Table Talk » Cooking with Kelly

One of the things I love about my job is that everyday is different. And no matter how much I plan my day, an interesting challenge almost always presents itself. Today was no different.

Unless you live under a rock, you know that the Northeast is experiencing serious flooding. Well, that flooding closed my client's daughter's school, so she was home today. Kelly is in third grade and she loves to cook. I rarely see her because she is either in school or at her summer program. But today when she unexpectedly had no school, she helped me cook her family's meals.

I took a few minutes to think about how Kelly could help me, then we got down to work. I wanted to find things that she could do on her own or with just a little bit of supervision. Kelly likes to wash vegetables. Great! Kelly washed all the vegetables for me. Kelly likes to peel carrots, so Kelly peeled the carrots. She knows how to do these things, so while she did them, I did other things. Since Kelly likes to peel carrots, I figured she'd like peeling potatoes. Only she has never peeled a potato. So I told her to just do what she did with the carrots. Her family is a swivel-peeler family. I'm a Y-peeler gal. She was having a little trouble with the potatoes, so I offered her my spare Y-peeler to see if that was easier. Kelly is now a Y-peeler convert. And the proud owner of my spare Y-peeler. I also snuck in a little lesson on cleaning up after yourself. Kelly cleaned up all her peelings and washed her cutting board.

Look at that concentration! And forgive the blurriness, third graders move very quickly!

The potatoes went into an Indian Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower and Chickpeas. Kelly helped with stirring that. She loved the smell of the curry and knew that it was curry, but she doesn't eat curry.

Another dish requiring peeling two pounds of shrimp. Good job for a sous chef, right? I always wear gloves when I peel shrimp because those shells can be sharp and the shrimp are cold from being defrosted. So Kelly and I donned gloves and got to it. I use these black nitrile gloves. They make you look like a burglar. In just a minutes, Kelly was an expert shrimp peeler! I have to peel a lot of shrimp, I'll be missing her shrimp peeling help next week.

Kelly is very tactile and she liked working with the shrimp. And she was really good at it!

Here's Kelly showing off her peeled shrimp and then helping getting them ready to roast.

Kelly also cut up a few red peppers, help me shred a bunch of poached chicken, and stirred some other dishes.

I had fun cooking with Kelly. I'm pretty sure that she had fun cooking with me.

Posted March 31, 2010 7:59 PM in Cook Dates

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4 Comment(s)

charity dasenbrock said… (on March 31, 2010 at 21:07 PM #)

I had a 3rd grader sous chef today as well, though mine was just there for the strawberry shortcake. Next week, we are making cookies together as it is her school break.

Mary Beth said… (on March 31, 2010 at 21:18 PM #)

What a fun day. I love cooking with kids who aren't afraid to touch things and get their hands dirty! I bet she takes you to school for Show and Tell!

Holly Bazarnick said… (on April 1, 2010 at 23:09 PM #)

What a wonderful article and how expressive her face! You must be an excellent teacher...I know for a fact that you're an excellent chef!

Proud Nana

SueB said… (on April 2, 2010 at 17:02 PM #)

Kelly [like her father] can talk your ear off, and Patti did just fine! Kelly is very creative and likes to help with stews, soups and sauces. Thanks so much!