Lessons from Life: Cooking Fried Potatoes

Given my push to get away from anything I'm allergic to, it's been a challenge to get up in the morning and cook for myself, especially if I'm feeling run down and low on sugar.  I asked Chesh to cook me some breakfast this morning, the fried potatoes he always makes, without the meat and eggs.  We had to switch from vegetable oil to olive oil so I can escape the soy too, but we're still adding a soy-based butter.  It's been an adventure to try and figure out what I can eat, and sometimes waiting to eat has left me so exhausted that the last thing I want to do is cook.  I'm blessed to have someone that actually cooks for me.

Today my daughter decided she wanted to learn about the process of cooking.  She's always been interested in cooking.  It's been a favorite subject of hers.  I wasn't surprised that she wanted to be his little assistant, even though there wasn't much for her to do.

From the kitchen I heard all kinds of questions.  Why do we use a butter substitute?  Why are the potatoes red?  She thought all potatoes were white on the inside.  Why weren't these?  In return she got answers.  I'm allergic to dairy so we can't put regular butter into it.  Potatoes come in yellow, brown, and red on the outside, occasionally even white.  They're just different kinds of potatoes.  As you cook a potato it sometimes changes color.

Isn't this what learning should be about?  Shouldn't kids learn about everything in their world?  Won't it drive them to be interested in other things?  Won't they expand their own knowledge on their own?  Or is better not to expose them to these things in place of a standard education?  Personally, I think my kids are learning just fine the way they are!