One of my greatest joys comes from teaching.  Since I decided to take the semester off to give Genevieve a little more Mama time, I had been missing my cooking students.  Luckily, Liev’s preschool class came over and gave me a little taste of the mess, the chaos, and the fun of teaching children about food and how to cook.

We made our TYM heirloom recipe, Sweet Potato Casserole with Caramelized Pecans and Crunchy Marshmallows.  It is definitely a fun recipe to make again and again, and the children, even if they want nothing to do with the other ingredients, generally get interested in the marshmallows.

I just love how children say what they think, whether that is “YUM!” or “YUCK!”.  I love how they get completely absorbed in the making of things.  I don’t always love when they fight, but it makes the conflict resolution moments so much sweeter.  And, when I see a kid who has come to my cooking classes as a two or three-year-old out and about in Tribeca and they tell me what they are up to and add in details about what they have been cooking with their family, it makes my day.

As we move toward January and the class season that lies ahead, I am beginning to feel a lot of excitement, a lot of ideas swirling around, and a real joy about being able to teach again.

And you?  What gives you JOY today?

My Corner Views have been few and far between these past months, but I hope the other CV’ers don’t mind me jumping in whenever I have a moment.  To check out other JOYful offerings, check out Francesca’s blog and these, too:

jane – ian – joyce – francesca – kasia –isabelle – janis – kari – jgy – lise – cate –otli – dorte– ali– sunnymama– daan–ibb– kelleyn– ninja– theresa – cherry b – cole – lucylaine – skywriting– anna– rosamaría – tikjewit – juniper–valerie – mlle paradis– wander chow–don –flowtops – susanna– tania –kristin