Posts Tagged ‘holiday’

O’ Hannukah with Latke Recipe

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Our Impromptu "Lights"

Our Impromptu "Lights"

So it’s a bit confusing around my house with all the holiday festivities and celebrations.  Anytime you have a 3 and 6 year old there’s bound to be questions and comedy.  There’s been lots of talk and queries about God, Santa, Hannukah, presents, the North Pole, etc.  Everything from “Why don’t all kids get presents since Santa can make as many toys as he wants and gives them for free?”  (good point) to “We’re Jewish right?.  You make latkes and we go to a party and play dreidle”.  (that’s true, but…)

Like many I like to use food as a way of celebrating and teaching different holidays, cultures, and history.  There’s always a story and a food for most of life’s tradition, beliefs and gatherings.  However now my son thinks our family is all religions, cultures and ancestry because I cook it all.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but he (and I) needs some guidance.  I ordered a book (not a cookbook) entitled One World, Many Religions by Mary Osbourne to hopefully give me some more educated answers about religions, faith, and beliefs around the globe.  I need something more than the simple story about the oil lasting for 8 days and now here’s a latke. 

Thankfully other children in my son’s school and circle of friends are noticing different ways family’s celebrate too.  I hear them ask ”Why don’t we have a Menorah/Christmas Tree?”  So we’ve been able to share in some friends’ candle lighting and dreidle games (and note our impromptu “lights” above) and also have ornaments for those to put on our tree that don’t have one at their home. 

Here’s the latke recipe that launched a thousand questions. 

Potato Latkes

(from Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink and Be Merry)

Wanting to reduce the amount of oil and frying in traditional latkes, I developed a version that’s finished in the oven to give extra crispness without extra fat and grease. These are great accompanied by applesauce and sour cream.

 Makes 12 servings

 

1½ pounds (about 2) organic russet potatoes, scrubbed and shredded (4 cups)

1 medium yellow onion, shredded (½ cup)

2 medium shallots, minced (1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large cage-free organic egg

2 (6-inch-squares) whole wheat matzo, broken into pieces

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

 

Toss potatoes, onion, shallots, and salt together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a sieve set over a large bowl and let drain for about 15 minutes. Squeeze potato mixture by handfuls over a glass bowl to release excess moisture (some moisture should remain) and put potato mixture in a separate bowl. Potato liquid will have a pasty-white sediment (starch) in the bottom of the glass bowl that you can see. Carefully pour off and discard top liquid and add starchy portion to the potato mixture. Stir in egg.

Put matzo pieces into a food processor (or see below) and process to coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs and pepper over potato mixture and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until matzo is softened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with oil.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir the potato mixture. Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, scoop potato mixture and add to pan without crowding. Press with a spatula to flatten to about a 3-inch cake. Cook until crispy and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the latkes to prepared baking sheet. Continue cooking, using additional oil to prevent sticking, if needed. Once all are cooked and on baking sheet, transfer to the oven and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.

 

Kid’s Help vs. Processor. Instead of using the processor to make matzo crumbs, put matzo in a plastic bag and have kids roll with a rolling pin to break and crumble. Of course the project takes longer, but is more fun.

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Thanksgiving Lessons…

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

So I survived Thanksgiving.  But I must say it was more stressful than I would’ve liked.  First, I kind of burned myself out with all the school actvities (see “feast” post) and recipe testing the week prior.  Yes, I loved seeing the school kids eat my little sandwiches,  muffins, etc., but sometimes I wish I was the parent who doesn’t cook and can just bring something premade (gasp!).  No, of course I would never.  However I notice the parents who pick up something lovely at a bakery or restaurant often look much more rested and happy at some of these functions than I do after baking until midnight.

I was a bit worried about my sister’s new diet too (see post about ”A Vegan”) .  I’m not the person that could serve someone a plate of crudite veggies and call it Thanksgiving dinner.  So I welcomed the challenge and did lots of recipe testing (and pie eating) prior.  Thankfully the dishes turned out pretty well and everyone (especially my sister) was very appreciative.  I adapted the dressing and sweet potatoes to vegan by using the vegan sticks instead of butter.  (Thankfully wine and brown sugar come in handy).  My sister made a really good butternut squash rissotto (see recipe here on care2.com) and last minute (I ran out of time) a saute of brussels sprouts in thyme and white wine.   The apple cranberry pie recipe came from the cookbook I gave my sister.  It was tart but tasty.  Although it didn’t totally set up like other apple pies I’ve made in the past.  I question the use of tapioca over flour for the apple filling.  Flour isn’t an animal product. 

