6 Things Kids Should Know How to Cook Before They Leave Home

What foods should kids know how to cook before leaving home?

Now that I have a son leaving for college in August and a high school age daughter heading off for a fall semester in Israel, I’ve been thinking about the state of their kitchen abilities, and what cooking skills they should master before they leave home.

Have I taught them enough to be self-sufficient eaters when they are on their own? Are there a few basic dishes that every child should be able to master before they leave home?

This is the topic of my latest article at the Washington Post.

 

Our 18-year-old son, Solomon, who is already pretty capable in the kitchen, told me that one of his goals for the summer is to learn new cooking skills before he leaves for college. He has volunteered to cook at least one meal a week for the family, and is already perusing cookbooks to find dishes he’d like to master. His recent successes were baked onion rings, French toast, chorizo and potato hash and Buffalo chicken sandwiches.

To our delight, he often gathers with friends at our house or theirs to cook or bake—just the other night he had two friends over to make banana bread, which they did while cheerfully chatting and grooving to Spanish music blasting from their phones through our speaker in the kitchen.

Read my entire article over at the Washington Post, including the top six foods I think kids should be able to cook before they leave home and the tools they should have in their starter kitchens. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it, too!

 

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