A few years go we were given The Silver Spoon cookbook as a gift from close friends. It's considered "Italy's Culinary Bible" and it's a classic. So you can imagine how excited I was to receive The Silver Spoon for Children as a gift for our son from the very same friends! Although our son is only 18 months old, he loves playing around at my feet with wooden spoons, dried pasta and pots while I'm preparing dinner. He shouts "cook! cook!" whenever we head towards the kitchen. For such a young baby, he already shows interest in cooking. How could he not when he's been parked in the kitchen for most of his life watching mama? LOL
Teaching our children to cook is one of the most valuable things we can do as parents. Many lessons can be learned in the kitchen that go beyond just measuring and weighing. Learning to cook gives kids the inside scoop on nutrition and healthy eating. And kids are more likely to eat something that they helped to prepare, which is an added bonus during those picky eating phases. Cooking as a family also promotes family bonding, cultural enrichment and helps to boost a child's self esteem. I could go on and on. So why not give it a try with a fun cookbook like this?
This book has a fun balance of illustrations and photographs. It's artsy but still makes a great first cookbook for your budding chef. Pair this book with the adult version and you have a great combo gift for your favorite foodies.
For other great kids cookbooks, check out this awesome list at Scholastic.com.
Some of our favorites include:
Cooking on a Stick: Campfire Recipes for Kids by Linda White
Who doesn't love cooking on stick?
Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook combing story telling with simple and fun recipes.
Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook by Georgeanne Brennan
Simple, silly and just plain 'ol fun!
The Healthy Body Cookbook: by Joan D'Amico
this book is great for your little scientist. It shows you how
Yum-o! The Family Cookbook- by Rachael Ray
Kids Around the World Cook!: by Arlette N. Braman
Travel around the world without leaving your kitchen. LOVE THAT! Step-by-step recipes and interesting cultural information on different countries.
Kids Cook 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold
Recipes with only 3 ingredients each! How simple is that?
**And last but NOT least, a recent discovery of ours thanks to Chowmama Stacie is this awesome book by Tamra Davis of www.tamradaviscookingshow.com. Simple, delcious, easy recipes for a busy family.
Make Me Something Good To Eat- Tamra Davis
NOTE: The items featured in Fave Friday are things that I choose. None of these items were sent to me in exchange for editorial coverage.
I've been eyeing the Silver Spoon cookbook, so thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. My eight year old loves all things galactic so we bought him the Star Wars cookbook, and he loves it. We've made several of the items and they are impressively good.
ReplyDeleteHi Jan!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you commented on this. Star Wars book? Hmmm...never knew it existed! I have a boy so i better get more hip to that stuff. Isn't it such a wonderful surprise when these kids cookbooks are not only fun but useful too? So many of these kids cookbooks are all style and no substance. The Silver Spoon for Children is definitely a kids book (very basic) but so great because even at my 18 month olds young age, he points to the pics and says "pasta" "pizza". It gets kids excited to cook all of their favorites like pizza and pasta and hopefully will help them and some parents realize how much healthier these items can be when they are prepared at home.
As for the Adult Version, its a wealth of info on Italian cooking. a great resource to add to your collection. Similar to the Joy of Cooking in that, you may not follow the recipes exactly but its a great resource for flavor combos and inspiration!