I called out for all for my readers to join me here.
Lots of my readers did indeed join in.
If you cooked with your kids that day- you joined in.
If you made your own dinner that day from scratch - you joined in.
If you had a conversation with your kids about what food you were buying or taught them a new ingredient, or tried some new tastes- you joined in.
Some of you lovely people sent me pictures of what you did.
As each one came in I cried.
Do you know why?
Because to me these seemingly little things are absolutely HUGE.
Monumental.
Just ONE person joining me that day would have made me very happy.
But I had tweets & instagram messages and emails all day telling me that people were doing something to help teach their families about REAL FOOD.
Look at this magnificence in action!!!!!
Some people went to Farmers markets and bought an ingredient they hadn't used before & chatted to the Farmer who grew their food. Some people had their kids in the kitchen. It means so much to me because I see it as the way we teach our children about what matters. Some people tried cooking something they had never tried before.
That day these kids were learning. Quietly absorbing.
Learning about the values of honesty, integrity, love, real food and caring for the world around them.
Cooking together with our children forces us as parents to slow down a little and be present with our children.
It teaches them practical skills that will help them be independent functioning adults.
It helps them to ask questions. To seek answers.
We have conversations in that time that maybe in our busyness we wouldn't have otherwise.
And it teaches children about what goes into the food that we eat.
That day we looked at ingredient lists on packets in the supermarket and then compared them to the ingredients that went into ours. The difference was alarming.
I know it takes time to do this .....but investing in our kids future is worth it.
That is how I see it.
It is an investment.
Not just in my children's future but for all children.
Children are worth it.
I got my kids to all choose something that they wanted to cook.
My 13yo wanted to me to teach him how to cook Creme Brulee- mostly as it involved using my kitchen torch I suspect!
My 11yo wanted to bake his very first loaf of bread- he chose a Walnut loaf.
And my 9yo wanted to invite a friend to join in and cook Honey Pops- his invention of Honey crackles/Joys but using Rice bubbles.
The 5yo and the 3yo provided comedy relief & a lot of mess. That's important too!
Here is my 9yo cooking his recipe. He and his friend searched for the recipe independently and then had to find all the equipment they needed and the ingredients (no small feat in my pantry and fridge!!). They were AMAZING! I did absolutely nothing except the oven bit.
Here is my 11yo's bread. As he was cooking this bread he talked a lot of the amazing nature of bread. About how few ingredients were actually in bread you baked at home. But also about how long it takes. And how cheap 'fake' bread is. He worked out that the sourdough bread that we normally buy at around $5 a loaf was really a bargain considering it took him 5 hours to make this loaf. He thought that being paid a dollar an hour was really pretty bad & that $5 dollars for a loaf was actually a bargain. Perspective. It is a great thing.
And my 13yo fire loving lad. His Brulee was delicious. We talked about Vanilla pods and how they grew from Orchids and how rare they are and that is why they are very expensive. He had a great time with that blow torch! And that caramel top.....oh that sound when you crack the spoon! SOOOOO good!
I guess the important thing to take from this is that together we CAN make a difference. It only takes one person to start making change.
Thank YOU so very much for joining the revolution.
