Summer holiday cooking ideas

As a child, the summer holidays offer 6 weeks of endless possibility, adventure and opportunity. For parents, however, it is an entirely different story. The thought of keeping your children occupied for 6 long weeks can be a daunting prospect, there are only so many imaginative enemies you can defeat or fairy tale tea parties you can attend.

Eating and cooking is something that we all do everyday. It is a fundamental life skill that is essential to master in order to gain independence when moving away from home. Even though that might be a distant thought for many parents, basic cooking skills can be taught from an early age. Not only does it give understanding and knowledge to develop when children are older, it is also a fun, entertaining and engaging activity to do together.

There are many recipes that are child proof and can be made with the help of little hands. Butterfly cakes are a good introduction into baking. A simple flour, egg, sugar, butter and baking powder recipe comes together and bakes quickly. Scoop out a small amount from the centre of the cooled cakes and fill the hole with butter cream. Cut the scooped out semicircle in half to give two butterfly wings, before sticking them upside down and facing outwards in the butter cream. A yummy recipe that can be adapted to any flavour, and fool proof enough to survive the inevitable egg shells that will fall in!

Pizza pinwheels are a guaranteed hit with children. This is less of a recipe and more of an assembly of ingredients, making it stress free and straightforward. Spread a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry onto a board and cover with a thin layer of pasaata. Sprinkle on cheese and any other pizza topping of choice, ham, sliced olives and tomatoes all work well. Roll up the pastry sheet, lengthways into a tight coil. Slice the roll into 1 inch pieces and lay flat before baking until golden and crispy.

A few tips to help make it easier in the kitchen with little hands:

•If you are new to cooking with children, make sure that they are constantly supervised and aren’t handling sharp knives or pots and pans on a hot stove or oven.

•Having an apron on your child can prevent spills and stains on clothes.

•Put your child on a stool and have them level with the counter for easy access to pouring and measuring.

•Buy a child safe knife from amazon that lets them cut soft vegetables and fruits but isn’t sharp enough to cut them.

As always there are a number of DBS checked, professional chefs at Galor who would love to come into your home and guide you and your child through an interactive cooking workshop. The chefs are more than happy to cater to any dietary needs, special requests and groups, so it is a great way to get friends involved too! Get in touch via email to find out more.