THE SECRET INGREDIENT: LEARNING (& FUN!)

Most children enjoy helping their parents with cooking. Especially when kids are just starting to read, cooking is not only a good family bonding experience, but a great learning activity too. Cooking involves math, science, thinking skills and...reading!

Watch for this new children's picture book biography
    about Julia Child,  coming out in May 22,  2012!

So grab an apron and a cookbook! You can point out words in the recipe, while you explain to your child how the words correlate to what you're doing as you measure and bake. Grocery shopping is also a great way to help kids get involved in reading - they can help you read labels as you search for the recipe ingredients!

Playing with your food...
I recently blogged about food-themed books - you can find "My Top Ten Picture Books About Food" post here.  What about book-themed food? Here are some fun ideas:

Eric Carle's Hungry Caterpillar lunches...

from My Food Looks Funny

from Nurture Store

A pretty Princess and the Pea Cake...

from Family Fun

Pigeon Cake...

From an Edible Books Festival

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...

from Parents Magazine (photo Tara Donne)

Here's a short trailer for the brand new book titled Funny Food, by Bill and Claire Wurtzell.  It's got 365 "fun, healthy, silly, creative breakfasts" for you to make with or for your kids.  You won't believe some of the creations!



 Another unique book is Once Upon a Recipe, by Karen Greene...More than fifty delicious, healthy recipes with cooking tips and  allusions to works of children's literature. For instance: Babar's Carob French Toast, Shakespeare's Breakfast Sandwiches, Rumpelstiltskin's Pillow, and Bambi's Salad Bowl.

As Julia would say: "Bon Appetit!"

A PROPER TEA WITH WINNIE-THE-POOH

"A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards." - A.A. Milne

HONEY CAKE
from Winnie-the-Pooh's Teatime Cookbook*


1¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup milk
2 eggs
½ cup butter (1 stick),softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup honey
powdered sugar, for decoration


Preheat oven to 375°F. Sift dry ingredients together. While mixing, slowly add milk, eggs, softened butter, vanilla, and honey. When a creamy batter has formed, pour into 2 greased 9-inch round cakepans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until brown around the edges. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and allow to cool for 10 minutes in pan before serving. Serves 12


Serve with an herbal tea, like "Mystical Garden" or "Storytime Tea" from LOST RIVER NATURALS.

*Book description: Winnie the Pooh's Teatime Cookbook (inspired by A. A. Milne, with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard) discusses the phenomenon of afternoon tea and provides recipes for muffins, pastries, and other appropriate fare, punctuated by quotations from the works of A. A. Milne.  Published in 1993 by Dutton Children's Books. (available from AMAZON)


You might also enjoy my past post, "Parties with a Book Theme".