# Teenagers & Cooking...



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

So tonight DS#2 ("That Son" for those who chat) is making his 4th Cheesecake.
He has made
Oreo Cheesecake
Oreo/Cherry Cheesecake (diced Maraschino Cherries added to the Oreo)
Chocolate Cheesecake
And now he is making Vanilla Cheesecake.

All from scratch.. All Have been great so far.
I keep thinking though, a KitchenAide is MUCH safer than outdoor power tools... 

Anyone else have teenagers loving cooking? Or loved cooking AS a teen? I know I did back then, and still do.


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## Joyce DeBacco (Apr 24, 2010)

How lucky are you? He's going to be quite the expert in cheesecake by the time he's finished trying all the variations. And I agree, much safer than power tools.

Is he interested in trying main dishes? That would be ideal for you, Mom. All you'd have to do is make a salad.

No, none of my kids were ever interested in cooking at that age.

Joyce


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I wasn't interested in it until after I was laid off from the paper a second time, and I figured that instead of eating out every night, I should learn how to cook for myself.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

I took over the family cooking as a pre teen.  

Always felt it was a form of creativity and entertainment.  Now as a Senior, I still enjoy putting out a formal, well presented meal for friends.


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## caseyf6 (Mar 28, 2010)

My older dd will be more of a cook than I am.  I hate that I'm the only meal planner/cooker/etc.  Drives me NUTS.  Especially the planning part.

When I"m just cooking for myself, somehow it's a lot more fun.


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## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

One of the best things my parents did was have me do the cooking between junior and senior year of high school.  I planned the menus, bought the groceries, and did the cooking.  My mother did do the clean-up as I was already well experience at that.

I made sure both my sons could shop as well as cook.  Both now outdo me when it comes to being adventurous in the kitchen.  They each like to cook different things, but both are much more willing to experiment and create then I have ever had the nerve to do.


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## Bryan R. Dennis (May 19, 2011)

My daughter is a pre-teen, but she's taken an interest in cooking. I'm glad for that. Her health is important to me.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I love that all 3 of our teens like to cook. They have sure seen me do enough of it over the years.
I'm having to learn how to cook for 2 though now that they are all getting older. I have cooked for up to 70 Marines on holidays. 2 is MUCH tougher.


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

My brother thought he would take home ec to try to meet girls his junior year of high school, little did he know he would really enjoy baking.  His teacher got him into the Future Homemakers of America where he ended up competing state-wide and placing really high in the breads category.  You should see if his high school offers anything similar, it's a great way to inspire him to take his baking to a whole new level.  Also, check out Cake Boss, the things you can do with pastries is incredible and the only limitation is yourself!


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Oh this son is 18 and graduated a half year early at Christmas last year. We only have one still in HS. And while she enjoys baking cookies, she's far too into Choir & Theater to ever spend time  on any other extracurricular activities.


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## PMartelly (May 1, 2011)

I'm 21 years old and the best I got is cereal. 

You, my friend, are one lucky mama!


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

I have a 4-year-old who loves to "help" in the kitchen.  And by "help" I mean "pull out every pot, pan, and ladle to help make whatever mommy or daddy is making."  Hopefully he'll actually learn to make me some cheesecake.  That would be nice.

As a teen, I didn't LOVE cooking.  But I would do it every now and again.  My mom would actually commend me on being able to follow instructions and not be a "man" and have spare ingredients or extra ingredients.  Not sure what to take away from that.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

PMartelly said:


> I'm 21 years old and the best I got is cereal.
> 
> You, my friend, are one lucky mama!


It is NEVER too late to learn Parrisha! There are some decent FREE cookbooks available on Kindle atm. Read some, Just read.. when you find recipes that make you salivate, then make.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

I loved cooking as a teen, and still do (just don't have the time). You can never have enough cookbooks in my opinion. My DD is 7 and has asked permission to have a YouTube Kids Cooking Show, where she wants to feature her favorite recipes. We said yes, but she hasn't done any 'episodes' yet.  

She's already stolen two of my favorite cookbooks, so I'm curious as to what she has planned . . .


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## AlanJamesKeogh (Aug 30, 2011)

I enjoy cooking, but I much prefer baking, got into it when I was 15 or so (I think, might have been a bit later).
I absolutely love baking it is just so relaxing, plus the results are delicious, the only thing I was never able to make was a cheesecake. It would never set, my first attempt literally exploded out of the pan when I tried to loosen it from the springform, covered everything, floor, table, me. The dog was quite happy though.

My speciality is brownies, I found a brownie recipe that people always loved (happy to send it to anyone), it's a mix of brownie and cookie batter, the original recipe called for the cookies to be layered on top, but I swirled it through the brownie batter because I was in a rush and they turned out amazing.
I make cookies quite a lot because we don't have a good stand mixer so everything is done by hand, brownies take about two hours (one for batters, one for cooking) but the cookies only take about half an hour (not including resting and the like). I've only made bread a few times, used to make lots and lots of pie, but kinda drifted away from it (as an aside, I refused to use shortening and only used butter in the dough for years, finally gave it a shot and it was the flakiest crust ever, I'd advise people to try it at least once).

definatly encourage him to continue and maybe try to branch out from cheesecakes. Though never ask him to make croissants. the amount of butter in them is unreal and once you've made them once you're forever tainted with that knowledge. 

You could also look into cooking courses/camps for teens, I attended one and it was great fun, it focused on activty as well as cooking, so in the morning you would cook lunch, then while it was cooking away you would go off and play sports, then when you came back you had a freshly cooked meal that you made yourself waiting for you. 

Oreo and cherry is an interesting mix and I don't think I would have ever thought to combine the two!


