Kids cooking and eating patterns change with the seasons. During springtime they are more apt to want lighter and brighter foods.
Author Amy Houts, in her book Cooking Around the Calendar With Kids — Holiday and Seasonal Food and Fun, offers a wide choice of foods that deliver springtime flavors. For May Day, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, and just about every occasion in-between, these recipes will get kids in the kitchen whipping up their creations.
Poppy-seed kolach
Early recollections of Easter dinners bring back memories of coloring Easter eggs and making kolaches. We looked forward to sweet treats because those were given up for Lent. Usually we had a few apples that were wrapped in newspapers to help keep them from shriveling. These made up into delicious apple-filled kolaches.
This is a yeast bread that is filled with any number of fruit and other fillings. There are many variations but a couple of my favorites are the apple-filled kolaches and poppy seed kolaches, shown here.
When kids come home from school, where do they usually go first? To the kitchen, of course! They are starved. They want something – anything- that is ready to eat, right?
Kids need a jolt of nutrition at this time of day. It helps if moms and kitchens are ready for the burst of activity when they come home. Kids want to know “Where’s the food?”!
Here are 3 how-to’s that can set the stage for encouraging your children to snack smart without any lectures about healthy foods from you:
Cooking terms used in recipes and methods of cooking have changed throughout history. Our American forefathers would marvel at foods heated and/or cooked in a matter of seconds. The term barbequing was still non-existent, but they knew about outdoor cooking and grilling.
One of the first lessons in the cooking course of the Fannie Farmer 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book was “The Making and Care of a Fire“. Many of the American cooking terms, methods, and recipes in this turn of the century standby may seem foreign to present day cooks.
Many parents and teachers feel that kids do not always make healthy food choices. They feel that food choices are shaped only by what food and beverage marketers choose to promote. However, there are many ways parents and teachers can help children shape healthy food choices.
This is where cookbooks serve an important part in educating children. They can provide hands-on training in learning about the wide variety of healthy food choices.
Childrens cookbooks help kids learn how people in other cultures live. This expands their global cultural awareness. Food makes up the culture of every part of the world. Many kids have expanded their food knowledge by watching cooking shows and traveling to different parts of the country sampling their food. But not all children have these opportunities.
One way to help children learn about foods from different cultures is through childrens cookbooks. Amy Houts book, Cooking Around the Country with Kids: USA Regional Recipes and Fun Activities shows how this country is a unique melting pot. It captures the tastes of different regions of the country.
Looking for children’s holiday gift ideas? Browse our editors’ picks for a wide assortment of children’s books – from story books to cookbooks. That’s me with our books at our last event. See brief summaries of these books below, with more info at http://www.imagesunlimitedpublishing.com
The Littlest Christmas Kitten – This is a story of how the lost is found in the midst of a miracle on that Holy Night. It helps children gain a close-up, richer understanding of the Nativity. Plus, all cat lovers and those who enjoy animals will enjoy this book with its big and bold art work by noted artist, Kelly Dupre, adding dimension to the story.
It’s apple season and I want to share two delicious recipes with you from my new apple cookbook that are tailor-made for cooking with kids.
Sauteed apples are good to serve with ham, sausage, or pork. They are really easy to make and are good on their own as well. Any of these apples will work well: Rome, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Pippin Gold, Braeburn, Northern Spy, Gravenstein, Rhode Island Greening, York Imperial, and Cortland.
Sauteed Apples
2 teaspoons butter
2 firm, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Pinch of cinnamon, if desired
With Labor Day gone, apple season has officially arrived. And with it we can almost taste the crisp, juicy apples. Let’s go back in time for a bit to see what influenced apple production in America. Remember Johnny Appleseed?
Was there really such a man as Johnny Appleseed? He has become immortalized in song and story as a dedicated tree planter. It was said he traveled on foot through the hills and valleys of the eastern part of our country planting apple seeds.
What better way to tempt kids to eat right than to start with one of their favorite foods – APPLES.
Wanting to bring this home in a hands-on way, my new cookbook: Healthy to the Core! All-Natural Low Sugar, No Sugar Apple Recipes for Kids works toward this goal.
It’s a great year for apples in most sections of the apple growing country. There are bushels and bushels of apples to be picked. Kids will soon be going out to orchards on field trips. (One of my most favorite times of the year!) Families will be enjoying the apple experience at orchards.
