Tiny Treasury

My girls are nuts about Food TV lately. Tops on their collective lists are Giada DeLaurentis and Rachael Ray.

So it was with a lot of glee that they received this Rachael Ray cookbook for their birthdays. It added to their cookbook collection which already consisted of this Emeril cookbook and the New Junior cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens.

Okay, first things first. My favorite is the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

It’s well organized and the recipes are kid favorites. Each recipe has nutrition info and serving info - important for moms - in a clear, easy to find box at the top. Many have serving suggestions or interesting facts about the food.

The food is simple, nothing earth-shattering or fancy, but lots of kid favorites - and even a couple of craft recipes in the back. Of all of the cookbooks, it’s by far the better value.

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For the most part, I’m an Emeril fan.

I think he’s a little over the top these days but I’ve been to his show and I can attest to the fact that he’s a showman and a cook. Sometimes, the TV personalities on cooking shows forget that last bit.

I actually bought this book myself, at full price. It wasn’t a gift or a comp. I liked the idea of the international flavors. We try to get our kids to eat a lot of different things.

I found some of Emeril’s choices a bit odd, I have to admit. I’m not sure why he chose some things (German apple pancakes) over others (no pretzels?). But the availability of choices is good - considering it’s geared towards kids, there are a lot of countries represented from Cuba to Morocco to Ireland.

Emeril spends a lot of time giving cooking advice in the beginning. I’m not sure why this was included. Chances are, kids won’t read that bit, and parents should already know a lot of the safety info. That said, the “Caution symbols” for each recipe are a good idea to alert you as to whether the recipes might be appropriate for your age child.

Each recipe has a blurb about the history or culture for the dish and a map of the country of origin. There is surprisingly no nutrition info. It’s an attractive and informative cookbook but not very useful.

And the “Emeril Restaurant Guide” at the end was self-indulgent and not necessary.

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Lastly, there’s Rachael Ray. Now, my kids LOOOVE her. They go nuts when they see her picture. My three year old can even ID her as a cartoon on the cover of her book and pick her out in the cookware at Kohls.

Her cookbook is cute enough. It is cleverly arranged according to age, which is helpful on the surface. The problem is, if you’re looking for say, soup, that a 5 year old can make, you’re taking your chances with this book. It’s not chock full of recipes. It’s actually more full of drawings, stories and anecdotes. Like Rachael’s TV show, it’s really about entertainment with a side of cooking. And that’s okay for the kiddos for a bit. But when they’re in the “can we make something” mood, it’s not terribly helpful.

There are no groundbreaking recipes here, and quite frankly, nothing that you haven’t made before - except maybe presented differently. And for kids, there’s nothing wrong with that.

My oldest daughter (she’s 5) loves the book. The size of it is kid friendly (it’s small) and the illustrations are very kid-appealing - the picture of the “worms and eyeballs” recipe makes her giggle every time. Again, it’s just weak on the cooking side. But Katie’s too young to figure that out.

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All in all, I think it’s great to expose kids to culture in books and that includes books about food. But I think you have to be careful to ID many of these books for what they are: entertainment. If you’re looking to seriously interest your kids in food, I suggest that you stick with the classics and keep it simple.

Bon Appetit!

Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, Better Homes and Gardens, kids cookbooks, cooking, children, recipes