All by himself.
Well, almost. I boiled the lasagna because i didn't want him to burn himself with scalding hot water.
Both of my boys love to cook and bake. Nol's been asking if he can cook "on his own" for quite some time and I've always been hesitant to let him loose in the kitchen.
My mom reminded me that she let me bake on my own when I was five years old. She'd supervise, but she let me read the recipe, gather the ingredients, and even put a pan in the lower of our double oven.
For the past few weeks, I've been giving Nol a "Cooking Challenge." I pick the meal and he makes the dish almost all by himself. I stay with him in the kitchen teaching him techniques (e.g., how to thinly slice a vegetable or safely use a sharp knife) or pointing out where ingredients are located if he doesn't know. I assist in chopping and mixing only when he asks for help. I always handle things like draining pasta from a boiling cauldron or removing dishes from a hot oven. And we work on the salad together.
A few meals he's made:
- Veggie Pad Thai with eggplant and zucchini (via Everyday Food)
- Papardelle with Basil Pesto
- Homemade tomato sauce (via Mad Hungry)
- BLTs with creamed spinach (latter via Mad Hungry)
- Salad dressing (basic balsamic vinaigrette, his own recipe)
- Zucchini Moons (via Pretend Soup cookbook)
- Homemade chocolate pudding (via Mad Hungry)
And then there was last night's dish, Summer Lasagna from Everyday Food. For this meal, I taught him about presentation and how to properly plate a dish. He said, "I don't care about that. I just want to eat." So we did. It looked fabulous; it tasted even better.
Quin loves to watch the prep but mostly, he just wants to make dessert.
*The lighting is awful in our dining room due to the yellow/gold color of our walls. Makes photographing food in here difficult.
