Toddler Cafe: Jennifer Carden

By JULIETTE ROSSANT If you are a parent, you will read a lot of truth in the introduction to Jennifer Carden's The Toddler Café: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater (Chronicle 2008). One of the first places a child may test their control is with food. This is where the power struggle can start. (p. 11) Luckily Jennifer includes some good advice about how to prevent pickiness from rearing its difficult head: Don't make a habit of asking your child what she wants for dinner: doing so is setting the trap for yourself. Remember you're the boss! Choices are helpful sometimes, but don't allow too many, or the situation could spiral downward quickly. Two or three choices on the plate will help a child feel like he has some power, but will still give you the upper hand by allowing you to offer what you want. (p. 11) That won't help with your seven-year old, but if you still have a very young child, then this is a great cookbook for all of you. There is a great list of clean up tips (p. 14). Jennifer believes mess is OK (the kids in the photos by Matthew Carden are very messy – but they are eating and having tons of fun), but be sure to get your child to help clean up. She has suggestions for creative food play (p. 18) including: "Invite your stuffed animals or dolls to dinner. Set a plate and make a fuss over how they love the food." And " Tell them the food is their favorite character's favorite food." Matthew's photos are half the fun of this book. Sharing the recipes with your child – showing them photos of other kids having fun eating – might work to remove some of their resistance to trying new things. The Toddler Cafe is largely beef-free, emphasizing eggs, beans, tofu and other sources of protein. The first chapter is vegetables – but it starts surprisingly not with soup, but with two recipes for popsicles. The first is for Minty Pea Pops (p. 32) with a base of cream cheese and baby peas. The second is for Corny Veggie Pops (p. 34) with cream cheese and corn. They both contain mini chocolate chips, too. Jennifer believes that clever names for dishes will encourage kids to eat foods they might not want to try. Pea pancakes are Lilly Pad Pancakes (p. 38), avocado soup turns into Swamp Soup (p. 47) and peas and pasta turns into Monster Mash (p. 60) – you might have to sing with that one! The Toddler Cafe is full of great ideas to have fun with children at the table. It is a lovely gift for parents on their child's first birthday - before picky-ness shows up. Hurray for mess! Previous articles: [Kid's Coobook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef