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.
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 →
This video was too funny to keep to myself. I can tell that this tot’s mom has a great attitude – she has the confidence to bring her child into the kitchen at such a young age, and manages to stay relaxed and positive…no matter what happens.
But maybe – just maybe – he should have been wearing pants.
Do you cook with your kids? What kinds of jobs do they do in the kitchen?
How much would you pay for a piece of one of these decadent desserts? What if they were guilt-free and didn’t stick to your hips ribs?
Click on the First Giving widget below to make a donation in that amount, and I’ll “serve you a slice.” All of the funds we collect from our virtual bake sale will be donated to the American Red Cross, who has contributed nearly $171 million dollars to this cause so far.
Many thanks to these wonderful people for sharing their photos for this worthy cause:
Let me know if you have a delectable dessert photo that you would like me to add to our virtual bake sale! Please feel free to tell your pals about this event – maybe with a little mention on your blog…or even just a tweet or link on Facebook. Haiti (and I) will thank you!
Why I learned how to make Pierogi, by Gabby from New York City (age 14)
I love to cook, and not just baking cookies, but putting together an entire meal. I know it is one way that I can help my family, besides I enjoy the whole creative process. Because I have a busy schedule as a freshman in high school, a performing dancer and a competitive horseback rider, I usually only cook on holidays, summers and weekends. When I was little I loved to help my mom bake, and it became our special time together to “create” in the kitchen. As I got older, I became fascinated with cooking shows and regularly watch Iron Chef and all my favorite chefs on television. I even collect cookbooks. Two summers ago, I decided to take some cooking classes and with two friends and our mothers we took a series of classes at a cooking school in East Hampton, Long Island called Loaves and Fishes. We learned how to make an entire Vietnamese dinner one night and homemade pasta dinner on another night.
However, the most valuable recipe I have learned to date is how to make my Ukrainian grandmother’s family recipe of Pierogi (stuffed with potatoe and sauerkraut). After making the dumpling dough from scratch, we let it rise a bit, and roll it out on a floured board into thin sheets. We fill each dumpling (we usually make the filling the night before). We pinch the dumplings in a special way to give them an unusual shape. It is not a light meal, and is also time consuming so we usually only eat it once a year – Christmas dinner with a roast and vegetables. I am the only person in my family (beside my grandmother) that knows how to make the dough, and create these pretty little dumplings. I know it really makes my grandmother happy that I have learned how to make this traditional Ukrainian dish because she knows that I can pass it onto my children and keep the tradition alive in our family. I have included some pictures of me and my friend Gabrielle (she also loves to cook and was one of the friends who I took the cooking class with) making a batch of Pierogi together this year! Me and my mom enjoy your site, and keep up the good work.
Sincerely, Gabby
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.
When I was teaching cooking camp last summer, I explained to the kids that although they didn’t need to actually enjoy all of the food we made, they weren’t allowed to talk smack about it. You know how kids are – they are easily swayed by other people’s opinions. And I didn’t want one naysayer to get between the other students and their pasta primavera.
While the kids were outside blowing off some steam, I delivered some of our home-made pickles to the summer camp office staff. We chatted about kids and their attitudes about food and the camp director taught me the best phrase ever: ”Don’t Yuck My Yum!” I have been using it ever since – and the best part is that the kids really get it. It’s clear and simple. Don’t let your bad attitude affect my enjoyment of food!
How do you deal with food-negativity in your house? Do you have a special phrase that works well for your family?
I spent the past two days meandering through the San Francisco Winter Fancy Food Show. My friend and I ate our way through two giant buildings, filled with more chocolate and cheese than you could possibly imagine. Every once in awhile, a product would catch our eye and make us laugh out loud, temporarily distracting us from our throbbing feet.
Fortunately, I had a press pass, and was allowed to take pictures. I’ll start by sharing a few laughs…
Over the next week or so, I hope to share a few of the fantastic products and companies that we discovered – including stories that will make you want to support them. Guaranteed.
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.
