By age 2, he knew his role in making banana bread was to smash down the bananas into puree using a potato masher. At age 3, I declared him "ready to go to college" because he successfully mixed up pancake batter by himself. It would be a few more years before he would graduate to actually frying or flipping them on his own, but he knew all the basics.

As an avid home cook — and a fan of cooking shows — I knew cooking was a favorite activity I wanted to share with my son. These everyday memories are some of my very favorite moments with my little buddy, and to this day, he asks to help whenever I'm in the kitchen.

When his step-sisters came into the picture, our new shared kitchen again became the place of learning — not only about cooking, but about one another. It's amazing how a child will open up about their life while helping do an everyday task. Chatting about the day, the kids — sometimes together and sometimes one on one — will chop strawberries, wash produce, make guacamole and practice measuring ingredients for cornbread.

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