Christmas Foods that Kids can Prepare

Christmas is a holiday where the entire family tries to get together. Sweet smells waft from the kitchen as those with the talent prepare meal after meal to everyone's delight. If you have kids, get them in on the Christmas cooking craze.

It is a common myth that kids don't want anything to do with the kitchen. In fact, kids love to cook. How do you think we got so many wonderful chefs in the world? When you invite them in and give them something to do, kids will jump at the chance to cook in the kitchen.

No matter what you are cooking (or baking) in the kitchen, the key here is cleanliness. In preparation, buy your child their own apron. Aprons will protect their clothing, giving them a place to wipe their hands. Also, keep plenty of paper towels and hand soap available as they will be washing their hands quite a lot.

Baking is the easiest thing to start with. Let your kids cut their culinary teeth on breakfast. Biscuits are a favorite place where they can learn and not get in trouble for making a mess. As you go from step to step, explain to your kids what you are about to do.

Baking involves most of the work to be done away from the stove. You can set up a work area on the kitchen table or the counter if your kids are tall enough. Let them create there while you prep the stove for the food.

For any recipe, begin by gathering your ingredients and utensils. It will feel like a kitchen show; your kids will love that. Show them how to do each step and then let them take over from there.

We mentioned biscuits before. Anything that goes into the oven is a good start for kids:

• Christmas cookies
• Breakfast casserole
• Cakes
• Rolls
• Dinner meats

With the dinner meat, you will have to help them carry it to the stove, but they can pour the brown sugar glaze (if you like that) onto the ham, season the outside of the turkey, sprinkle pecans on the sweet potato casserole and many other small tasks.

Your kids will get the hang of baking and stove-top cooking with a little assistance. The holidays are a relaxing and jovial time to let your kids begin cooking with you. Teach them the basics of hygiene, preparation and creating so they will want to cook all of the time.

Christmas Cooking: Creating Christmas Sweets to Die For

What is the one thing everyone enjoys at Christmas time? Arguably it could be sweets. There is nothing like a cookie, slice of cake or gum drop around the holidays. Here are some tips to make sure that those delectable morsels are just as tasty as their sugarplum visions.

Working with Chocolate

When you create a recipe that calls for chocolate, it is so easy to go wrong here. Instead of using the store-bought chocolate syrup, make your own. Buy the chocolate bricks and melt them yourself. Keep the heat under the saucepan low so that the chocolate doesn't burn while it melts.

Dark chocolate is the new healthy chocolate for the 21st century. It is full of antioxidants and great taste. Use it for decorating cakes, cookies, breads and pies. Use some of that melted chocolate in a plastic bag to pipe out all sorts of cool designs onto wax paper. Once they cool, you can carefully place them on any dessert that you wish.

Butter

The rest of the year, this word gets sneer and jeers, but at Christmas, it is spot on. There is no substitute for using regular butter in your dessert recipes. Well, there is but it won’t give you the same taste or texture in your sweets. To compensate, eat a little less of each dessert, but by all means taste them all.

When working with margarine, part of it is water. It says that on the box. Water evaporates when baking and can partially dry out your recipes. Butter is also creamier when softened and whipped. It keeps your cakes, breads, cupcakes and cookies moist like they need to be. Unless the recipe calls for stiff butter, let it come to room temperature on the counter before using.

Fruit

Apple pies, peach cobblers and blueberry blintzes are all great during the holidays. Fruit can be expensive since most of your choices are out of season. If you can’t find fresh at a reasonable price, opt for frozen choices. It’s as close to fresh as you can get.

If you keep your fruit in the fridge to prolong freshness, make sure that you allow them to come to room temperature before using them in delicious dessert recipes. Fruit will juice better when warm. Scalding fruits with removable skins helps the skin to peel off easier so you don’t have to ruin the look of the fruit doing it the hard way.

Here are just a few tips for creating those desserts your family will love all holiday long. Christmas is the one time of year that they don’t want you to skimp on flavor or presentation.