Cooking with Kids: Grandma knows best

When I was 9 or 10, I recall doing quite a bit of baking, particularly for 4-H entries at the county fair. The first recipe I remember was for basic muffins. My mom coached me through the recipe, and we made those muffins over and over (and over) again to get them just right. I learned how to measure flour (sift and level), crack eggs neatly (no shell shrapnel!), fold the batter (no beating = no big air pockets), and fill those muffin pans exactly two-thirds full. Voila…Perfect!

That muffin recipe was nothing fancy – the basic one from the red plaid BHG cookbook. But when those muffins came out of the oven, my mom and I would break one open, inspect for air pockets, slather on a little butter and Mmmmmm.

While my muffins didn’t taste as great as Mom’s yeast-bread dinner rolls, that simple recipe was my ticket to a blue ribbon at the fair, and… it was the start of casual cooking lessons with Mom.

So it should have come as no surprise when my daughter Mary’s curiosity surfaced in my kitchen at an early age too. Trying to find ways to engage her and still complete the cooking task at hand, I doled out simple “to dos” much like my mom did with me. I felt pretty good, encouraging my youngster to help – Mary mastered some cooking skills, we enjoyed 1-on-1 time together, and dinner got made.

But then I realized my mom (Mary’s Grandma) was upping the game and I was boring. I was “letting” my 8-year-old cut in the fat to make pie crust, had her help make meatloaf by squishing together a few ingredients, and yes…try muffins for our family dinners. While I was patiently guiding Mary’s hands to be precise and tidy, Grandma and Mary were dialing up the mixer speed and cracking eggs to separate yolks and whites. Grandma let Mary make a bowl of meringue and sculpt with a spatula, mounding giant peaks for a pie…by HERSELF! Under Grandma’s smiling eyes, Mary delighted in blending food coloring into various shades and squirting homemade buttercream from cool “tool guns.” Grandma would encourage young Mary to experiment with mixing ingredients to make all sorts of concoctions, and frost anything and everything in sight.

Grandma was making the kitchen a thrill! (Never mind the mess, she said when I came around.)

But that’s just like a grandma, isn’t it? Grandmas have a special way of turning the ordinary to extraordinary…and just like that, delicious memories are etched.  Needless to say, Mary remembers awesome baking escapades with Grandma…as do her other grandkids.

So…when Mary suggested I enter a baking contest at the Iowa State Fair with her young daughter, how could I resist?

My granddaughter was super excited about entering a baking contest at the fair!

First, we had to settle on a recipe. We debated…what to make, what to make…hmmm.  Since we cook together often, my granddaughter had lots of ideas. Pies! We love pies. Cakes! Frosted cupcakes are always a favorite. Oooh! Oooh! Cinnamon rolls are fun to roll and frost! But, we had a few constraints. Our recipe had to be something easy enough for a demo we’d do together. And, the time allowed for the contest was relatively short…no yeast breads or recipes with too many steps. We finally settled on a recipe for a berry crumble that my granddaughter loves to eat with ice cream. Yes! We can do this!

First, we baked our Berry Crumble and proudly took it to the judging station at the State Fair’s Blue Bunny Family Center. That part was easy. We brought all the ingredients and prep tools we’d need to do the demonstration…together. Whew…tall order for a couple of newbie food entrants! We wore our food prep gloves, made the recipe, and had so much fun together. Did we win? We did not.

Like my granddaughter soon realized, we were up against some really stiff competition from veteran entrants. (Actually she said, “That was so fun, Grandma! Did we win?”) No, we didn’t win the prize, but we’re sure going to have fun testing new recipes for next year! ….Never mind the mess, Mary.  😉

Cooking with kids depends a lot on age, temperament and patience. No matter the age or skill level, it’s so important to keep it fun! Turn on some music, let the kids help with recipe selection, and sample the goodies as you go!

Ages 2 to 4: At this age, cooking with kids means having fun together. Try introducing skills like: stirring with a spoon, shaking ingredients into a mixture, pouring from cup to bowl, scraping batter or patting dough into a baking pan. Of course, it’s never too early to practice good food safety and hygiene – washing hands, no licking utensils and re-using, no snitching dough with fingers. Even toddlers can learn the first step in cooking – washing hands! Be generous with the encouragement as you go – it will make these little chefs feel so big!

Ages 5 to 6: This is such fun age to start cooking with kids. They’re naturally so curious and have so much fun seeing how their actions impact a change in the ingredients. It’s a perfect time to work in some simple STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Math) lessons. For instance, you might try introducing how to measure liquid and dry ingredients while matching measuring spoons needed to the recipe amounts and making observations and predictions about what you’re whipping up. Simple skills like greasing/flouring a baking pan, cutting in fat, frosting a cookie, grating cheese, assembling a pie, kneading bread dough will also be a hit. Kids at this age can follow your verbal directions and do tasks in order, like layering lasagna ingredients. And most early readers will enjoy helping you through a written recipe as you pile on the praise!

Ages 7 to 9: Cooking with kids ages 7-9 will have you enjoying “sous chef” status. Under supervision, kids can read and follow a simple recipe, turn on the oven temperature, test a cake for doneness, roll out a pie crust or noodles, shape cookie dough in 1″ balls and coat with sugar, fill muffin tins, stir mixtures on the stovetop, chop nuts in a blender, and measure ingredients accurately. When cooking with kids of this age, it’s important to let them drive the process. Can they choose the recipe you make? Can they add input on ingredients to add? They’ll enjoy taking a leadership role in the kitchen, and you’ll enjoy the fruits of their labor. Don’t forget to give them plenty of kudos as you work…laughing together when things don’t turn out quite right.

Ages 10+: Now, your experienced bakers can select a recipe based on ingredients on hand, and follow recipe step-by-step directions accurately. They likely can independently make ingredient substitutions and experiment with recipe modifications. These pros can measure precisely, handle knives, and use a mixer, blender and other kitchen tools. While cooking with kids at this age is more hands-off, it’s a great activity to make memories together – so stick around! Switch roles from how you did things when they were younger – let them give you the instructions. They’ll enjoy it when you compliment their hard work! And be sure to offer to help with the dishes. 😉

Do you have other ideas to encourage kids’ fun in the kitchen? Please share!

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