Cooking With Nana

Six year old Benjamin was always excited to go and visit his Grandmother- or Nana as he called her- and today was no exception. Today she was going to let him help in the kitchen for the first time! Nana always made the most delicious food, and Benjamin had always wanted to help, but the food was always ready by the time they got there. This time Nana had promised to wait for them to arrive before she started cooking. They arrived at 2pm, to give them plenty of time to cook, and Harry- Benjamin's father- had to yell at him to slow down as he tried to get out of the car before it had even stopped moving. Mary- Benjamin's mother- laughed, and quietly asked their son to sit still while she got out of the car. Excited as he was, Benjamin waited for his mother to get out of the car, then come round to his side to let him out. He bounded out once the door was opened, and ran up to the front door of Nana and Grandpa's house. He rang the bell, standing on his tiptoes to reach it, and waited for Grandpa to come and answer. Sure enough it was Harry Sr who answered the door, beaming from ear to ear when he saw his grandson. "Well look at you! Have you grown again?!""One whole inch." Benjamin replied with pride, then leaped up to hug his grandfather. Harry laughed and picked the boy up to hug him tight. "Soon you will be taller than me." Benjamin beamed as he was put back down. "Now, go say hello to your grandmother, she is in the kitchen." And without having to be told twice, Benjamin went off into the kitchen. He was so excited he wanted to run, but he knew better than to run indoors, so he walked very quickly instead. "Hello, Nana!" He called as he reached the kitchen door. Elizabeth Martin turned around and smiled warmly at her grandson. "Well hello, little one. Are you ready to cook dinner?" She could tell from his little face that he was, and smiled even more brightly. "Come, then, you must wash your hands first." She led Benjamin to the sink, and got out his little stool so that he could reach. He washed his hands while she finished getting the ingredients out of the cupboards. "All done." Benjamin called. "Good, now first we must make the pasta." As she spoke Benjamin's parents entered the kitchen , with his grandfather close behind them. "Why don't you find us a nice big bowl?" With Benjamin set on a task, Elizabeth could greet her son and his wife. She hugged and kissed each of them on the cheek, and spoke briefly with them before Benjamin found a bowl in one of the cupboards."Found one!" He called, clearly still excited, but a little more calm now that he had tasks to complete. Elizabeth left the other adults, and returned to Benjamin's side. While she was showing him how to weigh flour into the bowl using the scales, Harry got his son and Mary sat down at the small kitchen table, and set about making them drinks. Tea was the beverage of choice, and he soon had the kettle on the stove. Harry Jr had tried to buy his parents an electric kettle for years, but every time he did it would mysteriously break, and they would go back to their ancient stove top one. After this had happened to three kettles, he'd taken the hint and given up. While the other adults sat around the table and chatted over their tea, Elizabeth showed Benjamin how to make fresh pasta. He was fascinated by the process, and loved getting his hands all sticky in the mix in order to make it into a dough. He'd seen his mother cook pasta before, but it had always been out of a packet. Before today he hadn't even known that a person could make it from scratch, he thought big machines in factories were the only way to do it. Once the dough was made, Elizabeth pulled out the pasta maker, and Benjamin became over excited again. She laughed as she calmed him down, then showed him how to roll the dough through the machine to make it thinner. He was okay doing it the first few times, but as it got thinner it got longer, and his little arms couldn't quite manage it. Here she took over, and Benjamin watched in awe as she made the sheets thinner and thinner. "Wow, you can almost see through it! Mother, look!" Mary looked over her shoulder, and smiled over at her boy. "You are doing very well, darling." She praised, and when Benjamin's attention returned to the pasta, hers returned to the conversation at the table. With the pasta rolled out, Elizabeth cut it into squares, and laid them on the counter. "Now that is ready, we must prepare the filling. Can you find the spinach and the ricotta?" She asked, and Benjamin immediately set to his task. Nana had laid all of the ingredients out already, so it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. He brought them over to where she stood, and she smiled. "Excellent, and do you remember where the bowls are?" He did, and he soon brought one back to her. "What is ricotta, Nana?" He asked, curious of the substance he couldn't yet see through the tub. "It is a cheese, my dear.""Oooooh, Father loves cheese." Benjamin smiled brightly. "Yes he does. This was one of his favourite meals as a boy." Benjamin was thrilled to hear this, and bounced on his heels. "Really? Wow, I bet he will love this one! What's next?" Ready for his next task, Benjamin hopped back up onto his stool. Nana chopped the spinach into smaller pieces, and showed him how to mix it in with the cheese using a big wooden spoon. He had great fun doing this, and made sure it was very well mixed. "What now, Nana?""Now we must put the filling into the pasta. I will show you." Nana went to get a smaller spoon, and showed Benjamin how to put a small ball of the filling into the middle of each pasta square. Benjamin had little hands, and worked very delicately. He didn't want to make a mess, and did a very good job. When he was done, Nana showed him how to fold the pasta, using a little bit of water to make the edges stick together. This was much more fiddly work, but Benjamin was determined. His first few attempts were messy, but Nana helped him, and the rest came out pretty good for a six year old. "Very well done, Benjamin. You will be an excellent chef one day." She praised, and the little boy just lit up. "Do you really think so? Did you hear that Mother, Father? I am going to be a chef!" He beamed with pride, and his parents gave him a little applause. "I'm sure you will, my boy. Nana is a brilliant teacher." Harry Jr smiled at his mother and son. He did love to see them together. "Yes she is." Benjamin agreed, and turned back to his Nana, ready for more instructions. It was now time to cook the pasta and make the sauce, which required a lot of care so as not to burn himself. He stayed away from the stove, and instead happily fetched Nana the ingredients she needed to make the sauce in the big pan. Having made the pasta himself, he was quite content just being a helper in this part, and he enjoyed watching the sauce come together. When the food was almost done, Elizabeth asked her husband to set the table, and he gladly obliged. Harry Jr and Mary helped too, so it was done in no time at all. When the food was ready, Nana mixed the pasta in the sauce, then dished it up into bowls for the whole family. Out of the oven she pulled a garlic bread that she had made earlier, and left in the oven to keep warm. "Oh wow, that smells very yummy. Can I make that with you next time?" Benjamin asked, breathing in deeply to enjoy the aroma. "Perhaps, little one. It takes a lot longer, and a lot of patience.""I can be patient. Honest, I can." Benjamin puffed up his chest, and Nana chuckled. "I am sure you can. Now, let us eat." She handed Benjamin his own bowl, and she took three into the dining room herself. Harry Sr came back for the final bowl, and to get drinks for everyone. After they had eaten it was agreed that Benjamin really had done a splendid job, and he revelled in the praise. This was definitely his most favourite trip to see his grandparents yet, and he couldn't wait to learn to cook more things. Better still, Nana could not wait to teach him. She had taught Harry how to cook, and he had been excellent at it too, but she was glad to be able to pass on the skill to another generation. As an Italian woman, food was an important part of her life, a way to bring the family together, and she wanted Benjamin to have that when he was older and had a family of his own.