Some of you may know that in addition do the online show, we do a monthly, longer-format version of Two Kids Cooking on our local Public Access Station (Suburban Community Channels-15). We were recently interviewed on their Access SCC program so we thought we’d share. Here’s the full show, we’re one of the first segments.

It was a bit weird being interviewed, but the kids did a great job and my ‘Ums’ aren’t too bad…let us know what you think!

Every parent knows that life with kids is always busy. Be it a birthday party or a dance class or a baseball game, there is an unending supply of activities that need to be attended. Parents also know that kids grow up fast…the time really does fly. That is the reason why I enjoy the time the kids and I spend cooking together. I cherish every moment I can squeeze in with those kiddies.

Plus, everyone has to eat. That means, if the family cooks together, they get to spend some quality family time together AND they get to eat!

Incorporating family time into the cooking process without adding stress can be more simple than you might think. There are three three simple tips I always follow when the 2 Kids and I are in the kitchen:

1) Choose a day and a menu together
Pick out a day of the week that works best for everyone. Alex, Soph and I cook together a lot, but there are days that we prefer, like Mondays or Fridays, when we get home from school earlier. Whatever day will allow the most relaxing, non-rushed experience is the best to pick.

Choosing the menu should also be a group decision. If everyone in the family actually likes the menu, or at least parts of it, the whole experience will be much more enjoyable.

2) Go over the game plan before starting
Just like with any group event, when everyone on the team knows what the goal is, the whole process goes much more smoothly. Every time the kids I make a recipe, we run through what we’re going to be doing first. Then, once we’ve all got the same picture in our heads, we divide tasks and work our way through each step. By choosing tasks in advance, we also prevent arguments over who will do what while we’re in the middle of making the meal–and we all know that’s a good thing

3) Plan for fun, not perfection
If you’re looking for everything to go perfectly smoothly…well it won’t. Even with the amount of time Alex, Sophia and I spend in the kitchen, we still end up with extra salt in the marinade, or half an egg in the bowl, or a tipped-over bottle of lemon juice, or–I think you get the picture. The thing is, it’s these little imperfections that make the whole experience fun. Plus, the memories you make will be priceless.

Yes, life is busy, but we all know that kids grow up fast. Family time is precious and cooking together is one way to get some of that time back.

Now go, get those kids and cook something together!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Kelly, Alex and Mom

It’s official, I am the mom of a teenager.  Luckily, the best teenager in the world   I know every parent says this, but I seriously do not believe that the cute little blob we brought home from the hospital is already a 13 year old mini-man.  I really hit me the other day when I was watching a Christmas episode of ours from a couple years back…his squeaky little voice and chubby cheeks.  We’ve only been doing the show for 2 1/2 years, but wow, has he grown.

I am so thankful to have such a wonderful son. He and I have a lot in common and now that he’s at an age where he can carry on a real conversation, I love talking with him. He is awesome at helping out with the show, too. If I ever put together a ‘gag-reel’ you’ll see what I mean. Soph can be a bit of a diva from time to time but Alex keeps it all calm. His big brother skills are quite well developed, as well and I know his sister would agree. For being 4+ years apart they are really close and have lots of fun together. Yes, they do fight, but overall they work well together.

This morning Soph and I sang him Happy Birthday and made him breakfast in bed, later we’re going to make him some Bread Pudding, cuz he loves it more than cake–Happy 13th Birthday Alex! We love you…

Mom & Soph

You see all those jars in that picture? Don’t the contents of those jars look sweet and delicious? Although I wish I could say I was that ambitious, I am not the one who made all that beautiful Jelly and Jam. It is the work of my boyfriends parents. I am, however, usually lucky enough to get some in my Christmas stocking each year and I love it!

Another gift of sorts that I look forward to each year are from a co-worker. The gift is really for the entire department, but we all get excited when we get the email that the package has arrived.   What is this gift? Well, every year, one of the developers in our department brings in about a dozen assorted breads that his wife makes–zucchini, banana, banana chocolate-chip, pumpkin, lemon, etc…  I’m telling you, these breads are way better than donuts any day.

Just as much as I enjoy receiving these gifts, I bet there are people on your list that would too!  I’m not saying you should go out and buy some berries to make jam; but, if your pantry is over-flowing from an abundant harvest, why not share the fruits of your labor in the form of a gift?  And even if you don’t have a cupboard filled with jelly, baking a few loaves of bread is not only fun to do with the kids, but another gift that anyone would love to receive.  If you’re feeling ambitions, you could even make multiple mini-loaves for each recipient and package them up with a couple of jams or jellies.

People have closets filled with things. Things that, many of which will eventually be tossed, donated or they are just never used.  So, why not give a gift that tingles the taste buds and fills the belly instead of just another thing?

Happy Holiday Family Cooking Everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

Do you have some people on your list that have a sweet tooth? If so, why not bake them up some sweet treats customized to their own tastes.

