Kitchensurfing: Bringing the Family Back to the Basics

My kids love to cook.  I do, too, but my repertoire has been rather limited lately and as their culinary demands increase, I’ve wondered how to satiate them.  A few weeks ago, they told me they were going to start cooking dinner for us every Saturday night, and I wondered how it would go past pizza, macaroni and cheese and eggs.  After all, my daughter does make a mean plate of cheesy eggs.

On Saturday night we decided to try something different, something that has woken us all up to the fact that more spectacular meals can be made with a little foresight, planning and craft…right here in my house. At 4pm there was a knock at the door and in came Hailee, our chef for the evening, who brought in all the ingredients we would need to make a meal for the entire family. For 1-1/2 hours she taught my kids how to make a meal that she and I had carefully planned before her arrival (via email). All I had to provide was a cutting board, pots, pans and dishes and cutlery to set our table.  She had everything we needed, including print- outs of the recipes, and had done some of the prep at home, having prepared a sauce we would use on our enchiladas.  The menu was carefully chosen, with my kids in mind, as well as my own demands, which were factored in (healthy ingredients, new foods for my kids to try) to the choices.  My kids grated cheese, cut avocados, boiled spinach, folded ground turkey and vegetables into tortilla shells and poured sauce over them and learned how to make perfect rice. As she cooked, Hailee told us about her culinary career and her life in New Rochelle, the town next door.  She described her cooking tactics and techniques and inspired all of us to be more creative in the kitchen more often.

After she served the mea,Haile left us in peace to eat our meal and cleaned up the kitchen. I can’t tell you how blissful it was for me, as a mom, to have a healthy meal created and served on a Saturday night. Plus, by the end of the evening, we felt as though we had made a friend, and we even had a few left-overs for the next night.

Curious how this happened?  It’s a new concept called Kitchensurfing. a marketplace that connects chefs of all kinds with people who love to eat. From fresh ingredient delivery to four days’ worth of food you can freeze to kids’ cooking lessons, their wide selection of chefs serve families healthy, fun food and meal experiences that match their individual needs.

How does it work? First we browsed Kitchensurfing’s database of profiled chefs and nailed down the one we wanted.  Kitchensurfing has a large community of chefs that work at all different price points. All prices are negotiated between the chef and the buyer. Then we had several exchanges with Hailee about the menu.  She was very keen on satisfying my aim to make a familiar menu for my kids, yet sprinkled with new ingredients and foods they haven’t tried for.  We decided to focus on Mexican and she created a menu full of fun, interesting options including turkey and vegie enchiladas, guacamole  spinach and rice. Before she came, my kids both agreed that they would at least sample each item on the table. And they did.  Spinach is now my son’s favorite vegetable and guac will now be a staple in his diet, much to my delight (shame we can’t add margaritas!).

A few more important pieces of information for you about the process:

Bookings are all-inclusive: payment is up front and includes tip. Hailee did all the shopping before she came and was ready to cook.

Only you control the budget for the meal. If something is almost within budget, you can try to lower the budget by: asking for family style service rather than a plated meal experience, asking for fewer courses or dishes, or asking the chef if there are less expensive ingredients available.  If you are still unsure about your budget, you can select Flexible Budget or I’m not sure how much my meal will cost when submitting a Match Request, or note that your budget is subject to change while contacting individual Chefs. Kitchensurfing will assist you in the search to ensure you get the rate and meal you are looking for. They have every genre and nationality of cuisine and you can go as adventurous or exotic as you and/or your kids can go.

As a busy mom, I can’t recommend Kitchensurfing enough. Not only did our chef create and serve a delicious meal to my family, but she inspired us to create new culinary experiences in our very own kitchen.  Plus, I loved watching my kids cook under the guidance of a real chef. Right now the company is servicing New York City, Chicago, Boston, the Hamptons and Berlin, but I suspect it will expand rapidly in the next year or two.

I’m thrilled to offer this code for 15% off your booking: kskids (valid until 7/31). If you decide to book, check out the long list of family-friendly chefs and their menus and book at Kitchensurfing.com. The list of chefs includes:

Miya Rotstein – Kids in the Kitchen

Jenne Claiborne – Superfood Kid, Family Affair

Annelies Van den Bleeken – Baby on the Way Freezer Menu

*Hailee Moore – From Babies to Big Kids, Family Meals

Laura Rodriguez – Seasonal Family Staples, Children’s Birthday Spread, Mexican Cuisine for the Food Loving Family

Carla Contreras – Cooking Lessons for the Family, Eating for Pregnancy Cooking Lesson

Olivia Williamson – Freezer Full of Food, Nurture the New Parents Gift Package

Jessie Levin – Kid-Friendly Hidden Goodness Menu

David Wallace – Family Friendly Spring Menu

Be sure to follow Kitchensurfing on Facebook, Twitter and Google +!

Disclosure: I was provided with a free meal by Kitchensurfing to facilitate this post but all opinions are my own.

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