For me the "joy" of cooking is a very real thing I've tried to share with 5-year old Dylan. He knows a teaspoon from a Tablespoon, gleefully tosses spices in a bowl to concoct rubs, whisks up salad dressing, and even peels a few sweet potatoes under my supervision (all fingers are still intact!)
He actually waited in line with me for 2 hours to meet grilling uberstar Bobby Flay at a book signing. Dylan informed him in his best big boy voice that, "You are my favorite Iron Chef!" (see http://www.foodnetwork.com/iron-chef-america/index.html if this is as foreign as reading a menu in a French restaurant to you)
Side note: You would think he would be more adventurous in his eating; however, this is a child who will order a hot dog and state, "Actually just bring me the bun!"
But for all my souped up cooking skills, the time Dylan truly cherishes in the kitchen are Saturday mornings. That is when he and DADDY cook together while I'm out on a run. Every Saturday they concoct their house specialty, Mickey Mouse pancakes (aka Aunt Jemima original complete hotcakes, meaning just add water).
The importance of this to Dylan resonated like an arrow to a bull's eye when Dylan provided his own recipe for a classroom cookbook last Xmas. Somehow Sixteen Spice Chicken with Cilantro-Pumpkin Seed Sauce and Smoked Red Pepper Sauce (which he has helped me make from scratch) did not make the cut.
No-- here was his contribution:
Mickey Mouse Pancakes (Dad cooks them on Saturdays)
By: Dylan Wilford
Cook pancake mix over the fire on the stove
Put 2 ears to make Mickey Mouse ears.
Take it out of the pan and put it on the plate.
Put on butter and syrup before you eat!
As a stay-at-home mom, this made me feel great because it is something he identifies as truly HIS thing to do with dad. On Saturday, Dylan was reeling as my husband Tim was out of town -- a rarity on weekends. Of course the question came up: Who would make the pancakes?
I guess my cooking prowess doesn't impress him enough to think I could freehand Mickey in a pan like Dad (and honestly I could not!). I can cook about anything, but I am a baking blunderer. My biggest miscues resemble roadkill in the pan from spatula hacking -- not good for pancakes.
My child was stuck with Eggo waffles, but the idea that Dylan's house specialty is truly SPECIAL to him made me feel pretty good. Even if my forte was flipping the pancakes, he still would not have wanted me to make them...