I can do it!

Today was our second class at Young Chefs Academy in Round Rock. Grace was very excited to be going back this morning. We have talked a lot about our class over the last couple of weeks. Grace already has plenty of enthusiasm for spending time in a kitchen, which is something we have been instilling in her at home for some time now. This week, even though this was just our second time in our class, it was a joy to see her confidence grow.

When we walked in the door, Grace was still a bit timid, clinging to my leg. She was happy to be there, but she just still needed a few minutes to warm up. By the time Miss Lesley Ann got us into the kitchen, and I got Grace's jacket off, she was already starting to warm up. This was familiar now. Miss Lesley Ann helped her get her apron on, and then it was off to wash our hands. Unlike last week though, I didn't have to take her. She had confidence in where she was, and what the routine was. Miss Lesley Ann was no longer a stranger and the only "unknown" was what fun stuff we were going to make today.

We started out making homemade tortillas from dough that was already prepared. That meant we got to get right to Grace's fun part, which is rolling out the dough. Once the rolling pin was in Grace's hand, we heard the words that bring joy to parents verywhere, "I can do it!" We rolled out our tortillas and then while those cooked on the griddle, we turned our attention to making salsa.

As much as I love to cook, and as much as I love to share that love with Grace, it would have been YEARS before I would have given Grace a kitchen tool and asked her to cut up the strawberries. After all, every parent knows you can't trust a 2 year old with a knife!

This precise moment in time is where the skill and tools at the Young Chefs Academy joins the confidence of a little girl who says "I can do it!" The result is something truly special. As you can see in the picture above, we didn't exactly hand Grace my sharpest chef knife. This is a place where kids can learn how to use tools that are designed especially for their little hands and their open hearts. It’s amazing what a small pizza cutter with a nylon blade can enable a child to do.

Grace also got to help with a kitchen tool that she hadn't ever seen in our kitchen. She helped Miss Lesley Ann turn the handle and watched in awe as the apple corkscrewed through the machine and emerged peeled, cored and sliced. Then, with pizza cutter in hand, it was back to chopping, this time the apples. Grace did really well! Of course she needed help, but for once, it was Daddy helping her cook instead of Grace helping Daddy. We also mixed a dressing made from orange juice, orange zest, apple jelly and brown sugar.

One of the things that I have really enjoyed about these classes is that the recipes are recipes that we will definitely use, probably over and over again. Anyone that knows this family knows that the summers are all about weekends and nights in and around the pool. The grill is almost always fired up, usually cooking up fajitas. Over the course of the summer, it is no exaggeration to say that I will make homemade salsa dozens of times.

This apple strawberry salsa will find its way into the assortment of tomato and mango salsas that we make all the time. And I know that Grace will be excited to get to make "her" salsa. Next we turned our homemade tortillas into cinnamon sugar chips! And while our chips were baking, we got to start tasting. Grace LOVED the salsa. Grace must have eaten 5 or 6 helpings of the salsa. And while she did like the tortilla, and the cinnamon sugar chips with her salsa, she was just as pleased to eat the salsa all by itself.

Last, it was time to clean up. We took our apron off, put it in the hamper, washed our hands and cleaned up our area. I don't know what we will make next time, but I will be excited to see Grace's confidence grow, and I know she will have lots of smiles and giggles to share. I also know that I have a greater confidence in what Grace can do. Over the last couple of weeks, ever since our first class, when Grace is helping me in the kitchen Grace has been more "hands on". She and I have both learned that "I can do it!"