Four Feet More

One of the gifts Vika got for her birthday was this cookbook, Pretend Soup. The book is full of recipes specifically designed for young children to do with their parents. These recipes were tested by preschool teachers and their students, and reviews from the children/critics accompany each dish. Some of my favorites are, "This is a happy taste" and "It's so good I would like to do it five times in a row!"

During a lull in the day, I pulled out the cookbook and instructed Vika and Eamon to put on their aprons because we were going to make lunch. Their eyes grew big and round, and with squeals of delight they ran upstairs to get their personalized aprons (thanks mom). For lunch we made quesadillas, which were very simple, but a huge hit. Vix and Eames were disappointed when I made them save some for Jeff to eat for his lunch (greedy little buggers were ready to polish them all off). We've also made some "popovers" which are like puffy little bread things that you can dip in maple syrup, jam or honey. My gourmet husband may roll his eyes a bit at this idea of dessert, but the kids will enjoy every minute of it.

If you have preschool age kids, I would recommend checking out this book, or one similar. I really thought cooking with the Vika and Eamon would be tedious, messy work. But it was actually quite fun! And the kids got so into their roles as restaurateurs that they even did most of the clean-up themselves. I may not be much of a domestic diva, but this was definitely a great afternoon bonding experience for me and the kids.