Variations:

• For a vegan version, swap the butter for a vegan margarine, like Stork.

“Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes and cooking. It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.” Guy Fieri

Baking is a great festive activity to get your children involved in. Cooking teaches them essential life skills, like communication and fine motor skills. Cooking for others supports empathy and also helps develop self-esteem, as it gives children a sense of responsibility and control in their lives. You might like to try our tips for ‘mindful cooking’ with children, to turn cooking into an opportunity for mindfulness and self-development.

This week M+K sits across the table with Stacey Smith, Founder, Crummbs, a food, drink and travel website. She talks to us about where to go in Clapton, her love of non-fiction and food memories.

1. My cooking inspiration…

I love cooking and I adore hosting. There’s nothing better for me than a table full of happy people tucking into my food. Pasta is probably my favourite but I love experimenting and rarely cook the exact same meal twice. Restaurants are a huge influence, I love the pasta dishes, cheese and loads of extra virgin olive oil. In terms of cookbooks I go back to Anna Jones time and time again. I’m not vegetarian but I just find her food is exactly how I want to eat.

2. A meal that reminds me of home…

Spag bol. I feel like whenever I go home there’s always spag bol and garlic bread on the table. It’s not even the good kind, made from scratch, my mum just uses a jar of Dolmio and grates cheddar on top but I don’t care, I love it! Haha, sorry Mum! Actually the reason why it reminds me of home is kind of weird and a bit darker. When I was about 13 I went up North for the summer to sell ice-creams on the beach, to earn a bit of pocket money and when I came back after 6 weeks or so, my mum asked what I’d like for dinner (it was supposed to be a bit of a celebration of me returning!). Obviously I chose spag bol as I hadn’t had it for so long, so she went to make it but as she was getting the jar out of the cupboard it fell out, smashed into pieces, cut her hand and she had to go to hospital leaving me to clean up red pasta sauce which looked far too much like blood. It was like a massacre. I mean, how traumatic?? I think I should have probably gone into therapy after that. Hahaha!

3. A life lesson cooking has taught me…

I absolutely can’t stand wasting food so I love getting creative with every bit – making pesto from carrot tops for example and coming up with meal plans to make sure nothing goes to waste. There’s nothing more satisfying than a successful fridge forage.

4. When I want to be creative I…

I really think somedays you’re just in the zone and other days you’re not. When I’m feeling less than inspired I’ve started allowing myself to just have a break – read a book, go for a walk, go and sit in the garden. Rather than just sitting at my laptop going from one open tab to another. It’s ok to stop and come back to it. Oh, and I put the phone somewhere I can’t see it. I look at Instagram FAR too much. I love travelling as well and always feel like it does me the world of good to immerse myself in new experiences and cultures. Like everyone, we’ve had to cancel so many trips this year – Tel Aviv, Berlin, South Africa! But I’m super grateful for the fact we squeezed in Brazil at the start of the year, it was such a mega place.

5. The most transformational book I’ve read is…

Oh god I love reading. I would honestly read all day every day if I could. I even looked up the average salary of a librarian the other day to see if I could legit switch careers! Hahaha! I’m part of Rebel Book Club which I can’t recommend enough – there are hundreds of us, based in cities around the world and we read non-fiction. I loved Doughnut Economics (which feels even more pertinent since the pandemic). Outside of that Three Women was amazing, so clever. Sorry, your question was what was the most transformational. That’s quite a tough one. Books that have had a lasting impact on me would include, Money: A User’s Guide, Period Power and Atomic Habits – because it’s good to get your shit together.

6. The routines that keep me grounded are…

I NEVER in a million years thought I’d be one of these people that says the gym but I really do feel like I have more energy if I start the day with a workout. I don’t get how these endorphins work but they really do, don’t they? I’m also a real list maker and I love an excel spreadsheet. Geeky but true.

7. I recently learnt…

I feel like I’m always learning really annoying facts from all the non-fiction I read that I then repeat down the pub trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about.

8. Favourite random act of kindness…

For me a great big smile from a stranger really makes my day. It’s the little things but never underestimate how a small interaction can make or break someone else’s day.

9. To make a difference in my community I…

I try and shop local as much as I can. We’re really lucky that Clapton is full of great independent shops, pubs and restaurants, so I stock up on veggies at the local greengrocer, prop up the bar at P Franco and The Crooked Billet and never go long without either a Yard Sale or Sodo Pizza. In fact I wrote about all my favourites for Conde Nast Traveller recently. I feel like Clapton has a pretty good spirit, I love heading down to Chatsworth Road market and chatting to all the traders and I always get a wave from the guy who works at the Dry Cleaners as I go by. At Easter I left chocolate eggs on some of my neighbour’s doors which was really fun.

