CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If you've been reading this column for the past seven years, you already know our stance on cooking with kids.

To sum up: We're in favor of it - even though it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Once, for example, Tara was leaning over the gas range, instructing Grace (a preschooler at the time) on the finer points of cooking lasagna noodles, and caught her own hair on fire. Actually, Grace thought it was pretty hilarious.

Truthfully, we're not sure how people manage to avoid cooking with their kids, unless they simply don't cook at all. As you may know from firsthand experience, toddlers go through this phase where they won't even let you go to the bathroom without coming in to "help." They're certainly not going to leave you alone in the kitchen with an open bag of chocolate chips.

Whether you're in the throes of "I want to help!" or you just hope your teenager learns how to fix himself something besides Sugar Smacks before he trots off to college, we're here to share our successes (and failures) in kid cookery.

First job: Choosing recipes. Even before they can read, kids love to look through picture cookbooks and pick out things to make. The Hershey cookbook, a thick tome comprising nothing but photographs of gooey chocolate desserts, is a particular favorite at our house.

Watch and learn. Stand little kids on a stepstool and let them do what they can. Dumping, stirring and squishing are early favorites. Meanwhile, their busy little brains will be picking up on how you manage the more complicated stuff.

Plan for the attention span. Preschoolers sometimes hear "Let's make cupcakes!" and agree enthusiastically - until they get bored and frustrated with all of the measuring and baking and cooling. Where are the cupcakes already? Sometimes little ones prefer to play with something else between the "fun parts," and then they'll join back in when it's time to put the paper liners in the pan or sprinkle the sprinkles.

Repeat, repeat. A certain 9-year-old in our house requests pancakes pretty much every weekend. We started telling her she could have them - but only if she made them herself. (If you try this, there will be moaning and groaning. Ignore it.) Each time she made them, she needed less and less help. Now she does everything but the flipping.

Not interested? If you've got an elementary-age kid who really isn't all that interested in food or cooking, try asking him to read the recipe directions out loud for you so you don't have to keep looking at the cookbook. Or challenge a math whiz: "If this calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar, but I'm cutting the recipe in half ..."

Chill out. Our pet peeve: Kids' cookbooks that encourage parents to cook with their kids - but never let them touch any raw eggs, raw meat, stoves, ovens, blenders, food processors, toothpicks, graters or anything they could possibly spill. ("[Place] a jellyroll pan underneath to catch messes," one guide advises. "You don't want them to feel they're failing.")

Kids get confident when they learn how to do stuff. Really do it, and not just the kid-version of it with the jellyroll pan underneath. Of course nobody's going to turn a toddler loose with the paring knife. But when kids gradually master grown-up tasks and learn to be a real help in the kitchen, it makes them feel good deep down - even if they complain on the surface.

The Main Tip:

Like all of us, kids prefer to cook foods they particularly want to eat. Try:

Grace's Potatoes

Serves 4

To sum up: We're in favor of it - even though it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Once, for example, Tara was leaning over the gas range, instructing Grace (a preschooler at the time) on the finer points of cooking lasagna noodles, and caught her own hair on fire. Actually, Grace thought it was pretty hilarious.

Truthfully, we're not sure how people manage to avoid cooking with their kids, unless they simply don't cook at all. As you may know from firsthand experience, toddlers go through this phase where they won't even let you go to the bathroom without coming in to "help." They're certainly not going to leave you alone in the kitchen with an open bag of chocolate chips.

Whether you're in the throes of "I want to help!" or you just hope your teenager learns how to fix himself something besides Sugar Smacks before he trots off to college, we're here to share our successes (and failures) in kid cookery.

First job: Choosing recipes. Even before they can read, kids love to look through picture cookbooks and pick out things to make. The Hershey cookbook, a thick tome comprising nothing but photographs of gooey chocolate desserts, is a particular favorite at our house.

Watch and learn. Stand little kids on a stepstool and let them do what they can. Dumping, stirring and squishing are early favorites. Meanwhile, their busy little brains will be picking up on how you manage the more complicated stuff.

Plan for the attention span. Preschoolers sometimes hear "Let's make cupcakes!" and agree enthusiastically - until they get bored and frustrated with all of the measuring and baking and cooling. Where are the cupcakes already? Sometimes little ones prefer to play with something else between the "fun parts," and then they'll join back in when it's time to put the paper liners in the pan or sprinkle the sprinkles.

Repeat, repeat. A certain 9-year-old in our house requests pancakes pretty much every weekend. We started telling her she could have them - but only if she made them herself. (If you try this, there will be moaning and groaning. Ignore it.) Each time she made them, she needed less and less help. Now she does everything but the flipping.

Not interested? If you've got an elementary-age kid who really isn't all that interested in food or cooking, try asking him to read the recipe directions out loud for you so you don't have to keep looking at the cookbook. Or challenge a math whiz: "If this calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar, but I'm cutting the recipe in half ..."

Chill out. Our pet peeve: Kids' cookbooks that encourage parents to cook with their kids - but never let them touch any raw eggs, raw meat, stoves, ovens, blenders, food processors, toothpicks, graters or anything they could possibly spill. ("[Place] a jellyroll pan underneath to catch messes," one guide advises. "You don't want them to feel they're failing.")

Kids get confident when they learn how to do stuff. Really do it, and not just the kid-version of it with the jellyroll pan underneath. Of course nobody's going to turn a toddler loose with the paring knife. But when kids gradually master grown-up tasks and learn to be a real help in the kitchen, it makes them feel good deep down - even if they complain on the surface.

The Main Tip:

Like all of us, kids prefer to cook foods they particularly want to eat. Try:

Grace's Potatoes

Serves 4

 4  medium potatoes, cut into spears

 3  tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 2  teaspoons paprika

 1  teaspoon kosher salt

 1/2  teaspoon garlic powder

 1/2  teaspoon onion powder

 Pinch cayenne

 Freshly ground black pepper to taste

HEAT oven to 350º.

MIX all ingredients in a bowl until potatoes are coated.

ARRANGE potatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

BAKE 45 minutes. Shake the pan to rearrange potatoes halfway through the cooking time.

Nutrition information: (per serving): 230 calories, 95 calories from fat, 11 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 446 milligrams sodium, 31 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams sugar, 3 grams fiber.

Reach Robert J. Byers at 348-1236 or robby...@wvgazette.com.

Reach Tara Tuckwiller at t...@wvgazette.com or 348-5189.