Kids in the Kitchen was a feature on my old blog that I hadn’t implemented here on The Pirate Mom Dot Com yet. I like to have my kids with me in the kitchen (sometimes). I like to teach them new skills (sometimes). I enjoy when we can all pitch in together and get ‘er done (sometimes).
When I was a child, I spent most of my Thanksgivings watching the parades in my PJs and being really hungry until about 3:00pm when we could finally eat. All the while my mom and grandma slaved away in the kitchen, working to put a feast on the table for our family. Not that I want to rob my own children of those same experiences, but I see value in their helping prepare the annual meal. It doesn’t have to be complex or even very time-consuming. Here is how my children helped this year…
Bonny Annie is usually in charge of the desserts, and this year was no exception. She always makes pumpkin pie, but this year she also wanted to try apple pie, and both creations were very delicious.
Dirty Harry made the green bean casserole (with a little help). And, as you can see, hair cuts are optional for being able to help in the kitchen.
When your kids help, I’ve discovered they eat more. Harrison had three helpings of his casserole. The only thing he’s ever eaten three helpings of willingly is perhaps Laffy Taffy.
Cap’n Jack Henry helped with nothing. He did, however, manage to be cute enough to inspire creative dessert concoctions.
Here are some other ideas to get your kids involved in holiday meal preparation…
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Help to prepare Jell-o salads. They are really hard to mess up, but I actually managed to do so this year.
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Arrange veggies and dip for an appetizer tray.
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Set the table.
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Pour drinks.
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Bake the rolls.
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Make a salad.
The possibities are endless, depending on what you and your family traditionally have on the table. Just make sure to involve the young ones. It will guarantee happy, thankful faces!
General Mayhem always helps in the kitchen. Next year he makes the turkey! The Boss hangs out in another room, doing her best to “stay out of your way.” That’s probably a good idea.
Arby´s last blog ..The Dog’s in the Dungeon
Braden makes carrot salad every year. This year he also helped make the corn casserole, the cheesecake and the mistletoe salad. Benjamin helped with the sweet potato casserole.
My kids help a little bit. I need to incorporate that more in my kitchen. I’ve been trying to with the weekly meal making. I want my kids to be able to cook and not have to treat their family to McDonald’s every night. For Thanksgiving, I usually go solo. Lots of food to make and we usually have anywhere from 5-15 extra people here-lots of sailors. I’m so used to doing it that by myself, that it was hard to get them to help. The only one who wanted to help was Hallie and she helped with the yams and green bean casserole! Have a great week!
Michelle´s last blog ..Thanksgiving…..
Since I hate to cook, I constantly abuse, er, I mean, get help from my kids. I know I’ve taught at least one of mine that they need to make a lot of money so they can hire a chef. Whatever works!
CrossView´s last blog ..The 21st AND 22nd
Teaching the girls to cook will be a challenge for me… I’m too anal retentive in the kitchen. I’ve got to get better about allowing plenty of prep time, since little hands slow up the process!!
Thanks for the pictures of your day!!
Susan´s last blog ..Fall Projects!
p.s. thanks so much for that pic of A in her vest. I totally stole it and posted in on ravelry. (my on-line knitting show and tell “group”)
Cori made two of our pies — chocolate chess and french coconut. They were huge hits. She also made the sweet potato casserole.
Jonathan helped by keeping the sink clear of dishes so we could get to it — which was great since we don’t have a dishwasher. He has gotten pretty good at pizza crust and makes a mean salsa, but neither of those were on the holiday menu.