Many thanks to Joanne from The Foodies for sending in this adorable photo and story for today’s installment of What’s Cooking with YOUR Kids.

Christmas Pud? Or Pudding at Christmas?
Does anyone really like Christmas pudding? Really? I know someone must like it somewhere, but I have never met them.

We declared an embargo on Christmas puddings in our house about 4 years ago. Christmas should be about indulging in things you enjoy. We all like sprouts, so they stay, no-one likes bread sauce, so it goes. And our solution to Christmas pudding? A big chocolate sponge which our children, Jacob and Anna, decorate together on Christmas morning.

We always use two layers of sponge, with buttercream and jam, usually a sharp jam like raspberry, and if possible one made from our garden fruit. And we always use white icing (because it’s Christmas, so it should look like snow…) and then the children decide what should go on top. Sometimes we have snowmen which the children have made. Sometimes a Santa made out of cherries. The children are always quite clear what they want and we let them get on with it.

This year we have just moved back into our house after living in a tent for 6 months, and half the baking things are still in storage (you can’t make swiss roll on a BBQ, I don’t care how many cookbooks you own), so we only had the things I had used for the children’s birthday cakes, lots of sprinkles and sparkly bits. Hence this year the theme of the cake was “a bomb has gone off in a sprinkles factory”.  It tasted insanely good.

So I think Christmas pudding should be redefined to mean ‘pudding you eat on Christmas day’, which should, obviously, be the best pudding of them all. And the best people to put in charge of the best puddings of them all? Definitely children.

Do you have any fun stories and photos to share about cooking with YOUR kids?  I hope to share at least one reader story every week and can’t wait to hear about your adventures in the kitchen with your kids. Here is what you need to do.

p.s.  Pass it on!

My head grew dizzy as we walked the aisles of the Fancy Food Show a few weeks ago.  Samples of chocolate were followed by samples of cheese…and then maybe some hot sauce, chips and beer.  There were foods in all shapes and colors, along with whiz-bang marketing campaigns intended to catch the eye and draw us in for a taste or a marketing spiel.   Maybe that’s why the understated and tasteful Project 7 booth caught my eye.

This is one of the most generous companies I have ever seen.  Project 7 donates 50% of the profits for each of their products to seven areas of critical need in the world:  Build the Future, Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Help those in Need, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless and Save the Earth.    Each of their products (gum, mints and water) are labeled with one of these causes – so if you purchase a (really cool test-tube) package of mints that say “Save the Planet,” that’s the cause where 1/2 of the profits will go. Each year, consumers get to vote on which organization receives funding from Project 7.  So the customers have awesome power here – they can pick which organizations to support.  Twice.  They get to vote online for who receives the money and vote with their shopping dollar, every time they choose a product.

I love when people ask me for tips about cooking with their kids.  Sometimes I feel really qualified to answer.  Other times, not so much.  But I got excited when someone on Twitter asked me for tips on how to make cooking with her 2 year old less frustrating…

Ingredients:

1 gallon Patience
1 pinch Expectations
Several squirts of Hand Soap
2 dozen kitchen towels or rags
(and maybe a mop)
1 set measuring cups
1 set measuring spoons
1 wooden spoon or silicone spatula
Some inexpensive ingredients, such as water, dry rice, beans or oatmeal
(Or try something that is safe for your dog to lick from the floor)
1 large mixing bowl with a non-skid bottom*

A Few Suggestions:

• If you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, maybe you should reconsider this activity.  Have a glass of wine and a good night’s sleep – and try again tomorrow.
• If you are new to cooking with your toddler, I would recommend that you start by practicing a few techniques before actually trying to prepare some real food.
• Set up all of your tools and ingredients in advance, so that your young chef doesn’t have to use up her entire attention span waiting for you to get ready.
• To prevent spills of ingredients, I recommend that you do your pouring over nested bowls.  Put the bowl you are pouring into inside a much larger bowl.  That way, if your young chef misses his target, the ingredients are still contained (and not all over your kitchen!)
• * If you don’t have any mixing bowls with a non-skid bottom, you can put a damp dishcloth under the bowl.  This will help to prevent it from sliding off the counter if your over-eager chef stirs a little too hard.

