I sent the mug cake recipe to my six-year old nephew, and received a reply (from his dad) that it was a smashing success, along with a cute pic of the little fellow intently preparing it. Thank you!
I think the cake being referred to was called, in my family, "wacky cake." I'd forgotten about it--good for people with various allergies. Also when I was a child we had a children's cookbook that had been my mother's (about 1920) with a recipe for "yummy eggs." I still make it--basically a sort of bland egg custard made in a double boiler--good for buffet brunches.
My son, Dan, received the “Pretend Soup” cookbook for his 5th birthday. It’s one of the only cookbooks that has directions “in print” for adults and then entirely in pictures for kids. Wonderful for a “pre-reader”. It has lots of my pencil edits and food smudges so we used it a lot. The names of the recipes like “carrot pennies” and “zucchini moons” made vegetables even more appealing.
You’ll have to watch out, because getting your kids in the kitchen early in life can have consequences. My son is now a professional recipe developer and blogger (see http://blog.suvie.com/topic/suvie-recipes).
The “made in the pan” chocolate cake recipe is very similar to one my Aunt Sally made for her children’s birthdays. I treasure the recipe I have in her own handwriting. I made it yesterday, and it is the very best chocolate cake ever, and it is vegan.
We love Salad People and made them at birthday parties and special dinners for years. It’s a craft and a snack!!
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This is great! My daughter-in-law featured many of these same books on her blog a few years ago (http://www.thegardenofeating.org/p/four-great-kids-cook-books.html) She also compiled a lovely round up of books about food, cooking and gardening in age-appropriate order to get kids interested in these very important subjects - there's a little crossover with your list, I believe. http://www.thegardenofeating.org/p/20-top-shelf-kids-books-about-food.html
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Any ideas for a kids gluten free cookbook? Are any of the ones mentioned easy to adapt GF?
For parents in the Connecricut area asking about cooking with boys, Sally Maraventano runs Cucina Casalinga Italian cooking classes in Wilton - for boys and girls. My son worships her, and he comes home with new cooking skills and a love for gourmet food!
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I just got a new kids cookbook for baking and it is terrific! I especially love the easy and delicious chocolate cake recipe. “Super Simple Baking for Kids” by Charity Curley Matthews. Kids cookbooks are good for adults too!!
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Betty Crocker's Boys and Girls Cook Book. Still available and a fun introduction for kids who like to be in the kitchen. My brothers and I all cooked from this when we were growing up and were lucky to have a mother who let us mess up her kitchen!
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What about Mardi Michels "In the French Kitchen with Kids" ?
Mardi is blogger, cook and a full-time French teacher to elementary school-aged boys in Toronto. She also teaches these boys cooking. It is a marvelous book.
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Where is the cookbook for teenage BOYS??? My granddaughter at 12 can make her own breakfast and lunch--my grandson at 14 can only graze on snacks. This isn't right! Every person should be able to cook well enough to take care of him/her self.
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These cookbooks sound like so much fun! There are so many benefits to cooking besides learning a valuable skill. You might enjoy my cookbooks for children, Cooking Around the Calendar with Kids: Holiday and Seasonal Food and Fun, and Cooking Around the Country with Kids: USA Regional Recipes and Fun Activities. See: www.imagesunlimitedpublishing.com.
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I know almost all the books presented so I feel qualified to add Veggieland and 4 Ways to Yummy Children's Vegetable Cookbook to the list. I wrote the yummy cookbook and can share that kids need to eat , cook and love vegetables so it's a perfect food to start with in the kitchen. I also focus on kids (3-12 yrs) making changes and having choices in recipes so that they actually learn how to cook! Never hold the bar low for our little ones they are unstoppable in the kitchen! I hope someone will take a look at these healthy cookbook options. I would love to get on the Best Cookbook list as I feel confident it should be. Thank you, Heide
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The DK Complete children's cookbook was recommended by a friend whose kids loved it. I bought it for my niece who loves to cook. My sister (her mother ) had just passed away and she needed instructions so she could cook by herself.
She loves this book and told me that it "saved her".
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@Sbey That is amazing.
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I would add “4 Ways to Yummy” by Heide Horeth. Published by a mom who would never say, “Don’t play with your food.” Recipes are kid tested for ease of preparation and yummy-ness.
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My 3rd grade son has The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen. The recipes tend to cater to things that kids already like to eat (mac and cheese, etc. ) and some are very simple (yogurt and granola parfait) but others have presented just enough of a challenge that he has felt a sense of accomplishment in knowing he made that. He's helped me cook from my cookbooks but there is something about it being "his" that makes this one a big hit.
