I was struck by how the book, The Geometry of Pasta, by Jacob Kenedy reminded me of the kids’ books that feature black on white images. Young children are often mesmerized by contrasting black and white images, and there are several titles for sale on Amazon. I recently purchased Look, Look! for my new baby on the way, and I might try this pasta book out too. Granted, the subtleties of pasta shapes might not be as captivating to a young child as black-and-white flowers, fish, cats and cars, but it is worth a try.

With that said, The Geometry of Pasta cookbook would be a great addition to any cookbook collection. It has an elegant look with great graphic design. Also, the book jacket opens up into a nice poster of various pasta shapes that can be used as a pasta learning tool for the kids. You can see an image of the poster here.

If you are interested, you can check out The Geometry of Pasta website to get a better idea of what’s in the book. They have different pages with pasta shapes, recipes from the book, and the video below. The video is rather interesting, and I love the stark shapes and minimalist instruction — though it does go rather quickly at times.

The creative design of the book was done by co-author Caz Hildebrand of Here Design, and the technical drawings were done by Lisa Vandy, who is the Creative Partner at Now Ware. Lisa Vandy has designed similarly styled products for the Hairy Bikers to include this neat tea towel. There is also apparently a similar tea towel for the Geometry of Pasta that is soon to be sold. I really like the idea of these black-and-white tea towels, but I must say that I prefer the Hairy Biker one. It has more recognizable kitchen objects on it.

Of course, I can’t find the towel available in the US, but maybe I will look into having it shipped from the UK. The book can be purchased from Amazon for $16.50.

I’ve been thinking about buying a dwarf Meyer lemon tree for the house. I used to have a lime tree several years back, and I think another citrus tree would be a great plant to have around for kids. There is just something magical about seeing citrus trees grow bright colored fruit.

Sure, kids don’t usually care for the taste of tart lemons, but I think this is even more of a reason to get a lemon tree. They can appreciate lemons in a different way before their taste develops. Meyer lemons are also sweeter and less acidic, so if there is one lemon that might appeal to kids, this might be it.

Raising a fruit tree is also a great lesson on growing food and a nice change of pace from regular veggies. During the winter months you can also teach about pollination. Since there are fewer or no bugs in the winter, you can pollinate the tree yourself using a paint brush. I think that would be a great activity to learn about plants and nature.

When buying lemon trees, try to buy a tree that is 2-3 years old. They will cost you about $40-50, but will also provide a better start for flowering and bearing fruit. There are many sites on the internet that sell dwarf Meyer lemon trees and other citrus plants, so shop around. Four Winds Growers, however, seems to have good prices and also offers winter shipping for $5 extra. Other growers only ship at certain times during the year.

Of course, you will also need to learn how to care for the fruit tree, especially if you reside outside the growing zones normally associated with citrus fruits. But that can be the fun part too. There are many resources on the internet to give guidance, and if you choose the right tree, it can be a great household plant. And by the way, kumquats are also easy to grow and make good house plants.

Even though Alessi products can be on the expensive side, I love their whimsical items. Most of their kitchen products aren’t necessarily made for kids, but the colors and design often appeal to them. One item in particular is this Bunny & Carrot Roll Holder for paper towels.

A paper towel holder is a rather mundane object in the kitchen, but the playfulness of this product really sets it apart. The designer, Stefano Giovannoni, with his ‘zoomorphic’ design style regularly incorporates animals and primary colors into common objects.

If you want to brighten up your kitchen with a playful paper towel holder, this would be a good option. The only drawback might be that your child will want to play with it instead.

You can purchase the Bunny & Carrot, Kitchen Roll Holder for $60 from Alessi. There are several different color combinations, but of course the carrot is always orange.

Cooking sous vide is a relatively new technique for the home cook. Essentially, you vacuum seal food in plastic bags and cook it in a controlled-temperature water bath until done. I won’t go into detail about the cooking process, but with a home version made by SousVide Supreme available along with the smaller SousVide Demi, I am starting to think that this appliance would be a good cooking tool to use with kids.

