Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Great Cookbook for Kids

When my first daughter was old enough to start "helping" in the kitchen, I browsed the Internet for good ideas. I did find some fun, hands-on recipes for kids, but most of them were snack-type foods suitable for a special occasion. I was looking for ideas for healthful meals, ones I could feel good about my children eating.

It was then that I toyed with the idea of writing my own cookbook for kids. I am still gathering information and ideas for this future book, however, in the meantime, I found exactly what I was looking for in the book Pretend Soup And Other Real Recipes by Molly Katzen and Ann Henderson.

Molly Katzen is the author of the Moosewood Cookbook, a cookbook I've owned for many years, and the one I pull out time and time again when I want an easy, delicious recipe (and one that will impress guests!)

Ann Henderson was the teacher at the preschool that Molly's children attended and was a veteran at cooking with kids. In fact, once a week she and her students would prepare and cook many healthful dishes ranging from pancakes to beverages. The parents and students were delighted!

This cookbook is full of lively and colorful illustrations and is each recipe is divided into two sections: One section is just for kids, in the form of printed directions and step-by- step hand-drawn and numbered illustrations. The next section is the recipe written in the typical "adult" recipe format.

I am impressed by this cookbook because not only are the recipes fun and easy to prepare, but they are also made with nutritious ingredients such as zucchini, fresh coconut and sunflower seeds.

The recipes in the cookbook are all easily adaptable as well. For instance, our family does not use wheat flour in anything because my daughters are both allergic to wheat and gluten. We bake everything with nut flours. The recipes in Pretend Soup that call for noodles, we have easily substituted for rice noodles.

So far, all the dishes that my daughters and I have prepared and tasted from this book have been a great success. I enjoy this cookbook as a mom, as a lover of food, and especially as a former teacher and lover of children.