Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog Site

Today I want to tell you about a book that features my friends, the Mukies, who live in a far-off land. You may not have heard of them as they are a very primitive family group.

Their history goes way, way back, even before fighting and weapons, and war. They live for peace and harmony and good will. Sometimes, however, they run into big problems. A honey tree causes the Mukies a great deal of trouble.

The communities of Mukieville and Mukiedale were located next to each other. The Mukies had always lived together peacefully. The border between the two was not clearly marked. It didn’t really matter until the tree indicating the boundary became valuable.

One day a large swarm of honeybees chose this particular tree for their hives. You see, next to melilot, honey was the Mukies’ favorite food.

The leaders and the elders argued about the rights of each others’ community to the honey. Each accused the other’s citizens of sneaking and stealing the honey that rightfully belonged to their community.

Hatred and distrust developed within each community as well as against the other community. Finally one person spoke up and made a difference.

How do you think one person can make a difference? Have you ever been that “one person”?

Listening to the Mukies is one of my favorite easy-to-read books about building character. If you don’t have a copy, the Chef suggests you pick one up today with this link.

The Chef attended a wonderful brunch with friends yesterday. As you may know, a brunch is a cross between a breakfast and a lunch.

The menu for this 9 a.m. morning meal went like this:

Fresh squeezed orange juice
Medley of mixed fruit
Bacon Quiche (yes, men eat and enjoy quiches, too!)
Scones
Raspberry Coffee Cake
Coffee

Cold juice was served in goblets, which added a festive touch. The main entree for the brunch was the quiche, served hot out of the oven. This is an egg dish with a pastry crust. Tender scones, served in a basket, had a melt-in-the mouth texture. With its bright red raspberry filling, the coffee cake was the perfect ending to the meal.

The food, combined with good company and conversation, made this a memorable morning. Sitting on the deck with the warm breeze blowing was most relaxing.

Memorial Day heralds the beginning of summer! Perhaps this, along with the end of school, is what we remember most about this day. But it should be one that has far more significance than merely that of a “three-day week-end”.

This is a day of remembering those who have died to protect our country’s freedom. It is a time to honor and remember those men and women who have given their lives in order to preserve our country’s freedom and our way of life. Many people wish to honor all who have died, not only those fallen in the line of duty to our country.

This is what we did as I was growing up. It was called Decoration Day in those days. We would go to the cemetery and decorate the graves of relatives and friends. A few days before we would plant fresh flowers at the grave sites and trim the burial plots to have them looking nice for Decoration Day. Then on that day we would go to pay our respects and visit with others who were also decorating their loved ones’ graves.

This holiday used to be celebrated on May 30th. Often there was a program at the court house with speakers and patriotic music.

Since 1971 it has been observed on the last Monday in May. Making this important day a part of a three-day week-end seems to diminish its significance.

Chef Crombie wants to join all Americans in prayers for peace and justice and continued freedom for our country.

May God bless America!

I’ve just set up a new notification list and would love to have you join. Just click here to fill out the short form – and join us to be part of the kids’ cooking community.

The kitchen is one of the most dangerous places in the home. As noted in yesterday’s blog – working around a hot stove and using sharp utensils can place one in danger.

Some of the most common accidents in the kitchen include burns, fires, cuts, falls, electric shock, and poisoning.

We can help prevent accidents while working in the kitchen in many ways. Some of these include:

Remember that stove tops are hot and may stay hot long after they are turned off. Adults should cook foods on the stove top and place or remove food from the oven.

Keep handles on pots and pans turned inward, so there is no danger of someone knocking them off the stove.

Don’t wear loose-fitting clothes or long floppy sleeves when you cook. They can easily catch fire. Keep long hair tied back.

Use pot holders when handling hot pans. Do not use a towel.

Lift pot lids away from you so the steam flows away from you and does not burn you.

Wash knives separately from rest of dishes and silverware.

Wipe up spills immediately.

Never touch electrical appliances if your hands are wet.

All household cleaners are poisonous. Never pour a little soap or other potentially dangerous liquid into a container that once held food.

Keep all cleaners, dish washing detergents, and plastic bags out of small child’s reach.

Don’t call vitamins or medicine “candy.”

Chef, and everyone, wants you to stay safe!

CC

Yesterday we looked at a recipe for Goulash. At the bottom of the recipe there were some questions for you to complete. I said we would go through them today. Let’s see how everyone came out on them…

1. If you plan to serve dinner at 6 p.m., about what time should you start cooking?

Since you need to let the Goulash cook for 1 1/2 hours, it should be ready to cook at about 4:30 p.m. However, you need to see how long it will take to:

cut the meat

dice the onion

find and measure the seasonings

open two cans and measure amount

So, depending on how fast you are or whether you have a helper, this may require 20 to 30 minutes. Add that to the amount and certainly by 4:00 p.m. you should be in the kitchen getting out the ingredients and finding the pan and utensils. The potatoes still need to be peeled, but that can be done while the dish has started cooking. Or, you can scrub the potatoes really well and use them without peeling them. Either way, cut them up and leave them in cold water until ready to add. When you’re ready, drain off water and add to dish.

2. What is the first step the recipe suggests in preparing the goulash?

The recipe says to “brown pieces of meat in hot fat”. What it doesn’t tell you is that the meat needs to be cut up in pieces first, as noted in the ingredient listing. This is where you, or quite possibly a helper, gets out the cutting board and knife and cuts the meat in small pieces, about 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. The vegetable oil goes in the pan and should be medium hot but not smoking. An adult needs to add the meat to the pan. It is very hot and dangerous and will sizzle some and may spatter when the meat is added. As the meat cooks, it will brown. So, “browning the meat” is the first step the recipe says but it is not the first step in preparing the dish.

