Sometimes a project takes on a life of its own, going further in educating and providing family time than you could have expected.

Early this year we borrowed an Emeril for Kids type cookbook from the library. Ethan looked through (at my command! “you have to pick something!!!) and chose to try cooking Chicken Parmesan. It is now his signature dish!

It’s actually pretty easy to do and he can do most of it all by himself! And it scales up easily for guests. Ethan takes a lot of pride in inviting over friends and cooking for them.

One of the more detailed parts of the dish is creating a spice mix called “Baby Bam.” It uses paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder etc. (Baby Bam Recipe) Since we are growing parsley and thyme in our garden this year (thanks Erin Coady who gave me herbs to plant from her garden!), Ethan is harvesting those ingredients himself and we clean them and dry them together for the mix!

So if you like Chicken Parm, invite yourself over for dinner! We’d love to have you.