OSU Extension Office
Tommie James
When the wooden recipe box or the cookbook with the tattered, stained pages opens to a favorite recipe, the kitchen will soon be filled with familiar smells and nostalgic feelings.
Families keep traditions alive through recipes handed down to each new generation, and creating memories together in the kitchen is important, said Lisa Hamblin, Oklahoma State University Extension family and consumer sciences educator in Oklahoma County.
“We retain those memories because we use all of our senses in the kitchen,” Hamblin said. “Food is a big part of family celebrations, including birthdays and holidays, and people often think about the food that went along with the celebration and recall the positive memories created. For many people, food memories are the strongest associative memories we have.”
When enticing the senses, memories become engrained. The smell of cinnamon can take a person back to their grandmother’s kitchen when she was making cinnamon rolls. The taste of chocolate frosting can trigger the memory of a special birthday cake. For Hamblin, it’s the picture in her mind of her grandmother frying apples.
“I can still visualize and hear those apple slices sizzling in the cast iron pan. Grandma’s secret ingredient was bacon fat. I’m thankful my mom has that recipe and put it in the church cookbook so it can live on.”
Parents and grandparents can foster the love of cooking and develop a strong bond with children and grandchildren by teaching them how to prepare their favorite family recipes. Hamblin said cooking together is a wonderful hands-on activity that results in tasty food to eat and creates memories among generations.
“Parents and grandparents can create food-related memories with the younger generation by reading fun books such as ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ or ‘Stone Soup,’” Hamblin said. “After reading the books, create those recipes in the kitchen.”
There are many educational benefits to cooking, including math and chemistry. Baking bread is a fun activity that helps children learn the chemistry of yeast and leavening. They learn math when they measure ingredients. Reading is also involved when reading the recipes.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends getting children involved in the kitchen with age-appropriate skills.
“There are things in the kitchen that children as young as 3 years old can accomplish, said Jenni Klufa, OSU Extension associate state specialist for youth nutrition programs.
“Research shows kids who participate in the kitchen and help with grocery shopping are more likely to try nutritious foods,” Klufa said. “Cooking can help build their confidence. When they enjoy spending time in the kitchen doing age-appropriate tasks, it will grow their interest in learning about traditional family recipes and passing them down to generations to come.”
Children aged 3-5 can wash fruits and vegetables in the sink, brush cooking oil on vegetables and breads and use cookie cutters. Six to 7-year-olds with more developed fine motor skills can use a peeler to peel potatoes, break eggs into a bowl, snap green beans or shuck corn. Opening cans with a can opener, beating eggs, juicing a lemon and checking the temperature of meat with a food thermometer are age-appropriate skills for children aged 8 and 9. Pre-teens can boil pasta, microwave foods, follow a simple recipe, slice/chop fruits and vegetables, simmer ingredients on the stove and bake foods in the oven.
OSU Extension offers many kid-friendly recipes through the Kik It Up! program that encourages parents, grandparents and other caregivers to come together in the kitchen to create fun, tasty foods.
Pam Richardson comes from a long line of cooks who have passed down recipes to younger generations. When her son married a few years ago, she wanted to share those recipes with her new daughter-in-law.
She prepared many of the family’s favorite recipes, took pictures of the cooking and baking processes, and using an online vendor, created a cookbook.
“There are stories to go along with the photos and recipes that give more information on the origin of the recipe and the family member whose recipe it was,” Richardson said. “Many of those family members passed years ago, and my daughter-in-law never had a chance to meet them. This book helps her learn more about our family history and enjoy the foods that are important to our family. Now she’ll be able to share those recipes with my granddaughters.”
Hamblin said the holiday season is a great opportunity to spend time in the kitchen with the younger generation, baking cookies and other traditional family favorites.
“There probably will be sugar and flour all over the kitchen, but that’s all part of the fun and creating the memories.”