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Oh, to bake an alligator pie

SIRI AGRELL

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 11:56 AM EDT 11/06/07

Parents can add cooking classes to the list of after-school activities for the hungry minds of young foodies ...Read the full article

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  1. gord winters from Canada writes: wow, kids are getting duller and duller, younger and younger.

    wouldn't it be great to meet a 4 year old drinking merlot and quoting sylvia plath is a world weary manner while we all lounged on the italian riviera....

    does anyone else find this crap tasteless and tiresome?
  2. All Grown Up from Toronto, Canada writes: Gord: Would you rather have these children hanging out at the mall, or taking gun classes, sitting in front of the TV for hours on end, eating three meals a day at McD's...?

    That children and their parents are taking an early interest in food is a very positive sign. Childhood obesity is a documented problem in this country. Knowledge about food, and how to prepare it, is a major step in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
  3. Simon Cutler from Montreal, Canada writes: One of the advantages I had growing up was being raised by my grandparents rather than my parents. My grandad was a WWI veteran, and my grandmother had been a vaudeville performer "in her day". Both felt that I should be able to "take care of myself". As a result, when I joined the military after graduating university I already knew how to launder and press my clothing, prepare meals for larger groups, clean and maintain physical accommodation etcetera. I didn't marry a "domestic goddess". Rather, I married a woman so completely inept at domestic anything that I resolved that my sons - at least - would grow up to be able to care for themselves. So I taught them myself what I had learned from my grandparents. My sons are both married now - to women as unlike their own mother as is imagineable. My grandsons are being taught the same lessons I passed along to my sons. There is nothing QUITE as pitiful as a grown male who needs to be taken care of. Increasingly, such males are doomed to lives lived in squalor, as fewer and fewer females seem inclined to master domestic skills these days. Bottom line - in life, you gotta learn to clean up your own $hit, 'cuz it ain't nobody else's responsibility. There is nothing "feminine" about pressing clothes, laundering, cooking. There IS something very masculine about "independence" and the ability to "do it for yourself". PLUS, when you CAN, you pretty much get your pick of whatever birds might strike your fancy.
  4. Sally Sousa from Vancouver, Canada writes: I think Gord would like to see them riding their bikes around the neighbourhood and playing with matches. I agree with Simon, the ability to care for oneself is, paradoxically, a very desireable trait in a partner. My brother and I learned to do the laundry and clean and cook breakfast on weekends from a very early age. I think that an interest in healthy, well-prepared food is important for children -- look at the crap that is on children's menus: frozen chicken fingers, fries, burgers. Many of the children I know would rather eat off the adult menu that eat this dull, prosaic, trailer-park food.
  5. mbb . from United Kingdom writes: would just like to say that i was one of those children who loved to cook - in fact one of my major "family contributions" growing up was to prepare dinner a few nights a week - great for my parents and it sure beat taking out the garbage - and it has paid off...for one I am able to cook, delicious and healthy meals for myself and friends, knowing how to cook has not only helped me to keep a healthy weight, I also regularly throw dinner parties for friends and feel no nervousness in inviting others over for a quick dinner. Just last night a few of my friends and I got together, 2 of us cook, 1 didn't and he spent most of the night bemoaning his lack of culinary knowledge.

    cooking is a means of showing others how you care for them, we teach children too little of this skill - as a grad student I can tell you that it is wonderful to be able to care for my friends in a way that shares my love and fills their stomachs...

    (oh and as for boring children, i was involved in school govt, played sports, was involved in vocal music and I am now in grad school, so you can be well rounded and cook...)

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