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KIDS CAN COOK ANYTHING! — Review

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
~ Louisa May Alcott ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

We often hear editors, agents, and instructors talk about voice and how important it is to good writing. But what is it really? And how do we find ours? HERE is a very good article on Fox Print Editorial by Tiffany Yates Martin all about What is Author Voice — and How Do You Find Yours?

This was written a few short years ago, but it is still very useful. HERE is a good article from Writer’s Digest with 6 Golden Rules for Writing Middle Grade.

More on writing middle grade HERE with a post by Janae Marks on diyMFA with Five Lessons I Learned Writing My First Middle Grade Novel.

Every now and then, I open my email and find a lovely surprise. The other day, I received an email from someone whose name sounded vaguely familiar, an email that came to me via WordPress. It was a note from a former student who was in my class in the late 90s. He wrote to tell me I had had a real impact on his life, that I had “demonstrated a uniquely infectious enthusiasm for teaching,” (I really did love teaching), and that he has decided to change his career to teaching. He is now working on his PhD in American History. Wow! Talk about making my day! Thank you, Albert Tejada. It kind of put a bee in my bonnet about my writing. I felt like I could do anything after reading that sweet email, and I spent time working on two manuscripts this week. Inspiration is a wonderful thing.

I think kids really enjoy having the independence to make their own meals. But more than that, I think they especially like building skills that will allow them to make food that would please their friends and even make food that is sophisticated enough to please their parents. When I saw America’s Test Kitchen’s KIDS CAN COOK ANYTHING! on the review list for the Portland Book Review, I thought it would be a fun book to review. Here is the review I wrote for them.

Kids love to help out in the kitchen, but don’t they make a mess? Not if they have good instruction, and this wonderful book is just the ticket. It begins with a section that introduces kids to how to be successful and understand cooking language, prep steps, techniques, and kitchen equipment. Some of these have scan codes for instruction videos. If kids read this short section, they will very likely have good success with the recipes. There are six chapters — Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch, Dinner, Sides, and Sweets. These contain a total of 75 recipes that are well-written and have all the information needed. Each recipe tells how many it serves, the total work and cooking time, difficulty level, what ingredients and equipment are needed, excellent instructions, a mouth-watering photo of the finished product, and more. There are spreads throughout called The Basics that teach important skills such as Knife Skills or Cooking (and handling) Proteins. Kids will love recipes like Fish Tacos with Creamy Cilantro Sauce, Watermelon and Cherry Tomato Salad, or Berry Streusel Bars, especially when they have cooked them by themselves. This is a great way to get kids to eat their veggies!

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

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Published by rosihollinbeck

17 thoughts on “KIDS CAN COOK ANYTHING! — Review”

    1. I never had a chance to cook with my students. That must have been fun. Yes, delayed rewards in a good way to view such things. It’s always a thrill when we get them. Thanks for the link to your post. I missed that one. And thanks for reading and commenting.

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  5. This sounds like such a delightful cookbook, Rosi! I love that it shows kids how to have fun cooking for themselves, when cooking is so often thought of as an intimidating task.

    And I’m so happy for you about the email you received—I love that you inspired someone to follow in your career footsteps! (Also, I don’t think I knew you were a teacher—how cool!) I’m glad that inspired you to keep working on your manuscripts this week.

    And the meme made me giggle, as always! I also found the post by Janae Marks that you linked to really interesting, just in terms of thinking about how MG books “operate.” Thanks so much for the post full of all kinds of goodies, as always!

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  7. Excellent links especially the ones about writing for middle grade. Great reminders in both. What a special share about your former student. You never know the impact you’ve had on youth until years later.
    I love to see kids get interested in cooking and this book is sure to be popular. It’s a life long skill they can start learning early. I’ll be looking for it as it might even help some of my own cooking skills. (P.S. Going to the ball field this weekend to see our not so major league team. I always think of your visit when I go to the games.)

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  9. What a lovely story, Rosi, and what a tribute to you after all this time! Thanks for the joke and the links. After watching Junior Bake-Off, I think kids are super chefs! My niece would have loved this book a few years ago. Thanks for sharing!

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