Boys and cooking


My son gave me a lovely surprise on Satruday. He baked and drove arond to my house (I hope he didn't speed) with these beautiful crusty breadrolls just in time for my lunch.  The butter melted on the roll as my husband and I shared one. They were SO good. 
I had one for lunch with the baked ham and lots of mayonnaise, yummy:)

I was always determine the teach my children to cook, to love food and to understand what healthy food was (compared to rubbish foods). This wasn't hard to do as they were expose to cooking, the preparation of food, the smells of food cooking and the buying of food all their lives (just as I was as a child).  This teaching hasn't stopped, whenever I learn some new about food, I pass it on to them so they too have this knowledge. This is how we were all taught about food, sadly I think it is a dying skill.

Each Saturday I would bake the weeks supply of cakes, muffins and biscuits, you can imagine how good the house smell as all this was going on. The boys always wanted to help . . . I think they were motivated by the "licking of the bowl" at the end of the cooking (never quite as keen to clean up afterwards). 

My sons always took home-cooked food to school and it didn't take me long to realise that they were taking far more than they could eat. The reason . . .  they were sharing their food with their friends, who's mothers never baked for them, therefore they had never enjoy home-cooked muffins and cakes or the pleasure of watching their mother bake these wonderful foods (they had only ever had shop-bought processed snacks). I found this very sad. Even though I was working, I always made the time to bake on a Saturday as it was both healthier (and cheaper) than bought cakes and it tastes way better (and it was a great way to spend time with my sons, just as I had spent Saturday afternoon cooking with my own mother). 

Gradually my sons started to make their own favourites and it didn't take long before my eldest was modifying recipes trying to make improves. Now he does all the cooking (from scratch) in his home and his lovely future wife is the most fortunate girl in town to have a husband that can make so many different and wonderful healthy and tasty meals (he takes after his uncle - my brother - who also does all the cooking and he too is an excellent cook). 

I am a strong believer that the kitchen is not just the domain of a woman, many men love being in the kitchen and are in fact far better cooks that their wives.  For this reason I taught my sons to cook and to manage a kitchen.  As Jamie Oliver says everyone needs to learn and be educated about food and be inspired to cook as these are life skills that are so important to all.  At least I know that my grandchildren will eat healthy from scratch meals. 

"Your child will live a life ten years younger than  you because of the landscape of food that we've built around them
Jamie Oliver from this awarding winning TED speech in 2010 (link to speech)

Comments

  1. Cooking and baking is a LIFE skill, not a girl's/woman's job. I hope my children BOTH learn to cook and bake efficiently.
    You've done a wonderful job teaching your boys, Jo - you have every right to be proud of them!! :) Those bread rolls look delicious!! :)
    I think it's VERY sad that there are people out there who only ever *buy* their food, rather than learning to make it on their own. I wonder why anyone EVER thought it was a good idea to stop passing on such a basic skill to their children??? :(

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    1. I can't understand it either and we are now going to pay the price for that "clever" idea.

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  2. Fabulous to hear. They look like terrific bread rolls. Your son should be very proud. My husband and I both share the cooking at home and I hope this is a good model for our boys. Homemade food does taste so much better.

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  3. Those crusty rolls look wonderful! Yummmmmmmm.
    From teens my girls were responsible for one dinner each week, though they still needed advise one they had left home. The boys know the basics but I am putting them on to a similar plan this term. Lots of Spag. Bol. I'm guessing!

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    1. Jamie Oliver says in his TED presentation that every child should be taught 10 recipes (that they know by heart) so they can look after themselves if they need to. I think that is very wise advice.

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  4. You've done well to teach your boys to cook! yes your daughter in law is blessed indeed!

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  5. I think I told you that I am getting the Usbourne Cookbook for Boys, so my son can have his own book to cook from! Hubby can cook, I just prefer not to let him cook my meals =) Once was enough =)

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    1. Boys generally love to cook because it is practical, fun, they can eat the results and very logical. This is perhaps why there are more male chefs than female. All my brothers were taught to cook, I am not sure that they always liked the idea as it meant they had to cook dinner - but they are now terrific cooks now.

      However my hubby is an "interesting" cook and should stick to recipes and not wander off and create his own recipes as they can be a little questionable!!!

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