From the super to the just plain silly

Just finished thumbing through two recent books from the library. Both are on cooking for children. Thumbs up on one, and as for the other, I’m still shaking my head.

OK, I’ll get  the silliness over with first—How to cook children, a grisly recipe book. The drawings are fabulous, full of fun. And the words are completely wacky, with lots of  twists. But the recipes…  It’s the main ingredient that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Children! That’s just… I know, it’s all tongue in cheek. And it’s pretty clever. But kids (and moms) could be plain scared at the thought of popping tender kiddies into the pot, like they were plucked chickens or something.  But if you think you can handle that, go for it! It’s silly FUN!

Cooking with children is another matter. It has a serious, old-fashioned feel about it. It was published in 1995. But it’s full of really great tips for teaching kids 7 and older exactly how to cook. So if you’re a kid and you get the urge to start cooking, or if you’re an adult with a kid who maybe wants to learn to cook, I say get your hands on this one. It starts off right—with healthy salads… even has tips for great vinaigrette! How can you go wrong? Detailed instructions for soup, hamburgers, tea biscuits, and fruit cups, among other healthy basics, make this a wonderful resource for kids just getting tuned into cooking. So if you feel turned on to kitchen fun from reading Cook Up a Story, then let’s get cooking… with this good recipe book for kids as a starter course!