aesthetically pleasing) for the kids to be able to sidle up to the counter anytime they want and help out.
Please check it out:
http://bloggingcornerblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-bench-cooking-with-kids.html
I love involving the kids in the kitchen and these are some really great tips. We have special stool (kitchen-helper style) that has been my biggest and best investment for our kitchen. It's their spot in the kitchen and they love it. My sister also read somewhere about a famous chef teaching his kids to chop veggies with one hand behind their back until they got the hang of it and we've been trying it with our daughter. It works pretty well - the no slip cutting board is KEY.
I find that including my kids in the kitchen is an ongoing learning tool. Most recently, I've been using the experience to help my six year old focus his "experimental cooking" energies by reading recipies and learning how to plan. He isn't completely buying into the idea yet, but we are slowly moving towards cooking something edible! Its always been amazing to me how teaching the kids simple lessons in the kitchen can translate into bigger picture learnings that they can use in the rest of their lives.
Totally agree! Start young and your kids can actually end up being a big help instead of a big pain in the kitchen. My 3 year old will try anything he has helped me prepare. Some of our best moments happen side by side in the kitchen.
I love this post, great practical tips. I've been cooking for some years with a kid assistant and never thought of the silicon mat, cool idea! I like the chopstick idea for teeny tiny people.
At our house, I will say it's a myth that helping cook leads to trying more foods. She helps with two meals a day and never has a pea or zucchini been tasted - just saying!
Great tips !
I'll have to add: teach them very young about the burners. I have induction burners, but the pots still get very hot. My 2-years old son knows it's very hot (I'm French, and I taught him two word for "hot" and "dangerously hot" very, very early on), and while I'd never ever let him alone, I feel comfortable fetching a veggie on the other side of the kitchen for ten seconds. He says "very hot" while pointing at the pots, and asks for something else.
Also, I learned from experience not to say "danger" all the time. While exploding butter in the mixer isn't much fun to clean, it's not dangerous per se. Toying with ceramic knifes is. It's ok to have tomatoes everywhere, nobody will get hurt. I had to watch myself to make a difference between the really dangerous parts (playing with knifes, burners, some mixer attachments), and the annoying parts (splashing oil everywhere wasn't fun). I keep telling myself that the experience he gains and the fun we have together is much more valuable than the few minutes I'll loose cleaning the mess. And I LOVE licking cookie batter off my fingers.
I've been cooking with my 3 year old for about a year - probably once or twice a week. We keep a footstool in the kitchen which is just the right height for her. I always place the stool far enough away from the oven so that she can't reach over and touch something hot. The chopstick idea is a good one. I'll use it tonight when we make some baked veggie tempura.
Good tips! I would add: use the very biggest mixing bowl you have. If it's not very big, get one. My daughter's first and favorite task was/is whisking eggs. Even for 2 eggs I give her a massive bowl. Only big mishap so far: she touched my upper arm with the whirling beaters. No harm. I was quite frosted, though.
Another thing to keep in mind: they might not eat what they help make, but I think it's worth having them continue to wash spinach they won't eat because someday...one can hope.
Great post, my almost 2 year old wants to "help?" constantly.