There is some magic that tends to happen when you cook with someone. You form both emotional and social bonds with the people you cook with — all while creating some great memories. Take advantage of the need to eat — and the enjoyment you get from eating — and make every meal a chance to form better relationships with your family.
Start with breakfast:
You can get your family interested in a fun breakfast, and let them join in with the cooking fun. You can, for example, let the kids decorate pancakes with chocolate chips or draw maple syrup designs on waffles. You can kick up the fun by adding bright food colouring to your batters. Let the kids make the colour choices so they are a key partner in the creation process. They will feel like equals, and by levelling the playing field in the kitchen you can share some great conversations and ideas. And when you eat your creations as a family, it makes life even better.
The other reasons cooking together as a family can improve relationships is that it is time spent together. In our busy world, families are spending less and less time together. The demands of school, social activities, and all those other pressing engagements we have, really get in the way of family members spending time with each other. So, cook your meals together and you will find that there is plenty of time to catch up on one another’s days, to talk about things that excite you, trouble you, or do nothing for you. It is a great time spent together.
Ideas for fun foods you can make or cook together are:
Fondue dinners: Do three courses (cheese, meat and chocolate) — and you and your family will enjoy each and every one of them!
Dipped foods: You can have a lot of fun when you are with your family and you are cooking foods you are going to dip: dip cookies in chocolate, dip pretzels in white chocolate, and so on.
Sundaes: This is a fun thing to make that gets your whole family involved and having fun. You can add bananas, strawberries, caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream to your favourite ice cream or frozen yogourt.
Pancakes: Make faces on the pancakes with chocolate chips, cherries, whipped cream, syrup, and more.
Compiled by R. Legault with source files
from www.improvingyourworld.com.