Greens with Persimmon and Pecans

Greens with Persimmon and Pecans

Butternut Risotto

Butternut Risotto

Walnut, Crestnut, Sausage, Sage Stuffing

Walnut, Crestnut, Sausage, Sage Stuffing

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Ginger

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Ginger

Apple Cranberry Pie

Apple Cranberry Pie

 Of course we roasted chestnuts and peeled them.  This started as a tradition at my house growing up.  My mom would roast chestnuts to make her mother’s stuffing on Thanksgiving morning.  Then my mom, sister and I would peel them.  Of course it’s easiest to do when they’re hot, so we’d be peeling and scalding our fingers, and complaining.  But somehow that became the tradition.  Later when I was an adult hosting Thanksgiving I bought preroasted chestnuts for chestnut soup.  The soup was great, but it seemed a little sacreligious not to peel them ourselves.  So this year my kids wanted to peel too.  My mom was proud to have “three generations peeling together”.  My recipe adds water to the chestnuts in the oven which steams them and makes them easier to open.  But some of them are still tough to do – especially if cooled.

Merry Thanksmas 2009 029

Very A-peeling

Very A-peeling

So you may be wondering about the turkey.  We almost didn’t have one and went completely vegan.  Not because I didn’t order (2 weeks prior) or pick one up (fighting the crowds at Whole Foods at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning), but because it wasn’t thawed to cook.  I ordered a “fresh” Diestel organic turkey, so I was surprised when I picked up my bird and it seemed hard and frozen.  I was assured that it was just “flash” frozen and simply has a thin crust of ice so that it could be transported and would be ready for cooking or brining in the morning.  Huh?  I took it home and  put it in the fridge.  Thanksgiving morning I made my brine (this was a first for me) and then unwrapped the turkey and it was still rock hard.  Yikes!  I was mad.  What now?  This seemed a big set-back to me.  (What are we going to eat with the two kinds of cranberry sauce/relish with?)

Luckily my mom and sister were calm and said to take it back to Whole Foods.  I figured they’d say too bad or run water on it for the next 4 hours.  I was wrong.  Going to the store on Thanksgiving at 8 a.m. is much more civilized than going the day before.  The people at the store couldn’t have been nicer.  The customer service was worried and perplexed at first, and called the butcher.   The butcher came out with 3 thawed turkeys (cancelled orders) which I could choose from.  Hooray!   So the bird was brined and quite moist and flavorful.

Merry Thanksmas 2009 046

 All and all, the meal and visit with my family was a success.   Whew!  

You can cook all day, and days before, but it all really comes down to the last half hour.  This is the time when everyone is busy, helping and more than ready to eat.  It was pretty fun.   My mom and kids were decorating the table (we had been using it for board and dice games much of the day) with final touches such as fancy folded napkins and handmade placecards.  My sister and brother-in-law were stirring risotto.  I was carving the turkey and heating gravy.  My husband was using a new video camera to capture it all and interview all the guests/family.

Aside from the visiting and food, another highlight of the day was leaving the kitchen and everyone taking a walk on Richardson Bay.  The weather was sunny and brisk and I especially needed some fresh air.  I waivered about going, as the turkey would go in late, but I gave myself a reprive from getting the dinner out on time (we had established 4 p.m.).  Dinner at 5:30 was just fine.

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?…A Vegan!

Friday, November 20th, 2009

My sister has been a vegetarian for years.  Surprising since when we were growing up all she wanted was bologna and hamburgers from McDonald’s.  Anyways, she is an animal lover and advocate and it only makes sense she wants to protect animals – not eat them.

However she’s recently made the switch to veganism.  Wow, I’m impressed.  It takes dedication, time and planning to over haul your entire diet to one that is free of animals products.  I’ve written some vegan recipes.  But most are simple veggie recipes, purees and others with minimal ingredients.  I really didn’t realize how much effort it takes to eat vegan until I started planning the Thanksgiving meal.  My sister is coming (along with my brother-in-law and parents, fellow omnivors) and doesn’t want me to do anything special.  But come on.  I have to do something.  I write recipes and about food, I can’t get off the hook.  Plus it’s a challenge for me – which is always good. 

