My daughter Miss 8’s first post on Must read cookbooks for kids was so popular, we just had to have her back for another go. And with Junior Masterchef hotting up in Australia, there’s bound to be a surge in sales of their branded cooking kits for kids. Did I really see that one of the contestants is already in an ad for peas? Anyway that’s another topic for another post. But what really are the practical tools for kids in the kitchen? What to do if your kids are too young for your Global, but too old for the butter knife? Let’s see what she has to say (unedited of course):
Hi it’s Miss 8 and I’m here to show you parents and dietitians the best usentials for kids. I will take you through some of the best ones and how to use them. Come with me on the usensial ride.
Silicon cookery
Silicon cookery is great because you can use it forever and ever. e.g The silicon patty pans last forever because they are rubbery and you can take the cupcakes out of the cases easily. Also there are scrapers which are good for a lot of things. But it’s very good in scraping all the mixture to make perfect pancakes.
Kids chopsticks
Kids chopsticks are excellent because they have the two parts of the chopstick going up and into a little animal. They are really easy because you just can clip them together easily. They are fabulous for sushi and noodles. They are very, very, very easy to use. I’ve been doing them since I was 2.
Source: fireworksgallery.net via Sage on Pinterest
Non-hurt knife
This knife is very good because it is plastic and when you run your finger on the blade it does not hurt. It’s very good for chopping up things and you would think that it wouldn’t cut sharp things, but it can. I can chop Perino tomatoes, kiwi fruit, potatoes, canteloupe (for fruit kebabs), carrots, apples and lucky last bananas. Even my brother can chop tomatoes. I love Perino tomatoes. I eat them when I cook.
Source: amazon.com via Spry on Pinterest
Spaghetti measurer
The spaghetti measurer is excellent because you can measure how many people you need. It goes from 1 to 4 and you can have 1 1/2 and 21/2 and 3 1/2 also. The brand is Joseph Joseph. On the thing you move it has a little dot to show you where you are.
Apple slinky machine
My mum has just come back from a very busy trip in Sydney doing lots of work. She got me back something and it was an apple peeler, corer, slicer. You can make slinkys with your cucumber, potato, apples and oranges. It is very fun and easy to set up. Where the pointy bit is you stick your apple in and spin the handle and it does it. My brother (master 5) has been using it all afternoon. On the weekend Mummy, Master 5 and I are going to make potatoes out of the slinky machine and then put the potatoes in the oven and then have crispy slinkys. Mummy will send twitter and Facebook a photo of my crispy slinky. I think that with my slinky machine it could change how my brother and kids that don’t like apples or the other veggies think that it’s a different fruit from another country that they haven’t seen. It would be funny if my brother called the crispy slinkys, slinky chippys.
Editor’s note:
Thank you my darling Miss….there are so many other things to share, but we must save them for another time. I just want to add that a stool is handy too! The serrated salad knife is by Zyliss and widely available. And for those dietitians who will probably ask, YES, you can set the slinky to leave the apple peel on. We’d love to hear other tips in the comments. What equipment do you use with kids in the kitchen? How to you handle the hot stuff or the sharp stuff? Got any links to great kid cooking sites? Any recipes to share? I know a litle girl who will be very happy to hear from you below.