Chow Now Brown Cow

Introduction Growing up, I was exposed to gourmet foods from a very young age. My mother was a homemaker that read all the fancy food and wine magazines and always bought the best ingredients for her cooking. At home we often had ingredients like caviar (one of my favorite after school snacks in the first grade), moroccan lemons, capers, pine nuts, saffron, fresh produce like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, fresh seafood and prime cuts of meat. The first time I ever went into a large chain grocery store I was almost a teenager. My mother always shopped at a very small specialty foods shop. It was a mom and pop style grocery store where everyone knew everyone. I can remember being welcome to run through the stockrooms in the back and would often sneak into the butcher's freezer to see all the huge slabs of meat hanging, waiting to be chopped up for the customers. My mother always made home cooked meals with dinners usually starting with a salad and freshly baked rolls or bread. For the entree she would recreate recipes that she had read or make something that was inspired by a dish she had out at a restaurant. We would eat out at restaurants several times a week for either lunch or dinner. The restaurants she chose to take me to were the best. She didn't take me to fast food places or even places that usually cater to children. We went to all the posh stylish places, the kinds of restaurants that do not have kid's menus. I loved it! I loved being treated like an adult and trying foods that were new and exciting to my taste buds. When my mother would order a glass of wine, I would feel sophisticated ordering a Shirley Temple (ginger ale with a splash of cherry juice). As with most children, food was also incorporated into play. My best friend and I would always pretend that my backyard was a lavish kitchen and garden full of exotic foods. We would make salads with grass and side dishes with different acorns and flowers. I'm sure we even concocted a mud pie once or twice. Children see food as so much more than just breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food is a gateway to creativity for them. Food is one of the first things in life that teaches us about sharing and family, not to mention math, science, art and so on. Whether grabbing a muffin off of the same plate in the morning at home or gathering for snack time with friends at preschool, children see that food always brings people together. The magic that we adults so often take for granted with cooking is a new adventure and wondrous experience for a child. The way we take a few ingredients and transform them with sights, smells and occasional messes is beyond fun. Over ten years ago, when I started working with preschool age children, I often observed them pretending to prepare food for each other (or me if I was so lucky!). In the classroom they would play with plastic foods and on the playground, much like I did when I was little, they collected whatever nature provided and would pretend to cook. I started incorporating cooking into my weekly lessons with my class and it was a huge hit! The kids loved taking any part of being involved in the cooking process. Smelling a spice all on its own before being added to a bowl, measuring, pouring out an ingredient, whisking or stirring, was all so captivating. Finding a true passion while cooking with children, I eventually opened my own cooking workshop. I held cooking classes and hosted fabulous cooking parties, preparing many different realms of food with all ages. One of my favorite classes was a storybook cooking class. I would start each class by reading a picture book with a small group of children. Then we would cook a recipe I had come up with that was inspired from the tale. I also always gave the children a chance to express themselves, not only through food, but through art or an activity. Cooking is so much more than just food to a child and it often really gets their imaginations going further than the plate that ends up in front of them. This book is a collection of my favorites. I have put together my favorite recipes and activities for children that are all inspired from favorite children's books. So much of children's literature features a food of some sort and to make that come to life with a child is making part of the story come to life. It takes that thrill of cooking a leap further and makes it so much more magical. So get ready to read, cook and play! These books, that you can gather at your local library and may already have on your shelf, will set your stage. The recipes, activities and tips that I am so excited to share, will bring fun, lasting memories to you and your little ones as they grow. Enjoy! -Anne