Cooking With Kids

We live surrounded by
fast food. Television bombards our kids with commercials for burgers and tacos.
When we drive to the mall we pass a pizza joint or a donut shop every block.
When we arrive at the mall the first place we enter is the food court.

Many parents strive
to educate their kids to the real meaning of food, and the fact that what we
eat comes from someplace (like a farm) and has to be prepared (not just
microwaved). We try to make nutritious meals at home because it’s healthier and
we want to instill in our children a love for cooking.

It’s great when kids
can see their parents preparing meals. It’s even better when kids can
participate. But where do you start? Most children aren’t ready for
sophisticated adult cuisine and complex recipes. Parents who want to engage
their kids in the kitchen need something simple.

Fortunately, there
are many wonderful cookbooks available that make it easy for parents and kids
to work together in the kitchen. Here are a few.

1. The Fannie
Farmer Junior Cookbook

(Joan Scobey and
Patience Brewster, Little, Brown Young Readers, 2000. ISBN: 978-0316776172)

Ideal for pre-teens
and adults who want to learn the essentials of meal and menu preparation.
The130 recipes cover basic fare for beginners from Apple Crisp to Winter Pasta
Salad, with informative discussions of ingredients, equipment, kitchen safety,
and menu planning.

2. Simply in
Season Children’s Cookbook

(Julie Kauffman,
Herald Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780836193367)

Visually appealing
with lots of large color photographs, vivid colors, and attractive design
elements that highlight the foods and recipes.

3. Emeril’s
There’s a Chef in My Soup! Recipes for the Kid in Everyone

(Emeril Lagasse,
HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN: 9780688177065)

Lots of recipes for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus special sections on pizza and pasta,
vegetables, salads, and desserts. Includes kitchen rules, tools, and safety.

4. Better Homes
& Gardens New Junior Cookbook

(Jennifer Dorland
Darling, Meredith, 1997. ISBN: 0696207087)

The book starts with
the basics including measuring, kitchen safety, menu planning, equipment,
setting the table, health, and nutrition. Recipes follow for breakfast, lunch,
snacks, dinner, dessert, and holidays. The recipes emphasize kids’ favorites like hamburgers, chili, pizza, lasagna, French fries, chicken, and tacos.

5. Salad People
and More Real Recipes: A New Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up

(Mollie Katzen,
Tricycle Press, 2005. ISBN: 9781582461410)

A charming cookbook
to introduce the joys of healthy eating to children who are not yet old enough
to read. Each recipe features quotations from preschoolers, safety tips, and a
detailed recipe, followed by two pages of small drawings illustrating each
step.

6. The Kids’
Cookbook

(Abigail Johnson
Dodge, Oxmoor House, 2000. ISBN: 0848726073)

This Williams-Sonoma
cookbook will appeal to adults as well as children ages nine and up. Divided
into four sections–Breakfast and Lunch, Snacks, Main Dishes and Side Dishes,
and Desserts–the photographs and numbered steps make the recipes easy to
follow.

7. Children’s
Quick & Easy Cookbook

(Angela Wilkes, DK
Children, 2006. ISBN: 978-0756618148)

This book is
particularly good for visual learners and children who are not yet reading
fluently because it includes photos of all of the ingredients, photos of each
step in the preparations, and a photo of the finished product. Along with
American favorites are recipes for Mexican, Chinese, Middle Eastern, French,
and North African dishes.

8. The United
States Cookbook: Fabulous Food and Fascinating Facts from All 50 States

(Joan D’Amico and
Karen Eich Drummond, John Wiley & Sons, 2000. ISBN: 0471358398)

This children’s
cookbook contains recipes and information about the fifty states, such as key
lime pie (Florida) and Swedish meatballs (Minnesota). Also included are cooking
skills and safety rules.

9. The Cooking
Book: 50 Mouthwatering Meals and Sensational Snacks

(Jane Bull, DK
Children, 2002. ISBN: 0789488345)

Highlights include a
section entitled “Play Dough” where young chefs bread dough into
funny faces, then bake and eat it. Other sections include Rainbow Cakes,
Popcorn, Pick and Mix Soup, and Fruit.

10. Easter Cooking

(Rebecca Gilpin,
Catherine Atkinson, and Carrie A. Seay, EDC Publishing, 2003. ISBN:
9780794504120)

This colorful book
features lots of Easter gift-wrapping ideas and directions for hard-boiling and
decorating eggs using wax crayons, stickers, rubber bands, and food coloring.
There are step-by-step directions for more than a dozen Easter treats including
chocolate nests, sticky Easter muffins, and cheesy chicks.

Kids will have fun
learning that cooking is more than putting a box in the microwave. Plus, when
your child has mastered a few skills, you’ve got a handy kitchen assistant
trained and ready to go!