Whenever I've cooked with kids, it was a niece or nephew and always for special-occasion fun — holiday cookies, making Granny's Thanksgiving stuffing or a practice session in praline-making. I know nothing about what it is like having kids under foot each night as you prepare supper.

Still, I have great memories of those times and agree with a working mother who told me that, when cooking with kids, "there are wonderful messes to be made."

One mom who sees it that way is Ashley Hansen, who was among parents who shared with me tales of cooking with kids.

Hansen, who owns Hansen's Sno-Bliz snowball stand in New Orleans, admits she is a bit of a Pollyanna when it comes to cooking with her daughter Avery, 8, and son Gordon, 10.

"I always seem to go for this Mary Poppins aspect," she said. "Let's make this fun."

And, snap, the job's a game — literally.

"We have cooking contests with smoothies, small salads, grilled cheese, cookies. Everyone is encouraged to add a 'secret ingredient,'" Hansen said, explaining that the idea for the game grew out of family members having their own ideas of how a cookie or smoothie should taste.

"So, I was like, let's all put in our own special ingredient. They loved the idea of a secret ingredient that would not be revealed until the end."

Hansen doesn't leave everything to chance. Some contest ideas are born out of what she finds in her refrigerator or if she over-buys a fruit or vegetable.

"It's important to lead them. I try to plant seeds and see who picks up what. 'Look, I have this Tupperware of roasted nuts. Look, I have bananas.'"

The family loves crepes. Avery filled one with shredded cheddar and fresh dill. "She won that round," Hansen said.

Gordon took home the trophy one day with his yogurt smoothie blended with rosemary and blood orange.

"It is a curiosity that kids have about how foods taste together, experimenting with things," she said. "It's also about making magic happen, like Harry Potter coming up with potions."

Parents are remarkably clever sometimes. One dad told me he signed up for one of those meal-in-a-box delivery services, and now his son waits for the package like it's a present and can't wait to get into the kitchen to make whatever is inside.

After listening to lots of parents, I saw a few recurring themes:

— Let kids do it their way. As one father told me: "For the cupcakes, she likes to split them and frost between the halves. 'It's less messy, Dad. The frosting doesn't get on your fingers.' I mean, the frosting and crumbs do get everywhere to accomplish this, but the eating part? OK, it is less messy."

— Pull out the gadgets. "My 4-year-old loves using the tools — stand mixer (cake and frosting), plastic knife (cutting boiled eggs and raw mushrooms), rolling pin (pizza dough), tongs (heating tortillas on gas stove), blender (making smoothies) and immersion blender (mayonnaise)," said one mom.

— Go hands-on. Think shaping meatballs, cutting out cookies, "smashing" potatoes or rolling up wraps. "My 2-1/2-year-old is a whiz at scrambled eggs; he loves to crack eggs."

One mother told me: "My kids and I have always cooked together, making chicken Parmesan, pad Thai, fish with macque choux and more since they were 4 and 5 years old. ... Now that my kids are (in their) 20s, they're cooking all of the recipes we used to make together, at their apartments in college. When they come home from school, they bring recipes from their roommates with them, that we all make together. So it's sort of come full circle!"

Hansen's secret-ingredient contest idea sparked me to incorporate it into pizza — the single dish that came up over and over again among parents.

The idea: Make an easy muffin-tin pizza, using homemade or store-bought dough and marinara. Line the muffin tins with dough, put a little mozzarella in the bottom, layer on a teaspoon of marinara, and then let everyone take it from there. Hide the ingredients with another spoonful of marinara and a sprinkle of cheese.

You could make them and then let the kids taste and identify them. Or let the kids hide ingredients and have other family members taste, identify them and vote for a winner.

I played the game with my husband at home, and even this slightly beyond middle-age guy enjoyed it.

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Muffin Tin Deep-Dish Pepperoni Pizza

Active time: 25 minutes; Total time: 45 minutes

4 servings (makes 12 mini pizzas)

This kid-friendly dish is the answer when everyone is craving pizza. It is easily adapted to different toppings, so you can make 12 of one kind or mix-and-match toppings to suit each person's taste. For example, vegetarians can leave out the meat and add mushrooms. You'll need about a quarter cup of a selected chopped topping, such as bell pepper, mushrooms, onion or olives to sprinkle evenly among the 12 cups.

Serve with a salad.

Leftover pizzas can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days; or frozen on a sheet pan and then transferred to an airtight container for up to 3 months.

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil or cooking spray, for greasing the muffin tin

All-purpose flour, for dusting the counter and your hands

1 pound pizza dough

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup marinara sauce

1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup (10 to 12 olives) chopped pitted kalamata olives (optional)

48 mini pepperoni slices (about 1 ounce), (may substitute chopped salami or crumbled cooked sausage)

1/2 cup (1-3/4 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh basil leaves (optional)

STEPS

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a 12-cup muffin tin, or coat it with nonstick spray.

Lightly dust a clean, dry surface with flour, then roll out the pizza dough to about 16-by-12 inches and about 1/4-inch thick. Cut the dough into 12 equal 4-inch squares.

Place a square of dough in each muffin cup, and press it into the bottom and up the sides so it reaches the top of the muffin tin. Lightly flour your hands if the dough sticks to your fingers. The dough may shrink back down into the cup. If it does, work it back up the side of the tin as you add the toppings.

Inside each cup, layer about 1 tablespoon mozzarella cheese and 1 teaspoon sauce. Evenly distribute the bell pepper and olives, if using, among the cups, followed by 4 pieces of mini pepperoni. Top the meat with a scant 1 tablespoon sauce, so it covers the filling. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, dividing it evenly among the cups.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil, if using. Let cool for at least 3 minutes before removing the pizzas from the muffin tins to serve.

From recipes editor Ann Maloney.