I have always loved making things from scratch. The idea of putting things together and making something wonderful and fresh for people to taste and enjoy . I love the look on others faces when they taste what I have made and they ask where I got it. I love saying that I made it. I feel that this concept of making something from scratch has really been lost with the ease and convenience of premade foods. I also feel that there are meaningful memories and experiences that people are missing out on.
I have not been blessed with kids of my own, but I was very active with my niece and nephews for most of their formidable years. There is one experience with my niece that I will never forget. I had decided to make some pasta from scratch, and had enlisted her to help me. She might have been 5 or so (I am really bad at keeping track of time like that). We cleaned off the counter and I had her stand on a stepstool so she was able to reach the workspace. I instructed her to scoop out the flour and put it on the counter in a big mound. Her face, when I told her we were not using a bowl and she, could put it on the counter is one that I will never forget and hold very dear to my heart. She was completely shocked and had a hint of mischief like we were breaking some rule. We then made a hole in the mound of flour and added in eggs and water. Again her reaction was priceless. She really thought we were going to make a big mess and get into trouble! We continued to make the Raviolis and she enjoyed the entire process with the same wonder and enthusiasm. When it came to eating dinner that night there was no arguments or struggle about not wanting to eat as there might have been at that age. I am not saying that it was the process of helping make the dinner that did it, but I think it played a role in it.
As she has grown my niece still has a joy of cooking and making things from scratch. As much as I would love to think that this one experience has given her this love of cooking, I know that it is not the case. Her mom also cooks quite a bit. She has not always enjoyed cooking as I have but she never shies away from trying to make something new and this is a quality that I strongly admire and encourage in others. I try to grow in my cooking and try new things out. Sometimes with great success and others with not so much, but that is the way life goes. Trying new things helps get us out of our comfort zone and with food helps us not to be eating the same things week after week. Sometimes it can be as easy as trying to plating your food or make rolls and freezing them for a later meal. This may be what you need to get you started. This past week my boyfriend and I tried a new vegetable that we did not even know the name of, but when I got home from the store I looked it up and found out it was Romanesco!
Being me, I immediately started looking up recipes to try. We decided on one where I roasted it and then made a sauce with capers and lemon to top it off. It was a real success and I look forward to trying some of the other recipes that I found for it soon.
Maybe trying a new green vegetable is a little too scary an idea for you right now, but instead you could try making something that you would normally buy premade. My boyfriend and I spent part of a day this weekend making Porgies!
They are a comfort food that he has grown up with and normally can buy frozen but we have been unsuccessful with finding them here in Sweden. So now we make them from scratch. This allows us to be a little creative with the fillings, the recipe that we use has 4 fillings: Cheese, Potato Cheese, Sauekraut and mushroom and Prune (for a sweet option). The first go we did just as the recipe said, but on our second go we decided to be more adventurous so we made a few adjustments. Just as the experience with my Niece has memories that I love so does making porgies. How many other people in there 30’s spread flour all over their kitchen table? We turn on some tunes and dance around the table making porgies. Really it is hard for me to think of a better way to spend a day then making food and memories with the ones you love!
I feel, if kids are given the chance to help in the kitchen when they are younger, they will be more likely to try new foods and be better equipped to cook as they become adults. Most people that I have talked to have a fear of cooking and think it is something that they will never be able to do. To those of you out there like that, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try. It might not be perfect the first go around, but it will get better. For those of you that do cook but have never tried making bread or pasta or whatever that one dish is that you feel is just out of your reach, might be I wholeheartedly encourage you to try. If you have kids in your life I implore you to bring them into the kitchen and make them a part of your cooking process with you. You will always get a memory out of it to look back on and hopefully it will start a wonderful trend in their life.