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Never underestimate the power of a child.

Heifer International holds a special place in my heart, especially after my educator study tour to visit their projects in Honduras.

Thanks, Zach, for making a difference and for fighting hunger!

One of my favorite parts of doing cooking parties for children is collaborating on the menu.  Often, families start the discussion by referring to the Sample Menu page on my website.  I usually jump in and remind them that those are only some ideas from successful parties in the past – and that I am pretty flexible, as long as the guest of honor is really excited about the menu.  The 9-year old girl, whose party I did today, decided that we should make Chicken Parmesan and Caesar Salad (with homemade croutons!).  I know – this is a far cry from the typical “pizza party” that most kids prepare in cooking parties.  (But as far as I am concerned, it doesn’t take much inspiration or encouragement to convince kids to eat pizza…)

A few highlights…

• The kids thought it was great that I provided them with aprons to wear.  One girl said that she always gets in trouble for wiping her hands on her clothes.  Another girl chimed in that she wipes her hands on her mother’s clothes “because they are old, anyway!”
• They loved that I brought an egg from one of our bantam (pee-wee sized) chickens, so that we could use it for dredging the chicken cutlets.  But in the midst of preparing the chicken, one girl’s eyes opened wide as she asked, “wait…we are’t eating one of YOUR chickens…are we?”  As those of us in the teaching profession would say, it was a “teachable moment.”  I explained that we were not eating our (pet) chickens, but that I selected organic chicken for them…and then told them why I thought it was better for their bodies and our planet.
• “Wow, this is delicious.”  Gets me every time!

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My heart melted when my friend Tasha, from That’s So Yummy, sent me a photo and story about her daughter using her brand new Easy Bake Oven….

Did you ever own an Easy Bake Oven when you were a child?

I know I had always wanted one and for some reason I never got one when I was younger.  I guess when I baked with parents I always just assisted them in the kitchen.

So when my daughter received one for Christmas this past year, I was so excited to share the feeling of baking something from scratch, and being proud of the end result.   She was completely ecstatic, especially after I explained to her that it was her very OWN oven.

She looked at me with her big brown eyes and asked “Now I can bake like you mommy?”

I looked at her with tears in my eyes, (I know I’m a real sap) and said “Yes, baby just like mommy!”

Here is my princess, baking her very first Easy Bake Oven cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

Do you have any fun stories and photos to share about cooking with YOUR kids?  I hope to share at least one reader story every week and can’t wait to hear about your adventures in the kitchen with your kids. Here is what you need to do.

p.s.  Pass it on!

I have been doing some consulting for DooF (Food Backwards), an educational multi-media company whose goal is make good food fun and exciting for families.  We are in the funding stages for a TV show for kids and are building a family friendly recipe database for our website.  Since I am a huge fan of networking and supporting my peers, I put out a request for Healthy Family Recipes on HARO, (a website that makes it easy to get connected with experts in nearly any field.)  I couldn’t believe the flood of responses that came in.  I got recipes from cookbook authors, moms, dietitians, PR agents and publishers.  I even received copies of several wonderful books, which I will offer to you, dear readers, once I have selected the recipes we will use for our website.

What? You want me to give away one of the books already?  Well…..okay.

Up for grabs is Enchanted Thyme, a book that had me enthralled from the moment I received it from the publisher.  Although this book shared an uncanny resemblance to The Magic Treehouse series, I enjoyed how the author managed to intertwine recipes into her fictional tale.  Belinda and Peter are siblings who enjoy their nightly bedtime story, read by their father, a chef.  One night, they discover a magical book that transports them, along with their guides, 3 magical mice, to the land of Enchanted Thyme.  There, they must use their culinary experience to try to break a spell that was cast upon the Queen by the evil Fricassee Fairy.  Delicious and thematic recipes, such as Belinda’s Groovy Grapes Salad and The Fricassee Fairy’s Siberian Ice Pops, are scattered throughout the story.

You might be wondering how you can enter to win this book, right? Keep reading →