3. What are the suggested seasonings?

Seasonings add flavor to food. Here we have salt, pepper, and paprika. Paprika is a seasoning made from the grinding of dried sweet red bell peppers (Capsicum annuum), but it is much less spicy than ordinary red pepper. It adds a nice, red color to dishes and helps to improve their flavor. You can Google “paprika” and see what the peppers look like.

4. How long should the potatoes cook?

Thirty minutes (that was easy!). Do you know why you wouldn’t put them in at the beginning? Yes, they would cook too much and get mushy.

5. If there are four people in the family, would there be enough to serve this number of people?

Yes, for an average family, this should certainly be sufficient.

There we have it – a main dish ready to eat for supper, or do you call it dinner? Either way is correct.

What else would you serve with the meal? You have meat and vegetables (potatoes and tomatoes). You could cut up some carrot sticks, or perhaps have baby carrots, and serve them raw.  Maybe add a bread -  some fruit for dessert and you have a tasty, hot, and nutritious meal.

Thanks for helping me figure out this recipe! As you can see, a recipe is only an outline, or a plan, but several steps have to work together to get the desired result.

CC

Today we’ll look at a recipe and see what is involved in trying to follow recipe directions. The Chef doesn’t know how much experience you have in the kitchen so this is just a little fun exercise about reading and interpreting recipes.

Following is a recipe for Hungarian Goulash with questions concerning its preparation. You can compare your answers with those of the Chef tomorrow.

Hungarian Goulash

1 1/2 pound of round steak, cut in bite size pieces
1 medium size onion, diced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato paste
4 small potatoes, cut in chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

In skillet, brown pieces of meat in hot fat. Dice onion and add to meat in skillet. Add salt, pepper, and paprika. Slowly add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 1 1/2 hours. Check goulash periodically and add water if needed. Add potatoes for the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Serves 4.

1. If you plan to serve dinner at 6 p.m., about what time should you start cooking? ________________________

2. What is the first step the recipe suggests in preparing the goulash? ____________________________________

3. What are the suggested seasonings?________________

4. How long should the potatoes cook?________________

5. If there are four people in the family, would there be enough to serve this number of people? _______________

See you tomorrow and we’ll compare answers!

CC

Planning and preparing meals is often shared by all members of the family. There are a number of things to keep in mind when planning meals.

It’s important to plan nutritious foods needed for good health. If there is a good variety of foods served, chances are better that necessary nutrients will be included.

The age and activity levels of family members influence the kind of meals planned. How much time do you have to prepare meals? What is your cooking skill?

Certainly keeping the food preferences of the family in mind is important but also experiment with new foods. Just because one person in the family doesn’t like a food, don’t let that determine the menu for the whole family.

Food budgets can get out of hand easily. If your budget is limited,  less expensive foods must be served.

There are many benefits to planning meals in advance. Some of these are:

eliminating last minute decisions on what to have for a meal

taking advantage of specials on food prices

reducing the number of trips to the grocery store

creating more variety in meals and snacks

Meal planning is fun because you can enter into helping your family have meals that are tasty, nutritious, and attractive.

Fill in the missing vowels to complete words or phrases that are important in meal planning:

N_tr_t_ _ n

act_ v_ty   l_v_l

t_m_

f_ _ d     b_dg_t

c_ _ k_ng   sk_ll

Because we’re hungry! But is that the only reason?

The primary reason really is to nourish the body. Our hunger sensation is our body telling us it is time for food. This, then, is the only time we really need to eat – when we’re hungry. But, of course, we sometimes eat because it’s a habit, we’re frustrated, bored, or lonely, or because family patterns or schedules dictate we eat at certain times. Perhaps you’re in school and it’s noon time, time to eat, whether your hungry or not. The only time we really need to eat is when our body is telling us it needs food, or when we’re hungry.

The stomach needs some time, and some room, for proper digestion. If food hasn’t had enough time to digest, or if there isn’t room for more food,  there is a feeling of heaviness and discomfort.

It seems so simple, to only eat when we’re hungry. Unfortunately, we don’t always listen to the good voices inside telling us we’ve had enough food.

Let’s pay attention to what our body is telling us this week and try to only eat when we’re hungry, OK?  That goes for the Chef, too!!

This is the salad I provided for our Sunday cookout. We were talking earlier about what fruits were available at this time of year. Here is a vegetable that is making its appearance now – crisp, green spinach.

I bought the fresh spinach all-ready-prepared in a bag, in the refrigerated section of the grocery. I still like to wash it before use, although the directions state it is ready to use.

Since I was using the entire bag, I cut it open down the middle and pulled a handful at a time. Then I either snapped the stems off the young tender leaves or else held the stem and pulled it down through the middle. The stems got discarded, as well as the wilted and otherwise sad looking leaves. Cold water was poured over the leaves in the pan and the spinach got swished around. I used a salad spinner to remove the water from the leaves after gently placing them in the spinner. But if you don’t have a spinner, you can lift them out of the water and squeeze them dry in a clean towel.

Here is the recipe for Springtime Spinach Salad:

1 large bunch fresh spinach, torn into pieces
1 (6 oz.) can mandarin oranges, well drained
6 strawberries, washed, hulled, and halved

Wash spinach and squeeze out excess water. In salad bowl, add oranges and strawberries and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dressing:

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste

In small jar with tight fitting cover, combine all ingredients. Shake well until sugar is dissolved and mixture is a little thick. Pour small amount over salad just before serving – a little goes a long way. Toss to coat. Add more dressing if needed.

There you have it – fresh, crisp, with just a bit of tang. Oh yes, colorful and nutritious, too!