DD wanted to make a pizza for father's day. She wanted to make it all by herself, which is difficult when you consider all that needs cutting. So here's what we did! I told her to get her scissors and cut all the veggies/meat into pieces.

We have the Fiskars teflon coated scissors and it worked great. Not a cut finger any where and all the stuff (except the onions) was cut by DD. Mushrooms, olives, red pepper and salami.

Dinner was excellent! The dough turned out perfect and she did a great job kneading the dough. The bread machine did most of the work. She was great at spreading it out w/out tearing and did great perferating the dough on the pie pan. She spread the pizza sauce and placed the toppings. It was too funny, most of the olives and salami was on her section.

She chose doughnuts for dessert.

By Palmbchprincess on Sunday, June 15, 2003 - 10:10 pm:

That's really great Dana!!! It sounds like your DH had a great Father's Day!!!

By Trina on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 09:39 am:

Awwww! What a special Father's Day treat!

B took it upon herself to wrap all the gifts we bought for Daddy for Father's Day. Nothing big, but he was in dire need of new socks, underwear and t-shirts. DD insisted on wrapping everything all by herself. It was very cute, and DH was tickled that she put so much effort into it.

Dana, is it just me, or does it seem like our DDs have grown up so much since turning 5??

By Dana on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 10:37 am:

5 is such a magical age, isn't it? I can't even imagine how much she will grow after starting school.

By Annie2 on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 06:26 pm:

I've started this for the summer also. Every Tuesday and Thursday is kids night to cook. They each take a turn.
We've had tacos, pigs in a blanket, spaghetti and mac & cheese, so far. The kids pick out the menu with an entree and two sides.
The next two weeks the kids are making desserts instead of dinner. They love doing this and take such pride in their efforts. The other kids find it fun also, even offering to set the table and clear up!
I, too, highly recommend letting kids cook. Sometimes we find cooking a chore but the kids find it as something new to do....and learn from!

By Karen55 on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 08:14 pm:

My coworker has 2 young kids and she has a kid's cookbook - I don't remember specifically which one. And quite often, for several years before the kids got so involved in piano lessons, soccer, baseball, gymnastics, etc., one night a week the kids would make dinner from a recipe in the kid's cookbook. I think it's a great idea. I just wish I had taken the time, or even had the idea, to let my kids do that when they were young.

Oh no! I've become *my* mother! UGH! LOL

By Mommyathome on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 08:50 pm:

My mom use to have me cook twice a week when I was young. I would have to prepare the menu, showing what I wanted to cook. Then , I would prepare the grocery list with everything on it that we didn't have in the house. My mom would pick up the stuff while she was grocery shopping. Then I got to cook it

The only bad part, was that she made me do the clean up and dishes as well. I hated it at the time, but I'm so grateful she did it. I am the cleanest cook around. I learned how to cook with minimal mess and to keep things cleaned as I went, because I absolutely hated to do the big clean up at the end lol.

My oldest DD just turned 5, she hasn't really started helping yet. I need to get busy and get her in the kitchen w/me.

By Pamt on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 08:54 pm:

Annie, how funny you mentioned that. I was just talking with my oldest DS (9 y/o) and told him he was old enough to start cooking once a week. He made instant pudding all by himself today and thinks he's Emeril--LOL. He helps me cook a fair amount, but I told him that I think he's ready for stuff like tacos, spaghetti, etc. with supervision only and by middle school he should be able to cook a complete meal without assistance. I learned so much by cooking with my mom and grocery shopping with her too!

Dana, great tip! Sounds like a fun day.

By Karen55 on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 09:05 pm:

I guess that's why I hate cooking and am so lousy at it. My mom wouldn't LET me help cook dinner when we were growing up. Now, looking back, I realize that her alcoholism and emotional problems combined with her working full time and being a single parent, were probably major factors in her lack of patience and enthusiasm, but it had a huge effect on me later in life in the kitchen. For some reason Jen likes to dabble in the kitchen - guess that's good, cause she didn't inherit any natural *gifts* from me in that area! LOL

By Annie2 on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 06:15 pm:

this is just a tip to remind your kids:
Baking is a Science; measurements must be extremely close to the amounts requested in the recipe.
Cooking is an Art; recipes should be followed but the chef's tastes can alter the basic recipe

We have lost many a cookie dough and cake recipe to lack of baking soda or water, etc.

By Jewlz on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 09:54 pm:

this is so tru annie ... we have donated alot of food to the trash can cuz ohh this didnt taste right and added more of something ... or if i turn up the heat it will cook faster ? lol burn faster maybe lol sometimes what we start makin ends up bein something else cuz we moms have had to save what ever it was hahahhah i love kids in the kitchen ...its a great expericne for all

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 11:29 am:

My kids have been helping in the kitchen since they were old enough to slide a chair across the kitchen floor to watch. Then it was helping to add ingredients. Now, they can bake lots of things independently, or at least with me standing nearby for questions. I need to work more with them on cooking now, since they seem to have baking pretty much down pat.

Yesterday, however, we did throw something out. They were both working on making muffins to go with our pasta salad. 13yo thought 11yo was measuring the baking powder. It turned out later (muffins in the oven!) that 11yo was measuring the salt. We sample just a dab of the leftover batter and sure enough, it's very salty. She had put in a tablespoon of salt instead of a tablespoon of baking powder! LOL! I started making new ones right away. Salty muffins are just not my cup of tea!

Have also been teaching them how to use the blender, so they can make their own smoothies! They love doing stuff in the kitchen, but we need to work on cleaning up! LOL!

By Trina on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 12:03 pm:

WELCOME to Momsview, Dawn! All part of learning, right?! I was cooking dinner for my family every night at 12 because my mom went back to work. Needless to say, there were many burnt, too salty, too yucky dinners but everyone was a good sport about it. I hated doing it at the time but was thankful when I went out on my own. One of my roommates was totally CLUELESS in the kitchen!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 10:50 pm:

That's why I have always let my kids help or try it themselves when they want to. They won't ever learn if I never let them do it, even if it would be quicker or less hassle to do it myself.

By Dana on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 03:52 pm:

I remember cooking as a child all the time. Mom was great at letting us help out. My very first meal all by myself consisted of: instant mashed potatoes that we add tons of butter and cream to make taste good, hamburgers (as the meat, not a sandwhich), baked beans, salad and "hot tea cold" as we called it. I can remember sweating up a storm and running like crazy asking mom "how do you get it all to come out at the same time?" We were a family of six and it was a wonderful experience to watch the family eat my meal.

Dad was the best! He would (and still does) eat anything no matter how yucky it would turn out. Thanks to him I enjoy cooking. If he had turned up his nose at my several EXPERIMENT dishes, I would have stopped trying. There were mornings that Dad would eat maybe 5 eggs because I would only eat them if the yolk didn't break. He got all the "oops"

I tell DH that is his job to "eat it, no matter what" and smile. It will be fun to watch DD grow in the kitchen. I am certain she will be cooking her first meals by the time she is 9 (out of enjoyment, not being forced). Cleaning will be a whole other story.