So this year at school, I was once again tasked with taking on a project entirely of my choosing. After the great success I had last year with Chef Cuts, I decided to use the knowledge that I gained last year to create and publish another book (link below).
I chose to put together a cookbook geared toward children, because it’s always best to learn from those who are experienced in their own fields. I asked ten chefs to contribute one recipe each that they thought would be great for kids to make in their own kitchens with their families and friends.
If Kids Cook was widely available, and not just a school project, I think it might get more kids into the kitchen, because we learn much more than healthy eating habits in this room – we learn math, and science and how to work together too. It’s a time where kids can connect to what they are eating, and to their family and friends.
In this book, there are recipes from cookie dough to ketchup, and there is at least one for every kid to love! All of the recipes are meant to be made with local and organic ingredients, just as these (incredible) chefs make them, and I suggest as well.
For each recipe, I featured a little about the chef who created it, and was gracious enough to share it with me for this project, and chose to highlight 3 fun facts or ingredients from the recipe so kids can learn more about the food and the people who create good eats in Toronto. It was a challenge to proofread, edit and format all recipes to be consistent, and I learned a lot testing many of the recipes myself and cooking with younger kids to get fun and descriptive photos.
My goal, as always, is to inspire people to be connected to their food and eat real food, and I love to specifically inspire kids to get into the kitchen and cook their own meals too. I was inspired to do this project because of rysratings.com that I’ve been writing since I was 8 years old. I enjoy making recipes with my family from these chefs, although enjoy eating them more, and I want others to share this passion and get to know these chefs and their restaurants.
I have to thank all of the chefs who sent me recipes, and spent time helping me, and encouraging me. Thank you Doug McNish, Anthony Rose, Carl Heinrich, Bashir Munye, Lulu Cohen-Farnell, Lisa Borden, Ilana Kadonoff, Cory Vitiello, Owen Steinberg, and Rocco Agostino.
I would like to also thank all of the kids and parents who were patient while we were making messes, and when I kept asking for one more pose. To my loving parents, who put up with countless hours of me working on this project, and for teaching me so much, I thank you too, of course. Finally, I thank my supervising teacher at Northern, to Mr. Wade for keeping me on track, and for giving me such good feedback, even when he pushed me to put more into this project.
You can read and download Kids Cook for free right here:
If you would like to purchase a hard copy, you can do so on Amazon here. If there are any proceeds, I will be making a donation to Shoresh to help save the bees and promote a better food system for us all!
