Well, we are winding down our latest cooking series for kids, and it has been a blast. This go round, we changed things up a little, and actually taught knife skills, sanitation skills and real, honest to goodness cooking. Two things I have learned through this series are that kids and knives are not a good combination (although we had no injuries), and kids either love cooking or absolutely hate it. For years, I was a cooking hater. Running restaurants or multiple restaurants resulted in me avoiding the kitchen at home, at all costs. Thankfully, things do change. I get great satisfaction out of preparing a great meal for people who don’t have time to do it themselves or just don’t want to .
Just thinking about how our culture has changes in the last two decades, it is no wonder people have lost interest in cooking. On every corner, there is a place to get something to eat, usually very quickly. Growing up, we rarely went out to eat. It wasn’t that we couldn’t afford to, we just had meals together at the table, with the TV off, at home every night. As kids, we didn’t know any other way existed.
Several years ago, Lori and I decided that we didn’t like the fact that we weren’t having a family meal together, so we decided to change. Although I worked many nights, no matter who was home, we had dinner at the table, TV off, and we talked. That became the most enjoyable part of the day for Lori and I because we actually had good conversations with our kids about what was going on in their lives. We missed the family dinners, and decided to bring them back. You can too!
If you are already having family meals together on a regular basis, enjoy them. That special time is something your family will never forget. If you aren’t but would like to, I challenge you to start small. Schedule a once a week family meal at home, as see what happens. I think you will be glad you did.
Here’s to good eating!
Billy
