This is the time of year when I normally spend a lot of time in the kitchen, looking up old family recipes and making dishes that remind me of my childhood and holidays past. When not pressed for time, cooking can be therapeutic and a great way to create lasting family memories. Remember making your first chocolate chip cookies? Mmmm! Rice Krispies Treats? Yum! The magic of Jell-o? The comfort of grilled cheese sandwiches?
My toddler is already fascinated by what goes on in the kitchen—all that pouring, stirring, and mixing! I’ve let her tear the lettuce and pour the cheese on the macaroni. She gets the biggest thrill out of it. She’s also seen me take out my cookbooks and browse through the recipes. Sometimes we look at the pictures together. Her favorite are the baking books with the photos of mouthwatering cakes and cookies. I may be part of a dying breed—they say more people than ever are reading recipes online—but there’s something so satisfying about holding a trusted cookbook in one’s hands. Sure, there are times when I too turn to the computer for a recipe, but my main inspiration will always be the eclectic assortment of cookbooks I’ve collected over the years.
When my children are a little older, I’m looking forward to actually cooking with them. Besides being fun, it’s a great way to boost reading and counting skills, not to mention problem-solving and sequential thinking. Plus, kids are more likely to try different foods when they’ve had a hand in making them. We’ll try recipes from some of my books but I want my kids to have cookbooks of their own. I still remember how much I loved The Nancy Drew Cookbook as a child. I’m sure the food wasn’t anything special but, as a big Nancy Drew fan, I couldn’t wait to try recipes like the “Hollow Oak Nest Egg.” I already have some children’s cookbooks in mind. For starters: All the recipes in Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up, by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson, come in two versions—one for the adult helper and one for the child cook. The kid version includes step-by-step pictures so children can feel empowered to take the lead (with some adult supervision). Genius! The recipes (healthy but still tasty) are all very doable and fun to make. If your family likes this book, they’ll also like Katzen’s others: Salad People and Honest Pretzels.
I love the retro-vintage illustrations of Look and Cook: A Cookbook for Children, by Tina Davis. The recipes include basics like spaghetti and meatballs, mashed Potatoes, and blueberry muffins as well as some surprises like “Pig in a Poke" (hot dog in a baked potato). Nice touches include a section at the end for writing your own favorite recipes and short informational chapters like “How to Measure” and “The Tabletop.”
Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook, by Georgeanne Brennan, looks like fun. Each recipe—with intriguing names like “Pink Yink Ink Drink” and “Cindy-Lou Who-Wreaths”—comes with an excerpt from the Dr. Seuss book that inspired the concoction. The recipes will require grown-up assistance but they seem to promise good times in the kitchen. That reminds me—Happy Thanksgiving!
Sandra Lee Rella, mother of two, is a freelance editor and writer, and a former children's book review editor.
