For a young person, there are all sorts of reasons for getting into the kitchen as soon as you can: it's a new responsibility, it shows independence, it's a valuable life skill for the future... Also it's a great way of impressing your friends and making sure you get the food you like! BBC Food has a collection of teen cook Sam Stern's excellent recipes to start you off on the road to becoming a cookery legend. Treat the parentsWhether you're looking for a way of getting out of the bad books or just looking for a special way to say thank you for all the things they've done for you, cooking a meal for your parents is a gift that they will adore. It's also a great chance to show off your ever-growing list of talents.  The key to success is confidence and planning. Tell mum and dad that you're planning to cook them dinner and, when they've picked themselves up off the floor, ask them for any help you might need. Make a shopping list and arrange the trip to pick up the necessary ingredients, then make sure you're comfortable with all the tools you need in the kitchen: how does the oven work? What pans always burn the meat and should be avoided? Which are the plates and bowls to use and which are the precious heirlooms given to your mum by her great-great-Aunt Bessie? The more you know about the kitchen the better your chances of pulling off a legendary meal.
 Don't be afraid to ask for a little help or advice if you need it. It's not cheating and your folks will be glad to help out
So once you're all set, plans made, ingredients and tools in order, just tell mum and dad to put their feet up and relax - you've got it under control and it's time to cook up a masterpiece. Don't be afraid to ask for a little help or advice if you need it. It's not cheating and your folks will be glad to help out.
 Fear not - if a big main course feels a bit much, you can always offer to make the pudding. It's a lot less stress and your parents will be just as impressed. Try starting with Sam's Fruit in a paper parcel. Fruit is an easy pleaser and cooking the fruit like this intensifies the sugars and tastes. If you really want to impress the folks, tell them that you've cooked dessert 'en papillote'. They'll look at you like you're a regular Gordon Ramsay! The breakfast of championsWith so much to do, Christmas is an excellent time to muck in with mum and dad in the kitchen: peeling spuds, washing veg, stirring cake mixtures and licking the spoon... There's a lot of pressure on the big Christmas meals, so you're unlikely to be given free rein on the goose or turkey roast, but why not get stuck into making the family something worth getting up for in the mornings?
 Making the breakfast is a win-win situation. People don't often expect much, so when you deliver a tasty breakfast masterpiece it's a lot like scoring an opening goal in the World Cup final: the crowd goes wild and you're a hero for the rest of the day!
A feast for your friends Let's face it - your mates don't want to be mucked around. They don't want fancy French words in their food, they don't want to have to master six types of table etiquette to enjoy a meal, and they certainly don't want to wait hours to get fed!
 Sam Stern's solution to keeping your friends fed and not fed up is simple: give them what they like and make it tasty. Try cooking this selection of hearty homemade feasts for your mates. You don't even have to point out how much healthier they are than the junk food alternatives - just serve up the grub and enjoy the meal. Burgers and other banging meals
Winning puddings
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