My sister is planning on making a butternut squash risotto – which sounds great.  We’re still having turkey.  The veggie is no problem – roasted root veggies or brussels sprout leaves.  But then the questions…  Do I do stuffing?  Does it go with the risotto?  Do I do mashed sweet potatoes?  Am I making too many starches.  Will it all fit in my refrigerator? 

 

I bought a vegan cookbook which I figured I would use to research and then give to my sister as part of her Christmas gift.  I bought a few vegan ingredients to see if I could recipe test and convert a few recipes to vegan.  First was Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks to replace butter.  The gentleman at the check out told me it was the closest thing to butter.  This is not butter.  So far I’ve spread it on bread.  No thank you.  This weekend I’m going to try cooking with it.  However I was very surprised by vegan sausage.  I bought this to try for a possibe substitute for the sausage in my sage dressing.  It’s a winner and I’ll buy it again. 

Then there’s my son’s request for pumpkin pie.  Remember we roasted that pumpkin?  So I decided to test the pie crust – an oil crust.  I was confused on the directions to “roll it out”.  It just wasn’t anything more than crumbles.  However I was able to press it into the pie pan with my fingers and the results were good.  Of course the pumpkin filling was not vegan, as I added my pumpkin puree to eggs and cream.  My sister called as I was baking and I made the mistake of telling her.  She told me she doesn’t even like pumpkin pie and doesn’t care about dessert.  However now I want to make a vegan pie (especially since the crust was tasty) for the challenge.  So I think I’ll make a non-vegan pumpkin pie and a vegan apple or apple cranberry pie.  Variety is good and I’m sure it won’t go to waste.  (I already made two pies and gave some to my son’s teacher and some to my neighbor).

I’m starting to feel like I’m neglecting the rest of the non-vegan guests – so I’m getting their weigh in on the final dishes as well.  Stay tuned… (and I’m open to suggestions).

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Homemade Pumpkin Puree Recipe

Monday, November 16th, 2009

While our carved Halloween pumpkins are gone, we were delivered a beautiful 3 lb sugar pie pumpkin in our veggie box.  My son said “let’s make pie!”  He doesn’t really get that the pumpkin is just one ingredient in a pumpkin pie.  I said we’d bake the pumpkin but not today.  Well it was a whole week until “not today”, became “I better cook this thing”.  It is really easy to cook and make fresh puree, however to be honest 95% of the time, I buy canned organic pumpkin.  (Nutritionsist say the vitamins and nutrients are the same for canned pumpkin vs fresh and that’s why I don’t bother.)  But it is fun.  Plus now with the thought of BPA lining in canned goods, I thought the health scales are tipping to homemade.

 

From my 3 lb pumpkin, I now have 3 cups of lovely puree.  (This would be a perfect puree for baby).  I’m having a hard time deciding how to use the puree - pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars and on and on.  I’m sure I’ll decide soon and be baking more sugar pies in the next few weeks, stay tuned…

 Here’s what I did…

golden baked pumpkin

golden baked pumpkin

 

surprised how easy to peel

surprised how easy to peel

ready for seed removal

ready for seed removal

success - pumpkin puree

success - pumpkin puree

 

Pumpkin Puree

You can cook the pumpkin whole if a small pumpkin (3 – 4 lbs).  If using a larger one, cut in half or quarters and place cut down on oiled baking sheet.

Makes about 3 cups

3 – 4 lb. sugar pie pumpkin

Set oven to 350F.  Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lightly oil.

Pierce whole pumpkin with a sharp knife.

Bake pumkpin in oven 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until knife pierced through to seeds easily.

When cool enough to handle, peel away the skin using your fingers or a paring knife.  Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out seeds and fibers.

Place pieces of pumpkin flesh in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and porcess until smooth.  It make take a few minutes of processing and then stopping to scrape sides for all to become blended and smooth.

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Every Day is a Holiday for Kids – with Organic Lemon Pancake Recipe

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

From LISA BARNES

Think the holiday season takes a break after New Year’s and before July 4th? There’s groundhog day, winter solstice, St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, May Day, Cinqo de Mayo, mother’s day, father’s day, and many others (real and imaginative). For children every day is a holiday. That means there are many reasons and excuses to make things special. The best thing about celebrating with children is that they find fun in the little things.

