Kids rule the kitchen

 

 

Kids in the kitchen is about the best family value I can imagine. We love to hear what Liam Madisetty and his family are cooking up for dinner in Alabama. My nephew and his wife are raising their kids to garden, cook and experiment. We get pictures of the process from garden and chicken yard to plate. Let’s get more kids in the kitchen. Books like these will begin their love of connectivity with the creation process:

Gaby’s Latin American Kitchen has live photos and cute illustrations. A doggie and smiling tacos take us through projects peeling plantains, filling papusas and crimping empanada de pollo. This season, let them make a Russian Salad Christmas Tree with yellow and orange carrot rounds as “ornaments.” I didn’t care for gazpacho as a kid, but this lesson/presentation would have convinced me to make it and love it. Gaby Melian is a professional chef with a big smile and purple sneakers. This America’s Test Kitchen book will have your kids smiling, too.

“Kids Can Cook Anything” is another America’s Test Kitchen offering with great range. Brown Rice with Lime Dressing, Garlic-Feta Cucumber Salad and Pasta with Kale-Basil Pesto sound like dishes a lot of so-called grownups I know would give a hard pass to in favor of cheeseburgers. I love how little foodies are coming into their own. How to stem kale and how rice cooks are some side lessons.

Pumpkin alert: Pumpkin Muffins from this book sound like winners. 

“B is for Beekeeping” - A is for apiary, B is for beekeeping an C is forericastestkitchen.com comb. I’m all about the E for ecosystem as we learn how bee- and bird-friendly practices are in our communities. But I didn’t know bees could forage for food up to 5 miles away. Those little honeys are working hard and Justin Weiss wrote this book inspired by his homestead life outside of Dallas. Non-profits and the families who read this book will gain from his efforts. Winda Mulyasari illustrated this colorful book, A portion of all sales of this book will be donated to organizations such as Pollinator Partnership, the Bee Conservancy and Project Apis m. For more information, visit www.bisforbeekeeping.com, or follow the author on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BeekeepingBook.

To the Queen – If we are all remembering Queen Elizabeth with a spot of tea, this brand will set you up. In praise of the high quality of Adagio Teas I’ve mentioned the pitcher that lets fans brew cold tea, like we love here in Texas. VarieTEA is a precise variable temperature kettle that lets you heat water to 150, 165, 180 or 195 degrees and keep it warm. This is what you want for your more delicate herbal blends. If you want to straight boil, for coffee or something, you can do the classic brew as well. www.adagio.com

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who stared young in the kitchen. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com