Photo by Judy Sobeloff

Last month I wrote about Carol Spurling (former Co-op newsletter editor and new Co-op outreach and membership coordinator), specifically her ideas for facing that accursed late-afternoon parental dilemma: “Got any ideas for dinner?” “No, hadn’t thought about it yet…”

As Carol is a self-described “enthusiastic cook” (whereas I hail more from the “what, again?!” school, shocked anew by each impending meal), I thought we might all benefit if I followed up this month with more of Carol’s day-saving ideas.

As the name of her new website (www.kids-in-the-kitchen.net) makes clear, Carol finds, paradoxically, that on those days when “I am just not in the running for the best parent award (and) someone—I won’t say who—complains about anything and everything... the last thing I want to do is invite any young person to hang out with me while I fix dinner, even the one I love. Yet that is exactly what I need to do to save the day. On bad days we need a little coddling and a little distraction, and how better to do it than by seeking refuge in the kitchen...? His enthusiasm for cooking—it’s all new for him—really gives me a lift. The rest of the evening usually goes much more smoothly after this.”

While Carol acknowledges that incorporating one’s kids into cooking can seem like a “should,” she says, “It’s one of those ‘shoulds’ that has quick rewards. For instance, with learning to make pancakes, Reed wants to flip those pancakes. At first I was really nervous about that, and he made a mess a couple of times, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly. Now I don’t have to get up from the table to do it—he gets up and does it. This doesn’t have to be a big deal, either,” she adds. “I can just have him come in for five minutes to whisk something.”

She cautions, however, “Obviously, if you’ve got a 2-year-old, it’s going to be a little while before those rewards come. You have to use your judgment about what they’re capable of.”

Thinking about how this works with my own family, I agreed with Carol that when the kids help make the food, we usually all enjoy eating it more and our spirits do lift.

With that in mind, I’m including two basic kid-friendly recipes for treats I’ve made often with my children or as a child, pumpkin pie and banana bread. This month, at my 4½-year-old’s insistence, we made pumpkin pie from actual pumpkins he’d picked at the WSU Organic Farm, instead of using ye olde puree from a can. Even though we were missing a few key ingredients, and had to substitute Egg Replacer powder for eggs, he would not be thwarted, insisting, “I am making pumpkin pie right now!” Despite the lumps, we were all pleased with the results for both pie and crustless pudding.

Banana bread is the closest I come to having a family recipe: I first made this one to earn a cooking badge in Girl Scouts, and, as best I can remember, my family has made it for Thanksgiving every year since. Rather than use an implement for mashing the bananas, my mother always encouraged us to squish the bananas with our hands—a good way, she thought, to “get our feelings out”—perhaps her own form of saving the day.

In addition to the Co-op newsletter, Carol has written regular food columns for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Spokesman Review; her “Kids in the Kitchen” column currently appears in three newspapers, and she’s hoping it will be syndicated by more. As this means she can’t publish her column on her website for free, Carol charges a $9.95 annual membership for access to her column’s archives, though the new column which appears biweekly is available to everyone. As I’ve found Carol’s food columns not merely edifying but consistently amusing and heartwarming as well, might I suggest (rather than the traditional pairings of wines with entrees, as at a fine restaurant) that readers with appetites for great family-food ideas consider checking Carol’s site regularly to read her latest column, or better yet, becoming members.

PUMPKIN PIE

1 pie crust (homemade or frozen from the Co-op)

3 eggs (or substitute Egg Replacer)

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch salt

2 cups canned or fresh pumpkin puree or cooked (see below)

2 cups half-and-half, light cream, whole milk or milk alternative

Optional: if using a pie pumpkin, cut off top and scrape out stringy insides and seeds. (Set aside seeds for roasting or planting.) Cut pumpkin in half and place face up on baking sheet. Bake about 1 hour at 350 or until pumpkin is soft. When cool, scrape pumpkin pulp from skin and either puree in blender or by hand. Beat the eggs with the sugar, then add the spices and salt. Stir in the pumpkin puree and then milk/cream of choice.  Place the pie plate on a baking sheet. Pour this mixture into the crust and bake 30-40 minutes, until the filling is starting to get firm but is still moist. Cool on a rack. The filling may firm up further after pie is refrigerated.

NOTE: We went for speed, using a frozen crust from the Co-op, substituting multiple ingredients, and hand-mixing the puree. Extra filling can be baked without a crust in an oven-proof baking dish as Pumpkin Pudding. For gluten-, egg-, and dairy-free pumpkin pudding, simply use Egg Replacer and the milk alternative (e.g. rice milk, soy milk) of your choice.

BANANA BREAD

½ cup margarine or butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3-4 mashed bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts

Cream margarine/butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix. Add bananas. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda. Add vanilla and optional nuts. Put in greased pans halfway full. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until firm with a crack on top.