Is your family headed in every direction every day? Sometimes it seems as if it’s impossible to find family together time with all the activities that get crammed into each day. If you’re looking for a way to get a little bit more face-to-face family time, maybe enjoying a homemade treat would be a good way to bring everyone together for a little while.
Few things bring people together more quickly than homemade desserts. There aren’t a lot of things that everyone agrees on, but dessert can get most people on the same page. Online resources like the Kitchen Community have great suggestions to help keep everyone at the table through dinner. While making and eating dessert doesn’t need to be an everyday affair, there are a few reasons that an occasional homemade dessert can be a good part of your family’s routine, and one that they will look forward to.
A Sweet Learning Opportunity
If you have kids (or adults) who want to learn how to cook, there’s no better place to start than with a sweet treat for after-dinner family time. Learning how to measure, mix and knead new recipes is a great way to learn together. It takes patience to wait on rising dough, and perseverance to weave that perfect pie crust. Seeing how small changes in recipes can make big changes in the end results is a good way to see real-world cause-and-effect relationships.
There are endless lessons to be taught in the kitchen. One of the best might be that time spent together is like nothing else. And knowing you’ve found a good way to teach a solid life skill is priceless.
Time for Togetherness
At the end of a long day, it might be tempting to eat a quick meal and get on to a television show or whatever other activities everyone has planned. But what if there was a reason to stick around just a little bit longer? What if everyone had something to look forward to after dinner at the table?
While a homemade dessert might not be an everyday thing, maybe once in a while a special treat would be a reason to have a few more minutes together, enjoying something everybody likes. Maybe it starts one more conversation or is an opportunity for another joke everyone can laugh about together before going on with their own plans.
A Good Reward for a Good Job
There might not be a better way to celebrate your family’s achievements than something you made yourself. Of course, everybody knows cake is for birthdays, but what about cinnamon rolls for a good soccer season? Or cookies for good grades? Nothing says congratulations like a pan of fresh-baked baklava. While dessert might be a “sometimes” food, rewarding an achievement is always a fun idea.
Whether you’re looking to reward a big accomplishment or spend extra time together in the kitchen, homemade simple desserts can help get everyone together. We can all use a little more together time, and a sweet reward can let someone know you appreciate their hard work.