Have a Fledgling Julia Child or Jacques Pepin at Home?

Each week in Mom's Talk, our Mom's Council and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Feel free to partake in the discussion and offer an opinion by commenting below.

Question: When my 6-year-old daughter sees me heading into the kitchen at suppertime, she immediately wants to help, but I’m afraid that she’ll get hurt or seriously hamper me getting dinner on the table. What are some good ways to introduce her to cooking?

Answer: The first thing I learned to cook was Welsh rarebit. Seriously. Ah, the joy of bubbling Cheddar cheese spiked with ale and hot mustard melted over a freshly toasted baguette. Alas, my fourth-grade home economics teacher wasn’t too keen on authenticity. The recipe she provided was succinct and hardly gourmet, though to my 8-year-old taste, the result was divine.

We toasted two pieces of white bread. Drained one can of kidney beans. Cut a generous slab of Velveeta cheese. Placed in saucepan with the beans, warmed until steaming. Served over hot toast.

My poor family will never look at kidney beans the same again.

Try the cheesy bean toast tactic. Once she shows promise perfecting the recipe, you can present your daughter with her very own cookbook. Mine, a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book circa 1972, made me feel like a bona fide grown-up.

You probably won’t be too set on making (or eating) anything after you look through the 39-year-old edition, so stick with the 2004 updated cookbook ($10 at Wal-Mart).

No family should have to stomach Peppy Frank Pizza (“surprise your friends with two of their favorite foods — hot dogs and pizza — both prepared in one meal”), Egg in a Bun Sandwiches (hamburger buns cut halfway through with a biscuit cutter, raw egg cracked into the hole and baked) and Cheeseburger Round Steak (don’t even ask), no matter how much you’d love to encourage your kid to cook.

Bon appetit!

Have a question you want us to address in future? Email michael.bartolotta@patch.com and I will forward them to our Mom's Council.