Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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?

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.

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.