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ChopChop is a great magazine for kids with a focus on healthy eating. It is also a non-profit!
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@Fritz - ChopChop is fantastic - our son loved it
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These all sound great; first, though, I need a cookbook for extremely picky eaters. As in, gateway flavors and foods to move a kid on from mac and cheese and other yellow foods to something more adventurous - maybe that includes exotic spices like pepper... Anybody?
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@Andrea J Getting them into the kitchen and making their own food can really help with pickiness. My girls are much more likely to try something if they had a hand in making it. Mollie Katzen's books are a good start. Good luck!
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Try Veggieland or 4 ways to Yummy Children's Vegetable Cookbook. I specifically address how kids can change recipes with spice partners and tools to vary texture. I think it is imperative they be involved in shopping, prepping and cooking. This does not have to be complex or time consuming. Little by little, exposure and fun. Good luck, my son was an easy eater but my husband has pretty extreme texture issues. He was my tester for the Yummy Cookbook!
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@Andrea J - two things that got our child excited about cooking are watching cooking shows on TV (chopped jr. and master chef Jr.) and then going to farmer's markets
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DK makes a book called Cooking Step by Step. This is my daughters favorite because it has a photo of each step. She struggles with reading so if we go over the recipe together first, she can use the pictures while cooking to recall the steps. Once she starts she is adamant that she wants to cook the recipe by herself. This cookbook gives her the autonomy she craves. It has a nice variety of recipes ranging from breakfasts, snacks, main dishes, and desserts.
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@D. C.
Fantastic comment. And your daughter sounds like one tough and cookie, wanting to learn and do stuff herself. What a great kid!!! And thanks for the suggestion about the cookbook you use in your home. Definitely worth exploring for the grandkids.
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I love this article because kids are never too young to learn their way around the kitchen other than throwing a frozen pizza or some other frozen meal into the microwave.
These suggestions are wonderful and the "Baking Class" seems perfect for my 6 year great-grandson. Nothing says love like learning to bake with Mom or Dad or Grandma in the kitchen with a great cookbook for kids to help guide the way.
I still have rich and warm memories of learning to bake with my Mom and her Betty Crocker cookbook. I don't think the notion of a kids' cookbook was on anyone's radar back in the horse and buggy area, but the memories and skills I have from my Mom will stay with me for life.
The best part is something delicious like chocolate cake or a fudgy chocolate mug cake dessert is the end reward and result. Sounds like a win-win for everyone, especially for the little.
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@Marge Keller - we've finally found the big difference between us: I admire baking skill, but I'm terrible at it! I need to see what I'm cooking at all times - it's kind of like the cooking version of movie Terms of Endearment, when Shirley MacLaine climbs into the crib to see if the baby is breathing: I need to see how the recipe is coming along every few minutes to check that it's not a disaster (in case we need to call out for pizza!)
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@common sense advocate
The difference between us may not be that great. Baking and cooking are two entirely different skills and talents. I can bake pretty much anything with great success but I can't cook to save my life. Well, I can do spaghetti and pot roast and baked chicken, but that's about it. And even then, I am hovering over those few dishes like a hawk. I cannot cook or bake without a recipe because I never developed the confidence nor innate skill. To this day I get confused over baking soda and baking powder. I too check on my slim dinner options or baking item often to ensure nothing is burning or that I didn't leave a pot holder in the hot oven by mistake.
To be honest, pizza has graced our dinner table on more occasions than I can count because the original dinner selection did not turn out. I'm a pepperoni pizza person - maybe that could be a big difference between us?
Loved your comment - I can always count on them putting a huge smile on my face.
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@Marge Keller - I love pepperoni pizza but dieting puts it off the menu ;)
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Not highlighted is one of the best things, I think, about The Silver Spoon cookbook: the authors show, with drawings, proper and safe technique for using kitchen knives and other kitchen tools. Many books for kids avoid having kids cut, or they gloss over cutting. This book does a real service in showing the child proper, safe techniques that enable them to cook with much less parental involvement.
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@Cathy You're right, Cathy. This book was my 6yo's favorite from the bunch, hands down.
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I do like this cookbook as well!
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@Margaux Laskey, NYT Cooking I would love to send you a copy of my cookbook published a couple of months ago? Rebecca Katz and Ocean Robbins have endorsed it and I feel fortunate to have health minded folks supporting me. Thank you for your time!
