True North: A family magazine for Bend and Central Oregon.

Books that are sure to get your kids cookin'!
by Stephanie M. Hicks

Children's cookbooks fill the aisles at bookstores and libraries these days. In fact, there are a wide variety of recipe compilations especially for kids. And one nice side effect of spending time in the kitchen with your kids is that a number of important skills can be learned and honed. Small motor skills can be improved by learning to cut items with a blunt knife or spread butter and other toppings on bread. Mathematical concepts, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions can also be learned outside of the classroom. What if we double this recipe? How many cups of sugar will we need then? The basic knowledge of how many cups in a gallon or tablespoons in a cup will stay with your children for their entire lives.

Kids can begin to enjoy cooking as early as 3 years of age. Just make sure that sharp and hot implements are kept away from them and that they are strictly supervised! Your best bet is to review safety tips before starting work in the kitchen with young people.

When choosing a children's cookbook, you should consider your lifestyle and religious beliefs. For example, if your home follows a strict vegan or vegetarian diet, you won't want a cookbook with hamburger recipes! Open the books and review the recipes inside. Do they look relatively simple to prepare? Are the ingredients fresh and readily available? What additional information is provided to help your child learn? Will it be fun?

The following are kid favorites that are sure to get your family cooking together this summer:

There's a Chef in My Soup, by Emeril Lagasse
Shrek Cookbook
Cooking Rocks! Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids
The Everything Kids Cookbook

There's a Chef in My Soup is filled with colorful illustrations, including images of Emeril that are hand-drawn, with a photograph of his head on top. The book is divided into sections for breakfast, salads, pizza and pasta, lunch, dinner, vegetables, and dessert. Safety tips are set forth at the beginning of the book, which is well-organized. Fantastic drawings of cooking implements are included to help kids learn their names and functions. The book also sets forth information on chopping, mincing, peeling, grating, trimming meat, and cracking eggs.

Each of Emeril's recipes tells you how many servings will be prepared, and gives a list of ingredients and tools that will be needed. Although illustrations are included, there are no photographs of the final products.

Our favorite recipes: Yummy Wake-Up Smoothies and Eat-a-Pita Pizzas.

The Shrek Cookbook was definitely published with children's imaginations in mind! For those that have seen the movies, you'll enjoy the lively images of all the characters. There are only a few pages devoted to safety, and no instructions on preparation. This book may be a good addition to your collection, but probably not the first cookbook you want to purchase.

Shrek's recipes are organized into breakfast, light lunches, delicious dinners, and sweet treats. Its only 79 pages long, but the photographs of the finished recipes are a big bonus! Each recipe is tied to a character in one of the three Shrek movies.

Our Favorite Recipes: The Three Bears' Porridge and Donkey Dippers. The Stir-fry Worms and Insects look delectable!

Cooking Rocks! Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids is a delightfully fun book. Rachel Ray has organized the book into sections divided by age (4-6 years, 7 and up, and 12-16 years). She also has a chapter on "Boss Beverages and Super Snackers" that kids of any age can make. Like Emeril's book, Rachel Ray's cookbook has an extensive beginning with safety tips and kitchen basics. There is also an introduction about "Why Cooking Rocks." The book is colorfully illustrated with drawings, and a few photographs, as well.

The recipes include the number of servings and required ingredients. One fun aspect of the cookbook is the creative names for the recipes, all of which are designed to turn regular food into something special.

Our Favorite Recipes: Cookie and Ice Cream Fill-Your-Handwiches and Meatloaf Muffins with Barbeque Sauce.

Finally, The Everything Kids' Cookbook by Sandra K. Nissenberg is a wonderfully detailed book that includes basic information on safety and kitchen tools. There is even a section that will teach kids (and possibly parents) about nutrition labels, the food pyramid, and the meanings of common abbreviations (oz = ounces). You will even learn how to use a conversion table. Puzzles and word searches are included (related to food, of course).

All drawings are in black and white, and there are no photographs of the finished product. Nonetheless, this book is one of the best. Organized into the usual collection of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert; the recipes also indicate the degree of difficulty (easy, medium, difficult).

Our Favorite Recipes: Parmesan Chicken Fingers and Peanut Butter Chip Muffins.

Cooking with children is a great way to connect as a family and spend some time teaching important skills in a fun way. Spend some time exploring the various cookbooks that are available, and choose one that fits your family's lifestyle. You may be surprised at how much easier mealtime can be when your kids are involved in the preparation. Bon Appetit!

Stephanie M. Hicks lives in Bend and cooks with her four children as often as they will help out in the kitchen. She is a local attorney and freelance writer who is glad to find creative ways to encourage dinners other than chicken nuggets.