Cooking with Caroline

Some of my favorite childhood memories are those that took place in the kitchen working side-by-side with my mom turning whatever was in-season, into a meal. These days, Caroline joins me more often than not when I am in the kitchen. I love watching her as she grows increasingly confident in her cooking skills and adventurous in tasting and smelling food. After making blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning (our weekly tradition), Caroline and I made a batch of hummus. I put the ingredients and our cooking tools on the table and we went to work. When we cook together, we share tasks. I measured the tahini (6 tablespoons), water (1/4 cup), salt (1/2 teaspoon), and olive oil (2 tablespoons). Caroline poured and stirred. We took turns squeezing lemons for juice (3 tablespoons), pressing one clove of garlic through a press, and grinding the cumin (1/4 teaspoon). After all of the ingredients were prepped, we moved on to the Cuisinart, which hands-down, is Caroline's favorite small kitchen appliance. We start by processing the chickpeas (1 cup), garlic, salt, and cumin together for about 15 seconds. Then we add the liquids. Caroline loves to press the big, grey buttons (start and stop) while I push the mix of olive oil, lemon juice, water, and tahini through the top. We process the hummus until it is smooth and creamy and then turn it out into a bowl. Served with whole wheat pita bread and carrot sticks, it makes a great snack.