Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog

I have been involved in a very exciting publishing project. Amy Houts, one of our authors, has a new children’s book coming out this summer and I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

This new cookbook, “Cooking Around the Country With Kids: USA Regional Recipes and Fun Activities” makes cooking with kids come alive! It has an American heritage flavor that helps children experience our country’s vast cultural diversity through food.

Children learn about regional food differences by preparing authentic recipes from various parts of our country. Amy has woven together fun activities along with a little food history and geography of each region showing where our food comes from.

This is the dessert I served for my women’s group yesterday. It was the day after my birthday – the reason for the flowers. I was happy to share flowers, and dessert, with company.

The recipe is very easy and young cooks will enjoy the crunching and rolling needed for making crumbs.

Oreo™ Ice Cream Dessert

24 Oreo™ cookies,crushed

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

1 (15-ounce) can Eagle Brand™ condensed milk

1 stick butter 1 (8-ounce) can Hershey™ chocolate syrup

1 (8-ounce) carton whipped topping

When I was a teacher in the classroom I remember how excited my students were when it was “the day we cook”! I remember the boys especially were very anxious to get going. Yes, ultimately they got to eat what they prepared, which I know was a huge drawing card, but they really relished the hands-on experience.

We had five unit kitchens in our foods lab with about 4 students in each kitchen. In both the middle school or high school setting, this meant that each student needed to know what to do and have his or her task clearly in mind.

Amid family cook-outs, golf outings, and other activities, let us remember why we are celebrating this day – it is to remember and give honor to those courageous men and women who worked, and many died, to protect and preserve our freedom. They served and sacrificed in our Armed Forces to insure our country can be the freest in the world. They were willing to fight and die so that we could continue to live in this land of the free and the home of the brave.

Everything comes to an end. For many these last days in May are filled with graduation plans and parties and thinking about what the summer, and indeed, the future, will hold for them. These are very festive times as well as bitter sweet times when the joy of the present can turn into feelings of “What now?”

For those of you in this situation of having your years of study come to an end, I wish you well. May all your hopes and dreams for your future be fulfilled. Though “study”, in some form or another, continues throughout life

In a recent post I talked about using cloth napkins versus paper napkins when we are trying to “go green” in our kitchens. By eliminating disposables we make one small mark in this vast sea of waste and consumption.

Did you know that people did not always use napkins at the table?

At one time, in very early history, people wiped their hands on pieces of bread. Later, they used handkerchiefs, or small pieces of material, to wipe their foreheads when it was hot and to blot their lips at the table. For a period of time, people just wiped their hands on anything that was available – their pants, the back of their hands, or whatever.

What tastes best to you at this time of year: hot soup or cold salad? hot cocoa or cold lemonade? hot chili or ice cream?

Our tastes change with the seasons. The weather makes a big impact on what we think tastes good. When the weather turns warm or hot, we are more apt to reach for cold drinks and cold foods. Likewise, when it gets cooler in the fall, our thoughts turn to soups and hot meals.

Some of you may be saying, “I’m just a kid. What can I do?” Big or small, doing everything to save the earth and the air we breathe is everybody’s business and responsibility.

When you come home from the grocery store, do you end up with lots of plastic bags and extra packaging? Where will those plastic bags end up? You’re right. They are going back to the garbage heap where they will take hundreds of years, if not more, to break down. Or, they may fly around outside, being scattered by the wind. Birds can try to peck at them or might even get caught in them. Plus they make our world look dumpy and trashy.

Get Mom’s day going in the right direction by baking her some A & B Muffins for breakfast. These are muffins without any sugar – your Mom has probably reminded you many times not to eat so much sugar. These still taste good even though they contain no sugar. Other good points: they are low in calories and you will get some nutrients from the fruits and nuts. Now you can tell her that you listen when she talks about good nutrition and the importance of the food you eat.