A suggestion from this Father: Cook with your kids. Start early. Even if you start with cereal and work up from there, it’s a good idea. Of course it requires attention and supervision but the benefits far outweigh the needed requirements. You cover so much ground with them, self-reliance/living skills, communication, following directions, math, science, and English.
Stop and think about it. Cooking is a needed skill. You can't (or maybe I should say, "you shouldn't" live on mac 'n cheese, pizza, and fast food forever. Even during the bachelor years after college, the fast food gets old quickly. As an added bonus you increase your appeal if you can cook for a woman. You think I landed Demi with just my good looks and charm? (Well, there is the whole Vibe thing but that is a whole other article") You don't have to become Emeril Lagasse. There are some very basic dishes that are not time consuming, healthy, and enjoyable, that can keep your menu as varied or as regimented as you want.
Following directions is something everyone needs to learn to do. Whether it is directions on a map to get somewhere, instructions to set the clock on the VCR (I know, I am dating myself and fall behind the techies who love their TIVO and DVR's but I imagine there is some limited programming there too), or executing a zone blitz, everybody needs to follow directions. You always hear the horror stories of the "some assembly required" toys/projects on Christmas Eve, where the parents get half way through the set up and realize they inserted Tab A into Slot C instead of Slot B, and it botched the whole thing. I find myself at work, pulling out my hair because I have to deal with folks that can't follow directions (or are too lazy to follow).
Lab science is all about the measurements. You can cover the metric system in cooking too. But really, why bother? Besides your high school lab and Canada, who uses meters any more? It's a toss up which is more obsolete, the metrics system or Brittany Spear's career (or Paris Hilton, you choose). But you will never create the secret recipe for Col. Sanders Extra Crispy Fried Chicken unless you know the exact measurements and can duplicate.
The boys and I, for Mother's Day, created a dry rub for some Rib Eye steaks. Truth be told, I took certain liberties with a recipe from the Food Network website (http://www.foodnetwork.com/) by Bobby Flay. I had never used a dry rub. The boys and I crushed herbs, measured out teaspoons of this and tablespoons of that, and mixed them all together. I bet we used 20 different herbs and spices. The result? A triumph (if I do say so myself). But the kids. They were great. They really got into the measuring. It can be tedious trying to level out teaspoons, but they were following directions and using exact measurements. Everybody won.
***End Part I - To Be Continued***
No comments:
Post a Comment