Think about it. A five-year-old might have a difficult time cooking a steak on the stove, but with the SousVide Supreme, it is actually pretty easy. Kids can help season the food, put it in the bag, and then what child wouldn’t like using the vacuum sealer?  Setting the cooking temperature and time is just a matter of punching in numbers, and after that you just wait. You don’t have to worry about flames, hot burners or pans, or oil splatters. It would also be a good way to teach your child about food safety and how that relates to temperature. Of course, a lot of sous vide cooking also involves browning and searing after the water bath, but kids can play a big part in preparing dishes that are usually left until they are a bit older.

Just watch this video on the SousVide Supreme blog where a young kid instructs on how to cook steak sous vide with a vacuum sealer. It looks pretty simple.

The SousVide Supreme Demi is a slightly smaller version of the larger Supreme model. Apparently, the Demi holds about 60% the capacity of the regular model, but can still cook 12 four-ounce portions. The Demi also comes in a variety of colors, and in terms of countertop space, it will take up about the same space as a crock pot.

Of course this appliance comes with a pretty steep price tag of $300 for the Demi and $450 for the regular Supreme, and you also need to purchase a vacuum sealer. This product is not for everyone, and I also have some caveats (or warnings).

Firstly, when buying an appliance such as this one, the home cook should learn to use it properly. Under-cooked food no matter how it is prepared can make people sick. Secondly, some people are very concerned about cooking food in plastics. If you are worried about this, then you may want to research it further before investing in such a product.

Lastly, other sous vide equipment does exist on the market such as the Sous Vide Magic. These set-ups involve using a container such as a crock pot along with a temperature controller. They are fine for adult cooks, but I would not recommend this gear for kids. The beauty of the SousVide Supreme is its simplicity both in terms of operating it and its set up, and there are no cords and probes to worry about.

With that said, I couldn’t find a lot of information about sous vide cooking with kids on the internet, but the Provident Gourmet has a post that details how she cooks pasta sous vide, portions it out, and uses it for quick pasta meals for kids. The author also gives some good tips about seasoning food when cooking sous vide. Just beware of olive oil and don’t over season.

Of course, there are tons of resources out there for cooking sous vide, and if you have some time, you can listen to an hour-long podcast where the legendary chef, Thomas Keller, talks about this method of cooking. Here is the link. Also, there is a neat video of Grant Achatz cooking a turkey sous vide for Thanksgiving. Here is part 1 and part 2. The bags aren’t technically vacuum sealed, but the concept is the same.

If you are interested in buying a SousVide Supreme or the new Demi, the company is offering free shipping during the holidays.

SousVide Supreme – Free Shipping
Shop now to order the world finest water oven.

From Normann Copenhagen comes this round chop knife by Italian designers Paolo Lucidi and Luca Pevere. The chopper is similar in concept to a mezzaluna and would be good at chopping herbs, veggies, chocolate, cheese, and maybe even pizza. Mezzaluna-like knives can be safer to start kids on, and this round chopper has the added benefit that it can be used with only one hand. There is also a rubber cover for the blade that matches the handle, so when it isn’t in use, it has a nice clean look and is easy to store.

All in all, I think the colors, styling and rocking function would appeal to most kids. The Italian designers believe that products should create “joy and surprise” for their users, and I think this round kitchen tool will probably accomplish that for both adults and kids. If you want to start your child out on a round chopper, you can buy it for $48 at A+R. It comes in four colors: light blue, pink, grey, and black.

As a follow-up to my Japanese knife post, I thought I would go more into depth about kids and knives. I have found several blog posts and videos instructing on how to teach children to use knives properly, and most of them have good information and useful tips.

With that said, there is no one specific way to teach a kid how to use a knife. It depends upon your child’s ability, the parent’s cutting technique and knowledge, and the tools you have on hand.

For instance J.M. Hirsch, the Associated Press food editor, gave his two-year-old a knife and started him cutting with only one hand. Other chef parents, however, recommend using both hands with the proper ‘claw’ hold (seen above). Neither is wrong or right; it just depends upon the kid and the parent. This is a cooking relationship, not prep work at a restaurant.

With that said, I think there are some general themes that are worth emphasizing. Firstly, kids should start slowly. It is not a race and they have years to learn. Teach well, take your time, and give positive feedback. Secondly, your attitude as the parent chef matters. Keep it fun, embrace imperfection, and don’t stress out. Kid’s pick up on parental anxiety and stress, which can then dampen a child’s enthusiasm and confidence in the kitchen.

