My mom, Nancy, made her first solo meal at age eight. It was pork chops. By herself, she prepared this dinner for her parents and two sisters. If she were an eight-year-old today, she'd be crushing it on one of those baking competition shows for sure!
As a child, I grew up cooking and baking with her. Christmas was the best. I would help her with the old German Christmas cookies like Springerles, Vandbakkelser, Linzer, Pfeffernusse, and Zimtsterne. My dad is Greek, so we also made Baklava, Dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), Avgolemono (lemon soup), keftedes (meatballs), and lots of lamb!
Fortunately, my mom passed on her cooking gene to me, and although I can bake, I don't find it as enjoyable. I like being able to experiment with flavors and cooking techniques and having the freedom to mix things up (or "doctor" them up as Mom would say). Baking doesn't allow for this as much.
Recently, I decided that I wanted to make a lifestyle change and eat healthier. And cook a lot more. I have a beautiful kitchen with high-end appliances and some stunning Shun knives. My drawers are full of gadgets from Williams-Sonoma and Pampered Chef, my cupboards full of All-Clad and Calphalon pans and my pantry is full of, not food, but small appliances. I definitely have all the tools to cook like a rock star!
But I know myself (and my kiddo), and this will be tough if the food doesn't taste really, really good. Like amazingly good.
You see, my 13-year-old son is a foodie - has been since he ate his first calamari at age four. Like his mom and grandmother. He has a rather sophisticated palate. And while he does like chicken nuggets and French fries, he will try about anything. He will eat just about any seafood - shrimp, crab, lobster, conch and most fish (his favorites are Rockfish, Salmon and Hogfish). We eat our beef on the rare side (damn near mooing, I joke). He'll eat Asiago, Taleggio and Chevre. He'll eat Indian, Mexican, Asian, Chinese, Korean (we love some bulgogi!). And he likes kohlrabi, portobellos and spaghetti squash (although, getting him to eat most veggies is the challenge!).
So, I thought - hmmmm....maybe if I can get my kid interested in cooking, then he will be more open to eating healthier. And he'll learn some great life skills. It can be fun. No, it WILL be fun!
Thus, I am starting this blog. If nothing else, he'll have it as a record of our cooking journey. Of when he was just a kid in the kitchen....
We will be sharing some of our favorite recipes soon - all healthy, of course! And since we're Greek...
ας φάμε!