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

What a great thread! I have been interested in cooking since before I was 3. (My mother was a spectacular cook, and taught me to cook and bake from the time that I was big enough to stand on a chair and watch/help. Before I was 3, I knew how to prepare and cook cauliflower, and then how to make a béchamel sauce to finish it up. When I was visiting my aunt, I convinced her to let me show her how to prepare my cauliflower dish. Of course, I needed a bit of help with the process of cutting up the cauliflower, but we got it taken care of. Since my aunt wasn't much of a cook, she was a bit reluctant, but luckily for me, she went along with my plea. She was one of those austere women who seldom seemed to be impressed with anything, but she liked my cauliflower so much that she actually called my mother and grandmother to tell them about our adventure. This all happened in 1953, when long distance phone calls, at least in MY family, weren't an everyday occurrence.) I have always considered cooking to be an expression of creativity and love, and will be that way until I'm no longer able to do it. (I hope that day doesn't come until I'm ready to breathe my last breath.)

My daughters like to cook, but my younger one LOVES it. (One daughter, Megan W on here, doesn't cook for real fun, though, like her sister and I do.) My daughters are 34 and 30 now, but I tried to bring them up in a home where good, homemade food was abundant and delicious. Kelli, my younger daughter, has an awesome blog at www.CanCookWillTravel.com, in case anyone's interested. She often tries new recipes, and takes step-by-step photos of the process.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm one of those people who love baking, too. I like cooking as well, but it stresses me out sometimes when there's a ten things I'm supposed to be doing at once to get it all done at the same time. I find baking much more relaxing. I had to make a couple dinners per week when I was a teen, but I didn't really enjoy it. I like it more now, because I can make the meals that I love.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

My mother worked full-time when I was living at home, and I often got to fix entire meals when I got home. I'm sure a lot of kids would have been a bit resentful, but I loved the challenge (and the praise when family members liked my food). I only wish I'd known that I could have gone into the culinary business world when I was ready to pursue my education. I've spent 32 years as an elementary teacher, which I don't regret, but I'd be lost if I weren't able to cook and bake.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I saw the title of this thread and the poster and knew there would be something entertaining here. Just wondering if the kitchen is still intact.


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

My daughter loves to cook and bake.  When she was 17, I was out of town for one night and left her alone.  So what does my wild daughter do?  She planned and prepared a dinner party for six.  Used the good china, silver, I heard all about it from the neighbors.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

spotsmom said:


> I saw the title of this thread and the poster and knew there would be something entertaining here. Just wondering if the kitchen is still intact.


Kitchen is completely intact. He's a good cook. Has been randomly cooking dinners and such for a while.. Just recently started on the desserts. Which is funny considering he's pushing 6'3" and 185lbs. Very long lean bodymass from football & swimming. He likes showing off for his girlfriend I think. The only baking he did before her was peanut butter cookies, the easy kind.
1 egg, 1 C PB, 1/2 C sugar, mix and bake 10-12 minutes at 350*. I'm not positive, but I think she asked if he knew how to make any other cookies, and so he came to me asking for recipes, I handed him about 6 cookie cookbooks, and well............ he's been branching out obviously SpotsMom.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

I actually have a couple of friends whose teenaged children cook.  One of them actually assigns their kids a week where they are given a budget and have to make a menu.  The parents go w/ them to help them shop for the food (they usually start this when the child hits 12ish) and then the child is responsible for cooking dinner all that week.  Sometimes it's pb &j for dinner, sometimes it's chinese.  They have 4 kids in college (the oldest are twins) and all 4 know how to cook, clean, do laundry and budget.  DH and I are planning on doing the same w/ our kids, but it will have to wait for a bit, DD is 2 and just now starting to understand that the oven is hot (she likes to touch it and tell me "Hot!")


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

Didn't occur to me to teach the kids to cook until the youngest saw interest in it and I realized that if she could do some of this stuff, her older siblings most certainly could! 

All 4 of mine help out with dinners and make their own lunches and the like. Sometimes they make pancakes and waffles from scratch (whole wheat) for breakfast. 

But their favorite things to make generally involve chocolate.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

I know she's not a teenager, but since this is still sort of on topic, wasn't sure if anyone wanted to see Sonya's first 'cooking' episode. 






BTackitt, when I told Sonya about your DS making the cherry and Oreo cheesecake she Ooo'ed and Aaah'ed and asked that I request the recipe. So, may we please have the recipe?


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> So tonight DS#2 ("That Son" for those who chat) is making his 4th Cheesecake.
> He has made
> Oreo Cheesecake
> Oreo/Cherry Cheesecake (diced Maraschino Cherries added to the Oreo)
> ...


That sounds great! I got into cooking back in college. As long as I followed the directions, I was pretty much bound to be ok. I really do like cooking ethnic food though, and so sometimes getting the proper supplies can be tricky. Actually, I just found a great new site for those hard to find spices. http://www.myspicesage.com/ .

The one thing I enjoy making that everyone complains about is my tiramisu. My recipe includes a shot of rum, and so everyone thinks I'm trying to get them drunk. It's good though!


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

julieannfelicity said:


> I know she's not a teenager, but since this is still sort of on topic, wasn't sure if anyone wanted to see Sonya's first 'cooking' episode.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing. Looks like you have quite the budding cook in your family. That's how I started out (minus the video), and I love cooking after all these years!


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

julieannfelicity said:


> I know she's not a teenager, but since this is still sort of on topic, wasn't sure if anyone wanted to see Sonya's first 'cooking' episode.
> 
> BTackitt, when I told Sonya about your DS making the cherry and Oreo cheesecake she Ooo'ed and Aaah'ed and asked that I request the recipe. So, may we please have the recipe?


He's not home atm, but when I see him I will ask...


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