So my five-and-a-half year old daughter, Gemma, attended the Chapel Hill–Carrboro YMCA’s cooking camp last week. And, man, did this experience show me the value of getting kids involved in meal preparation!

These kids made six to eight things a day! (Unlike every other camp through the Y, we did not have to pack a morning snack or lunch. The cooking campers prepared all of their own food.) I was shocked when I saw the first day’s recipes. And now they’ve e-mailed me the full cookbook which has — I kid you not — 36 recipes that all the children (even the littlest ones like my daughter) made over the course of the week. Everything from Cinnamon French Toast, Breakfast Pizza (ah, the wonders of the refrigerated tube of dough), and Fruit-and-Yogurt Parfait to Guacamole, Chicken Parmesan, and Baklava.

Here’s the menu she wrote up for the Friday Lunch Feast they served the parents who were able to attend (and it was yummy!):

Translation:

Drinks
Lemonade
OJ
Kool-Aid
Water
(Where's the milk?! Too hard to keep cold, I guess.)

Sides
Salad
Garlic bread
7-layer dip (my favorite)

Main Meal
Tacos
Spaghetti and meatballs

Dessert
Brownies
Homemade ice cream

And everything was made from scratch -- even the desserts!

And the best thing is, every day when she came home from camp—and every day since camp ended—Gemma has asked to help in the kitchen. Mostly she wants to cut things. I suppose I had always been so nervous about her using a sharp knife that I always did all the cutting myself. I think what I learned at camp is that it’s really okay to let kids use knives with proper supervision. (Here’s something I found online that I find useful.)

Of course Gemma should not—and will not—be given my 8-inch chef’s knife to use. I do have a pumpkin carving knife similar to this one that I got at KitchenWorks in University Mall a couple of years ago. It works pretty well.

And I’ve been showing her over and over how to hide her thumb behind her fingers when cutting. (As a restaurant chef once told me during a summer job as a prep cook: This [holding up his thumb] is what separates us from the animals. And this [holding a carrot with his knife poised to chop off his thumb] is not the way to go!)

Part of the lesson for me is to accept that things won’t look like they would if I did it all… and that’s okay. I mean really! What’s more important: A nicely cut cucumber or a child who is enthusiastic about cooking and eating new things?

I can’t wait until my soon-to-be-four-year-old son is able to attend this camp!

And here’s one of my daughter’s favorite camp recipes:

Twice Baked Potatoes

10 (8 oz) baking potatoes

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream, hot

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup diced onions, diced fine and sauteed

3 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

3 ounces bacon, fried and crumbled

Bake potatoes; cut top off and scoop potatoes out. Mix all ingredients in mixer for creamier potatoes. Put back into potato skin. Bake 15 minutes at 400.

Nancy writes once a month about food for Triangle Mom2Mom.

Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:

MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!

WEEKEND: Relax!