Last night I was happy to be a part of the benefit for the Oakland School For the Arts. It is an outstanding charter school that was founded by Jerry Brown in 2002. The first graduating class of 2006, graduated with 100 percent of the class. Oakland charter school continues to excel with help of Jerry Brown and the board of directors. The school is a unique educational art institution. It has more than 500 students in the middle and high school. Recently it was named a California distinguished school.

The event was held in beautifully renovated Fox Theater.  Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn spoke at a benefit and helped to raise more than one million dollars for the school. I wish than more people will help to the art schools all over the country.

For more info and donations visit www.oakarts.org

There’s no doubt about it; in our quest to teach kids what they need to know to be getting on in life, we simply have to teach them how to cook.  I have to admit, though, that this is one of those parenting things that makes a better ideal than practice.  It just takes so much extra time and work to have kids helping in the kitchen.  I sometimes live in dread of those three little words that cause me joy when I hear them in any other context:  “Can I help?”

Try not to think of this as an inconvenience; think of it as an investment.  It will take extra time and care to show them how to pre-heat an oven, how to clean up as you go (some adults haven’t quite mastered that one!), how to scrape the sides of the bowl as you stir a cake batter, how to crack an egg, and so on.  But if we do take the time to walk kids through those basic things, it won’t be long before they can do them on their own.  The benefit to you is that soon your child can be in charge of cooking one night a week, and you can have the night off!

There are sites that feature all sorts of recipes for cooking with kids.  One that I recently found is called simply ChildrensRecipes.com.  They feature recipes easy enough even for preschool children, and some that are a little more challenging for kids who want to learn new skills.

Here’s a fun one for making Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Ice Cream Sandwiches.  First you have to make the cookie part, which is a simple and fun butter cookie recipe:
Butter Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Method:
Combine butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and egg yolk in medium bowl. Add flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. Cover; refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm.
Makes about 3 cups of dough

Once you’ve made the cookie dough, you can then proceed to the ice cream part.

Ingredients:
3 or 4 drops red food coloring
1 pint ice cream or frozen yogurt, any flavor
Heart-shaped cookie cutter
Method:
Prepare cookie dough; mix in food coloring. Cover, refrigerate until firm (about 4 hours or overnight).
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 20 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
Remove ice cream from freezer; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. Spread 4 to 5 tablespoons ice cream onto flat side of half of cookies. Place remaining cookies, flat side down, on ice cream.
Press cookies together lightly. Wrap each sandwich in foil; freeze until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.
Makes 6 to 8 cookie sandwiches.

You may be the traditional type that cooks the same dishes each year for Christmas, or you may be more adventurous, willing to give new concepts and recipes a try. No matter which type of cook you are, you can be sure to deliver a great Christmas dinner for your family and friends. Consider the ideas below for this year’s Christmas dinner.
Turkey Dinner

One of the most traditional Christmas dinners consists of turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, dinner rolls, carrots, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Depending on how many people are coming for dinner, you may want to prepare some dishes ahead of time to make it easier on the day of the feast. Get your children involved with the process and delegate tasks such as setting the table, filling the water glasses or contributing to the dishes by chopping ingredients.
Ham Dinner
Another traditional Christmas dinner choice is Ham.  There are a lot of similarities with the turkey and ham dinner menus, including mashed potatoes and peas, although some people go for scalloped potatoes instead of the mashed potatoes.  Some people also exchange the traditional stuffing that is served with turkey for pineapple stuffing, since pineapples are a popular item to serve in combination with ham.
Lasagna Dinner

A great alternative to a traditional turkey or ham dinner is to serve lasagna. Lasagna is relatively easy to cook, serves a large quantity of people and is popular among almost everyone. In addition to a large pan or two of lasagna, you could also make a salad, garlic bread and desert to complete a holiday dinner spread.   You may even want to consider cooking several different types of lasagna to give your guests variety; vegetable, traditional meat, sausage or eggplant.
Less Traditional Christmas Dinner Main courses

If someone wants to try something different for their Christmas dinner, instead of having the usual turkey, ham or lasagna, there are some people who have fish like trout,  salmon, or lobster.  Other main courses that people have are lamb, prime rib, Cornish game hens, and chicken.  A lot of people use their traditions from their native countries when creating a Christmas menu. In addition to the primary dishes, there are limitless options to consider for side dishes and for dessert.
So, be creative this year and serve an alternative menu for Christmas dinner. Surprise your guests and keep them on their toes on an annual basis when it comes to your Christmas dinner menu.

I love to cook, and I love to cook with my kids! There is nothing like picking out something fresh, cooking it up for dinner and sitting down to a meal you made yourself.

I had to learn to cook when I was young because my mom was an awful cook! I had eight little brothers and sisters, and all of the boys had bad food allergies. Besides that, we were very poor, so I had to get creative. I was just a teenager and I was in charge of feeding the whole family with $40 a week!!

Chicken was cheap. We ate a LOT of chicken, since beef was expensive! I learned how to cook with special ingredients like coconut milk and rice flour since my brothers couldn’t have milk or wheat. I couldn’t use a lot of salt with cooking either because it irritated their stomachs.

My husband laughed a lot at me when we got married. He likes salt, and he LOVES beef! I thought the way you cooked with beef was to buy one little tiny thing of ground beef and divide it in three small pieces. One went in a pan with a bunch of oatmeal, tomatoes, eggs and ketchup for meatloaf. Another went in a pot to cook with three big jars of spaghetti sauce and I would make a mess of noodles and some French bread.

Last I would make tacos, and this is what really made him laugh!  I would put two big cans of refried beans in the pan with the last tiny bit of cooked ground beef and a package of taco seasoning. He took one bite and put the taco down. “Honey” he said, “WHERE is the MEAT?”

I thought that was how you were supposed to cook!  He took me to the grocery and bought me a steak. I had never had steak!  He grilled it for me and made me a stuffed baked potato and corn on the cob. I was hooked!

Now we always have plenty to eat. My kids get to come in the kitchen and make cookies from scratch on Sundays, and we always offer to make fancy treats for school parties. My husband lets them grill out with him, and guess what? They like steak, too! Now my girl AND boys love to cook so we spend weekends cooking together as a family.