But probably the most important concept is to know your child’s abilities and supervise during cooking. You may even want to come up with a few good rules to encourage learning and safety. As your child grows the rules can change, but having some standards keeps both you and your child focused on fun ‘bloodless’ cooking.

From my experience and others great resources on the internet, I have compiled the following list of tips that you may want to consider when teaching your child to use a knife.

(1) Provide a proper work space. Make sure to have a large enough cutting board that doesn’t slip. Also, ensure that your child is cutting at a comfortable height, and buy a good stool if necessary.

(2) Choose the right foods to work on. Squash and hard root vegetables may be too difficult to cut or may need some prep by the parent chef. Give manageable tasks to get them involved.

(3) Stop food from rolling. Flatten out round vegetables so they don’t roll around. It is always good technique to flatten one round side, and it is much safer too. Keep it easy and safe for the little chefs.

(4) Choose the proper cutting tool for your kid. You may want to start with vegetable peelers, choppers, or a mezzaluna, and then graduate to serrated kids’ knives before moving on to real cutlery. Regardless, the parent should control the introduction of knives and when they are used during cooking.

(5) Buy an appropriately sized versatile knife for your child. A kid will feel more ownership and become familiar with his or her own knife. I recommend a small chefs knife as it can perform most crucial cutting tasks (see next point).

(6) Don’t overwhelm kids with too many knives at first. Keep it simple. Santokus and chefs knives cut differently and confusion isn’t good. Also, don’t switch between serrated and plain knives too much because they require different cutting strokes. Muscle memory is valuable at a young age, and you can always introduce different knives as skills improve.

(7) Teach good technique when appropriate. The pinch and claw method of cutting will be a valuable skill for years to come and will make cutting safer. With that said, don’t focus too rigidly on teaching technique. Bonding and family time in the kitchen trump culinary skills (in my opinion).

(8) Use sharp knives. Avoid starting kids on butter knives or plastic disposable knives. They can be frustrating to cut with and often teach bad technique. Good knives, on the other hand, inspire cooking because they help kids do more. Leave butter knives for butter and spreading things.

(9) Don’t forget the basics. Teach your kid about cutting board sanitation and knife honing to maintain blade sharpness. I bet your child will think honing knives is fun.

(10) Remember basic knife safety. Don’t try to catch a falling knife, cut away from yourself, don’t run with knives, keep the tip pointed down and away from people, keep hands off of cutting boards, and don’t submerge knives in soapy dishwater.

There might be a lot to think about when introducing knives to children, but the benefits of teaching a kid to use a knife are many. Not only is it a lifelong skill that will continue to be used and improved, knife wielding kids are usually better eaters. And of course cooking is a great bonding time too.

If you want to pursue this subject more, here are several resources that I found useful.

Simple Bites has a helpful post on knife skills for toddlers that provides very solid guidance.

What’s Cooking with Kids has another useful post about knife skills and provides other great tips.

For video instruction, Food Diva has a piece called The Cutting Edge of Child’s Play that can be watched for about $2 via her website. Chef Maribel cuts up veggies, fruit, cheese and ham with a couple of kids and does a fine job. She covers the basics and the video is well made. My main complaint is that she seems to be promoting Wusthof cutlery and uses too many knives in her instruction. Admirably though, she gets the young girl at the end to segment an orange and peel an apple with a bird’s beak knife.

On YouTube there are additional videos, and some of the best are by Chef Desireé of Cooking for Kids. Her video segments deal with knife skills among other subjects, and the online content is free.  She does a good job describing different knife cuts, technique, and types of knives. I also like how she introduces some cooking logic into the mix. There’s actually a reason to cut veggies in a similar size and to use a specific knife cut. She also takes on dicing onions, which most adults don’t even do properly. I would recommend part 1, part 2 and the knife safety video. You can also buy her entire cooking series from Title Set for $40.

Lastly, J.M Hirsch has a short video about kids and knives called Little Kids, Big Knives. The video doesn’t instruct so much as it gives Hirsch’s philosophy on involving children in cooking and his rules for handling knives, but if you are starting a child really young with a knife, I would probably take his advice. Though I must admit that I cringe a bit when I see the rolling cucumber being cut by his little boy.

