For the Agoncillos, Childhood Memories Are Made in the Kitchen

We often hear the term "bonding time" when the topic shifts to parenting, and many imagine it to be a moment that one sets exclusively aside —puts on the calendar, even—to focus on the relationship between yourself and your kids. While that is an aspiration (although not always doable), research says it's actually the everyday little moments that will make your children grow up to be happy adults.

For actress Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo and her kids, the magic happens almost daily in their home kitchen. Having finished a course in Basic and Advanced Cooking Skills at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS) 11 years ago, Juday has been whipping up sumptuous recipes for her family since. She encourages her kids to dabble in cooking, not only to get to know them better but because it's an opportunity to teach them lessons, whether on cooking or otherwise.

In an interview with SmartParenting.com.ph last year, Juday stressed the importance of teaching her kids about nutrition. "Trained sila to drink fresh vegetable and fruit juice every morning after breakfast. Ang naging choice [na ibinigay] ko lang naman sa kanila is either they drink their fruits and veggies, or they eat them. They opted for the drink."

Earlier this year, when asked who among her three children is likely to follow her footsteps as a chef, Juday knew it was either Lucho or Luna (Watch the video here). Her husband Ryan's recent post on Instagram is proof this could be true.

In the video, their 7-year-old son Lucho is shown cooking fried rice (with adult supervision, of course) in their kitchen, prompting positive reactions from Ryan's followers for the admirable way he and Juday are raising their son.

IMAGE ryan_agoncillo/Instagram

IMAGE ryan_agoncillo/Instagram

And it's not just Lucho getting an early start. In August, Juday uploaded a video of their adorable baby Luna helping her prepare ingredients for yogurt granitas, referring to her as her "little chef".

In her recent venture, a weekly web cooking show called Judy Ann's Kitchen (named after her cookbook), Juday showcases her recipes with a twist from the comforts of her dreamy home kitchen, with the help of 13-year-old daughter Yohan, Lucho, and Luna who make cameo appearances as assistants, sometimes food testers. Here are some of the episodes we love (and recipes we're going to try this Christmas):

Juday teams up with Yohan to prepare roast — watch how excited Lucho gets when he learns they're having turkey for dinner! 

In this episode, Juday couldn't resist picking up Luna even with her hands literally full:

We tried this Pinoy Burger recipe — and absolutely loved it!

The girls can't get enough of their mom's cooking!

Indeed, happy memories are created with everyday moments — and the Agoncillos effectively show us how.