A posterity post on cooking

I was talking to my Grandma on the phone, and I told her it was okay if she wanted to retire from cooking, because I was sure she had paid her dues. She then told me that she cooked her first meal when she was seven years old! SEVEN! Her grandmother was sick, and asked her to make some potato soup. My Grandma remembers putting the pot of potatoes on the stove (she said she thinks her grandmother must have peeled them, because she didn't remember doing that part), and adding the thickener, and everything. Seven years old... Unfortunately, I think the only thing kids might know how to do these days is push start on the microwave.

I can remember watching my mom cook from an early age. She taught me how to dice vegetables, cut the fat off of chicken, how to cut a whole chicken (which I never do), mix the wet ingredients then add the dry, etc. It was often our jobs to peel the potatoes, or carrots. I spent a lot of time observing both my parents cooking, my dad was mostly breakfasts on weekends. When we were younger, often, during the summer months, we were assigned a night to make dinner. We had to plan it, and prepare it. How smart of a mom was she? I remember one summer, my go to dessert was the no bake cheesecake recipe (back in the days my mom actually bought Cool Whip, before we solely stuck to whipping cream). Let's just say she prepared me well to leave home and be able to cook for myself.

As I got a little older I would find these new recipes to try, and my mom wouldn't have the exact ingredients, and she would say, "That's okay, you can use this instead, or we can sub this for that." I would freak out, "No, we have to do it exactly to the recipe!" Now, I am experienced enough to be able to say, "Oh, I can use this instead of this, etc. etc." Her teaching, though sometimes just through my observation, has allowed me to become the experimenter I am today.

Almost always when I start to cook, and my children are aware of it, I hear the chairs being pushed across the kitchen. They usually push the chairs to wherever we are cooking, and climb on so they can see, or help. Overall, I think I always let them, there are those times when I'm either almost done, or in such a hurry I can't deal with them being on top of me. But, I love that they are interested. I think it's important to help them stay interested so I can help them be better prepared for when they are on their own. Sure, they are really young, but like I said, I started when I was really young too.

I must say, last week when we were making crepes, I had a proud moment when Trevan knew when the crepes were ready to be flipped over, all on his own. A five year old that can make a good crepe. Well done son.