Invention has various mothers. Necessity is one. Serendipity is another.
Elaine Greesnstein’s book, Ice-cream Cones for Sale! has fun with the facts while challenging the reader’s imagination about the invention of the ice-cream cone. What is plausible bumps into the probable which collides with most possible. Regardless, it’s an informative and fun read, which will be even better if read while consuming one’s favorite flavor ice cream!
ACTIVITY: Select some items in the kitchen, include edible as well as kitchen tools (vegetable peelers, potato ricer, cuisinart…). speculate as to how the item was invented. Allow yourself to imagine lees plausible to the highly probable. And be sure to allow for serendipity!
Here’s an entertaining and eventful way to make explore that well-worn question;
John Coy (writer) with Caroly Fisher (pictures) have produced a fabulous book that dazzlingly integrates science, recycling, intergenerational relations,divorce, poetry, ART!…and…. a recipe.
Feeding Friendsies, written and illustrated by Suzanne Bloom is indeed friendly, and charming. The text, accompanied by delightful watercolor illustrations, take the reader through a series of earnest and imaginary “meals” concocted by a bunch of children fully engaged with simply playing outside. Bugs and dirt, and sun and leaves, and twigs and things get mixed together and offered up as feasts for bunnies, bears and lambs. Their hard work of all that play is rewarded with a feast of their own.
Honey Cookies, by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Alison Bartlett is a delightful and charming way to show “where our food comes from” and not be looking at farmers digging in the dirt, animals chomping on grass, or cheesemakers pouring sweet. Instead, Honey Cookies deconstructs the basics of baking; sugar, butter, flour, eggs, cinnamon, honey and the power of loving hands mixing it all together.
Nutrition can often take over a conversation about food, particularly one about what children are eating.Keeping the spotlight on nutrition tends to marginalize the value of taste – which, far from a naughty pleasure, is core to embracing a healthy relationship to food and food culture. Though young taste buds tend to favor sweet, we know that exposing them to a range of tastes and flavors helps create a healthy palate, makes one a better guest at a dinner table later in life, and sows the seeds for respecting the personal and cultural habits of others.
This is more than a cookbook, it’s a guidebook for busy parents who want to make good on their commitment to feed their children, well. Though there are some kid-friendly entries (Green Eggs-in-Ham quiche) Real Food brings to the kiddie table a seriousness of purpose. And that’s great. There is a wide range of sweet and savory dishes, bringing to young palates a true introduction to real food. Perfectly titled, Real Food also offers helpful menu planning, by season, organized in weekly installments. An excellent resource that will serve any family, well, as the kids continue to grow.