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Mother-daughter time in the kitchen yields some very delicious treats. Here are three recipes Jade and I return to time and again.
Jade has been my favorite sous chef since we first started cooking together, when she was just three years old! She even has her own chef’s knife. It’s a small, pink ceramic one that I got for her last year. Of course, I keep a close eye on her while she’s chopping and we don’t do any fancy knife work (at least not yet!), but it’s important for her to have a tool that’s her very own. I also try to let her do as much as possible when it comes to cooking—which can be challenging since, well, I can be a bit of a control freak in the kitchen!
Cooking with Jade is about spending time together, but it’s also about teaching her to connect with food. And it’s a reminder for me: The kitchen is where I found my strength and independence. There’s also just something so satisfying about making food for yourself. Even if a dish doesn’t turn out perfectly, Jade is definitely more likely to think it’s delicious because she was part of the process. I could make the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich, but the one Jade makes herself will always be better.
Jade loves baking over cooking—it’s more mixing and measuring and cracking eggs than slicing and dicing (which can be BOR-ing for a nine-year-old!)—and brownies are high up on our list of treats to make together. This version is rich and fudgelike. What can I say? We’re both chocoholics...Like mother, like daughter! I’ve also got a recipe for carrot-apple “cupcakes,” which are basically muffins in disguise. I’ve found that if you call them cupcakes, they automatically taste better if you’re a small human who hasn’t yet entered into double digits. And finally, because I'm always looking for ways Jade can get her veggies in, these fun veggie forests are a craft and nutritious snack in one.
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