Kids in the Kitchen

It's not all about kids in the kitchen - they grow up and sometimes they cook better than the parents. I'm feeling that way about my son after spending New Year's at his place and tasting his home-smoked pork shoulder. I have to admit that I'm all about having someone else cook for me and I was very impressed. My son was probably the last of my three that I would have expected to take a shine to cooking but it's happened. I recall the first real cooking experience he had which took place the summer I was in school. He developed a recipe called Eggs are Andy. I can't remember exactly how he did it but I'm sure he will. At Christmas each of the kids would make some sort of candy to give as gifts and while the girls were making Seafoam and Peanut Butter Balls, I had him make White Chocolate Peppermint Bark. He could crush the candy canes, melt chocolate, spread it in a pan, break it apart and put it into bags. He did a great job! He's certainly expanded his repertoire from baked hams to turkey to pigs-in-the-blanket to soup to "his famous pumpkin pie" to the culmination in my opinion, outdoor smoked meats. This is where he's left his poor mother on the sidelines. The pork I thought was cooked to perfection, though he thought it could have been cooked longer. I was eyeing up the ring of smoke (I think that's what it's called) right under the outside. This is key in any of the real barbecue shown on Food Network or Travel channels. I'm pretty sure in the not too distant future, I will be the one calling him for his cooking tips and tricks instead of the other way around. Maybe it's true what they say about the apple not falling too far from the tree and the littlest apple named Audrey just got her first EasyBake oven for Christmas.