Follow @BgoAddy
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
WE are loving winter in our household. The cool nights are taking us inside early to hibernate – candles are burning, the girls are staying close and we’re all as snug as a bug in a rug.
Together, we are whiling away the hours reading, playing Lego, drawing and talking.
While long, summer days are perfect for outside dining, the girls spend their time playing on the trampoline or with the kids across the street so interaction after work is limited.
But winter draws us in and keeps us close, and the thing we love most is that we have rediscovered the kitchen.
It’s the warmest room in the house, so that’s where we are congregating – and how lovely it is.
Until now, it has been a room visited purely out of necessity as for many years my culinary skills have been the butt of many jokes by family and friends.
It dates back to when I first moved out of home at 17 and had no idea how long to cook two-minute noodles for.
A phone call to mum for the answer has since provided great fodder for my parents and siblings.
Clearly, I had no interest in learning to cook before I left home, despite the fact mum would have been a fabulous teacher.
It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No one thought I could cook, so I didn’t bother trying.
But cooking with my partner and daughters is now what I look forward to at the end of each day.
It’s our together time. A relaxed time when we talk about our day, try new things, celebrate our successes and laugh at our mistakes. Goodness knows, there have been a few of late – French onion soup that had the consistency of chutney, scrambled (flopped) omelette... the list goes on.
But we have also had some winners; our pumpkin soup, homemade sausage rolls, egg and bacon pie, and casseroles are awesome.
Even more beautiful, though, is watching the girls get involved.
Our meals may not always be perfect, but they are made with love.
My nine-year-old is a perfectionist.
We love her for that, because when she sets the table, it looks beautiful.
Her pancakes are also great to wake up to on a Sunday morning.
Cooking is giving her confidence.
Her seven-year-old sister has a palate to match the world’s finest food critics – she knows her food, and when we dine out her requests usually involve mussels or any seafood, or any alternative to the children’s menu.
It’s difficult to know where they get it from, but I’m guessing MasterChef has a lot to do with it.
They don’t watch the show so much anymore, but in the first year or two the girls were hooked.
Santa has given them countless cooking “things” (don’t ask me what they’re called, they’re for “that” room!) and they have had a workout this year – so I owe him an extra biscuit to say thanks this Christmas eve.
Cooking was always the dreaded task at the end of the day: the one thing we never wanted to do when we walked in the door at 6.15pm.
But this year, that has changed and having two children interested in preparing food has given me the courage to try something I’ve never been good at, nor wanted to do.
Winter is cold and dark and dreaded by most, but we are loving it.
After all, what more do you need than a warm kitchen, homemade food in your belly and your loved ones nearby?
What a pleasure it is.
- Do you have a favourite winter recipe you cook with your children?