I love hearing stories from people about how their cooking is influenced by their mothers. They have romantic tales of learning to cook by her apron strings, with fragrant aromas filling sunlit kitchens of their childhood home. They recall how a few simple ingredients that were often picked from the garden would be enjoyed with the family gathered around the dining room table.
I know that many people don’t have this kind of story to share, but this could change, thanks to the pandemic. Before the shutdown, we were too busy with work and dined out frequently, but we’ve now found ourselves cooking at home more than ever. It’s helpful that social media has live cooking demos that provide the confidence and inspiration to whip up a delicious meal enjoyed with family.
Many of us are even dusting off family recipes usually reserved for special occasions. A generation of kids is benefiting from all this home cooking, getting to work next to their parents or grandparents, creating memories and learning recipes that they’ll use for their children.
Mistakes & Experience
Lacking confidence is often the biggest hurdle for kids to get in the kitchen and to start cooking. They might be a master with the microwave but heating a pan to medium-high heat may cause some anxiety. One of the best cures for anxiety is experience. They may burn something and that’s ok; it happens to all of us.
Making mistakes is often the best way to learn. It’s an “I’ll never do that again” kind of moment, but hopefully, they’ll be eager to try again. Teach how cooking uses all five senses: seeing and hearing the food sizzle, using your sense of smell to tell when it’s time to add more ingredients, touching and feeling an ingredient to check for doneness, and most importantly, tasting to see if it needs more seasoning.
This summer is the perfect time to grow a garden, even if it’s only a small one with tomatoes and fresh herbs. A garden will get you and the kids closer to nature, help you eat healthier, save a few trips to the grocery store, and give them confidence in the kitchen.
I’ve had incredible luck with my four kids being interested in trying foods that we’ve grown in our garden. They get excited to pick and help roast tomatoes on the grill and peel the charred skin away while I sweat onions and garlic in olive oil. They also help by pulsing the tomatoes into a chunky mixture in the Vitamix, and then adding it to the pot and letting it simmer, tasting every 20 minutes until they think the sauce is perfect. It’s a pretty simple recipe with just a few ingredients but it gives them the confidence to try other recipes. I imagine that one day, they’ll recreate this dish with my future grandkids, reliving the aromas and flavors of their childhoods.
Life has paused for many of us and we are reanalyzing our priorities. We are all eager for life to get back to normal. But hopefully, normal life in a post-COVID-19 society has us spending more time with our kids; cooking and spending time together. And one day, they will tell a romantic story of cooking with their parents.
