Mashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving: From Scratch, or From a Box?

I love mashed potatoes, and so do my children.  When it's Thanksgiving, you can't seem to put enough of them on the table, and so it makes sense to help older children learn about the process of making their own mashed potatoes.  However, some of the preparation is beyond the manual skills of younger children.  While my 9-10 year olds can handle a butter knife, I'm not quite comfortable with their skills at peeling and paring.  My 12 and up crew are fine, for handling potato peeling, and as well, are capable of working at the stove to boil.  Ages 14 and up, I'm confident, can drain hot liquid from the cooked potatoes, and can use the hand mixer to mash. 

For an easier alternative, if I want to include my younger children in making mashed potatoes, I defer to a box.  The other reason for this choice, when I make it, is time or space constraints.  It's much faster to boil water and add flakes, isn't it?  While it may feel like cheating, in a busy society, sometimes a Mom needs to buy herself some time!

For ages 4-10, this is a great way to work on measuring skills, and for the upper end of that age group, to work on calculations.  While the 4 year old may need a little help pouring a cup of liquid, it's still a way to include that youngster in the process.  Count outloud as you go.  If you are heating the liquids on the stovetop, the youngster will need to stand back, a bit, but once the liquids are ready, you can remove the pan to the table, and allow your child to add the potato flakes, and to stir.  This is a quick process, takes only a little time to allow your child to participate, and provides the chance for your youngster to shine, when you proudly announce their work on the dish to your guests.

Kids in the Kitchen: Thanksgiving Planning and Cautions

Kids love to help with Thanksgiving dinner preparation, but on the big day, they are sometimes underfoot, and it's not as easy to take time to include children in all of your Thanksgiving activities.  However, it's still important that the interested child have the chance to help...after all, that youngster will be your greatest ally someday, as a key helper, or main chef! 

There are many side dishes and desserts that can be prepared ahead of the big Thanksgiving feast.  Cool Whip Fruit Salads are easy, and only require opening of cans, defrosting of Cool Whip.  A child of age 4, and up, can dump ingredients into a bowl, and may be able to stir some.  A 6-7 year old will be able to stir appropriately, and by age 8, your child can probably operate an electric can opener.  By age 10, your youngster will be able to completely assemble that Cool Whip fruit salad, and at age 12, should be able to tell you the ingredients needed at the store.  If you begin from early years with that youngster in the kitchen, on this one simple dish, you will find that by the teen years, he or she can even improvise a little bit.

Pie preparation is a bit challenging for children, but from age 4, and up, most children can easily pour a given pre-measured ingredient into a bowl.  Ages 8 and up should be able to measure most ingredients.  Ages 12 and up should be able to prepare the filling for pies, with some supervision, and by age 14, a child is usually capable of preparing fillings without supervision.  If the child has helped with pie crusts, it's possible that the 14 year old may also be able to make a crust, but I know many adults who have trouble making crusts from scratch, so a pre-made crust is a great way to enable the teen to make the full pie!

Hot foods can be dangerous for younger children to help with, and I reserve the helping with these items for teenagers only.  Cutting depends on the child, but again, this is generally reserved for my teens to help with.  Thanksgiving Day food preparation for younger children can include arrangement of a relish tray, placing crackers and cheeses, and other appetizers on plates, and setting of the table. 

Including your younger children in the days preceding Thanksgiving Dinner will allow them to learn about working in the kitchen, and providing helpful things that they can do on the actual day of the celebration keeps them busy, and helps them to participate in the excitement of the activity.

Traditional American Pies

Fannie Farmer

One of my favorite family fun activities, when it comes to our Thanksgiving Menu, is trying recipes for traditional American pies.  My Fannie Farmer Baking Book is my main go-to resource, and my favorite, to date, is Shoefly Pie.  My least favorite is Vinegar Pie.  Simple ingredients are used in many of these pie recipes, achieving favorite flavors of sweet and sour.  The vinegar pie is too sour for me.  The shoefly, fun because of its name.

If you are hunting for a copy of the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, Amazon Used books is one possible source, as I don't believe it is in print, at this time.  You can also try Fannie Farmer Cookbooks (click the photo above for current pricing and details).  You may also want to investigate The Fannie Farmer Junior Cookbook for Kindle.

Pie Crust: From Scratch, or Store Bought?

Pies of all sorts don the Thanksgiving Menu of most families, and children love to watch the process of baking pies.  If your childhood was anything like mine, you loved watching Mom mix the dough, roll it out, and turn out several beautiful pie crusts.  However, I didn't learn by osmosis, and I never made the pies, just mixed the fillings.  I don't make very good pie crusts.  I try, but with minimal success.  I couldn't tell the difference between flaky and tough if my life depended on it.  Still, I feel guilty at the costs of store bought pie crusts, and waver back and forth...do I or don't I make my own crusts?

My perspective has become more that it's okay to have an imperfect pie crust, and to provide a fun experience for the kids, and myself.  Some years, that means I make the best from scratch crusts that I can, and let the kids help.  Some years, that means that my teenagers get to try their hands at making crusts.  Some years, it means saving myself time, and splurging on fancy Marie Calendar's crusts.  There isn't a rule, other than the unwritten one, of trying a multitude of interesting pie recipes, eating too much pie through the next week, and bonding with my youngsters in culinary adventures.  My Thanksgiving Menu must, at all costs, include lots of laughs and love!

Traditional, or Traditions? Thanksgiving Menus mean Fun!

When you have a houseful of family around for Thanksgiving, it's inevitable that the kids are going to want to join the activity in the kitchen.  There's a big balancing act for the cook in charge, as youngsters don't always have the dexterity and understanding needed to help effectively, but in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, they really want to participate.  Meanwhile, as the individual responsible for the outcome, you as the cook may be pressed for time, and concerned for quality.

Opportunity to participate in the kitchen work that leads to that Traditional Thanksgiving Meal gives youngsters hands on experience that they will remember for a lifetime.  They may not learn to make the perfect pie crust by osmosis, but they will never forget the energy and excitement of watching it all happen.  The sights and smells don't require a video camera...they are etched on the heart.  To that end, this blog, "Thanksgiving Menu Fun for Families" is dedicated to sharing tips and tricks for getting the kids in on the action, from planning, to shopping, to preparing.  Who knows...the experiences may produce that next food personality, who has an idea for every occasion, and a flavor combination to match!