Do you ever wonder how to work with children in the kitchen? How to let ALL of them do at least a little something? Even when they are too young to really be of help? Because they really really want to be a part of what their big sister is doing. Really want to be a part of what their older cousins are doing. It is possible. It is not always easy, but it can be done with a little practice and patience!
The situation that started it all…
As mentioned in a recent post, Perfection shows her love and appreciation by cooking for others. Last month one of the youth of our church left for his mission to Philadephia! Members of the ward had a farewell gathering to give others the opportunity to say their goodbyes to the new Elder. As a show of her love, Perfection made brownies. Well, Perfection chose brownies as a recipe for the kidlets to make for him. If you’re not familiar with the term kidlets, here’s the Lala definition of the word. Small children, usually under the age of 10 with a generation separating them from the person calling them a kidlet. Most people call them grandkids.
Here come the girls
Enter Hungry, Stinky Bubbles, Clumsy, and Banana! (Banana wouldn’t fit on the stool…) These girls wanted to cook! It’s pretty easy to allow the older kids to do some cooking. Easy for them to measure, crack eggs, etc, etc. However, you may wonder, “How in the world can a toddler help?” Well, I can answer that for you! We’ve found it best to give those younger toddlers very simple tasks such as ‘holding’ the bowl in place. Another idea is to have one of the older children do their measuring into an easy to handle container for said toddler to pour into the mix. In this case some of the smaller ingredients such as salt and vanilla.
Note: When giving eggs to pour into the mixing bowl, make sure they understand ONLY the eggs go in. The bowl is supposed to stay with them! (Love you, Clumsy).
School-aged children can learn to apply math to real life by taking over the task of measuring. As your children grow older, they can, and should, begin reading the recipes themselves before looking to you for guidance! In this case it might have helped. Maybe then we would have remembered to add the chocolate chips to the bowl BEFORE mixing and pouring. But it’s good to know that this recipe turned out fantastic by simply sprinkling those forgotten chocolate chips on top of the spread batter and pressing them down slightly into the baking dish.
Concluding thoughts
Basically, I don’t think there is any way you can go wrong by adding children to your food preparation. Things might take longer, but the skills and, most importantly, the love this builds, is worth ALL the extra time it might take!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 35 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
9x13 dish
|
- 1 cup Butter melted
- 3 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 4 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
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|
- PReheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
- Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. (Lala: or add them last if you forget...) Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.
This recipe was found here and is reposted for convenience. All credit to Brooke for an awesome treat!