Rachael Ray's Non-profit Organization Yum-o!

What's so cool about cooking?

You may love to cook and are looking for more ideas and information about food. Or maybe you are a total beginner who isn't really sure what to do first. Whatever your comfort level is, we know one thing…everybody eats, right? So let's have some fun getting there…

The Yum-o! website will help get you started. Check out our Basic Pantry and Kitchen Tools sections to see what you need to get started in the kitchen. Then look at our recipes to see if any of them tickle your fancy. In fact, we organized many of our recipes by age groups so you can pick the ones just right for you to make with a GH (grown-up helper)* standing by. And, we want to hear how it goes! If you have something to share, send us your stories and recipe ideas by clicking here.

Grown-up Helper

A grown-up helper, or GH, should be present at all times when children are preparing the recipes on this website, especially while handling food, knives and when you are near stovetops and hot ovens.

Tips for kids in the kitchen

Measuring
Some of our recipes use traditional ways of measuring – cups, teaspoons and other terms that are pretty standard in the kitchen. Other recipes use funny measurements like a "palmful" of this and a "pinch" of that, but most of the time we try to provide the traditional equivalent of those funny terms. If you are just getting started in the kitchen, it's probably a good idea to use the more traditional measurements until you get used to different tastes and the effects ingredients have on the recipes. But don't be shy. Most of the time you can always take some away or add a little more of a certain ingredient to balance things out. Once you spend a little more time in the kitchen and become an old pro, you can do your own tweaking of the ingredients to make the recipes your very own!

Knives and cutting
Knives are sharp and they take skill to use, so stick to the size of knife that you are most comfortable using. Here are some additional cutting tips:

• Always keep a firm hold on what you are chopping and don't look away.
• Keep your fingers curled under on the hand that is holding what you are chopping. This will help make sure you don't cut your fingers.
• Did you know that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife? Check with a GH to be sure that your knives are sharp.
• Try using kitchen shears instead of knives! If you are more comfortable with scissors, then try kitchen shears on things like herbs and soft fruits and vegetables.
• Dull plastic knives are okay to use if you are spreading soft things like cream cheese or jam.

Clean up time
Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before you start working with food, as well as directly afterwards. We'll occasionally tell you to wash your hands yet another time during a recipe. If you clean up as you go, you won't have as much to do when you finish cooking. It's especially important to thoroughly clean your cutting boards when you finish working with food, especially if you are handling raw meat or poultry.