Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Advice for Baby Mirabelle

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.

The happiest news we've gotten all week? Michael and his wife, China, welcomed sweet baby Mirabelle into the world! We're so excited for their growing (and, rest assured, healthy) family -- and we're proud to welcome one more little human to the Food52 team. Michael and China are skilled cooks and enthusiastic eaters (they even have a Google doc to plan their weeknight meals), so we're sure that this sweet baby will find her way to the kitchen before long. And we know she'll be eating well.

To celebrate this joyous occasion, and to give Mirabelle something to roll her eyes at when she googles herself in 15 years (Dad's coworkers are so lame!), we asked our team:

If you could give baby Mirabelle one piece of cooking advice, what would it be?

We want to hear your advice, too! Share it in the comments -- and try to read the following without crying. We dare you.

Lauren: My advice for Mirabelle is to make sure your parents share their lunch spreadsheet with you. And learn how to garden.  

Christina: Try everything once. If you think you don't like it, try it again in 10 years.

Kenzi: Try everything once. If you fail, try it again tomorrow. And also, sweet, sweet Mirabelle: always eat avocados.

  

Bryce: Welcome sweet Mirabelle! My advice is to always have cookie dough in your freezer.

Jennifer: Never eat or buy fat-free food.

Karl: When in doubt, toss with olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then roast!

Stephanie: It is always an appropriate time to eat ice cream.

Lindsay: Maintain an open mind and an adventurous palate. And always sprinkle your grilled cheese sandwiches with garlic salt after buttering. 

Marian: Keep an emergency stash of chocolate. And cook with your parents. And be patient.

Beatrice: Always have a spoonful of cookie dough before baking them off!

Peter: To paraphrase Julia Child (I think): "Food, like a horse, can sense fear."

Amanda Li: Learn how to cook the things your family makes you eat now. Once you get older, you'll crave them -- and it'll be on you to carry on your family's traditions.

James: Quality is more important that quantity.

Maddy: Play with your food!

Amanda: Eat like your parents do and you'll have a very fine life. Have dessert at every meal. And make sure the pasta water tastes as salty as the sea.

Kristen: The only trick to making your food taste better: remember to sneak bites as you're cooking. Adjust, repeat. The best way to learn: get in the kitchen with others, then stand back and watch (and resist grabbing the spatula).

Merrill: Food is important. But sometimes the company is even more important.

Ryan: Every vegetable is better roasted.

Brette: Steal cookies from the cookie jar. 

Sarah: Eat what makes you happy, but know where your food comes from. And when entertaining, simple is usually best. 

Jason: Wait a couple years before you go near the stove. It's hot and you're a baby. Also don't ever skimp on the cheese.

Help us celebrate a new mouth to feed by sharing your advice in the comments!