Culinary Arts

I don’t know how many time I have sat at a wedding shower and the bride-to-be has said “I totally don’t know how to cook!”

Everybody twitters in laughter and then you hear comments like:

“Rice-a-Roni is really easy….”
“As long as you can ready the back of a box you will be fine…..”
“We lived on Macaroni and Cheese the first year we were married, it was all my husband could cook!….”
“Memorise Domino’s number……”

Inside I am a little horrified.

It use to be that a young lady would never have married without knowing to to cook, much less bragg about it. Being a good competent cook was something to be proud of! I wonder if we focus too much on educating our daughters on the things of the world and forget to teach them to be heart of their homes. Not that book learning is a bad thing, it isn’t, women should be intelligent and well learned, but it isn’t everything.

“That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:4-5)

As part of my oldest daughter’s homeschool I have added what I like to call “life skills”. She is learning how to cook! I have also included her younger sister in this project for the summertime and they are both really enjoying the process.

 

There are three categories: Meals, Breakfast and Desserts, they get to pick 5 different items in each categories. They each take turns cooking and marking off what they have done. Once each item has been cooked 5 timed I will sign it off. We will then invite a special guest of their choice for dinner, which they will prepare all by themselves with no help from me. The girls are so excited, they are already starting to talk about who they want to invite.

 

“She ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.” (Proverbs 31:15)

12 thoughts on “Culinary Arts

  1. That is a great idea. I am trying to find a way to introduce cooking more this summer (my older can cook a couple things each, but I'd like them to do more). Maybe I can adapt your plan to my kids.

  2. You better start putting the bug in their ears that Lindi and Jason would be awesome to have over…

  3. what about your son? will he one day be included in this? we do this here too….i'm teaching katy beth and james how to cook things, simple things to begin with, so that as they get older, they will be able to do it..i don't want them to end up like my sister, who is basically completely reliant on her husband (who by trade is a baker and has a culinary degree) to feed her and the kids…we also do things like using the sewing machine and crafting things and knitting and crochet…

  4. Great idea, I try to find new things to do with my daughters and as another reader pointed out we should include our son to, there future wife will be happy:)

  5. Great Idea! My children help me cook and have things they cook for us as well. But to organize like that is a good idea.

    My mom never taught me to cook, sew, etc. I have taught myself all of it over the years.

    Erika

  6. Serial Mommy, of coarse I will include my son, he is only 2 now so he isn't on my radar yet. The unit is called "life skills" and he needs them just as much as my daughters.

  7. And what they have cook so far is yummy. Glad momzoo was watching, or we would of gotten over a cup of garlic salt in one of the meals. 🙂

    Reminds me of when I was little and my older sister was making spinach salad, and switched the salt and sugar. I tried to eat some of it, but just couldn't.

    Or the time when my younger sister was fixing me lunch when I was sick one day. She put a pot pie in the microwave for 20 minutes. There was no liquid in it when it got done. (Mixed up the microwave and oven instructions.)

  8. Good for you Mom! I taugh my children to cook, and it was the joy of my life. They don't all enjoy cooking, but they can do it.

  9. i used to work at walmart and all the college guys coming in always bought things like hamburger helper and mac n cheese and that sort of thing…i always always always told them that the best way to impress a woman was to COOK for her, one REAL meal…they really didn't believe me, but a guy i worked with did..i taught him a couple of good recipes that he STILL uses!

  10. Such a great thing! I am embarrassed to admit that I too didn't know how to cook when I got married. Now almost nine years later I've learned and taught myself A LOT, but it sure would have been nice if I had started off with some of this knowledge. Good for you for teaching your daughters such wonderful skills.

  11. This is absolutely true. I know that the Relief Society is very concerned about the young girls not knowing how to cook. Thankfully my girls all do-some enjoy it more than others-including my daughter in law-I'm so grateful for that! Great idea to prepare your daughters.