If you’re feeling like venturing beyond the Christmas cookie, there are other options. Two of our favorites are chocolates and suckers.  Soph in particular likes making the chocolates, she actually came up with the idea for the ones we make on her own (you can see them in the picture). We buy Dolci Frutta chocolate to dip fruit in, like strawberries and bananas. Soph thought since it tastes so good, and since she can melt it so easily, why not make pour it into molds and make fancy chocolates. Then she decided we should get some of the white chocolate Dolci Frutta and decorate the chocolates–so we did!

Another fun candy we like to make is suckers. We adapted our larger suckers from a recipe we got from the Barbara Beery, Pink Ponies Cookbook.  (which we recently reviewed.)

For ours, we made different shaped molds out of aluminum foil. The Christmas tree was made freehand and the star was made by forming the foil around a star-shaped cookie cutter.  The important thing is to keep bottom of the foil mold as contiguous as possible; any cracks or holes will mean leakage. For the stick, you could buy official sucker sticks, but we used skewers that we cut in half and removed the sharp tip. Then we stuck them through the side of the foil and about half way up the middle of the mold to make sure they’d be sufficiently covered by the sucker.

Once the molds were complete, we took some jolly ranchers, put them in a plastic bag and smashed ‘em with a hammer. This is fun, but make sure to let the kiddies know that a jolly rancher does not require over-the-head, slamming force to break, a few taps are sufficient to break them into pieces, and that’s all that’s necessary.  We took the broken pieces and placed them in the molds.  Our molds were a bit over 1/2 inch high and we filled them to the top.

To melt them into suckers, we placed them in a 350 degree oven for about 6 minutes. Watch them carefully! Once they are melted, promptly remove them and set them some place to cool. If you leave them in too long, they will burn–burnt jolly rancher does not taste good, trust me.

Once they cooled, we removed them from their molds and wrapped them up all cute with treat bags as covers and sparkly ribbon.

If you want to get fancier with your suckers or candies, you can find hard candy molds online, but for those, you pour the hot sucker syrup into the molds which we think is a bit riskier than melting in the oven–especially when the kids are helping.

These are just a couple of sweet treat ideas from the kitchen. If you’re not a candy maker, a gift of cookies, brownies or bars would be appreciated by any lover of sweet things. Plus, a gift from the kitchen is just as much fun to make as it is give (and receive!).

Happy family cooking everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

P.S. Checked out our 2 Kids Cooking Recipes page for all of our holiday recipes

If your looking for a way to spread the joy of cooking this holiday, why not give the gift of a meal! We’re not talking a restaurant gift card here, we’re talking a Meal in a Basket (or other container of your choice). The cool thing about these, is that you can customize them to the person you’re giving them to–if it’s for a pizza lover, a pizza basket; for pancake lover, a breakfast basket, etc.

Another thing about these, if you are a coupon shopper like we are, you can plan ahead and get many of the items for the baskets at great prices. The ‘baskets’ don’t have to be baskets either, you could use a tray or a box wrapped in gift wrap–be creative!

Here are some of the Meal in a Basket ideas we’ve come up with:

Spaghetti Dinner Basket:
Along with ingredients like those suggested below, make sure to include your favorite pasta sauce recipe. You could also include a jar of your own homemade sauce, and instructions for how to prepare the meal.

• Spaghetti Noodles
• Canned tomatoes
• Italian Herbs
• Parmesan Cheese
• French Bread
• Mushrooms
• Garlic

Pizza Party Basket:
With this basket, you can include recipes for any homemade items you include, along with instructions for the crust if it’s a make-it-yourself from a recipe type. Just remember if you include things that need refrigeration, well, you’ll need to store it in the fridge before delivery.

• A box of pizza crust or a jar with the dry ingredients for pizza crust
• Pizza sauce (homemade or from a jar)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pizza fixings you know they’ll like (Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, olives, etc.)
• Bread sticks
• Salad in a bag

Chili Basket:
You can include whatever ingredients are appropriate for the recipe you include with this basket. If you decide to include a meat-chili recipe, you don’t have to include the meat, just point out the need for it in the recipe you include.

• Canned tomatoes (home canned or from the store)
• Chili and/or Kidney Beans
• Onion
• Chili spices (whatever our recipe calls for)
• Cornbread muffin mix (your own mix or a packet from the store)

Pancake Breakfast Basket:
If the person you’re giving this to prefers waffles, include a waffle mix instead. Make sure to include the recipe with additional ingredients and instructions.

• A jar filled with the ingredients for homemade pancakes
• A bottle of real maple syrup
• A couple other bottles of fruit flavored syrups
• Some pancake add-ins like: Chocolate Chips, Bananas, Blueberries
• Some Fruits for Fruit toppings: Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas
• Any other pancake topping your giftee might like

Veggie Soup Basket:
Again with this one, include veggies that match the recipe you include.

• Chicken, Beef or Veggie Stock
• Veggies for the soup: Carrots, Potatoes, Onions, Beans, Peas, etc.
• Noodles, rice, barley, if your recipe calls for it.
• A loaf of homemade bread (or a store bought bread that goes well with soup)

Stir-fry Basket:
For this one, include the stir-fry veggies you know the recipient will love, here are a bunch of different things you could include, but limit the actual thing in your basket to those that match the recipe you’re including.

