Monday, November 17, 2008

A Tip from Grandma: Involve the Kids



I'm not sure if this is a tip or just more of a philosophy Grandma had. She felt like kids should be involved with the cooking. She always told me to bring it down to their level. Grandma was really good at this and even let the kids help with dipping chocolates, and making yeast breads. Stuff that needs to be precise, but she was always very patient.
So in that spirit, I decided to involve my girls in dinner last night. We made waffles. Yes, I know, I pulled out all the stops. They were both cheering "We love brinner, we love brinner"!
Now I can't say that I always want to or enjoy involving my kids in the kitchen. Sometimes I just want to be left alone in my little domain. But the waffle-making was really fun. They asked for waffles, then were so eager to help, and so excited that it just made the whole event great. I let them measure and stir, pick their toppings and pour them on. They are getting old enough that pretty soon we should delve into reading the recipe and let them do things with no help.
As you can see the evening was a big success, the waffles were great, and the girls even helped clean up the dishes. After all that is part of cooking, right?
Waffles

1 3/4 c. flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, set aside.
In another bowl beat eggs slightly. Add milk and oil. Add mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until combined. Batter will be lumpy.
Pour about 1 1/4 c. batter onto a hot, greased waffle iron. Close lid and bake according to manufacturer's directions. Makes about 6 6-inch waffles.

3 comments:

Bec said...

LOVE the new look! It's uber-rockin! I also love lil' Maukie... pat, pat, kitty cat. :) And I hate group work, so I'm sure this kid-involvement concept will be hard for me to implement. But if it makes my kids (no, not an announcement) healthier eaters and good cooks-- bring it on!

Great tip. Thanks, "Grandma."

Hillary said...

Yeah! We love breakfast for dinner. Grandma did have so much patience. I remember her letting Joshua helf dip chocolates one year, I thought I was going to have a melt down, but she was SO calm and then she always had Nathan under her wing, apron and all, helping her in the kitchen. If we could all be like Grandma, life would be so calm!

Jessica said...

We love waffles for dinner! Kaylee loves to help with the cooking!