More Cooking with Chef Vinny

Vinny is really interested in everything that we do, and cooking is no exception. Obviously, he can't use the stove or cut things up or anything, but I give him some age-appropriate tasks to do.

Today, he stood on a chair in the kitchen and helped me make breakfast: pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. I measured out the flour but let him help me dump it into the bowl. He's really fascinated by eggs so I let him keep his hand on the egg while I broke it into the bowl, and then he whisked the scrambled eggs and also the eggs that went into the pancakes. He did a remarkably good job of it, too! I let him pull the wrapper off the butter and put the stick of butter into a cup to melt. He mixed the eggs and milk for the pancakes, too. And I let him help me mix the wet and dry ingredients for the pancakes.

I've stressed to him that the griddle is hot (or, as I've said it and he repeats, "HOT HOT HOT") and he hasn't tried to touch it. While I'm making the pancakes, I make a few small ones for Vinny to eat while we're cooking.

I usually try to involve him in my cooking if I can. Last week I made a crock pot stew and I let him help me put all the ingredients in the crock pot. I have also made rolls, cranberry bread, and chocolate chip-banana bread with him. He's very interested in cooking and I think that someday he will be an accomplished cook.