Cooking Together and Creating a Personalized Cookbook
SUBMITTED BY: Paula Armentrout
LAST UPDATED: May 14, 2006

My little, Alexis, loves to cook.  She is very analytical and creative, so cooking is fun for her because we talk about math, chemistry and, although it's a sensitive topic, I do discuss nutrition and health.  She takes great pride in her culinary skills. I now call her the chef and I am her “sous-chef.”

We cook in the winter time, generally, when our choices for outside activities are limited. We share the cost of all the ingredients so we generally decide on the phone what we'll make, and divide up the shopping list.  Then, we go to store and buy the missing ingredients as soon as I pick her up.

Everything we make is from scratch and we make extra so she can take home to her grandmother and sister.

Her Favorite Recipes So Far Are:

• Homemade pizza (she loves making the crust)
• Homemade popcorn -- she had no idea popcorn could be made from scratch vs. microwave bags
• Surf & Turf salad -- we had to make extra for her neighbor
• Homemade low-fat cinnamon rolls

Personalized Cookbook

After we make a dish, if she likes it, then I copy the recipe onto a recipe template I've created on my computer for her and decorate it with clipart and fun borders and we put it in the back section of the scrapbook we made together in the designated "Recipe section".  She then has the recipe and can make them for her friends and family, which she has done.