Local chef brings kids into the kitchen
The cliché that "food is love" is especially prevalent through the holiday season, when everything from candy canes and cookies to mashed potatoes and gravy conjures thoughts of family, thankfulness and joy. But in the spirit of "it's better to give than to receive," why should the adults be the only ones doling out the love?
While parents may consider cooking large holiday meals a stressful chore, many kids think being in the kitchen is exciting, fun and a chance to give back.
"At home, I like to cook treats and cookies for my mom and for my teachers," says 10-year-old Ashlee Heinrich, who I met at a recent holiday-themed cooking workshop for kids. "I really like to make breakfast for my family: scrambled eggs or pancakes."
Ashlee was participating in a class led by Lauren Stuart, who hosts cooking camps for kids ages 10-14 in addition to classes for adults.
"Parents may think that their kids are going to get hurt and that they may not be able to trust them in the kitchen. When you're a busy parent, you actually often want them out of the way so you can just get dinner on the table," Stuart explains. "But here, they're allowed to do whatever they want and be loud and get messy, and they go home confident."
The confidence, in addition to the food tasted at the end of each session, is definitely nourishing to aspiring cooks.
"It's been a great experience. I think cooking has become a real hobby for me," says 13-year-old Lee Pelton. "I've learned more than a recipe, but also how bread rises and about food from all different cultures."
In this particular session, Stuart guided the children in making holiday side dishes. Other than enjoying lots of chopping - hands-down the kids' favorite part of cooking - they learned what a "sprig" of thyme was, how to choose a fresh shallot, how to peel potatoes, what type of vegetable a brussels sprout was and how fresh cranberries burst in the pan, releasing their juices.
Hold on. Brussels sprouts, you say? Kids willingly and without nose-holding ate brussels sprouts? With gusto! It's all part of Stuart's mission to teach her students about where their food comes from, using whole instead of packaged foods, and that meals can be both healthy and delicious.
Laney Pelton, 10, obviously picked up on the message: "I've learned that there are lots of fun ways to make healthy foods that also taste good." Her favorite recipe from a previous class, she continues, was the tofu cheesecake.
"What I try to do is teach kids to think of their body like a bank account. All of the foods they put in their mouth are either going be a withdrawal or a deposit," says Stuart. Junk food, which doesn't leave any nourishment behind, is a withdrawal, whereas healthy, whole foods are deposits.
Even with the nutritional education and the rules being tossed around - such as "We can have fun, but we need to read instructions" or "Remember the don't-lick-the-spoon rule!" - Stuart's students took to the kitchen like fish to water.
Some budding chefs, like 10-year-old Veronica Brtek, even showed interest in cooking-related stocking stuffers: "I'd love a great cookbook. And not a kids' one with just cookies, brownies and macaroni."
"If they can read, they can follow a recipe," Stuart assures. "I don't like to dumb down food with kids ... If I teach you mashed potatoes, you may still be using that same mashed-potato recipe in 20 years."
If you get your kids cooking in the kitchen this year, perhaps next holiday season your best present will be a home-cooked dish created by your child, their homemade gift of love.
For more information, call Lauren Stuart at 527-9356 or e-mail stuartml@earthlink.net.
From left to right, Laney Pelton, 10, and Alexandra Stuart, 11, practice making holiday side dishes at a class led by Lauren Stuart.
