I love to cook. I love to eat. I love the cultural significance of food, and my wish is to impart that appreciation and awe to my boys. We shop together (oh, the grocery store and farmers market are wonderful places to engage children!) and cook together. Well, mostly they make a mess, and sometimes I admittedly yell while shooing them out of the kitchen. Most of the time they play underfoot while I cook or sit at the kitchen bar stools and chat with me. This simple exposure wil pay dividends I'm sure.

I cook one meal. No kids' menu fare (well, maybe sometimes). In general we eat the same stuff my husband and I enjoyed before we had kids. Take a look at what we had for dinner tonight. Recipes included!

Who doesn't like to play with their food and dip their morsels into sauces of all kinds? Fondue is the perfect fun family meal. We map it all out so it's safe, mind you.

We use cheese, not oil or broth. It's admittedly not as heart healthy, but what kid doesn't like cheese?! I melt the cheese on the stove top first (some crushed garlic, grated gruyere or swiss, a bit of flour, milk, white wine) and transfer it to the fondue pot with a lit tea light instead of the sterno stuff. Then I give each person a plate of bite size goodies to dip and devour.

What kid (or adult for that matter) doesn't like to eat with his fingers? I know I am constantly waging the "don't eat with your hands, use your fork" battle. I am Indian so my people eat with their hands. There is something to be said for food that is meant to be felt.

Mind you, I do not recommend this for Thanksgiving. Gravy tends to be a mess. Ice cream too. Let's go ahead and add pudding to the list. But there is one meal that is ripe for your fingers.