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You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey, it's Mariel.

Okay, picture this.

You're in the kitchen making chicken cutlets,

and you've got a kid in the house,

your child or your niece or nephew, your grandkid.

And they come up to you while you're wrist-deep in egg, raw chicken, and breadcrumbs,

and say something like,

you want to look at my drawing?

Or you want to play catch?

Or I'm hungry?

Or can I watch Bluey?

Now, do you tell them to go in the other room and play?

Or do you get them involved?

As any adult who takes care of a child knows,

getting food on the table is a big part of the job.

And often while we're doing that, the kids are in the other room waiting to eat.

That's something professional chef David Nefeld is trying to change with his cookbook.

Dad, what's for dinner?

For me, what the essence of the book is, is about how to reconnect with our families while everybody is

in separate rooms, doing separate things on separate devices. You know, the kitchen can be the great

...