I love cooking with my family. I think it is such a fun experience and a great bonding opportunity. Whether it is just baking a batch of cookies with your mom or a full course meal with your stepdad, it is always a fun and loving time. Even if you aren’t a great cook, or if the food burns, it doesn’t really matter in the end because the experience was such a great time. I grew up cooking with my mom so I may be a bit biased, but I love it. There is something so comforting about being in the kitchen with your loved ones, surrounded by the delicious scent of what is in the oven.
Cooking with your family doesn’t just have to be a sentimental boning time, either. My family often makes it into a competition. We all love to watch food competition shows like Chopped, so we do our own version of it. We pick one ingredient to work with and then we all draw out of a hat for courses. It turns into an all day event. Someone makes breakfast, another gets lunch, someone else has dinner, and the last gets a choice between dessert and a snack. There are only a few rules, everyone has to use the chosen ingredient, and from there it is a free for all. After we eat each course we all fill out the score sheets, we create and at the end of the day we tally up everyone’s scores and see who won.
If that seems too intimidating for you, or if you don’t know your way around the kitchen that well, ask your parents if they need help with dinner. Even if you just chop veggies or stir a pot for them, cooking with your family is fun. An even better idea is to offer to make dinner for them. Ask for them to help you with prep stuff like chopping and what not. Even if the meal is horrible it is the experience that matters. Plus, you can always order food if that happens, but you can’t order more time spent with your family when you are older. Take every chance you have to spend with your family because when you grow up you will wish you had spent even more. So next time your dad asks for help with dinner, take him up on the offer. I guarantee you will have a grand time.