Hi,

I love your daughter's Disney Princess shirt. You may want to get your junior cook on the right track: get her an apron to help keep her clothes clean. It looks darn cute and saves on extra effort when it is time to launder her clothes.

My six-year-old niece has an apron with lots of hearts. She knows it is her special outfit when she helps out.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I love your daughter's Disney Princess shirt. You may want to get your junior cook on the right track: get her an apron to help keep her clothes clean. It looks darn cute and saves on extra effort when it is time to launder her clothes.

My six-year-old niece has an apron with lots of hearts. She knows it is her special outfit when she helps out.

Regards,

thanks Cathy, and good call on the apron, Im going to get her one.

Loved reading through this thread today. Jim, how wonderful to share your passion and time with your daughter. What great memories you're creating. My first-born is now 22. But when I saw your daugther in her Disney princess shirt, it brought back a memory of my daughter (who had Ariel on everything she wore). When she was still in a high-chair, I'd bring her into the center of the kitchen, get out all the spices I needed for my recipe and have her measure them out and dump them to a small bowl. (Probably wouldn't work for very precise baking). Their cooking contributions grew as they did, but it's fun to start sharing kitchen time when they're little. Wonderful photos!

Cathy, your ideas are great too. Aprons, mixing spoons, cookie cutters are all so much fun and add the grown-up element kids love. My youngest (now 17) loved the kids' cookbook section at the library. Even though she wasn't yet reading, she loved to look at the pictures and select things we would then make together.

janeyb wrote:Loved reading through this thread today. Jim, how wonderful to share your passion and time with your daughter. What great memories you're creating. My first-born is now 22. But when I saw your daugther in her Disney princess shirt, it brought back a memory of my daughter (who had Ariel on everything she wore). When she was still in a high chair, I'd bring her into the kictehn, get out all the spices I needed for my recipe and have her measure them out and dump them to a small bowl. (Probably wouldn't work for very precise baking). Their cooking contributions grew as they did, but it's fun to start sharing kitchen time when they're little. Wonderful photos!

thanks janeyb,

It makes me happy she is interested in my hobby, and we can share it, and the more she wants to help the more I let her do.. althought stirring ingredients together is still her favorite.

had my daughter helping out with injecting the pork butts I am smoking tomorrow.



Ill enlisy her help in making the cole slaw shortly(shredding the cabbage, and making he slaw dressing.

Jim, I have really great memories of cooking with my dad. My husband can't wait until our daughter is old enough to bake with him. Great pictures:)

sweetsalty wrote:Jim, I have really great memories of cooking with my dad. My husband can't wait until our daughter is old enough to bake with him. Great pictures:)

thanks,

Shay really seems to enjoy helping, and I enjoy the time spent. They dont stay young forever.

me and my assistant doing some ribs:






good times..

my daughter lended a hand in making the korean hot wing sauce(wings are on the smoker now).

Measuring out the Shark sriracha:

"had my daughter helping out with injecting the pork butts I am smoking tomorrow."

Very nice pictures, Jim.

Ummm... may I suggest you don't turn your back on her while she has that thing in her hand.

And more emphatically, that you don't bend over.

MikeLM wrote:"had my daughter helping out with injecting the pork butts I am smoking tomorrow."

Very nice pictures, Jim.

Ummm... may I suggest you don't turn your back on her while she has that thing in her hand.

And more emphatically, that you don't bend over.

Im more worried about the 2 cats.

I look forward to times in the kitchen with my daughter Shay, she now wants a toy smoker/grill to be like dad, and always wants to help. We worked together today while I made some chicken, sausage, and okra gumbo. Afternoons like this puts everything in perspective regarding what really matters & what is meaningless nonsense.

She is adorable, and look at her wielding that knife. Our next Iron Chef star!

petite_gourmande wrote:She is adorable, and look at her wielding that knife. Our next Iron Chef star!

thank you, shes my little buddy, I have a hard time keeping her out of the kitchen.

avert you eyes vegetarian types(or convert)...

my buddy helping me with the pig... asking "are we gonna bbq the pig?" & "who killed the pig"?






life is damn good.

Love that daddy and daughter are bonding over our piggy See ya'll tomorrow!! We're stopping at the market in chinatown for some supplies and will be sure to pick up some sweets for Shay!!

Fathers day supper # 1, I had my bear help me with the shrimp skewers:







imho let your kids loose in the kitchen with in reason, they take ownership of what they make and make picky eating something I have only read about.

One of my greatest successes as a father of twin boy toddlers came recently with their intense yelling for "MORE KALE!!!!"

Based on their love of anything crispy or crunchy, I decided to try a crispy roast kale recipe on them. I picked up your standard curly kale from the farmers market, de-ribbed and cut the leaves, lightly tossed with oil and roasted at 375 for about 12 mins, turning once. Garnished with a bit of sea salt and a splash of vinegar, these are as good as any potato chip.