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I loved cooking with my children when they were younger. One favorite cookbook was Emeril LaGasse's "There is a chef in my soup"! Great recipes that adults love, funny pictures.
My cooking adventures with the children included shopping with them, and we also did complicated things like roasts or gratins. They all love to cook now, as do I.
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@Sally Yes!!! My daughter is now an excellent home chef, and this book is a huge reason why! The recipes are not childish and the instructions are very straightforward. She also loved Emeril's There's a Chef in My World!: Recipes That Take You Places
The American Girl books are great but America Test Kitchen’s The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs has really gotten my youngest cooking.
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I love helping kids learn to cook in after-school childcare.
While adults may fear knives, girls tend to be pretty careful once they realise they cut - boys not so great as they tend to like to bash and make noise and food goes on the floor.
At bench level, tiny kids often have no leverage of a knife so I often find a high stool so they can stand higher above the bench so the weight of the knife naturally cuts the carrot or potato or such without the kid becoming frustrated that it's too much effort.
And tiny hands are great for making dumplings out of pastry - fine motor skills practice.
One time a tiny girl – maybe 5yo - followed me as I went to make myself a cup of instant coffee - so I got her to spoon in the coffee and sugar then hold the cup as I poured the boiling water.
While this was going on the manager had wandered in and was watching silently fascinated.
As the cup filled a lower staff female (selfish - I don't like) came in - took one look and shouted loudly and offensively 'STOP that - it might not be safe !!!'
The manager murmured quietly to her 'she's learning ...'
As the cup got over half full with boiling water the girl said 'Hot ...' and carefully placed the cup back on the bench to rub her hands together with a big smile.
She had learned that some drinks are too hot to hold - her lesson for today.
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My suggestion for starting your children on knife skills is to teach them how to make a basic fruit salad. The grapes need no cutting, but a simple spreader that has a rounded, dull blade, will cut through a banana. Cheese spreaders have small handles for little hands. I still have the two my son used, one has a goose on the handle and the other has a little chef. Add some dried fruit and yogurt and the fruit salad is done.
After my son learned how to scramble an egg, I knew he’d never starve. We made grilled cheese sandwiches to season a crepe pan, and in high school he asked for his own crepe pan that he could bring to college. Years later, my son worked for a brick and mortar recipe-box start-up in Boston. One of his jobs was teaching knife skills.
This brought back great memories of a children's cookbook my mother gave me for Christmas years ago. It contained fairy tales interspersed with recipes. I wish I still had it.
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@DR me too. it sounds delightful. I would try to Goggle some key points you remember...hope you'll find it!
Adventures in Veggieland: Help Your Kids Learn to Love Vegetables with 100 Easy Activities and Recipes is based on research and fun! (Because if it isn't fun, what's the point?)
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@ My Munch Bug Colorado
Although I am not a proponent of vegetarianism, I question the choice of the Food Stylist of the photo of the chocolate cake with two pairs of hands: one, on the left, with nice slender fingers, but the one on the right with the short nails polished in a bizarre bluish tint.
Adult cookbooks will do just as well if not better to inspire a child's imagination especially as the article says, they observe and learn at the elbow of the adult cook/chef, which is the best way to learn and appreciate.
As a child I received one such toddler's book on baking by Betty Crocker (or some such title) which was too banal even for a youngster, because these books talk down to the kids.
If they're old enough to read and understand these books their fertile minds and palates have already transcended these juvenile offerings.
Observing and taking advice while shopping/preparing/cooking proved far more engrossing and then there was the final moment of truth at the dinner table.
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@177A Bleecker St. - I agree.
The great Jacques Pepin, in his delightful autobiography "The Apprentice", narrates how, as a child, he helped his mother (who ran a working-people's restaurant) and was later formally apprenticed at age 13.
Pepin's describes how his mother went every morning to the market to pick up produce that was just past its prime - bargaining with the vendors who were eager to get rid of it - and then transformed it into delicious recipes. Anthony Bourdain, in his "Les Halles Cookbook" quotes this description to explode the myth (propagated by several food writers) that the rural French rely on magically fresh and superior ingredients.
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Cooking is creativity, savoring is consumption. To compare cooking with chemistry, cooking is like synthesis, eating is analysis.
Having never seen or read a cookbook for children, I dread to think, how much of propensity to hamburger-like foods might have the authors inserted there.
None of these books are burger heavy.
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