Getting your Kids into the Kitchen

Sue Gilbert

All the charts on the walls, all the food pyramids on the fridge won't turn your kids on to good food and nutrition like getting their hands and hearts into it will. Getting them involved with food, making it connect to everyday experiences, helping them to see food as a part of culture and history, or art and science will make nutrition and healthy eating fun and interesting.

Older children will enjoy a little bit more responsibility and sophistication in their kitchen projects. It may be that now they are tired of hearing about which foods are good for them and which are not. Other aspects of food may help keep them interested while deepening their knowledge of food.

One interesting approach is the cultural one. A very memorable evening at our house was one cold rainy night renting the movie Ghandi and ordering take out food from the local Indian restaurant. The food was wonderful, and very different from our normal fare. The kids were more willing to try it than under normal circumstances, and they were able to make a much better connection between the food and its people.”

Fondue

Great idea in the residential unit is a Fondue. Not only is it always a very “more-ish" meal which everyone enjoys, but the whole idea of clustering in a tight circle in reach of the fondue pot makes for a close family-like meal – especially when you turn the lights down a little, maybe light a couple of candles, the food becomes the centre of gravity – and everyone feels a little special!
Fondue is the French word for “melted" and it originated in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Usually a fondue is based on melted cheese into which bread cubes (or carrot sticks or whatever comes to mind) are dipped. Here is a Fondue Recipe:

2 cups of low fat milk
1 pound grated Swiss cheese
3 tablespoons flour
Cubes of sturdy bread, like French

Heat the milk in the top of a double boiler until simmering. Mix the flour and the grated cheese (it helps keep the cheese dispersed while melting instead of ending up in a big blob to sink to the bottom of the milk).

Drop the cheese by handfuls into the hot milk and stir until the cheese is all melted and bubbly.

Place the double boiler in the middle of the table (or use a proper fondue pot) with the basket of bread cubes.

Using fondue forks or just regular forks, spear the bread and dip into the cheese.

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A variation from melted cheese is to use cooking oil (kept hot by the flame under the fondue pot) and to dip cubes of chicken or beef, rounding out the meal with bread rolls and salads, maybe dips and sauces.

It is the kind of meal which the group can talk about in advance (maybe invite a special guest and turn it into an occasion) and in which all can participate as they experiment with dips and sauces and ideas for side dishes.