My Little Sous Chef

When it comes to preparing food in our home, Kaity is learning how to cook basics, and she's my go-to sous chef for making meals flow more smoothly, like prepping dough to make pizza or focaccia. Joe always shows interest and asks questions about what I'm cooking, and of course he's always available for taste-testing when I'm baking. Selah enjoys helping me, but it's a once in a while kind of thing, as long as there's nothing more exciting going on. But Lauryn, far more than her siblings, loves to be in the kitchen with me. 

Lauryn is helping me prepare cheese quesadillas to go with our Cowboy Soup.

That child makes me laugh because if I so much as walk through the kitchen she comes running! "I help you!" She drags a chair over to her station at the counter begging, "I stir it!" It's always heartbreaking for her when I'm simply cleaning the countertops or putting away dishes and not actually cooking. I confess that sometimes I tiptoe quietly through tasks if I don't want any "help" at the moment.

She watches everything I do like a hawk, and wants so badly to get her hands in there to do exactly as I am doing. It has been a tremendous lesson in patience for Lauryn's mama! She's learned that she cannot touch my knife, but she places her left hand over mine or on my wrist and the other one goes behind her back. Until her hands are in place, my knife doesn't move. When the chopping/slicing/dicing is done, I move the knife away and she moves the prepped vegetables into the bowl, pot or skillet where they belong.

In these pictures, she's helping me make cookie dough.

She always has to have a hand on my arm so she can feel like she's helping.

"I lock it!"

Helping me turn the mixer on!

One day, I was making a roux. The butter had melted and was ready for the addition of the flour. As I sprinkled it in, from her chair next to me Lauryn said, "Oh!", opened the utensil drawer and got out the whisk. This was not a coincidence, as I already had a spatula out for something else. Truly, she is a prodigy in the kitchen.