Kids in the kitchen

In an attempt to get more involved in the blogging world I thought I'd join in with The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers. This week's theme is The Kitchen.

Being in military housing means I don't get much say in what our  kitchen looks like, our current one is marginally bigger than the last but still not big enough for a table and not really even big enough to do cooking with the kids who currently help me out by both balancing precariously on the same wooden step dangerously close to the hob.

Once a week I take my kids to a cooking class (well it's for Oliver but Zoe comes along to provide entertainment) and it's fairly stress free as long as Oliver doesn't eat all of the ingredients before we begin (what is it with kids and butter?) Oliver learns about cooking & different types of food and we go home every week with a recipe card and some yummy treats to share with daddy when he gets home from work. (We go to Crafty Cooks for anyone interested)

Sometimes I try to recreate this relaxed cooking experience in my own kitchen and occasionally I make it all the way to the end without needing to raise my voice but more often than not the kids are either arguing over who gets the most space on the step, one or both of them is caught testing the ingredients, or the ingredient adding is done with a little too much vigour resulting in most of it on the floor! This week I thought we'd have a go at making flapjacks which in hindsight isn't the most child friendly recipe but Oliver & Zoe helped where they could......

Testing the syrup

Calmly pouring the oats (this didn't last very long!)

It all looks very civilised in the photos and it really was for a little while. However as is usually the case I ended up finishing up having convinced the kids that they were better off playing in the living room out of my way.

One day I hope I'll have a kitchen where I can let the kids help me more but for now I think I'll keep paying so that they can get the full cooking experience elsewhere!