In writing my latest book The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Eat, Drink and Be MerryI reflected a lot about my childhood memories. My mom always made things special with decorations and crafts, especially at holidays. Our Halloween costumes were amazing (think Peter Pan with wired shadow, and Sigmund the sea monster. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t sit in them – we got lots of kudos and the best candy and prizes. St. Patrick’s Day breakfast was dyed, of course, a festive green – from our pancakes to our milk. Our eggs for the Easter egg contest were not simply dyed but then decorated with glitter and noodles.

For me food is a way to celebrate everything – culture, history, seasons, geography. (And to be honest I’m not crafty and can’t sew)…

To celebrate Earth Day I took my children to the local park and we cleaned up trash and wiped down the equipment. Next we picked up some seeds and planted them in pots outside. My daughter placed marigolds, beets, onions and cucumbers in the same pot, so we’ll see what comes up. Perhaps a new varietal of something tasty. Finally we made Earth Day Cookies. What are Earth Day Cookies you ask? Well they’re sugar cookies frosted like the earth. But it could’ve been anything. Call it something festive and ask your kids to decorate it, and something special is created.

We celebrated “Tres de Mayo” this year because my husband was going to be out of town on the real day. I did homemade tacos, beans and rice with all the trimmings. However not wanting to miss Cinqo de Mayo, my kids and I celebrated with nachos for dinner. What could be easier? And yes, it was basically left-overs “repackaged” as a party on a plate. Although my daughter asked “This is just a pile. Is it dinner?” When she saw the veggie platter with her favorite jicama, she was satisfied with the menu.

When my kids are off from school they will sometimes ask if it’s a Lemon Pancake Day. This is a quick and easy giant pancake that’s impressive and sweet for all ages. Quicker than other pancakes, it’s a way to celebrate sleeping in and hanging out in pajamas. See I told you any day could be made into a holiday?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the creative moms out there who make their child’s everyday a special one.

Manny’s Organic Lemon Pancake

Gayle Pirie and John Clark, chef-owners of San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema restaurant and co-authors of “Country Egg, City Egg” developed this recipe to recreate a child comfort food enjoyed on sleep-over mornings.This “dramatic egg pancake” is also known as a Dutch Baby.

3 cage- free, organic eggs
½ cup organic milk
½ cup organic all purpose flour*
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
Juice of half a lemon
Organic confectioner’s sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Whisk the eggs and milk together. Add the flour and salt and whisk until a smooth batter with tiny bubbles is achieved.

Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. When the butter is hot and begins to sizzle, add the batter, and remove from heat. Place skillet on center rack of oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until pancake is light golden and has risen like a soufflé. The edges will be creeping over the rim of the skillet and be nicely browned.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with lemon juice and a dusting of sugar.

*All-purpose not for All. Not everyone can eat all-purpose flour. I’ve made this recipe successfully with spelt, gluten-free, and rice flours. Use whichever works with your family’s diet and preference.

~

See also Lisa’s two new books out now at local bookstores:

Cooking for Baby: Wholesome, Homemade, Delicious Foods for 6 to 18 Months

Eat, Drink and Be Merry: Easy, Organic Snacks, Beverages, and Party Foods For Kids of all Ages.

~~

Lisa Barnes is author of The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler, Williams-Sonoma: Cooking For Baby, and Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink and Be Merry and lives in Sausalito, California.

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New Year’s at Nine (with Organic Recipes)

Monday, January 5th, 2009

From Lisa Barnes

What did you do for New Year’s with small children and no babysitter?  We had a family party to celebrate the New Year on East Coast time. Although you can use Australian time, or any other time that suits your needs and bedtime. We were hoping to celebrate with friends and their kids, however we were getting over the flu and didn’t want to spread the “cheer”.

However the good thing about kids (at least little ones) is that they really don’t know much about time.  So blowing a noisemaker and putting on silly hats at 8:30 p.m. works for them.  This can be effective for any celebration or get together with little ones.  A few festive foods and decorations and it doesn’t matter what time it is. Plan for all ages to be awake and be able to celebrate with sparkling drinks and party snack foods for your next celebration. With Tivo and other recording devices the New Year’s Eve ball drop can happen anytime – day or night (or more than once a year).

Our menu (recipes below) was fun because we ate our New Year’s dinner with our fingers – like a real h’ors d’ouvre party.  Some other easy and kid fun “bites” include threading things on toothpicks like cut sausage (serve with mustard or ketchup dip of course), or grilled shrimp or chicken pieces.  Happy 2009!