Regardless, all of these sources provide valuable help and will likely ensure that your kid’s experience with that first knife is a lot safer. And let’s face it, kids these days are chiffonading at a much younger age. My next child will be cutting a lot earlier, and I am going to be prepared.

I know that the idea of giving a knife to a child is a bit scary, but at the right age (depending upon the child) they can start using kitchen knives. I won’t try to give advice on what age is appropriate or what type of knife is best because every child is different, but at some point your child will be ready. Just keep in mind that it is important to know your child’s abilities, give proper instruction, and supervise carefully.

What I would recommend is starting your kid out on a harmless knife – maybe a butter knife, bench scraper, or one of those hard plastic lettuce knives – and then set up some rules. For instance, make it so the child can only use knives when the cooking adult is around, and if using a sharper knife, the little chef can only cut using one hand. With one had at the side and the other handling the knife, it is difficult to get seriously cut. You can also take away knife privileges if rules are broken.

As the big chef, a parent should also make sure to give the proper foods to cut and provide good equipment and space for cutting. Try to stay away from hard vegetables that will be difficult to cut or if you do, half or quarter the vegetables to make them easier to chop.

Also, give them a good cutting board that doesn’t slip around. Kids don’t have great cutting technique and they tend to push the board around a lot more. Keeping the board stable is safer.

Lastly, just as I don’t like to cut when food is not at a good cutting height, make sure you kid is comfortable too. Either set up a space where your child can comfortably prepare food or get a stool of some sort to raise them up to counter height.

With that said, here are my recent knife purchases. Because I am into Japanese cutlery, I chose three knives from Japan. I also like how these knives are better at cutting than many sold here in the US. They are smaller and safer versions of real cutlery.

From left to right in the second photo are the Suncraft Santoku, Masahiro Chef’s Knife, and Misono Chef’s Knife.

All three of the knives are roughly 5 inches in length with the Misono slightly shorter, and the rounded safety tip on the Misono means the actual cutting edge is shorter yet. The three knives are also stainless steel and don’t demand the special care that Japanese knives often require.

As for sharpness, they were all very sharp out of the box and could push cut a piece of paper cleanly. In many ways the knives were too sharp for most kids and should be very carefully introduced to a child with adequate motor skills. The Misono does have the safety tip which is nice, but that part of the knife is then necessarily blunt and can’t cut well. My kid often tried to use the tip to cut, which was a bit frustrating for her.

On the other end, the Suncraft santoku is probably the sharpest and also has a really sharp tip and heel. I would definitely round the heel and tip with a sharpening stone before giving this one to a child. Appropriately, it comes with a knife guard that snaps on for added safety during storage. This knife is probably the most worrisome to me in terms of safety for kids.

The Masahiro has a rubberized grip and slightly rounded tips, which is a nice compromise. It is between the sharp-tipped Suncraft and the blunt-tipped Misono – and it also has a pink bunny on it.

The only knife of the three that you can actually purchase in the US is the Misono, and it retails for $42 from Korin. If you are looking for the other two knives and don’t live in Japan, you will have to familiarize yourself with some knife terms in Japanese, search for them on Yahoo Japan, and then use a proxy buying service to purchase them for you. It’s not that easy or cheap.

Parenting magazine listed its best toys of the year for 2010 in its November issue, and the Chimp and Zee Shopping Cart Dash was one of the games receiving praise. Parents’ Choice also gave the game an award this fall, so the game seems to be racking up some honors.

This food-themed game teaches kids about foods and counting at the same time. Essentially, the players race to complete their shopping list and pay with coins for their items after each turn. The game is recommended for ages 3 and up and can be played with 2 to 4 players.

Pressman Toy was featuring this game in November as a give-away, so you can find a lot of ‘reviews’ of this product on the web. I was not a participant in this promotion, and I’m often a bit skeptical of these give-aways and the subsequent reviews, but this toy made the cut for me. It’s about food and I could see my daughter enjoying it.

With that said, out of all the reviews I read, this one from Enjoy Life, Enjoy Now seems the most sincere. The author is a foodie mom who wants to go to culinary school, and I trust foodies.

The game retails for around $15 at Amazon and I have just put in my order. If I remember, I will give a follow up review once I have had a chance to test the game out.

