How to Start a Father's Day Cooking Tradition

Many families have a father who is a gourmand. While he may not always have time to cook during the week, he is renowned for whipping up delectable treats on the weekends. It's not unusual for children to want to spend some time in the kitchen with Dad, learning to work edible magic like he does. If Dad is very busy, he may only have time to cook on holidays. If this is the case in your family, you should start a Father's Day cooking tradition.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Get together with Dad a week in advance of Father's Day, and plan a menu. You can choose to cook one meal together that day or every meal.
2. Bond with Dad ahead of time by going shopping for groceries for the big day with him. Use this opportunity to let him tell cooking stories of times past and reminisce about how he learned to cook.
3. Have a family meeting a day ahead of time to designate jobs to everyone. Make a chart, if necessary. This way, things will be less chaotic in the kitchen when you all start cooking.
4. Use the time you spend cooking to enjoy each other's company. The whole point of a Father's Day cooking tradition is to spend quality time together as a family. Laugh, tell jokes and stories and catch up on each other's lives. You'll have a lot more fun this way and will treasure the memory of the day in the future.
5. Sit down as a family to eat the foods you've all cooked with Dad. Talk about what you've enjoyed about the day, what you'd like to try cooking in the future and what you've learned about cooking from Dad.
6. Repeat this ritual every Father's Day to establish a treasured tradition for your family.

Tips & Warnings

• While children under the age of 6 may not be able to do much actual food preparation or cooking, they can still help out with your new family tradition. Let small children do simple tasks like mixing batters, pouring liquids or washing pots and pans.
• If you're planning on cooking a lot of different foods, start early in the day and take plenty of breaks between dishes. This way, you'll finish at a reasonable hour, everyone will get fed on time and nobody will get tired.
• Don't let any child under the age of 12 use a stovetop or oven unsupervised and never let any child under the age of 10 use a sharp knife in the kitchen.