[Times photo: Dirk Shadd] Tyler Kattmann, 11, prepares fried rice for a recent family dinner at his Pinellas Park home. His mom, Julie, assists.

By JACOB LUDIN
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 7, 2002

Don't like Dad's hamburger helpless? Mom makes a tuna meltdown? Whip up some tasty favorites for yourself and your family.

Some children and teenagers take matters into their own hands: They decide what is for dinner and cook it themselves. These young cooks are never disappointed when they come home from school. They eat what they want and have fun preparing it.

Tyler Kattmann, 11, of Pinellas Park, has been cooking for about four years. He cooks almost every other night. Sometimes Tyler makes the dessert, and other times he makes the main course. But he always knows that he will make something that he and his family will enjoy.

Tyler, who is a fifth-grader at St. Cecilia School in Clearwater, is organized in the kitchen. All the ingredients are out and ready to use. Even though he is a kid, he does everything by himself. For example, when making fried rice, he chops the vegetables, cracks and cooks the eggs, cooks the rice and mixes all the ingredients together.

He uses some of his senses to make fried rice. "There's a certain smell the rice has to have in order to tell if it's done," Tyler says. "Another way to test whether the rice is done is to look at it to see if it's splitting."

Tyler's interest in cooking began early. "When I was younger, I watched cooking shows on TV, and it looked like fun," Tyler says. His favorite foods to cook are fried rice, hamburgers, hot dogs and eggs.

[Photo: Eric Ludin]

At his Largo home, Michael Sher creates a spinach salad with walnuts, a snack to eat while he watches a Bucs game on TV.

Michael has been cooking since he was 11. He watched his mother cook and wanted to give it a try. He really enjoys it. "Cooking is relaxing and fun," Michael says.

Both of these cooks get some of their recipe ideas from cookbooks. If Tyler sees a meal he likes in a restaurant, he asks what is in it and tries to make it at home. Michael gets some of his recipes from the Internet.

Michael, who is old enough to drive, does his own food shopping. Tyler's mother shops for him.

Both cooks' mothers are delighted about their sons' cooking. But both moms share the same concern: safety.

"I was quite concerned about safety because he's using the grill, oven and stove," says Tyler's mom, Julie Kattman. Michael's mom, Karen Sher, was worried about the use of knives. She also did not want pot handles hanging over the edge of the stove, so Michael wouldn't knock a boiling pot of water onto himself.

Both moms discussed their concerns with their sons and agreed on rules for working in the kitchen. Both think that their children are responsible.

Things do not always go right in the kitchen. Tyler once dropped a carton of 18 eggs onto the floor, making a huge mess. It was a big job to clean up, but no one was hurt.

Something worse happened to Michael. He once dropped a large piece of fish into a pot of boiling water, splashing the scorching water onto his forearm. The burn taught him a lesson about safety. Too bad he had to learn it the hard way.

Even the rest of the family is happy that the guys cook. Michael's sisters, Mindy and Lauren Sher, think Michael is a great cook. "He is a creative cook and always makes good meals," Mindy says.

So, the next time you run home from school with your stomach grumbling, tell your mother that you will cook dinner. That way, you will get what you want to eat, and your parents will be pleased.

Jacob Ludin, 11, is a fifth-grader in the Pinellas County Day School in Clearwater.

Thinking about cooking?

Do you know the difference between a frying pan and a saucepan? Two good resources I found will help you get started cooking, even if you don't know a kitchen tool from a garden tool:

CHILDREN'S QUICK & EASY COOKBOOK by Angela Wilkes, DK Publishing, $16.95, is written mainly for younger kids but can also be useful for teenagers. This book has many photographs showing all the steps you need to follow to prepare the recipes. It also has big pictures of the finished meal. The pictures make the recipes very easy to follow.

CHILDREN'S QUICK & EASY COOKBOOK begins with a page of kitchen rules, including always wear oven mitts when picking up anything hot and wash your hands before cooking. It also tells how to use sharp knives safely. This book contains basic information about how to use the oven, how to weigh and measure ingredients, and how to be safe in the kitchen. It has 57 easy recipes, which all look delicious. Young children will enjoy looking at the pictures and trying the recipes.

CLUELESS IN THE KITCHEN: A COOKBOOK FOR TEENS by Evelyn Raab Firefly Books, $12.95, is written mainly for teenagers. The author includes great recipes most teens would enjoy, for example, "idiot proof one-bowl chocolate cake" and "fully loaded nachos." Doesn't "pizza from the ground up" with "dastardly garlic breadsticks" sound appetizing?

This funny book is easy to read but has few drawings and no photographs. It contains a lot of information to help you get started in the kitchen, including where to buy kitchen stuff cheap and kitchen equipment you do not need, such as a mushroom brush and a happy-face toast embosser.

I made the cheese quesadillas. This recipe was very easy to follow. The book says these quesadillas are "a serious snack; this actually comes dangerously close to being a meal." I agree! The quesadillas can be a meal; they were delicious. I did burn my right ring finger when I touched the sizzling hot frying pan, though. This taught me a good lesson: to be more cautious in the kitchen.

Here's the rest of today's Xpress