Cooking with your child :))

 

Assalamo aleykum everybody.

I really believe that children should be taught to cook for many reasons, some of which are:

 

a) Because it makes them much better eaters (I have a fussy eater and his approach to lunch changes enormously if I let him add something to the pot, stir and taste the sauce!...).

 

b) It is a necessary life skill!!! (I have come to the UK from Italy aged 21 without having EVER so much as boiled an egg in my entire life. I cooked my first plate of pasta under the supervision of a friend, and always enjoyed cooking since).

 

c) I am (so far) a mother of boys only masha'Allah, and I want to make a point as strongly as possible, that boys should be taught to carry out every single household chore because they'll have to pull their weight in the house too when they are married insha'Allah, just like our beloved Prophet (saws) used to do!!!

 

d) Because I strongly believe children should be brought up to help in the house in a way that is appropriate for their age. Every morning, after having his bottle of milk snuggled on the sofa with me, my 18 months old trots with it to the kitchen and puts it near the sink masha'Allah, may Allah bless him and make him even better <3

 

Which brings me to the book:

 

 

It was recommended by a sister on Facebook so I got it from Amazon (used, although it looked absolutely new, for 1p!!!!).

This is hands down the best baking book for children I have ever seen, in fact one of the best baking books in general! Every recipe, as weel as ingredients and tools necessary, are shown in clear pictures so that even a child that doesn't read can follow the procedures. There are basic recipes and many great way to create variations on them. It is such an inspired concept!

 

I bought "Baking with tots blah blah blah" books before, and they use many hundreds words to explain to you how your child can do this and that "point 34c of recipe: now you can let your child mix"... the only child-friendly feature of the book was the decoration on the cakes pictured, which is absolutely too sofisticated and complicated not only for a child to do, but also for a grown up with a child in the kitchen!!!

 

This one is completely different: it is for children to use! My son liked it so much that used to "read it" a lot even when we were not baking.

 

A little while ago we went shortbread crazy with one of the recipes of this book.

This is the tray we baked (after "quality control"):

 

They were yummy masha'Allah, we also did lots of the chocolate variety.... <3