Lauren Bank Deen: Kitchen Playdates

By JULIETTE ROSSANT For those without kids, a playdate is when parents bring their kid to their friend's house for a visit. The emphasis is on the kids playing. Sometimes the parents hang out together, sometimes not. Lauren Bank Deen has another idea. Kitchen Playdates (Chronicle 2007) are for parents and their kids. The idea is to involve the kids in a meal preparation that is fun and entertaining so both parents and kids have a good time and eat well: With such busy weeks, we want to see our friends and our kids. Now Saturday night includes everyone; we don't send the kids to bed and get a sitter…You can cook with the kids or without. There are suggestions for tasks that are kid appropriate, and the rest is up to you. (p. 11) First step: find parents with kids that both you and your kids like. Second step: read Kitchen Playdates tips on how to cook with kids. Third step: choose a party idea and go for it. This is a fun book to inspire you to entertain. Your kids will like the pictures of kids preparing food and cooking by Tina Rupp. There are good suggestions for pint-size gear that will make kitchen work easier and safer (pp. 21-22). Lauren also has suggestion for getting kids familiar with ingredients, and more courageous about eating new things like Spice Treasure Playdate (pp.28-29) Each recipe comes with a box for "Kids in the Kitchen" with suggestion on what younger and older kids can do. For Mint Tea Roast Lamb (p. 59) Lauren suggests that kids can peel garlic, make the marinade, smear the marinade on the lamb and crumble the tealeaves. For the dessert recipes, Lauren invites even more participation. For Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake (p. 130) she suggests getting an extra dozen eggs, so that kids can practice cracking and separating eggs, along with mixing, measuring, and sifting ingredients. The book is divided up along traditional lines: Starters, Mains, Sides and Salads, etc. Within each chapter are suggestions for parties: Birthday Bashes (pp. 68-69) suggest summer burger bar or a winter cupcake decorating party. The recipes are straightforward and well written – good even if you aren't cooking with kids. So, order those cute mini-aprons and toques, and get this book to inspire you to have more fun in the kitchen with your kids – and your friends' kids. Previous articles: [Kids' Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef