Written by Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood.
I grew up in the kitchen. My mother cooked and baked all the time, and therefore my siblings and I did, too. I remember the excitement I felt one night when I was around nine years old and I was allowed to create my own dinner. While my rice, green pea and fish stick creation might not have been gourmet, it did show my comfort in the kitchen, and my desire to learn and create. What I didn’t know at the time, though, was that I was learning a lot more than what things tasted good together. (At least to me…!)
Now that I am a mother, I am seeing just how much there is to learn in the kitchen. True, my oldest is only two years old, but that doesn’t mean that she is too young to learn. The basic skills she is learning now will serve as building blocks for her as she grows, both in school and in the world.
So what are kids learning in the kitchen, other than how to make yummy food? Well, here are just a few of the lessons, life skills and habits you and your children can learn, all while having fun in the kitchen.
I'll get down to food photography tips and tricks, but first let me rattle on about why I have to think so hard about this subject, if you will. I'm not exactly poor and lazy (maybe a little of each) but I surely don't have a lot of money or time to burn. Or space, for that matter. I live in a small house so my "studio" is a little corner of the basement between the camping gear and the litter boxes. Another little hindrance of mine is location. For much of a Duluth winter, the sun shines only after I leave for work and sets before I get home. Shooting in natural light isn't always an option for me. On top of all of this, I have a pretty fierce streak of perfectionism that keeps me from letting things be. A very good example being my participation in the Daring Bakers club. I started a "low-key" blog with the intent of it being specifically for posting my DB challenge results and I didn't even own a camera.
Bakers work with different fats and sweeteners for many reasons. Some use certain ingredients because they swear by them (margarine versus butter remains a great debate), and some are looking for ways to reduce calories from sugar in their diet (stevia and agave syrup being hot items these days). I did some reading on the glycemic index of sweeteners with a bit about substituting sweeteners in baking, which resulted in this post: 
It's an exciting time in Minnesota when we hit the dog days of summer. Our dog days are not defined by a period of lethargy. When we aren't [whining about] mowing the lawn or squeezing in every possible drop of fun before the snow flies, we are bringing in the harvest. The county fairs are in full swing and we put in for our vacation days to migrate the short distance to our own state fair. The roots of farming and agriculture run deep here. It's no surprise our Minnesota State Fair has grown to be one of the biggest in the country, 2nd only to Texas, with a current annual attendance of nearly 1.8 million people.
I am not the type of cook to prefer, require or create precise recipes. More controversially, the same goes for my methods of baking. My "cup" or "tablespoon" may just get plucked from the cupboard or more likely the rack of clean dishes forever piled in the right-side basin. I'm one of those that scoops, dumps and mixes in a manner that causes fellow bakers to cringe until I get the "feel." This basically sums me up (and for this I blame my parents-who else?). Not everyone would enjoy to live this way, but I find this attitude in cooking and in life makes for easy adventures and a general pleasantness. This may sound decidedly European of me though I am, at times unfortunately, all-American.
In film, I love a good off-beat documentary. In books, I tend toward short stories and especially stories highlighting the humors of real life such as those written or edited by Ira Glass and David Sedaris. I am also, officially, obsessed with all things cooking and more recently baking. Which leads me to the goldmine in documentary short stories for foodies: the Best Food Writing series edited by Holly Hughes. 
A great man once said "You have never really visited a country until you have tasted it’s food”. In a country as large and diversified as India it is more like “You have never really visited an Indian city unit you have tasted it’s food”. Every city has it’s own unique food and flavor.
I am passionate about quite a few things in my kitchen, but nothing captures my heart quite the way that sourdough starter has. I grew my starter more than a year ago using grapes grown on my family’s rural Wisconsin property, and ever since I saw my first bubble, I began finding ways to use it in things other than bread.
Homemade edible Christmas gifts are always a joy to receive, and knowing that someone has taken the time and care to make you something beautiful and delicious can be a welcome antidote to the over-commercialisation of Christmas that seems to be all around us.
Your Thanksgiving menu probably includes the usual assortment of time-honored recipes, but just in case you’re looking for something new this year, we’ve compiled this selection of holiday recipes from our member Daring Bakers and Daring Cooks. 
