Wednesday, June 19, 2013

A Review of a Children's Cookbook...

I know, you're probably thinking to yourself why I would be reviewing a children's cookbook. There's a good reason...let me explain.

First, let me say that one of the advantages of being a famous author is that you get to rub shoulders with other great authors. I’ll let you know if that statement is true if/when I become a famous author.

But in the meantime, let me tell you about an extraordinary author I did meet at a conference I attended last month. Her name is Christina Dymock, author of a brand spanking new cookbook for kids called Young Chefs: Cooking Skills and Recipes forKids.



She found out that I had an 11-year-old who loves to cook and graciously sent me a copy to review. Elly and I had a good long look at it and decided it was definitely worth telling the world about. Seriously, what an amazing book! I mean, good food and kid-friendly writing?! I love it.

Here is a comprehensive list of why you should buy this book for your kids.   
  •  Amazing recipes. I would venture to say that this cookbook, unlike so many others, is about 95% full of things kids will actually like and be able to create. There are no fancy ingredients that you’ll never find in the store and no uppity dishes that they only “eat” at overpriced restaurants. And there are plenty of them to keep you and your kids busy. There are so many fun, delicious recipes in here it would be hard to do them all this summer—so buy your copy today and get started.
  • Unique recipes. A lot of these dishes are old classics but with fun and tasty twists. For example, broiling the bun and the hot dog together for Game Day Hot Dogs. None of the recipes are really earth-shattering, but will be just the right amount of novelty and simplicity for young chefs.
  • Vivid photos. I hate it when you can't see what the dish is supposed to look like. These mouth-watering images will get you excited and motivated to get started and when you're done, give you an idea if something went horribly wrong somewhere along the way.
  • Only 2 references to onions. I can’t even write the word “onions” without grossing out. *shivers*  Everyone knows (or should know) that onions are the world’s plague, but the good news is that I only counted 2 times where a recipe calls for onions. That’s few enough that I’ll just consider those typos and ignore them. Well done!
  • Clear instructions and handy tips. I love how Christina sprinkled these tips and tricks throughout the book. It made it really easy for me…err…my kids to know why we do certain things when cooking.
  • 2 words: Breakfast Buns. Wowsers! Cream cheese, crescent roll dough, white chocolate chips, craisins. Enough said.
So head on over to Amazon and get a copy for your house. Maybe you can even sit back and let the kids plan meals for the next several weeks. This one is a winner!

Happy reading/eating/sending me cookies. Carry on.