Someone's in the Kitchen With Tools!

Young children are fascinated by tools and mechanical objects.  They are curious about what these objects are, what they do, and how they can manipulate them.  A small child can spend a long period of time turning wheels or bouncing springs while he observes they way that they respond to his touch.  One activity that can give children experience with tools is cooking.  There are a number of tools that even a young child can use safely.  A whisk can be used to beat scrambled eggs or cake batter.  A rubber spatula can scrape a bowl.  A dough cutter can be used to cut bread dough into rolls, and everyone loves to cut out cookies.  (Cookie cutters are also good for painting!)  Measuring cups and spoons come in lots of shapes and sizes.  Potato mashers can be used for smashing potatoes (put the hot potatoes in a bowl to avoid contact with the hot pan).  Actually, potato mashers are fun for painting, also, but that is probably a blog for another day.

As children grow older, the tools that they use can become more complex.  Many nursery school children have turned the crank to run cooked apples through a food mill during the fall.  My grandson, who has just turned eleven, makes the pasta for his family in their Atlas pasta maker (a great addition to any kitchen).  He also makes lasagna, including a sauce free one for his sister.   One of my cooking projects many years ago was chocolate cookies that were cooked in a waffle iron.  All of the children helped to mix the batter, but most of the children wandered off quickly when we began to bake the cookies.  One little guy, who was three or four, was fascinated by the project.  I let him put the batter into the waffle iron, close the lid, and open the lid when they were done (for safety, I covered his hand with mine, although I let him do the work.  That way, if a hand should hit the hot iron, it would be mine.)  This boy was usually zooming around the room from one item to another, but his interest in the waffle iron lasted for almost an hour.  He was spellbound by the waffle iron and proud that he could manipulate it to make cookies.

One of my favorite kitchen tools is an apple corer-peeler-slicer.  I have used it for a number of years to make apple dumplings, dried apples, and pies.  When my granddaughter was three, she would stand on a chair at the counter to help me cook.  When I was slicing apples to make apple butter, she watched closely while I sliced the first three apples.  She then decided that it was time to take over the job.  I had to push the apples onto the peeler, but she sliced six pounds of apples.  She was developing self-help skills, observing handles and gears as they worked, watching as the tension spring moved the peeling blade to fit the apple, and adding to her vocabulary. 

Chocolate Waffle Drops

1 cup granulated sugar                                              1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs                                                                        1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour                                                         1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder                                        1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon                                 powdered sugar

Cream granulated sugar and butter till fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture.  Stir in nuts.  (Mixture will be stiff)  Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on preheated waffle baker; bake about 1 1/2 minutes.  Cool on rack.  Sift powdered sugar over (another great job for a child!).  Makes about 48.