“Ma, what's next? salt? pepper?"
My son, Bo, was holding the wok with sauted onion, scrambled eggs and steam rice, busy mixing them all with spatula.
I was cutting the sausages and bakso, Indonesian meat balls, that would be added to nasi goreng, Bo's favorite dish.
"Okay..add a pinch of salt and white pepper, then pour some kecap", I instructed him while adding those sausages and bakso to the wok, cooked it for a while and .
"Hmmm..I love the smell, bang! This will be perfect!" I said.
"Yes ma.. and I'm gonna eat them all!" he said, grining widely.
**
Cooking with Bo is one of the usual scenes we have at home lately.
Well, since we live in NYC, Bo has been showing big interest on cooking or helping me cooking his favorite food, to be exact.
Simple thing like martabak, telur dadar, pancakes, and nasi goreng, are some examples of food we love to cook at home together.
I love cooking!
And I guess my son loves it, too.
Of all the household chores I love,- or rather have to do, at home, cooking is on top of my list.
And that’s the question for #BON30dayChallenge as well.
What is your favorite household chores?
There is something relaxing about cooking.
When you are challenged to create something delicious with your bare hands, you have the power to use your imagination. Doing it with your kids make it even more fun!
Both Bo and I are foodies as well.
We love delicious food and instead of spending so much money eating outside, we love cooking at home using whatever ingredients we have.
Sometimes we revive my mom or my grandma’s recipes and try to compare it with our own creation.
There are time when we peep on YouTube to see certain cooking process.
For sure, cooking is quite a bonding experience for both of us.
And now, here are some tips for you who like cooking with children.
Try something simple
I always try to cook simple things with Bo before I can be sure that he’s up for this chore.
Cooking requires certain procedures that might be complicated.
So instead of confusing our kids and make them traumatic in the kitchen, better try something simple like scramble eggs and fried rice. Then if the kids seem to enjoy it, we’ll make martabak or soup which require more preparation.
Teach them about safety in the kitchen
This is really important! There are so many dangerous items in the kitchen, starting from the stove and the oven, knives and aharp objects, and hot, spicy.
Teach them how to handle those things and if they’re not sure about it, tell them to stop for a while and let us handle it. I always remind Bo that kitchen is not a playground. We can certainly have fun but we have to be fully aware.
Don’t critize them too much
Kids do make mistakes, just like us.
And cooking can be complicated.
Sometimes we forget that they’re still kids and they easily mess things up. Of course we have to tell them what’s right and what’s wrong, but if we criticize them too much they will get discourage and loose their enthusiasm in cooking. We don't want this to happen, do we?
Let them create, make mistakes, mess things up.
Then teach them to clean up with you and make things better next time.
Enjoy the process
That will be my last tip!
Don’t forget to enjoy the whole process with them.
Sometimes we focus too much on the results but we forget how fun the process is!
Don't forget that you are spending your precious times with your loved one.
It should worth the effort.
Wishing you all a happy cooking session with your kids and have fun!