I will have to do some serious sleep hygiene when life returns to normal. I'm afraid my habit these days is to rise in the wee hours of the night and watch the news on TV. I have been a troubled sleeper for decades now, but I usually just lie there, knowing I must get up at 5 (unless I blow off my workout, which buys me another hour of lying there, sleepless). These days, I do not set an alarm and can take a nap at any time. So I indulge myself. Watching the news, however, takes me to a very dark and sad place. It seems that death is all around us. I fear for myself and my loved ones and all of you. My heart aches for those in the thick of it, in New York, Spain, Italy, China. I pray it doesn't come to that here.
I suggest that in solidarity with the good people in Italy, we do our best to carry on their verve for "La Dolce Vita." What do Italian people talk about at breakfast? Lunch! What to cook! Breakfast was very light and easily cleared away, so now we can begin preparing the main meal of the day and all it's courses, pasta for primo, fish, meat, eggs or cheese for secondo and maybe a contorno (side dish). I was just reading that many people now enjoy their main meal in the evening because lunch has become, sadly, "a quick bite." But schoolchildren are dismissed early enough to be home for lunch at 1 or 2 pm, having had a merenda (a snack, often a sandwich) at school. When I was an exchange student in a German high school, we had a "Pause" for a sandwich around 10, too. Then, like the Italians, we would come home to a heavenly hot meal.
Since we have so much time at home these days, it is a great opportunity to spend more time in the kitchen cooking with our kids. I believe that many of you (the throngs!) who read this blog are already doing this. Just for fun, let's list some food preparation tasks for the kids to help us with:
For 2-3 year olds, at a low table or supervised closely on a step-stool at the sink/counter: washing produce (swishing it around in a just-sanitized sink of water or large basin/bowl with some dish soap long enough to loosen any invisible ick, then rinsing), tearing lettuce, pulling the leaves off stems of rosemary, thyme, parsley, etc, working with dough, drizzling the espresso on the ladyfingers for the tiramisu, stirring ingredients in over-size bowls (those ingredients tend to stay in the bowl better if it is large), crushing, by hand or with an implement, cornflakes or potato chips in a sealed, airless bag to top a casserole (why yes, I am from the mid-west!) scrambling eggs, dumping cups of ingredients into mixing bowls, spreading nut butters, soft cheeses and other spreads on sturdy bread, bagels or crackers. All of the above are so good for hand-eye coordination, dexterity and fine motor development! The hand must be developed to be the best servant of the mind and spirit.
For 4-5 year olds, they would enjoy all of the above, as well as more difficult tasks such as: peeling carrots and cukes, slicing softer foods like cucumbers, celery and cheese, staffing the toaster and buttering the toast. You might soften that butter if you don't want your toast to look as if it's been used for target practice.Perhaps melt it and brush it on with a pastry brush. They can scrub, pierce and butter the potatoes for baking, grate carrots, potatoes, zucchini and pecorino, grease your pans, measure your dry and wet ingredients, sift flour, tenderize meat (put it in a sealed bag to prevent an e-coli festival) and flip pancakes. Now, you haven't hired Emeril to cater your meal, you know, you must be present for all of this. The children require supervision, primarily for their safety, but also for their success. Please show your child how to do these tasks, then allow them to do the work. When you need to re-present an action or bring attention to a technique or other point of interest, step in warmly. "Okay! I am so glad we are doing this, aren't you? Let me take a turn. I want to show you how to keep the spoon low in the bowl while stirring................okay, now it's your turn again." And you already knew that everything would take longer, be messier and look uglier than if you did it yourself, right? I knew you knew!
6-7 year olds are ready for more challenging knife skills, such as fine chopping of nuts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and tough stuff like that. Give them a good,sharp knife. I read a Consumer Reports review of the knife set Andy and I use at home, which is never very sharp. "These knives are the reason people cut themselves" read the review. Sharp is safer, but not if you put your fingers in the path of the blade. The safest technique for chopping is to have one's dominant hand on the handle, the other hand with palm on the dull side of the blade, palm flat, fingers well out of the way, just moving that knife back and forth, up and down over the pieces to be cut, for as long as it takes. One can pause to scrape the food back to the center of the cutting board from time to time. If at any time your child is being unsafe, step in to re-present. If your child continues to use the tools unsafely, it is time to end the exercise. "Thank you for your help. I will take it from here. Would you like me to give you another, less high-risk task?" Or whatever you say to put the kibosh on shenanigans at your house. Kids of this age may be reading and ready to follow a recipe. Read it through several times in advance. Assemble the ingredients. I suggest you do it together a time or two before Junior takes it on him/herself. When the day arrives for a solo flight on that tiramisu, stand back respectfully, but be ready to help if called.
Like all tasks, cooking has a beginning, middle and end. In Montessori, we talk about the 3 step cycle. The beginning is rolling up the sleeves and washing the hands, perhaps putting on an apron, making sure the work space is clear and clean and getting out the ingredients and tools and placing them in some order. At this time, we are summoning our psychic energies and preparing our minds for the upcoming activity. The second step is the performance of the actual task, some of which are so absorbing that the child achieves a state of concentration leading to normalization, the state in which the child's energies are coursing naturally. The final step is the cleaning up, the putting away, during which time the mind is resting, purging and re-organizing. All of the steps are important, not only for the child's self-creation, but for integrating the concept of personal responsibility. The child is also practicing the role of nurturer and provider. This child is contributing. She feels even more a part of the family group now than when she was merely a recipient.
The child need not do any of the 3 steps alone, if that is overwhelming, daunting, off-putting or impossible. Working side-by-side with a parent or other beloved elder is a joy to the child. Perhaps it is a time to converse: perhaps a time to work side by side in silence. Or what could exemplify "La Dolce Vita" better than an entire family convivially preparing wholesome food together, nurturing mind, body and spirit simultaneously? Remember the fun scene in "The Big Chill" when they are all laughing and dancing and cleaning up after dinner together to "Ain't Too Proud to Beg?" Aim for that. I suspect that many of my readers are real whizzes in the kitchen and regularly involve their children in their gastronomic adventures and have many more ideas than the few I mention here. Please feel free to leave your great suggestions in the "comments" for all to benefit from.
You may have noticed that I did not answer a reader's letter today. That is because your Guide's mailbag is sadly empty. Please send your feedback, input, questions and queries to me at the school phmsch@gmail.com or leave a comment down at the bottom of the page. Let me know if this blog can be more helpful to you in some way. I live to serve! Wishing you a beautiful day, I remain,
Your Guide,
Doni
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