Julie Bove wrote in rec.food.cooking:

>
> "cshenk" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Julie Bove wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> >
> > > But... An unnamed female who lives in this house just told me
> > > that she wants me to teach her how to cook because she wants to
> > > learn. She also said that we need to buy more vegetables. I
> > > think this might be hard to do as those are the food that I buy
> > > the most of but... I told her when we go shopping tomorrow, she
> > > can pick some out.
> > >
> > > Now... Let's just see if this lasts.
> >
> > Thats good Julie!
> >
> > From experience with this, a good way to start is to have her look
> > at some of the simpler recipes. Need not be something you make
> > often (or ever) but let her pick something that appeals and that
> > other than you helping chop, she feels like she can make.
> >
> > Since your family is used to making different dishes for a meal
> > based on who eats what, it's a good thing to let her make something
> > she thinks she will like even if no one else is likely to to have
> > picked it.
> >
> > What I find is in most families, there is one primary cook, and
> > others maybe pinch hit a bit with certain items. (Like, Daddy does
> > the grilling, Mom cooks most other things). If kids do not start
> > young in the kitchen, they tend to be intimidated by it all. That
> > almost happened to Charlotte because Don and I are good cooks.
> >
> > Once we realized it, we had her in a cooking class (HS Home Ec type
> > but just cooking) and told the instructor on the side privately
> > that we'd intimidated her but she had the background. Charlotte
> > made straight A's and started getting cookbooks of things she
> > wanted to try. A symptom of this is her cookbooks are German,
> > Polish, Russian, Scandinavian and a nifty one all about Udon/Noodle
> > soups.
> >
> > Charlotte now is 22 and still doesn't cook as often as Don and I do,
> > but her miso-dashi-udon soups are supurb and she has many variations
> > that span off that and are all fantastic. She's also great at
> > comming up with uses for leftover chicken. We had a Scandinavian
> > sort of 'wrap' earlier this week. That was a keeper for all of us.
> >
> > So the point is, give her her own zone to work within. You are
> > dead on right to let her select some veggies and other things she
> > wants to try. If she has a rough idea of what she wants to do with
> > them, all the better as you can make sure you have the stuff.
> >
> > Charlotte and I are making a grocery trip tomorrow. Mostly fresh
> > veggie run but there's a good sale on fresh wild caught tuna and a
> > decent one on cleaned crab. Charlotte is looking up a crabcake
> > recipe she wants to try and listing what she needs to try making
> > them. I've never made them but she's happily pulling various
> > spices to the side.
> >
> > I'll post more as our trip develops.
>
> If I can get her out of the shower, I will let her pick what she
> wants when we go shopping. However, I think the bulk of our
> groceries today will be purchased at Target so that will be a tad
> limiting. Won't be able to do a big shop elsewhere until next year.
> One can make a meal from Target food but you just never know what
> they might have. Each shopping trip is different. And while they do
> sell fresh produce, it's not a large selection.

Even within the limts you have there, let her spread her wings and try.

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