Proud Moments

Summer vacation is the time for fun and no school activities at all in our home.  It's the only time my kids get to do things that no text books could teach them.  Besides letting them learn while we travel, this year I decided that my younger daughter is old enough to learn some real cooking.  In the past, she has been helping her sister here and there to bake or chop food but has never really learned how to cook by herself.

Since they both are old enough to do chores, I asked both of my kids to pick one or two days to cook dinner for the family this summer.  When my older kid was young, she eagerly offered to learn to cook and bake, but I ended up spending more time to clean up and complete the job.  I knew it was part of learning process and I had to be patient to wait for the fruitful day.  Surely, my older kid is very helpful now.  Whenever I don't feel like cooking or want some cookies, she is willing and able to do it for me.  Now that I have to start with my younger daughter, I feel like history is repeating itself and I must be patient to do it all over again.  It 's time for me to plant another seed, so that I can enjoy the fruitful tree later on.

Tonight is the first night she's making dinner.  I have purposely saved some easy to cook ingredients for her for her first real cooking.  I was not in the kitchen with her while she prepared the ingredients but verbally guided her whenever she asked questions. The only time I went in there was to guide her on how to cook.  As I was waiting for her to heat up the oil, I noticed that she had a bowl sitting in the sink with all the trash ready to be thrown out (that was from a previous training while she learned how to chop food).  I was surprised that she was very organized and able to work on a limited counter space.  I complimented her being so clean and it was funny that she thought I was teasing her.  In the next scene you would see a mother trying to show the little girl not to be afraid of the splashing of the oil and how to cook with protection, and a girl cracking and beating eggs with the mother waiting by the stove.
 
A few minutes later, she's ready to dish out the food, and I was very impressed that she didn't even need my help to dish it out from the hot pan.  I am glad she has learned how to cook meat and vegetables.  That's very important to me because I do not want to have another sandwich for lunch or dinner.  She has been making salmon sandwiches these days when it's her turn to make food.  It was great that I was able to show her the proper way to make Chinese food.
 

I must say she's very efficient with her way of doing things.  From peeling the shrimp to finishing cooking, she made these two dishes within an hour.  These were the master pieces she made tonight and we were all proud of her.  They were so delicious and I am just glad that she has a good start.
 

Shrimp with Chives

Chinese Mustard Green With Oyster Sauce

I honestly was pleasantly surprised to see that she was able to go through most of the cooking process by herself and that the kitchen was not a mess.  Now I am sure I will have a great summer since I have two wonderful helpers at home.