suring the sugar and then they're gone," she says. "But to them, they've still made the cookies.
"It may be as simple as pulling up a chair and letting them stir something you've already put in a bowl. Part of the reason kids when they are little want to cook is that they want to be with you. They want to be doing whatever their mom is doing or whatever their dad is doing."
Here are Weidmaier's tips for staying safe around all the kitchen's hot surfaces and sharp edges.
* When cooking with smaller children, keep your eyes on them because they move really, really quickly.
* Keep your sharp knives up out of the way.
* Have your kids know where they can go or not go and what tools they are only allowed to use with your supervision. "My daughter who is 7 has one of the Rachel Ray knives, but she knows that she only uses that when she's cooking with me," she says. The knife also comes with a blade cover for storage and a protective glove. "You wear it on the hand you are holding the fruit or the vegetable with," she said. The glove is designed to work on the right or the left hand. Furi's Rachael Ray Tadpole knife kit is $29.99 at kitchenkapers.com or (800) 455-55674.
* "One of our rules in the Young Chef's kitchen is that the kids have to wear closed toe shoes because you never know what might fall."
* Look for cooking tools that have safety features, such as can openers that open without creating a sharp edge. At Young Chefs Academy, younger cooks do most of their cutting with safety scissors or a company-endorsed M-i Line pizza cutter. We tried out the patented plastic cutter, which has no sharp edges but still managed to cut through a thick carrot. It sells for $5 through Young Chefs Academy. Find locations at youngchefsacademy.com or 877-341-1041.
Is your kid a vege-phobic? Then check out The Great Big Vegetable Challenge at greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com. Your kids can help make a few of the kid-tested recipes on this blog started by a British mom, Charlotte Hume. She decided to cook through the alphabet to find veggie dishes that her then 7-year-old son Freddie would tolerate. He actually likes quite a few of them, and the blog resulted in a book deal for Hume, whose "Great Big Vegetable Challenge" book will be published in the U.K. next month.
If you try any of the recipes, you'll need to convert grams to teaspoons, tablespoons or cups. Check Gourmet Sleuth
for a free online converter to standard measurements.
If the foods themselves fail to excite, try giving your kids their own apron and cooking tools. The California company Playful Life offers the Little Playful Chef Deluxe Cooking Kit for cooks ages 3-5 or the Playful Chef Deluxe Cooking Kit for 6 and up. Each kit includes a kid-size apron with pockets for included tools such as whisks, wooden spoons, kitchen scissors and more. Measuring spoons and cups are color coded to help kids follow recipes on the included cards or in the Playful Chef cookbook ($18.99). Kits are $32.39 and $39.99 at amazon.com. Find New Jersey retailers at playfulinc.com or (415) 310-9742.
The Playful Chef Cookbook has lots of fun food facts and kid-friendly safety tips. Recipes cover breakfasts, snacks and main courses. There are even a few for pets. Here's a sample recipe from the book:
Yield: 8 popsicles
1 cup pineapple bits
1 cup mandarin oranges
2 cups white grape juice
Small paper cups
Note: Other fruits and juices may be substituted. Keeps up to 2 weeks.
1. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Spoon 1/2 cups of mixture into paper cups
3. Cover tightly with foil.
4. Poke a popsicle stick through foil
5. Put cups in freezer overnight or until frozen solid.
Kimberly L. Jackson can be reached by e-mail or (973) 392-7846.