Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes
by Mollie Katzen and Anne Henderson
Salad People and More Real Recipes
by Millie Katzen
I love Mollie Katzen. I find her recipes easy to read and adapt, and she has a feel for how real people cook and eat. Yeah, the recipes can be gourmet, but not oppressively so.
I jumped at the chance to finagle copies of her cookbooks for toddlers. Yes, toddlers. What, kids can't read a long list of ingredients? Meh. They can look at pictures. And that's what Mollie offers up, inspired by preschool teacher Henderson's sketches for her students.
Basically, you prepare the ingredients and then open the book to the sketches. Your kids follows the drawings and voila! Creations that look good enough to eat.
I went into this with no illusions whatsoever of rivaling the fabulous, legendary Vegan Lunchbox, whose Shmoo loves her cooking. Seth's Mr. Persnickety himself, and we left out or substituted as many ingredients as we used.
Here he is making "Tiny Tacos" by smushing refried beans and shredded cheese between tortilla chips. We left out the salsa and guacamole and all the "ewwws" that accompany it. Sigh.
Putting it all together was a messy enterprise, but I gave it high marks for encouraging motor skills, problem solving and, well, an appreciation for basic Mexican fare.
Not as successful was this lovely dish, Cool Cucumber Soup, which got praise for its taste from ... my husband:
Yep, neither of the kids would touch it. They loved the blender, however, and even fought over who got to push the buttons.
I thought it'd be a big hit, since it has exactly three ingredients: yogurt, mint and cukes, and the kids like all three. I guess seeing the stuff get swirled into drippy slush was a turn-off. Who knew?
I'm sorry I don't have pics of the silly salad faces they made; that too was a hit. Think carrot peels for the hair, blueberries for the eyes and apple slices for the mouth.
And we're veterans of Katzen's homemade mini-pizzas, but we skip her complicated directions for making your own dough and use mini pita or nan breads from the store.
True to Katzen's reputation as the grand dame of vegetarian eating, all the recipes are meat-free and healthy, though of course that depends on how closely you follow them and what substitutions you make. Nobody's saying you can't add some pepperonis to those pizzas, right?
The books feature soups and appetizers, snacks and desserts; pretty much the full range of food choices, all pared down to their simplest elements and drawn up for easy following. I'd have preferred a spiral binding so that it lay flat when the kids are perusing it, but you can't have everything.
Is this the answer to childhood obesity? Or finicky eating habits? Will it prep your future Emeril for his or her own FoodTV show? No, no and no.
But it's a fun way to spend a snowy or rainy day together, and teaches them that food isn't made with a wave of Mommy's magic spatula.
Rating: *\*\*\*\
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