Kids in the Kitchen

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Broaden your child’s interests by familiarizing them to herbs.

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The following recipes are ones that the girls and I like to prepare together and enjoy eating.

• Pink Party Punch 
• Cream Cheese with Herbs 
• Deviled Eggs with Dill 
• Lettuce and Herb Salad 
• Buttermilk Scones with Herbs 
• Peppermint Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips
  

Gardening and cooking are a way of life for me. When my children came along, these activities became their way of life as well. From infancy, my kids accompanied me on photo shoots and visits to famous gardens, napping in their car seats. At home, naptime often found me at the computer typing in recipes or dashing out to spend a few moments in the garden planting or weeding.

As the children began to crawl and then toddle, they joined me in the garden. We picked flowers, they learned to say the herb and flower names, and we smelled and tasted them. The children learned how to rub herb leaves to release their scents, not to step on the plants, and to ask first before eating ­anything. At three, Lucie (now eight) would hop out of her swing, grab a sprig of a nearby bronze fennel, and nibble on it like a little rabbit.

The girls love to help in the kitchen. I have found that the more involved I let them become, the more interested in food they are and the more willing to try new things. There are kitchen tasks for kids of every age, and it is fun to work together; the group effort is rewarded by good things to eat. Younger children like Cady, who is four, can pour, stir, and mix, as well as find the right ingredients and utensils and tear herb leaves or salad greens into small pieces. Older kids can read the recipes, follow directions, measure, and prepare ingredients.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print