Organic Juice Sparkler

This is a fun and healthy way for children to join in on a fancy toast with a sparkling drink of their own. This recipe is really simple and can be made with any kind of fresh, organic juice such as orange, pear, or apple. At holiday time I like pomegranate juice because of the bright and festive color. Pomegranates are a rich source of antioxidants and flavonoids. The juice can be found year round in the fresh refrigerated juice section of most supermarkets.

Makes 1 cup

¾ cup sparkling mineral water
¼ cup fresh pomegranate juice

Combine water and juice in a glass.

Variation

If serving a crowd, combine three parts sparkling mineral water with one part fresh pomegranate juice in a pitcher. Serve over ice cube cuties for older children and adults.

Kids Korner

For a really festive drink, add a few cranberry ice cubes (just add cranberries when freezing water in trays) and a straw. You’ll be surprised how much those touches will excite your child.

Kids’ Crab Cakes

Just because “kids” is part of the title, don’t be hesitant to share these with adults, too. They are simply shapes for smaller mouths, or a single hors d’oeuvres bite for mom and dad. These are festive and special for a holiday appetizer or dinner with family, and made healthier than the usual crab cakes with yogurt substituting for mayonnaise.

Makes 16 to 18 (1½-inch) crab cakes

1 large cage-free organic egg
1 tablespoon organic plain yogurt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
½ teaspoon grated yellow onion
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup soft bread crumbs
8 ounces fresh or canned lump crabmeat
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs or panko
2 teaspoons expeller-pressed canola oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, mustard, dill, onion, and pepper. Stir in soft bread crumbs until combined. Stir in crabmeat until combined but do not overmix.

In a small bowl, combine dry bread crumbs and oil. Set aside.

Using your fingers, shape heaping tablespoonfuls of the crab mixture into 1½-inch rounds and flatten. Press each side of cake into dry bread crumb mixture to stick.

Arrange on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden on bottom and cooked through.

Zuke Sticks

Zucchini is a tough name to pronounce for little ones and zuke sounds much more fun. These are a good snack food, side dish, or party food to serve with other veggie sticks. A side of marinara sauce or ketchup is good for those little dippers.

Makes about 50 sticks; about 6 servings

¾ cup dried bread crumbs or Panko
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup organic milk
3 medium organic zucchini, cut lengthwise into 3 × ½-inch pieces (peel if desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Place the flour on a plate. Pour milk into a shallow bowl.

Dip each zucchini stick in flour until lightly coated. Then dip in milk. Finally roll in bread crumb mixture until covered, pressing so mixture sticks.

Transfer zucchini sticks to prepared pan and bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until zucchini is tender and coating is crisp and brown.

Kids Korner

Enlist older children to help by rolling sticks in flour, milk, and bread crumbs. This may become a messy job as mixture can stick to fingers. A child that does not like messy hands will pass on this task.
~
See also Lisa’s Happy New Year! Lobster vs. Pizza – Don’t Ask
~~
Lisa Barnes is author of The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler, Williams-Sonoma: Cooking For Baby, and lives in Sausalito, California.
Image Credit: © Roberto Giovannini | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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More Kids in the Kitchen (with Organic Recipes)

Monday, December 29th, 2008

From Lisa Barnes

When engaging kids in kitchen and cooking activities you may want to serve them something special like a festive hot drink or a snack of granola or trail mix.  It’s one more reason to stay and help, and also won’t tempt them to eat or “sample” too much of what you’re making.  The drink recipe below is great for all ages and takes the chill out of a cold and rainy afternoon.

Of course there’s the usual helping decorate cookies (see last week’s Little Helpers in the Holiday Kitchen) which kids are always up for.  But there are also other tasks that don’t involve desserts.  Below is a recipe for a unique way to prepare and enjoy brussels sprouts that my kids love to make and eat.

Organic Calientito
Calientito means little hot one and this drink is a spiced cider made with spices and fruit. You can use just about any fruit and fruit juice combination here. This is good for the kids at a party when serving adults mulled wine. The name sounds appropriate for my feisty daughter.

Makes 5 cups; 5 servings

2 cups organic unfiltered apple juice
2 cups organic pomegranate juice
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup orange segments
½ cup chopped pear
1 tablespoon organic raisins
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick, Serve hot or wait to cool for younger, sensitive mouths. If serving to younger children, strain before serving to prevent choking.

