Cookery Lessons

As I sat down to write this evening Sam came into the kitchen asking if he could cook something. This is a belated Christmas present for me. It's my own fault - I encouraged him to do something like this. So peanut chocolate brownies are on the menu. I keep jumping up to show him where things are and I'm having to think quite hard about where everything is because Steve and I have rearranged our kitchen today.

So far he has weighed out peanuts and chocolate and greased and lined a baking tin. The peanuts are meant to be sieved. He is rather disappointed by this because he likes the salty taste. At the same time he is melting chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and stirring away. The pieces of chocolate are huge, but they are softening very happily. He likes pottering around in the kitchen and chatting to me while he works. He has just told me that he really enjoys writing. His main pieces of work last term were around Of Mice and Men and a visit to a restaurant.

There is a delicious smell of melted chocolate in the kitchen. We are really pleased with the changes we have made In here. We kept bumping into each other the way we had the furniture before or finding that you couldn't get to the cupboards because someone was sitting in the way. So this morning we worked together to move two big kitchen units away from the wall. They are now in the middle of the room and form a natural divider between food preparation and dining areas. It feels a little like we have two new rooms now. There are still a few improvements to make: we are going to cover the unsightly cupboard backs with some tongue and groove pine. It is going to look lovely. I am going to get a Dulux paint chart tomorrow and find a shade of green paint that matches the green we already have and use it on the cupboards. We brought the cupboards into the new kitchen from the old one when we completed our extension, and they really do need a facelift.

He is creaming the butter and sugar together. It really appeals to his senses. And now the eggs are going in, little by little. A sweet smell of butteriness is wafting its way towards me. The eggs are going in really well. No curdling for Sam. I have an absolutely brilliant black microwave bowl. I use it to mash potatoes and you can make a mean guacamole in it. Last week I made some buns and used the black bowl as a mixing bowl and it was really easy. In goes the sifted flour. He is very patient. He asks lots of questions but takes his time to sift properly and to mix in all the mixture, even the bits that have stuck to the back of the spoon. Cocoa powder, melted chocolate and peanuts are the last things to go into the mixing bowl. Now he's enjoying all the colours and textures of the sticky dough. He looks like a master plasterer at work.

The brownies are in the oven now and he is wiping down the work surface. There is not much washing up to do, so we are going to leave it for the morning. The cooking time is 35 minutes, and there are still more than 30 minutes to go! Now I'm the one asking questions. Have you put the cutlery away? Why is the greaseproof paper still out? He is keen to please and happy at his work, humming away while he closes the drawer and ratches around for more Doritos. His textiles teacher is very fond of him. She appreciates his' patience and the way he is totally absorbed in his work. He made a batik cushion and a pencil case last term. They used sewing machines and put in a zip. Next term he is doing woodwork instead of textiles. They haven't been told what they are making yet, but have gone through safely handling power tools like drills and coping saws.

24 minutes to go until we are allowed to look at the soft, chewy, nutty chocolate brownies. We are hoping that they have risen perfectly and there is a well rounded crust and are coming away from the edges of the tin. Meanwhile the aromas are intensifying and the boy with the Doritos has disappeared.