The holidays are here and suddenly I have no pans left in my kitchen. One daughter is participating in a cookie exchange. The other has a potluck. And guess who is NOT supplementing the goods this year. That’s right – they are on their own.
In case you can’t hear them whining where you live, I’m sooooooo meeeannnnnnn.
Well, guess what? If they can read, they can cook. And because I’m not there to put parameters on what they prepare, they have free range to do whatever they want.
Cookie exchange daughter is working on Butterbeer Cookies, which will be the highlight of her Harry Potter-laden life.
Potluck daughter found a recipe for Chocolate “What the ****” Cake. I’m not even kidding, that’s what it is called. Luckily, she didn’t ask me what the asterisks stood for. Unluckily, I’m pretty sure she already knows. This monstrosity of deliciousness consists of chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate chips, Reese’s Pieces, marshmallows, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Oreo cookie crumbles. I’m not sure where on the internet she was looking to find this recipe, but it reminded me that I should probably recheck the parental controls to make sure they cover food pornography as well as the other kinds.
But making kids cook (with help and supervision as needed) imparts very important lessons. Things kids learn when they cook:
- “If I want to double ¼ teaspoon, what measurement would that be?” Personally, I just put in the ¼ teaspoon twice, but I practiced good parenting and made her do the math.
- Patience and Perseverance. “OMG MOMMMM I HAVE BEEN STIRRING FOOOORRREEEVERRRRRRRRRR.” Yup, keep going.
- The importance of following directions. “What are these lumps?” The flour you neglected to sift despite the recipe clearly specifying that requirement.
- Problem solving. “What do I do now?” Figure it out.
- “Wow, how come the cake gets so much bigger?” Science is magic darling!
- Life is unfair. “Hey!!! Who ate a piece of my cake?” What cake?
Editor’s Note: Check out our new Holiday Countdown Calendar for some pretty yummy recipes (as well as free stories, crafts, and other treats) for your kids to try. And if you want the recipe for Chocolate “What the ****” Cake, comment below and we’ll try to get Cricket Media Mama’s daughter to part with it.
Cricket Media Mama tried to tell her daughters that cooking with her would just increase the margarine of error, butter kids insisted on it. Lard help us.
