The Middle Child Cooks!

The Middle Child cooked dinner for the family for the first time yesterday, almost entirely on her own. She made Pasta and Bean Soup, a vegetarian meal, which turned out perfectly. Keep in mind she's 8 years old, just so you're properly impressed. (OK, she'll be 9 next month, but still.) She's always enjoyed cooking and helping in the kitchen to the point where it's difficult to keep her out of there when I'm trying to cook. We had to teach her how to use a knife safely or else she'd cut things up anyway, risking life and limb, and especially fingers. When she cut herself trying to wash my favorite knife a few weeks ago, I sat down with her to watch the Good Eats episode on knives and cutting techniques. (I'm happy they aired that particular episode right when we needed it!) Alton Brown put a lot of emphasis on safety and demonstrated how to wash a knife by laying it against a cutting board in the sink, which is how she washes her knife now. And oh, yes, she has her own knife. The adult knives were too big for her so we found a chef's knife in a smaller size that suits her perfectly; she is so proud. She loves cutting up veggies!

She's been making scrambled eggs for a while now. That was another example of her determination to cook. She bugged me to teach her how to make scrambled eggs for the longest time but it's not something I make often so I put her off. Well, that didn't stop her. When I left her with our babysitter she asked the sitter to teach her. Our sitter is a love and has a hard time saying no to things like that, so she taught her, and for the next month she was making scrambled eggs left and right. I bought an Egg Genie, the kind that hard boils eggs, and she learned how to use it and now makes deviled eggs. She also decided she wanted to make guacamole when I had some avocados and now has that recipe down pat. Her guacamole is pretty good, too, I must say. With all of her practice on eggs and the other recipes she's learned to make on her own, she was ready for a full meal. I'm so proud!

I told her the other day she's a foodie, that's all there is to it. She likes to eat good, healthy food, (she's the least picky of my children), she likes to cook, and she likes to cook for other people. She's curious about food and recipes and wants to learn how to make new things. I'd say that's the very essence of a foodie!

PS: I'm adding Spatulatta, the kid's cooking website, to my list of websites I like in honor of The Middle Child. If you have a budding cook in your family that's a good website to check out.