The Art of Cooking

I think too many times today's generation has been short changed. They are so often growing up on fast food and pre-packaged food items, and running from one activity to another, that they never learn the skill of cooking, especially young girls. I was blessed somehow in my childhood to learn some of the basics from my mom in cooking, like making a white sauce, and making many of our family's favorites, but over the years much of what I learned was from trying out many recipes. After moving to rural Africa, where I could not get a lot of ingredients for recipes that called for "canned this" or "1 package of that", I found some wonderful cookbooks that taught how to make many things from scratch. 20 years later I rarely use anything packaged and most of these recipes are ingrained in my mind, I rarely use a recipe. These are the things I want to pass on to my children. I believe passing on life skills is one of the most important roles of a parent.

My oldest daughter, Katie, will soon be 13 and has shown an increasing desire and aptitude for all things cooking. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her in the kitchen showing her the ropes, and letting her put a recipe together herself, or plan a whole meal. Among her recent culinary adventures have been making cheese sauces, chili, deviled eggs, fruit tarts and various baked goods. She has also demonstrated an artistic flare in things like organizing vegetable trays.