Kids in the Kitchen
School is out, leaving the kids looking for lots of fun activities to occupy their time with. Summer is the perfect time to let your kids gain some experience in the kitchen. For many of you this time of year means your kids have way too much time on their hands, and you can’t think of nearly enough activities to cure their boredom.
Check out the following cookbooks, perfect for your chef-in-the-making:
“Cooking Rocks: 30-Minute Meals for Kids,” by Rachael Ray From the Queen of quick & easy meals, comes a book chocked full of kid-friendly recipes, with easy to follow instructions. What could be better than a meal cooked by the kids in 30 minutes or less? In the words of Rachael Ray - “Yum-O!”
“Mom and Me Cookbook: Have Fun in the Kitchen,” by Annabel Karmel Start em off young - kids ages three and up can learn the basics of nutrious cooking right along side mom, or dad in the kitchen. The book features basic cooking tips and techniques, basic recipes and simple meal planning ideas.
“Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls” An authentic reproduction of the original 1957 edition. Brought back by popular demand, this book is a timeless classic, packed with recipes such as Pigs In A Blanket, Sloppy Joes and Cheese Dreams. Kids today will love the book just as much as the Baby Boomers did the first go-round.
“Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat,” by Megan & Jill Carle A full color how-to cookbook written by two sisters - teens themselves, written for teens. Over 70 percent of the book’s recipes are vegetarian and you will find “How to Cook..” is jam packed with color photos of the cooking process and the finished dishes so kids can see just how things are done.
“Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook,” by Sam Stern With a little help from his mom, Stern, an enthusiastic 14 year old puts together dozens of recipes. You’ll find recipes great for weeknight dinners, and special occassions - even healthy but delicious snacks and desserts!
These are just a few of the many cookbooks available for the kids who love to cook. Check out Powell’s or your favorite book store for some of the many other cookbooks for kids, amoung them: a variety of baking cookbooks, vegetarian and ethnic/regional cookbooks.
Betty Crocker for Boys and Girls–how I adored this book (I had the 70s/80s edition, lovely).
It was a sign of things to come: I flipped through that so many times, read every single recipe, fantastized about the holiday cakes and the eggs in bologne.
I cooked perhaps 2 of the recipes, my first proud achievement was bringing teddy bear claws to my Brownie troop.
The book is still floating around my mom’s house, I’ll have to grab it next time I’m there. I’d love to blog some of that…
Also related, there’s an excellent feature on kids and cooking (and kids and food, generally) on the UK’s Observer Food Monthly website,available here
Loved the article about bribing kids into trying new foods.