Monday, March 30, 2020

Cooking Lessons

With parents acting as teacher these days, it's a good time to teach the little ones about the aspects of cooking. Being in the kitchen can show the little ones everything from match to foreign languages to history. 

One of the best lessons comes with baking.It's an exact science that requires measuring. Even the little ones can be shown the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon. They can learn how to measure out flour and sugar along with learning how to calculate how much milk, water or oil goes into a recipe. Baking teaches them that adding too much or too little of an ingredient can alter a baked good's flavor and texture. Cookie dough can  show them how divvy it up to and how much to use to get the recommended two dozen. This can also apply to cooking although most recipes are looser with exact amounts.  Fruits and veggies can also be helpful in teaching kindergartners up to second graders addition and subtraction. The same can be said of cookies and candies, but the other choice is healthier. Also you can create flashcards based on measurement charts. It's a great way of teaching them how to double up or decrease a recipe.


Cooking teaches us about languages too. Start with something they know like pizza which is Italian for pie, Work your way to the different pastas which are usually named for the objects they resemble. For example orrechiete is shaped like little ears. From there you can learn about the face knowing that the big drinking straw pasta bucatini is from mouth or boca and that the flat spaghetti linguine comes from the word for tongue - lingua. If your tweens and high schoolers are into French , then let them create some recettes francaise.It's easy to make homemade pomme frites or French fries in the air fryer along with those delicious croque monsieur. Get creative  with this ham sandwich that also has Gruyere cheese as a layer. Add a creamy bechamel sauce or turn it into a Mornay with the addition of shredded Gruyere. This can also be applied to other cuisines like Chinese, Thai and Indian. History  can also be used in the kitchen. Delve into the back stories of such dinner favorites as pot pie or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Explore the meanings of such classic American foods like cookies and grits  - where did they're names come from and how long they've been around.

The kitchen is a great classroom. Kids can learn math , languages and history just from one cooking lesson. Create cooking classes today for lifelong knowledge.