10. Right now, I’m grateful for…

You know what, it’s funny, I weighed myself the other day and discovered I’d put on half a stone since the start of lockdown. But honestly, rather than feeling disappointed or whatever, I genuinely felt so grateful that I’ve had access to as much healthy, nutritious great quality produce as I needed and have been able to cook myself and my husband delicious meals that have made us super happy. Food brings me a lot of joy.

Stacey Smith is a freelance journalist and founder of food, drink and travel website Crummbs. Whether you’re after a dirty burger to cure that hangover or Michelin star cuisine to spank some cash, she’ll tell you the best places to head in the capital as well as further afield.

To connect visit:

https://crummbs.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/crummbs_uk/

 
Following World Values Day, Adamantia Velonis, Founder, Marmalade + Kindness shares some top tips for turning cooking into a ‘mindful moment’ with your children.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted everyone’s needs and made us consider what we really ‘value.’ Now, more than ever, as we assess what is fundamentally important to us, we have an opportunity to explain values to our children and how ‘values literacy’ supports their well-being. Following World Values Day, here are some of my top tips for turning any recipe into a ‘mindful moment’ with your children.
 

Choose a recipe that has personal or cultural significance

When cooking mindfully I like to encourage people to make treasured family recipes, because people’s strongest memories are often of foods they have made with family members when they were children. I have fond memories of tucking into a warm slice of Fanouropita, a traditional vegan cake from the Greek cuisine which speaks to my cultural heritage, after school.

You have an opportunity to encourage children to be curious about what foods they eat on special days and their significance, and to explore positive food memories.
 

Set an intention

Traditionally, before making a ‘fanouropita,’ we would think of something we’d like Saint Fanouris (the patron saint of lost things) to help us find. Like leaving cookies out for Santa Claus, the Greek community makes this cake to encourage the saint to help them find what they are looking for.

We could think of this as ‘intention setting’ and it’s something I do before I cook to ground myself in the present moment. It can be really simple, like bringing the feeling of love to the cooking process. When cooking with children, setting an intention encourages children to focus on the task and connect their actions to a wider context (like cultural traditions).
 

Find ‘teachable moments’ in the process

Cooking is creative and engages many skills that can be translated to other areas of life. Here are some ideas:

• Explore the history and origin of ingredients. Pick out a handful of interesting ingredients and do some research on them and their uses. Sharing their story or seasonal information can help children to appreciate where food comes from and to value the intricate processes that have made them available. In the fanouropita I explore the use of spices, dried fruits and nuts in European cooking.

 

• Discuss health and nutrition. Some traditional recipes use ingredients that people are allergic or intolerant to. This needn’t stop us from continuing these traditions, as there are often alternative ingredients that we can use. Putting ingredients into their nutritional context (like the anti-inflammatory benefits in cinnamon), and its impact on the body and mind, helps children make the connection between food and their physical well-being.

 

• Create mindful moments. Encourage your children to be aware of their senses during the cooking process – getting them to smell raw ingredients, appreciating their texture and colour. Rather than relying on modern kitchen appliances, get them to use their hands, stirring the cake batter with a wooden spoon, so that they can experience the physicality of cooking. You could even guide them through a raisin meditation or introduce mindful eating.

 

• Identify values. As the cake bakes in the oven, we are required to be patient. If we are unable to use an ingredient and we substitute it, we are being creative. Linking lived experience to values can help children see how these themes play out in their everyday life. Explaining that ‘good things take time’ might help children take this lesson with them when faced with other experiences.

 

• Invite reflection. Talk about what worked, and also what didn’t go to plan. For example, reflecting on how preparation makes things go smoothly teaches a lesson in organisation. And if things don’t work out, what could have been done differently? We can apply the attitudes of mindfulness to explore our judgemental mind (labelling things ‘good’ or ‘bad’) and seeing that the experience is just an ‘experiment.’ It’s not about getting it right the first time, but learning over time.

 
By exploring values and mindfulness through the cooking process we are giving children an opportunity to find out more about themselves, and create meaning and resilience along the way.
 

To mark World Values Day this year, Marmalade + Kindness hosted a cooking workshop with LA-based nutritionist, Ati Farmani, Founder, Ati Nutrition, to demonstrate how you can explore values and mindfulness with children through cooking. Watch on IGTV:

Relationships are important for our physical and mental well being. While social distancing has made it more difficult to see friends, it’s crucial to maintain these connections. Schedule regular calls and make sure you are really present during these conversations. At home, try making meals together. Rather than seeing food as functional, use the cooking experience to create connection. The Mental Health Foundation has put together a useful guide for nurturing our relationships during the pandemic.