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TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO COOK   (Suggested by article in Houston
Chronicle, 3/19/03)
Be sure the recipe the adult chooses to teach and make is at the
appropriate level for the child's age.

TIPS FOR CHILDREN
 1. Read the recipe all the way through.  Do you have all the equipment
you need?  Do you have all the ingredients?  Do you understand all the
terms?
2.  Calculate how much time you need, including cooling time.  Will you
be finished in time for supper?  Or before your guests arrive?  Do you
have enough time before your favorite television show starts?
3.  Wash your hands.  If you stop and pet the dog, wash them again.  If
you handle raw meat, wash them again.  If you scratch your ear, wash
them again.  Get the picture?
4.  If you are baking, check the racks in the oven.  Most baking is done
on a rack placed in the middle of the oven.  Place one in the middle and
the second below or above that one.
5.  Learn as you go.  If the recipe calls for basil, open the jar to
learn its smell.  If a recipe calls for a Cheddar cheese, decide if you
like mild, medium or sharp.
6.  Get out all the tools and ingredients you need.  In cooking schools,
students put all their ingredients on a tray before starting to cook.
7.  Have two towels handy, tucked into your apron, perhaps.  One is for
wiping up spills quickly, the other for drying your hands.
8.  Clean up after yourself.  Maybe you can work out a deal.  "Mom, I'll
load the dishwasher if you wash the big pots."  But don't count on it.
9.  Clean up after yourself.  Put ingredients away, clean off appliances
and stove, wipe counters and tables.  Wash dishes.  Sweep the kitchen
floor, especially if you hear crunching when you walk across it.
10.  Have a wonderful time!

TIPS FOR ADULTS
1.  Be patient.  This may be hard.  It may be easier to do it yourself,
but that defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
2.  Wash your hands.  Don't play with the fire or knives.  Be a good
example.
    3.  Explain as you go.  If you beginning chef understands why liquid
and solid measure are not the same, for example, it will avoid
aggravation in the future - yours and his.
4.    Be part of a team.  Do not assign the role of Jedi to yourself and
apprentice to the budding cook.
5.  Don't yell.  Even if the dish towel catches fire or the dog runs off
with a chicken leg or the pasta bubbles.
    all over the stove, or an egg drops onto the floor.  Laugh.  Fix.
Laugh again.
6.  If it starts being a chore, step back.
7.  Let the young chef make a few mistakes.
8.  Have fun!

Janet Rinehart
www.houstonceliacs.org

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