The Apprentice

When Phoebe got home from school yesterday she announced "I'd like to cook dinner tonight, and not because I want to get it over with!".  Fine with me.  She's nine.  I'm grooming her so that Nelsy (my husband) and I will one day have our own personal chef.  OK, not really but it is a nice thought.  On Saturday she decided she'd make the spaghetti with homemade sauce from The Everything Kids Cookbook.  We threw in some chicken parm for good measure.  She definitely needs assistance but is a quick learn in the kitchen.  She told me that has learned some "cooking terms" from her Jamie Oliver DS game.  That's right, a whole family of food nerds.  She used the immersion blender for the first time, that was......suspenseful.  I had visions of hot saucy burns on our faces and a tomato spin art pattern on the ceiling.  Luckily my ceiling is still white and our faces are still in tact.

Once we had everything pretty much done (pasta boiling, sauce made, chicken parm in the oven) I noticed something very interesting.  Parents, you'll want to pay attention here- She was getting so excited to serve her meal that she, without being asked once, let alone a hundred times, cleaned the homework mess off the table and set it.  She was fired up.  We made a quick salad and the four of us sat down to dinner.

The pride exuding from this child was really something.  I believe her words after giving it a taste were "This is one dinner I will never forget!" Wow.  I had no idea how exciting and rewarding she would find the process.  I just found out that she's working on a cooking badge tomorrow night at Brownies.  I think she's got this one in the bag. 

So my goal was to arm them with the ability to feed themselves one day when they leave the nest but I might just get my personal chef after all.