I think cooking is a great family activity and definitely a perk for home school kids. If she requests a specific dish, have her practice letter writing. She can write you a letter requesting the dish and explaining what she likes about it. She could look up the origin of the dish and write a brief report. You could do a history lesson on what was happening in the world at the time this dish was first created. Meal planning together can involve shopping for groceries, which allows practicing the use of money. Measuring ingredients often means practicing with fractions. You can incorporate science by explaining why certain things work the way they do, like how baking soda makes things rise or why eggs are binding agents. The amount of time needed to cook is a way to practice calculating time. She could draw place mats specifically for a meal, which would give her a directed focus for art.