I just got in a small de Buyer fry pan. I thought the 8-inch size would be good for my daughter’s cook set and wanted to try it out. The price was reasonable from CHEFs at $40, and I have heard several good reports about this French cookware brand.

Unfortunately, I have been so busy preparing for Thanksgiving that I haven’t yet had time to season the pan and put it to good use. My initial impressions are good, however, and I like the fact the pan is free of chemicals and has stay-cool handles. Both are nice features if a kid is going to be using the pan.

Reviews at Chefs and Amazon are very good too, and users report that after seasoning the pan, the non-stick quality is very good. I have high hopes it will perform well once I finally get mine fired up.

The only problem that I see so far is that the weight is pretty significant for a small pan. It isn’t as heavy as cast iron, but it is made out of iron so it has some heft to it. It seems to lie between cast iron and stainless steel in terms of weight.

Of course, a pan that needs to be seasoned and is at risk of rusting, should not be left totally to a young chef, but with that said, a nice de Buyer pan will be a legacy piece of cookware that will last a long time.

De Buyer pans are also competitively priced, and the 8-Inch mineral fry pan right now costs $32 on Amazon. As for other brand options, an All-Clad Stainless 8-Inch Fry Pan will cost about $75, and the All-Clad Master Chef 2 will cost $50. A bit cheaper is the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro 8-Inch Skillet at roughly $30, and the cheaper Cuisinart lines will cost even less at around $20.

In the end, the de Buyer pans will give a non-stick option without all the chemicals and can last a lifetime. Other options are out there, but why not try out a different type of material. You may become a de Buyer fanatic — and your child may too.

Recently, I picked up a Vapur collapsible bottle at a kids’ store. I travel quite a bit, so the idea of a packable drinking option appealed to me. These bottles (or anti-bottles as they call them) can be flat packed because the container material is flexible. They come with a squirt sports top along with a carabiner clip so it can easily be attached to bags. You can also purchase plain screw-on caps if you don’t care for the sports top.

I can see many possible uses for this ‘bottle’ because it packs so well. Whether you are trying to conserve space in a diaper bag, need another water container on a hot day, or traveling on long airline flight, this product can definitely come in handy.

At first I was worried about the opening being too small, but with a little bit of care I was easily able to pour from a Brita-filter pitcher into the bottle. Once there is enough water in the container, the bottom also expands so it can stand up on its own. You can also freeze liquids in it, wash it in the top-rack of your dishwasher, and it’s BPA free.

For me, however, this is going to be my airline bottle. A few weeks ago I was able to try it out on a trans-Atlantic flight and it worked quite well. With airport security how it is, I was able to empty the bottle before going through security and then refill it afterwards. It was a bit of a challenge filling it up at water fountains and admittedly, the bottle doesn’t hold that much water, but it did serve its purpose well.

My daughter actually liked it so much that she drank more water during the flight and flat out told me that the bottle was a very good idea. She liked how it fit nicely into the seat-back pocket and thought it was fun to drink out of. She did spill a few times at first because of how she grabbed it, but she learned quickly. The tendency is to grab it in the middle like any other bottle, but that ends up forcing the water out in a squirt. You sort of have to retrain yourself to grab it around the neck area and hold it gently. If you have a smaller child that isn’t used to drinking out of bottles or won’t understand the soft bottle concept, this product might lead to spilled liquids and may not be such a good idea.

With that said, there are some other disadvantages. As mentioned above, it doesn’t hold that much water, and filling it when there isn’t good faucet clearance can be tricky. Also, the sports bottle cover tends to fall off and get lost, but that’s a problem with this type of drinking nozzle on other bottles too. And lastly, it isn’t insulated so if you put cold liquids in it, it will sweat and possibly get surrounding items wet.

Reviews on Amazon are good but mixed about this product. What I think is important is to keep in mind that this kind of bottle has a specific purpose: being packable. Insulating it and making the body more rigid to avoid spills would mean it no longer packs as well. There are many other products on the market if you want those features.

I will definitely be using the Vapur bottle when I travel on airlines and will likely be getting a second one for my daughter. One Vapur 16 Ounce Collapsible Water Bottle will cost about $9, but if buy them in two and four packs the cost comes down a bit.