My boys are not overly picky eaters (yet), but I have found that if you pretend that a food item is not for them, they're all the more likely to hunger for it. If broccoli is on their plate, they'll mostly ignore it until they see me start eating it too.

So, when the first batch of kale was ready, I stood at the counter and crunched on a couple while ignoring them.

Within seconds the cries of "CRUNCHY!" "CHIPS!" "WANT SOME CHIPS!" "HAVE SOME PLEASE!" started.

"Oh, you want to taste some kale?"

"YES! KALE! PLEASE! CRUNCHY! WANT SOME!"

Roasted kale chips are now the snack of the month. On the plus side, I've read that they retain a good percentage of their nutritional value when cooked this way. (Frankly, even if they retain only 10% of their nutritonal value, it's a win since you're not gonna get any sane person to eat very much raw kale.)

my daughter wanted to help brine the chicken thighs and legs for tonights supper:



both types of chicken are all natural(Ultra Foods has both for cheap), 1 amish, the other not:



I think shay wants to help with the cole slaw in a few minutes.

Great thread. Love the pictures of the little cooks My girls are 7 and 10-they love cooking, baking and helping me plan meals. We do lots of home cooking in part because both of my daughters have severe life-threatening food allergies. In addition to the usual suspects, peanuts and tree nuts, we deal with allergies to milk, egg and sesame as well.

I have two book recommendations for those of us who cook/have cooked with/for our kids. Both are great reads and have some wonderful recipes;

Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes [Hardcover], by Emily Franklin, chronicles a year with her four kids all under the age of 9, getting them away from the kiddie menu and on the road to trying new things, both at home and while dining out.

The Hungry Monkey, A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater, by Matthew Amster-Burton, a Seattle food writer. It's funny and sprinkled with useful bits of info about feeding our little people. The author alos hosts a podcast, Spilled Milk, with Molly Wizenberg author of A Homemade Life, another excellent read. You can go to hungrymonkeybook.com to read an excerpt

cant say how much fun cooking with the shay-meister is...

plus shes a red meat lover like her pappy....

her reactions when she saw the side dish(thats right 2#'s of red meat as a side dish..thats how we roll) I am doing with the chicken and dumplings tonight... gotta love it...

gonna be cooked rare of course..





2# t-bone... cost less than $9...... I love the Caputos..

obviously I think getting children involved in the kitchen is important.

Shay and new stay at home mom Vangie knocked out some pumpkin cookies. I was impressed.

the Shay insisted on helping with dinner last night.

I had her mix up the ground bison & chuck:





She is also a big fan of pork belly, and helped with the tasting portion of this item:

cubed belly:



tasting is an important part of cooking, post rendering stage, pre wok sear taste:



I am still amazed how much she likes pork belly, even the fatty parts, she is years ahead of where I was at that age in regards to what I would and wouldnt eat.

what our sliders looked like before being topped with the quail egg:



top notch, lots of toppings, but the beef and bison shined.

my assistant monitoring the food processor(in her new kitchen apron) while the plain yogurt, shallot, lemon, parsley, etc. dressing comes together.




bidding farewell to the dungeness and lobster before they were tossed in the steamer:



Ill enlist her help with salad preperation(doing a lobster salad and a dungeness & avocado salad), snow crab leg steaming(and sampling), asian rib cooking, and ribeye on the grill

I once dated a guy who held lobster races with his daughter ... she confused their local store a lot by asking the fishmonger for a "fast one!"

Cooking with kids is so much fun - and they really will explore lots of foods if you stay loose about it and just provide lots of opportunities. When my son was in grammar school - a long time ago - one of his favorite lunch items to bring from home was an artichoke with dip.

Chicken Parmesan sounded really good for Sunday nights supper. Shay saw me run the first pounded out chicken breast through the four, egg & breadcrimb mix & ran to wash her hands so she could help.

Not bad technique for a 4 y.o.:

cooking with kids now that shay is over 5 and ready for kindergarden in the fall. our latest kitchen "experiment", regeneratting green onions from some white bulbs.

"let it grow":

I love this thread.

In the warmer months I grill out 3-4 times a week and my 3 year old loves to help. I have noticed that if he helps with food he seems to take ownership and try more things, otherwise he is really picky. I have gotten him to gobble down Brussels sprouts, ribs, artichokes and other foods because he is helping me with them. If he doesn't help, he is way less likely to eat things. We are working on him with his pickiness but it is a chore.

Our 1 year old is the opposite. That kid will eat anything. Last night it was spinach and black bean enchiladas.

I'm hoping the Nom turns out to be a better eater. Right now, only bananas, yogurt, oatmeal, and Pediasure are acceptable...sigh. His other 18-month-old friends are all eating like champs.

breakfast taco ala Shay(she took the picture as well):