• Stir-fry Veggies: Broccoli, Onions, Colored Peppers, Snow Peas, Green Beans, Water Chesnuts, Carrots, Asparagus….the list goes on
• Soy Sauce
• Ginger
• Teriyaki Sauce
• Rice
• Noodles

Dessert for Dinner Basket:
Who doesn’t like dessert for dinner? For this one, you can either include ingredients for recipes, or do some baking and include your treats and the recipes you used in the basket. Here are some dessert type ideas…just in case you couldn’t think of any yourself ;D

• Ice Cream Sundae – Chocolate Syrup, Carmel Sauce, Fruit Sauces, Nuts, Sprinkles, Whip Cream, Ice Cream Scoop
• Brownies – A homemade brownie mix with add-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, caramel
• Cookies – A couple of homemade cookie mixes and the recipes/instructions for them
• Cake – A homemade cake mix with frosting/filling (homemade or storebought) and decorating ‘stuff’

These are just  few ideas, use your imagination and we’re sure you can find the perfect combination for those on your holiday shopping list!

Happy Holiday Cooking Everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

P.S. For gift ideas for the little cooks in your life, check out our  2011 Gift Guide now!

photo by Corvidean

Today is the day that this mom turns forty years old. Some call that over-the-hill. Others say 40 is the new 30. For me, forty is good. I am at a place in my life where I am happy and excited to continue moving forward. I have two amazing kids, a wonderful man in my life and a great plan for moving my life and work onward.

I am one of those people that is excited about getting ‘old’. Since my twenties I’ve been thinking of the things I can say and do when I’m in my 70s and 80s. Each year I figure I can get a little bit crazier and it’ll just be written off as ‘advancing age’. I guess that’s the biggest thing that each year teaches…be yourself.

When I was a teenager, I was very much myself.  I felt unstoppable with ideas and opinions and grand plans. Then life happened–not that life was bad, it’s exactly as it should have been. But while trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be, I lost some of that unstoppable-ness.

That life that happened (and is still happening), it has taught me. I think now at forty, I’m feeling a bit more unstoppable again. And, since I’ve experienced some of those ‘life happening’ events, I’m much better equipped to remain unstoppable.

Here’s to forty amazing years, and another forty+ crazy ones to come!

Happy November 29th Everyone!

Kelly

Photo: William Dickey; Styling: Rose Nguyen

Sometimes family schedules can make family cooking challenging. After school-practices, appointments, games…it can be difficult to prepare and eat a family meal together.  This doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t squeeze in some time in the kitchen having fun. With a little planning, the week can present itself an hour or two. We have three ideas for you and your kids spend that free time and they all involve fun together in the kitchen.

Idea 1:
Baking - When most people think about cooking with their kids, they think of baking, at least that’s my perception. The reason is because making cookies from scratch or mixing up or decorating cupcakes is a simple way to get the kids in the kitchen with you.

Here are some baking together tips:

• Take some time with the kiddies to pick out a specific recipe that you want to bake together
• Prepare the shopping list together as well, first checking the cupboards for what you already have, and then going to purchase the rest
• Plan the date and time you’re going to have your baking adventure and make sure there are no other distractions.
• Enjoy your baked creation together and share with others in the family that didn’t help!

Idea 2:
Food Related Experiments – If you have kids that are interested in science, or even just doing experiments with food, you can probably get them in the kitchen cooking and learning with a Science Experiment You Can Eat. We’ve made up our own experiments, some of them not so edible, but with this book by Vicki Cobb, you can investigate things from Suspensions, Colloids and Emulsions to Microbes and Enzymes. Each experiment has an edible component and an observation section to help summarize what you learned.

Idea 3:
Preparing Special Meals – By special meals, I mean things like Mom, Dad, Brother or Sister’s birthday, or maybe just because it’s Friday.  Any day can be a special day if everyone involved decides it is. By planning a special meal day and building up anticipation, everyone will be excited when the day actually arrives. Alex, Soph and I like to do party nights when we make snacky super items together, then spread out a blanket in the living room and eat picnic style while we watch a movie, or something on Netflix.

Here are some tips for planning your ‘special meal’ night:

• Pick the special day or event together. If it’s for a family member’s birthday, you can surprise them or include them. If you do include them, you can always plan a surprise part of the meal (like cake) that you make separately.
• Have everyone decide  ahead of time what they will be working on…who’s cutting veggies, who’s preparing marinades, who’s stirring and who’s pouring. It may seem like a lot of upfront work, but it will pay off with a smooth running kitchen.
• Don’t stop at the food, why not decorate up the table to match a theme?  Placemats and name cards can be made in advance, or you can just break out the picnic blanket and eat off of paper plates–whatever you decide.

We hope one of these ideas inspires you to set aside a few hours in the coming weeks to have some fun as a family, cooking up some tasty treats.

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

P.S. Don’t forget to sign-up for our email list so you get your weekly recap of all or our ideas and the show!