Leaf Us Alone Brussels Sprouts
Although they are one of my favorites, I realize Brussels sprouts are not welcome by many. I think they get a bad rap because they are usually boiled, bland, and still rock hard in the center. Peeling the leaves and discarding the center core, makes for an entirely different taste and texture. And yes, you and your kids may even have a new green favorite. Note this takes time and patience, but little hands make great peelers.

Makes 6 servings

1 pound organic Brussels sprouts
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.

Cut off bottom stem or core of each sprout. Carefully peel away the leaves until it becomes too hard to peel. Cut off bottom core again and peel more layers. Continue cutting and peeling until it is too difficult to peel apart.

Place leaves in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and stir until all leaves are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir again.

Spread leaves onto prepared baking pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until leaves are cooked and start to crisp with golden edges.

Kids Korner
I brought these to the table to peel while my children were having a snack. It must have looked interesting as both my four year old and 18 month old starting peeling, too. I told them they were Brussels Buddies. My son just kept telling his dad “We’re only eating the skins.”
~
See also Lisa’s Why Organic For Kids?
~~
Lisa Barnes is author of The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler, Williams-Sonoma: Cooking For Baby, and lives in Sausalito, California.
Image Credit: © Reno12 | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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Little Helpers in the Holiday Kitchen

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

From Lisa Barnes

The holiday season is a wonderful opportunity to allow your children to help with the meal preparation and offers quality time together as a family. This is a way to keep your children occupied, but is also a fun, educational activity that incorporates a range of skills and senses, such as counting, measuring, reading, touching, listening, planning, smelling, tasting, and creativity. Baking teaches children useful skills and also makes them aware of potential hazards in the kitchen.  Helping in the kitchen can increase confidence, as well as encourage children to try a broader range of foods. Children are more likely to try a new recipe if they have helped in the preparation of the meal.

First decide what you will be making and determine how you want the children to participate.  Ask your child what he would like to make and his favorite holiday foods when menu planning, so he wants to participate and feel included.  If following a recipe be sure to read it thoroughly and have all necessary ingredients on hand before starting.

Take your child to the store or farmer’s market to purchase ingredients.

Once in the kitchen task allocation depends largely on the age and dexterity of the child, but there are some basic rules and tips that will make the process as safe and hassle-free as possible, remembering that children learn by observing and imitating adults.

Basic Rules and Tips

·Teach children the basics of hygiene (e.g., washing hands) before beginning food preparation, and also between stages, to avoid cross-contamination.

·Always explain the potential dangers in the kitchen and the protocol for safety. Such dangers include sharp knives, hot stoves and ovens, pans of boiling liquids and invisible germs.

·To save time and small children’s frustration, be sure to cut and measure ingredients before the child begins to assist. Small children have short attention spans and may become impatient waiting to “dump” ingredients in a bowl.

·Give children quick, simple instructions, one at a time, and be prepared to repeat them if they do not understand or forget what they have been told.

·Older children can be encouraged to read the recipe and help to measure out or weigh the ingredients.

·Younger children can be involved in the mixing process by placing the ingredients in a jar with a secure lid and letting them shake the contents. This works particularly well with batters and salad dressings.  Also a large oversized deep bowl can be handy when children are helping.

·All ages can help with frosting and decorating holiday cookies or cupcakes.  Decoration ideas include: colored sugars, cookie cutters, frosting, icing, edible flowers, dried fruits, nuts, etc…

·Younger children who are not yet able to help with the real food preparation can still participate in the kitchen by watching you and imitating through play with plastic bowls, wooden spoons, and rubber spatulas.

·Encourage children to be involved in the cleaning-up process during and after the cooking session is completed.

·For children interested in meal creativity with decoration, let them create interesting centerpieces, name cards or placemats.  Provide children with paper, and crayons or paints to create personalized place mats for each family member and dinner guest.  Take kids on a walk to gather the makings of a “green” centerpiece of pinecones, leaves, pods, and acorns.

Adults make a mess when they are creating in the kitchen, so expect children to have even more mishaps and build in enough time for mistakes and clean-up.

Remember to remain calm and have a sense of adventure and humor!  It doesn’t all need to be perfect – just have fun with your kids.
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See also Crunchy Frozen Organic Bananas For Kids Recipe
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Lisa Barnes is author of The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler, Williams-Sonoma: Cooking For Baby, and lives in Sausalito, California.
Image Credit: © Hallgerd | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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