Cooking with Kids at the Real Canadian Superstore

This Sunday, I tried one of the cooking classes at the Real Canadian Superstore on Lasalle. I went with my three-year old daughter to the Little Hands class. There were four other girls in the class with their moms. The age range for the Little Hands class is 3 to 5, and every child was within that age range. One girl was younger than my daughter, and the others were older.

The theme for this class was Fruit-filled Fun. We made Cheddar Apple Muffins, and fruit kebabs.

My favourite part of the class was the little chopper my daughter used to cut up her fruit. It is a small, hand-held chopper, consisting of a crinkle "blade" and a wooden handle. It looked like a paddle. It made cutting the apples for the muffin very easy for even the youngest of the girls. All the kids were able to use the chopper to cut the fruit for the kebab as well.

My major complaint was that there was a lot of sitting around, and waiting. Because it is for younger kids, the facilitator was making one batch of muffins for the class. Each child went up to the main counter, and added one or two ingredients to the bowl. The butter and sugar were already creamed together. The cheese was already grated. Once the batter was mixed, each child was given the opportunity to put some into a couple muffin cups.

The muffins had to bake for 18 minutes. During this time, our second "recipe" was to make fruit salad, or fruit kebabs on toothpicks. This didn't take 18 minutes. The fruits were grapes, strawberries and banana. We were given colouring pages to make up the rest of the time while we waited for the muffins. I think we could have done a little more hands on stuff. The kids could have grated some cheese, or creamed the butter with the sugar.

The class only cost $8.

The recipes are not tested before the class, so fortunately, the muffins turned out.

If your child is patient, and likes colouring, then this class is for you. Maybe the other classes are more interactive. If your child has to be doing stuff all the time, they might get bored and antsy in this class.

The Superstore is offering pumpkin carving times the week of Halloween. If you buy a pumpkin from the store, you can bring it upstairs and they will have all the tools and designs to carve your pumpkin there. No mess at home.

Dates: October 27 5 to 8pm, October 29 4 to 7, October 30 12 to 4.


Recipe:
Cheddar Apple Muffins (Makes 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (500 mL)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (7 mL)
1/2 tsp baking soda (2 mL)
1 tsp salt (5 mL)
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (175 mL)
1/2 cup butter (125 mL)
2/3 cup sugar (150 mL)
2 large eggs
1 cup apples, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and spray muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners.
2. Combine the first 4 ingredients of dry mixture together in a large bowl.
3. Add grated cheese and blend.
4. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer, and add to dry ingredients.
5. Add eggs, break into a separate bowl first, one at a time, and mix well.
6. Add apples, and stir until just combined.
7. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.
8. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, test at 18 minutes for doneness.