If there was anything I really wanted to add to the recent food theme, it would have been a post on the joys of cooking with children. Fortunate for me, I do not mind my children joining me in preparing our food :: for a meal that day or to enjoy at a later date.

We share the labor, they learn skills, I practice patience {yes, it is easier to can applesauce by myself}, I share stories from my childhood & how I hosted ‘cooking shows’ in my mother’s kitchen, and we in general have so much fun. I try to find ways for each child, even my 2.5 year old son, to participate in meal preparations. Not everyday, mind you, but often during the week. It’s a memorable time.

Applesauce this year was interesting as I used whatever the children picked. Um, yeah. I tried to keep them in the Smokehouse and Honeycrisp rows {what we used last year}, but some Cortlands & McIntosh are in the mix as well. And maybe an Empire or two. It tasted great warm, we’ll see what our opinion is in a few months!