Kids in the Kitchen

In my family of 5 daughters, there is an understanding that cooking is cool and everyone should learn to do it.  As our children turn 12, it becomes their responsibility to make dinner for the family once a month.  I think kids need the opportunity of hands-on experience to learn to cook.  I bake most recipes from scratch, but to ease my daughters into cooking, we start with mixes.  That way there are fewer measurements (and frankly, fewer wasted ingredients if the recipe fails).  Today my daughter and her friend mixed up a batch of soft pretzels.  Bread mixes give kids a chance to see how yeast works and to familiarize themselves with working with dough.  The AP Soft N Chewy Pretzel Mix was really fun. The pretzels stayed tender and were really tasty.  The girls used their creativity and topped the twists with their choice of cinnamon sugar, grated cheddar cheese, or traditional coarse salt.  They had a great time and, as you can see in the picture, were quite proud of their results.