Grand Magazine - July/August 2008 - (Page 56)

Gourmet By Fran WeBer Teall The Grand Ivy learns how to become a “personal chef” for her working parents T Learning to cook like a pro pays back in (yummy) selfconfidence oday, mosT parenTs Work and often, for lack of time and energy, bring home prepared foods. However, even the highest-quality take-out foods can’t beat a home-cooked meal prepared by a loving family member—and even if it is not perfect, any meal prepared by one of the children is special and can bring joy to every member of the family. Teaching the “personal chef” style of cooking helps our grandchildren develop valuable skills: planning ahead, problem-solving, math—not to mention giving us a purposeful reason to spend more time with them! Also, helping them to contribute to their household increases feelings of self-respect (and considerably lowers stress levels for the parents). With my granddaughter, Ivy, 13, I relied on the experience gained in my 30 years as a chef and taught her what, in professional terms, is called “block” cooking. (When preparing meals in a restaurant, you must be ready to start the cooking for one table while you’re finishing the cooking for another. Cooks prep early in the day to accomplish this feat and must combine specific duties to be efficient.) That morning I had the menu and the shopping list planned before Ivy came to visit. We went out for a big breakfast (lots of calories to keep our energy levels up), and then grocery shopped. The prep list for the menus I’d readied the day before. If you undertake “personal chef” cooking with your grandchildren, you may eventually plan the menus and write the shopping and prep lists together. Reading cookbooks, choosing recipes that will work well together and writing up the shopping and preparation lists for those recipes can be a whole other day of fun. I went over the prep list with Ivy; we washed our hands, put on our aprons and got to work. We put the groceries away, leaving out the vegetables and fruits we were to use. Ivy’s first job was to wash and towel-dry all the produce. 56 GRAND JULY AUGUST 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Magazine - July/August 2008

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008
Contents
Grand View: Love Is All That's Left
Isn't It Grand?: Reassessing the Postponed Life
Grand Central
Just So We Know: One Mixed-Up Lemon
Long-Distance Love: Cuttings
Ask Grand: Stuck on Stuff
Grand Gestures: "Thanks for the Ugly Gift"
Tips on Teens: All That Doesn't Meet the Eye
Live Long and Propser
On the Cover: Peter Yarrow
Presents of Mine
Thicker Than Water?
Reunions: White Water, White Knuckles
The Grand Gourmet
So We Are Not Alone
Looking Grand: Suit-Able
Grandbloggers: Why Watch TV When We Can Talk?
Grand Bazaar
Resources
Grand Finale: What Boat

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008