Do-able and delicious describes Kids Cook 1-2-3. Rozanne Gold and illustrator Sara Pinto tempt kids nine and up with the promise of simplicity: three-ingredient recipes (yes, three ingredients). Simple need not mean boring. Beginning cooks, busy cooks and cooks with limited attention spans can whip up Petits Pains au Chocolate, Carrot-Ginger Soup, Coconut Rice, butter cookies and many other extraordinary and everyday dishes. Instructions are easy and straightforward, and the charming line drawings are less intimidating than color photos would be (circumventing perfectionist tendencies).
Perhaps most valuable is the realization that kids can make food happen, too. Note that this cookbook (and any other) is not for children unaccompanied in the kitchen. Aside from obvious safety issues, most kids lack basic familiarity with kitchen terrain and techniques. The ultimate goal is to build skill and confidence in measured quantities, resulting in independent, creative and happy young chefs.
Nashville writer Joanna Brichetto hopes that any and all dishes from the above cookbook appear in her kitchen soon.
