My oldest son
is a freshman in high school and signed up for a Food and Nutrition class this
year…not because he has a strong desire to learn to cook and not because he is
interested in learning about cholesterol.
He simply likes to eat. What 14
year old boy doesn’t? I had other reasons to encourage his choice: I was hoping he would discover that he
actually enjoyed cooking and would relieve me of some of my duties! I can only
hope!
It was
amusing to hear him “school” us on trans fats and many other terms he was
learning for the first time, and I was impressed to watch him make some better
food choices based upon his new knowledge. In fact, the class taught a range of
skills from nutrition to the proper way to set the table.
Throughout the semester, the food he most desired to make at home was actually
cookies—chocolate chip cookies, in fact.
(You see, our family has a “healthy” sweet tooth.) And if I can brag on
my son for a moment, I have to tell you that he made some pretty incredible
cookies. In fact, he has perfected the
most important skill in cookie making:
knowing the precise time to remove them from the oven so they are cooked
but soft, done but not overdone. There’s
nothing worse than a hard, crunchy chocolate chip cookie. In my book, he graduated from cookie school.
Ah, but he
had one more project to complete for his class.
For extra credit, he had the opportunity to cook an entire meal for our
family, starting with grocery shopping and ending with washing the dishes. I was in heaven! My job was to document the
event through pictures and write a letter to the teacher verifying that he did
the work. I supervised, teaching him a
long time family pasta dish, and he added several side dishes. It was fun to
watch him mature through the process and once again, I was impressed with how
well everything turned out. I emailed the pictures to the teacher that night,
signed the letter, and congratulated him on a job well done.
The next day
I received the response from the teacher. Points were deducted for some rather
nit-picky errors, in my opinion:
·
Place
setting: the sharp side of the dull knife was facing the spoon rather than the
plate and there was no napkin under the fork.
·
In
the picture of him cutting the pineapple, the cutting board was sticking ever-so-slightly
off the counter…apparently a MAJOR safety hazard.
·
A
cabinet door was open while he was stirring over the stove.
·
He
didn’t have enough color in the meal.
Did I mention
nit-picky? I have to tell you that I laughed when I read all of the errors she'd found. At the end of the day, my son had made a tasty, healthy meal that we all
enjoyed. Were there things he could improve on? Sure. But if I hope to have him
join me in the kitchen again, I’d better not major on those minor issues.
Yes, I understand that proper etiquette, proper nutrition, and proper safety
need to be addressed, but not at the expense of removing the joy and
satisfaction of a job well done! Way to go, son!
So if you are
looking to introduce your teen to the world of cooking or if you are simply
looking for a sous chef, then I have a couple of suggestions.
1. Figure
out what she likes to eat and start there.
Teach her to make her favorite foods first and see if a spark for
cooking develops.
2. Involve him in the planning process.
Teach him how to plan out a meal—main course, side dishes, a good range of
colors. (My son’s teacher would be so impressed!)
3. Teach her an easy, family favorite. If
you start with a complicated meal, you’re more likely to get resistance, so select
a simple meal that everyone enjoys and that will be easy to replicate. There’s nothing like having a tasty,
successful cooking experience to inspire the desire to cook.
Bon Appetite!
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