My son has reached the age of curiosity and has been bombarding me with questions for months.

At first, the questions were easy to answer, but over time the questions have become more complex, even philosophical, and I find myself struggling to respond. I always answer him as honestly as I can, backed up with facts and appropriate examples to help him understand, but more and more often I am stumped. In these instances, I tell him, “I don’t know the answer to that, so lets look it up together,” which gives both of us the opportunity to learn something new, teaches him that it’s good to be honest when we don’t know the answer, and that it’s important to seek out the truth instead of guessing or continuing to wonder.

Together we have learned new things about the atmosphere and the solar system and the mechanics of time (try explaining that to a 5-year-old). He asks me concrete questions like how gasoline makes cars go, how helicopters fly, and why heavy boats don’t sink. These questions are fun to explore with him.

But he also asks me deep questions about the nature of life and death, which are much more difficult to answer truthfully and in a way he might understand. He always seems satisfied at first with my simple answers, but days later he will ask more questions expanding on them, which tells me that he’s not only listening, but he’s learning and thinking in abstract ways. His curiosity can be exhausting, but it makes me proud to watch him grow.

He sat on the counter while I made dinner the other night, asking me question after question about what I was doing and why. Lucky, I knew the answers offhand and didn’t have to pause my empanada making to look them up. These savory beef empanadas are filling and flavorful, perfect fuel for a growing mind.

Beef empanadas

Ingredients:

For the dough

4 cups all-purpose flour

14 tablespoons chilled butter

½ teaspoon salt

½-3/4 cup warm milk

1 egg

For the filling

1 pound lean ground beef

½ white onion, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)

½ can corn, drained and rinsed

Black pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the dough. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.

Cut the cold butter into cubes and cut into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingertips.

Whisk the egg into ½ cup of warm milk and pour into the flour.

Knead until a stiff dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add the remainder of the milk.

When the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 7 minutes.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Combine the minced onion, ground beef, tomato paste, garlic, and cumin in a skillet and cook until the beef is cooked and there are no large chunks.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat off and add the drained corn. Allow to cool for a while before using.

Divide the chilled dough into about 20 balls.

Roll each ball into 4-inch disks and fill with 2 tablespoon of filling each.

Carefully wrap the dough around the filling and pinch to seal.

You can attempt an artful, traditional folding design, or you can do what I did and use a fork to seal and decorate the edges.

Brush the tops with an egg wash for a shiny, golden finish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned.

Remove immediately from the baking tray to avoid soggy empanadas.