AT THE STOVE Baking with children teaches lessons in love and faith

Whether you're making slice-and-bake cookies or baking bread from scratch, experts say that spending time in the kitchen with children can be rewarding.

"I strongly believe that it is important to pass tradition and heritage to one's children," said Ann Ball, author of "Catholic Traditions in Cooking" (Our Sunday Visitor Press). "For this very reason, I baked bread, canned tomatoes and made jelly with my children.

"Today, we buy these items at the grocery store and don't make them at home on a regular basis. My children, however, understand the specialness of the homemade products. They can feel a closeness to their ancestors who had no handy supermarket just down the street. If I have done nothing better, I am proud of this small bit of knowledge I have passed on to them."

Bread of life

"He asked what we were doing," she recalled. "On being told we were baking bread, he refused to believe that it could be made at home. I found this sad as well as funny."

Cooking and baking with children can teach important faith-based lessons, she believes. "It teaches respect for God's gifts and respect for the labor that goes into the food we buy," Mrs. Ball said. "You can teach a lot of lessons just by being with them."

Holiday traditions

"Sometimes, it takes more time when the kids are involved," Mrs. Snyder admitted. "But letting the kids help cook, plan and prepare for celebrations gives them a sense of accomplishment, a sense of being a contributing part of the family. Even the youngest can pour, stir and sprinkle. Mixing things like ordinary flour, milk and eggs, and then watching them turn into a cake can be an exciting thing for curious, questioning, learning children."

Letting a child assist in the kitchen can also be an opportunity to talk about religion, she said. While baking with a child, she suggests telling them that "the Christ child helped Mary in the kitchen and ran errands."

Food of world

"We had fun going to a store that had imported foods and finding a food or vegetable that we'd never seen and trying it," she said.

Through trying food of different ethnic groups, Mrs. Ball tried to teach her children about the similarities of cultures.

Commonality

(Mrs. Ball's book is available for $15.95 plus $3.95 shipping/handling by calling 800-348-2440. Mrs. Snyder's book is available through Liguori Publications for $9.95 by calling 1-800-325-9521, code 4019.)

(11-27-97) [[In-content Ad]]