Culinary Kids

Something that is very important to this Lifestylist® is cooking with kids, and teaching them from the beginning how to eat well and delight in the food that they eat. As part of this passion I’ve gotten involved in Days of Taste and met Robin Plotkin – an amazing Licensed Dietitian, communications consultant and Mom. She has given her time to the Days of Taste program for years and truly understands the importance of teaching kids about nutrition and making it fun.

Tomorrow is a day I’m really excited about – I get to work with Robin and Lisa Stewart Photography on a project to spread the word about Robins Bite. Lots of food, styling and great information. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to share the results with you here.

Looking for something fun but educational to do with the kids this summer? The Gaylord Texan is hosting their Jr Chef Camp again this summer, and this year the theme is Alice in Wonderland. I can’t think of a better theme for this unique experience, because getting to work side by side with the very talented professional chefs and staff in the kitchens at the Old Hickory Steakhouse is a chance of a lifetime for the lucky participants.

Chef Joanne Bondy has come up with another great series of menus including “Smoke the Monster Out!”, “Bread and Butterflies Brunch” and “A Very Merry Birthday”. The kids learn about what goes on behind the scenes in a restaurant and get to prepare the meal from prepping to serving it to their parents and friends at the end of class. They also receive copies of the recipes so they can make the dishes at home and a commemorative chef’s hat, apron and photo of the class and the chefs.

My very own Jr Lifestylist® Jenna and her cousin Sam took the class last year and they absolutely loved it. Jenna went home with a new love of cooking – she even helped make her birthday cake this year and is now talking about being a chef when she grows up.

My only complaint is that they don’t have a class for adults – I’d love to take every class!

For more information contact the Gaylord Texan at: 817-722-9423.

Few things are as satisfying to me as helping kids explore the culinary world. You can see how excited they get when they learn they can make and bake things themselves and the more they learn, the more they want to try. I’ve seen it time and time again where a child will eat things that they made themselves but you couldn’t force them to try it if someone else was the chef.

I just got back from spending a wonderful weekend with my grandchildren and I was able to help Jenna plan her 8th birthday. She had very specific ideas about what she wanted to do, and my job was to execute all of the things that she imagined. Her brother decided he wanted chocolate instead of a white cake, so we compromised  and had chocolate cupcakes and a white birthday cake. When I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients I realized it would be much less expensive and just as easy to make the cakes from scratch. If you are looking for a recipe for a specific ingredient, check out the package or their website -the company is only going to share recipes that put their products in the best light so this is a great place to start. I didn’t have recipes with me so I checked out the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box and there were recipes for chocolate frosting and cakes. Their grandpa has always made a wonderful butter cream icing that is a family favorite so we went with that for the birthday cake. Jenna will also never let me live down the fact that I misspelled “birthday” – that’s a story she’ll be telling for a long time!

The kids were so proud of what they were able to accomplish, and the chocolate recipes were fantastic – I think some of the best I’ve ever had. Jenna wanted a pet themed party, and that’s what she got.

Don’t underestimate the skills and interest of your culinary kids. Even when things don’t turn out exactly as planned you can still create memories and recipes that can last a lifetime.