In just a couple of weeks in kitchens across America, kids will make their annual cameo appearance beside the Mixmaster, the flour sifter and the (Careful! Don't burn yourself!) oven. They will savor batter, stamp out cookies, sprinkle colored sugar and manage to grease and flour just about every square inch of the kitchen. Parents' nerves will be baked to a crisp.
But in other homes, the scene will be a little different. In El Paso, Texas, Bridget Martinez, 15, will be expertly filling tamales and frying up bunuelos--crisp, sweet fritters. Bridget adores holiday time, but she cooks all year long....