My Little Chef

who says with 4 boys there wont be anyone helping the mummy in the kitchen? well...quite a number of people but what do they know eh?

ariff's shown that he has interest in cooking since a young age. when he was young, about 4-5 months old, if he was in a foul mood, he would immediately feel better if he was brought into the kitchen. he would also accompany me in the kitchen, sitting quietly in his high chair till he falls asleep, while i cook.

while his abangs showed interest in handheld games and puzzles, ariff would be in the kitchen, helping me clean up, or more often, stuffing his face with food. ariff loves eating. he is always at his best behaviour when there's food in front of him. he would be quiet, not caring what goes on around him, very much into his food from the first to the last bite. that's ariff.

because of that, hubby and i would dub him, the little chef. for the longest time i've been wanting to take ariff into the kitchen with me. but to do what...to cook what. i dont spend much time in the kitchen. i go in, cut this cut that, mix this mix that, cook this cook that, and that's all. simple and enough for a one meal. i usually do rice with accompanying dishes or pasta, that's it basically. nothing that would require a 3 year old's help.

then one day i thought, ok...let's do something simple and 'safe' that ariff can help me with. i didnt need to think much...chocolate chip cookies was my first thought and i just went with it. i asked ariff if he wanted to help bake cookies with me. i really didnt have to ask. he said yes and went down the stairs straight away. well, that was a week ago, before i even bought the ingredients. and he's been asking every day since then.

come saturday, when akmal was asleep and amir & asyraf in their game-mode with hubby, ariff and i went into the kitchen to start our project. ariff was mega excited. he dragged the chair to the mixer, he held on to the mixer - as though he's actually doing the mixing. he helped me drop in the sugar, the butter and his favourite ingredient, the chocolate chips. he helped mix the flour while i measured. he helped put the dough on the pan, while i rolled the dough into ball-shapes. he helped open and close the oven door, he helped look to see if the cookies are ready, and of course, once it was done, he helped eat half of the first batch.

he asked a lot of questions - what happened to the sugar, why did the butter become soft, why was the egg yellow, where did the flour disappear to, why do we have to put the chocolate chips in there, why couldnt he eat the cookie dough. a lot of questions but at least it shows he's interested.

his cookies turned out lovely - a bit hard...the butter wasnt enough, and the first batch was a bit burnt...ariff's mummy spent a little too long picking up the clothes. but its great. not bad for his first try. we're already making a list of what we want to bake after this - cornflake cookies, muffin, cupcakes, brownies. at least now he's showing where his interest is and i'm so happy for him.

















after that he went back to what he loves best...