Alternately titled “It Seems I’m Not Doing as Good a Job as I Thought.”
Punkin’ Pie came home on Friday with a recipe and a request from her class. It seems they’ve been studying regions of the U.S., and, as part of their study, they’re looking at foodways and traditional recipes from those regions. Punkin’, along with a small group of students, is studying New England, and the recipe she came back with was a New York-style chocolate cheesecake offering from Emeril Lagasse*. The request was that we make the recipe over the weekend and bring it in for the class to sample on Monday. Punkin’ said she chose that over the clam chowder recipe both because she knows I’m allergic to shellfish and, well, she wanted to lick the chocolate bowl.
I’m all for this. I LOVE the hands-on of it, I adore cooking (and chocolate, duh!) anyway, and the idea of spending time in the kitchen with my baby delighted me because I’m usually in here by myself, putting dinners and desserts together while the girls are busy doing other things.
My lovely mother-daughter fantasy did not play out as I’d seen it in my head.
For starters, my nephews were dropped off (unexpectedly) for the afternoon so their mom could get some work done. The kids have been playing together their whole lives - they’re practically siblings - and Punkin’ wanted in. The problem, though, was that we didn’t have the ingredients we needed to create the cheesecake, and I wasn’t about to go to the market all by myself - especially if it’s in pursuit of things that she needs for a school assignment. I’ll drive you all over hell to get the things you need, but you’re coming with me, Kid. So, into the car we went; me with my wallet, she with the ingredients list.
We managed to get everything we needed (and then some; I bought an 18 pack of eggs, not knowing that Mr. Chili had done the same thing late last week in anticipation of sleep over party girls wanting eggs with breakfast. No one did, so we’ve got far more eggs than we know what to do with. I’m hoping to convince him to make souffle for dinner tomorrow night…). We even did a little math and comparison shopping in the process.
Once Punkin’ got over the idea of having to do a “chore” (and maybe, just a little, recognizing that this is something that Mommy does ALL the time, not just for special school projects), we had a nice trip. She got to scan the groceries through the self-check aisle and we had a conversation with the check-out supervisor, whose kiosk was near our aisle, about following guidelines (I asked Punkin’ to count to make sure we were under the item limit. The manager was impressed). We came home and put the cream cheese out to soften while Punkin’ played with the boys.
After dinner, we got serious about putting the recipe together. It’s really a pretty easy dish to make - even more so if one has a stand mixer to do all the work, which we do - but here’s where I get to the title of this post: my daughter has not spent enough time in the kitchen with me. She had a terrible time putting the directions in order. She didn’t read the recipe all the way through and didn’t set out the things she’d need. She jumped from step to step and, if I’d not read the recipe beforehand, we’d have forgotten to add a pretty crucial ingredient. She was (not surprisingly) more interested in licking bowls than she was in following directions (or - gasp! - cleaning up).
I need to rectify this, and SOON. There are SO many critical skills that are addressed in the kitchen; math, science, reading and language, problem solving and direction-following, sensory stimulation, safety and common sense - the list goes on. My eldest (and, I’m going to suspect by extension, my youngest, too) doesn’t have those skills down yet, and there’s something tangible I can do about that every day.
Guess who’s helping with dinner tonight?
*just so you know, that recipe says it makes one cheesecake. That’s crap. Prepare TWO pans and cook them for about 35 minutes - one cake is far too thick to cook in the time allowed, and you can spread more joy with two cakes, anyway. Trust me on this…
Is there not a fundamental misfire in this educational plan? They’re studying New England, right? That’s what you said so I believe you. Last I checked, with or without its cheesecake, New York is not now, nor has it ever been part of New England. WTF?
Good for you! I am amazed by how few kids, teenagers, have no idea how to cook. When I tell them that it’s as simple as reading directions and following them, they look at me with vacant eyes… They’re incapable of even doing that.
Lemme try that again… “By how few kids have any idea about how to cook.”
Yikes, I need to read my comments BEFORE I push the button.
This summer, and last summer too, i had my daughter become responsible for dinner 3 nights a week. I helped her, of course, but she had to think up the meal, go shopping with me and do most of the cooking.
I am so mean!
Better you know this now! See, insight into lessons that have to be solidified. I am still working on this with my girls. My daughters have made dinner on their own, with some direction, but are pretty good at assembling (and leaving) all of the ingredients and flavoring some soups or chicken/beef dishes. They are NOT good at cleaning up after their butts and I am working on that piece. Incidentally, ONE of my daughters is fabulous at following directions and is a stickler for doing things exactly in the order described. The OTHER does things in random order and sometimes HAS left out ingredients. Her I have to watch and continue to encourage to be any kind of sufficient in the kitchen.
Yeah, Kizz - that whole New England/New York thing threw me, too, but Punkin’ Pie was in no position to argue - her answer was “that’s what I got, so that’s what I’ve got to make.” She MAY have been confused and told me she was studying New England when she’s really studying the NORTHEAST, but we haven’t made it to that clarification yet.
We’re making hot dogs and macaroni for dinner tonight (which just brings memories of my childhood with my grandmother whooshing back, by the way). We’re starting with the concept of boiling water…
Everybody here is light years ahead of me when it comes to cooking. I can’t even make a ham and cheese omelette! How did I survive during my single years, you ask? One word - microwave! Hot Pockets rock!
Hey, the famous “New Orleans” chef Emeril is in fact from Fall River, MA. Does that not make his recipe for “New York” cheesecake a New England dish?
To me, a hick from Illinois for the first 25 years or so of my life, and a sub-tropical flat-land Floridian for the balance, the quintessential New England dish is clam chowder. I’ve got other favorites, but that’s number one (stuffed quahogs come in second, maybe, but maybe it’s fried clams, or lobster, or . . .).
What’s a quahog?
Quahogs are clams. And, ewww.
Yeah, Gerry - your favorite dish would, literally, kill me.
Oh, and I got to the bottom of it; Punkin’ was studying the NORTH EAST, not just New England….
I’m almost sad to hear the North East thing, I was sort of loving the Emeril is from MA explanation.
Mmmmm, clams.
I’m with Kizz. I was way more upset about the geography deficiency than the ability to follow a recipe one…