RAISED IN THE KITCHEN by Carrian Cheney

RAISED IN THE KITCHEN by Carrian Cheney. Well, I have to admit that I was blown away by this cookbook. I started out by having my 3 year old choose some recipes based on their pictures. He picked a couple seemingly sporadic ones before finally pointing at all of them. So I tried the first one he chose and it was a hit with everyone in the family. Can I just say that rarely if every happens?! Then the next one had the same results as has everyone we've tried since. Most of my Easter dinner consisted of recipes from this book. It's amazing. They are easy to follow. I would have no problem handing it over to my 10 year old and saying, "Have at it!" The 'pro tips' are very clear and easy to understand. This is one I will return to often. 

:) :) :) :) :)

From the time her children were toddlers, family cooking blogger Carrian Cheney found creative ways to get her children interested in cooking, partly to teach them basic kitchen skills so they could be part of the solution when they were hungry and partly to instill in them a joy of creating and presenting delicious meals, as her own mother had taught her.

 

From food prep to clean-up, this unique cookbook guides the way through every step, including meal lists and easy-to-follow recipes, and features dollops of heartwarming family stories, insights, and kid-friendly food activities to keep young chefs focused on fun in the kitchen.

The book includes 75 recipes that begin with basics such as fried eggs, pizza dough, and baked potatoes. As new cooking skills are learned, the recipes progress to guaranteed kid favorites like chocolate chip pancakes, steak fajitas, and apple dumplings. Recipes are joined with tips to help home chefs master the art of cooking, from stocking a pantry to proper kitchen etiquette and safety to how to add flair to a table setting—even how to coax a picky eater by tempting their tastebuds.

 

Raised in the Kitchen is a cookbook for parents and kids about much more than learning to love to cook. It’s about bringing families together with cooking memories that will last a lifetime.

Book Buzzin'

There are so many things running through my head right now and several that I want to post about. I was thinking I didn't want to have multiple subjects in a post, but with so much I'd like to say I'll just go ahead and do it.

1) On March 16th Karen Hoover's book The Wolfchild Saga: The Sapphire Flute is released. Karen is an amazing writer and person. I'm really excited for her release. I had the opportunity to listen to a reading by Karen at the LTUE conference in February and the book sounds amazing. (I tried to put a picture of her book cover here, but it didn't work out so well. You'll have to check it out on her website or the publishers website. Amazon doesn't have a picture up for her yet.) Here's her press release:

VALOR PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC
P.O. Box 2516 – Orem, UT 84059-2516
www.valorpublishinggroup.com

NEWS ITEM

VALOR PUBLISHING GROUP TOUTS OWN ‘J.K. ROWLING’ WITH RELEASE OF KAREN E. HOOVER’S, "THE WOLFCHILD SAGA: THE SAPPHIRE FLUTE"

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Justin Anderson Phone: 801-455-2824 Email: justin@valorpublishinggroup.com www.valorpublishinggroup.com
Orem, UT - 6 March 2010, Orem, UT -- Valor Publishing Group announces the release of Karen E. Hoover's highly anticipated book, The Wolfchild Saga: The Sapphire Flute. The young adult fantasy has already created a wave of interest in national blogging circuits, earning a modest Hoover the title of The New J.K. Rowling by Valor Publishing Group president, Candace E. Salima, who reaffirms her belief in the series' big screen possibilities, saying it has the potential to rival the Harry Potter series. "It is that good and we are so proud of Karen."

The Sapphire Flute - the first in seven of Karen E. Hoover's books in The Wolfchild Saga - takes readers on an unexpected and exciting journey through the eyes of two young heroines, Ember, a shape-shifter of secret origins and Kayla, a gifted musician who is the guardian of the precious flute. The girls' journeys are set on a collision course as they face difficult paths and discover their destinies are shaped by the Keepers who preside and maintain order in their world of magic.

"Hoover is very talented when it comes to bringing life to her characters, like a puppeteer to the marionette," says popular blogger, Elizabeth Mueller. "Karen has a vivid imagination and it is not difficult to follow the artistic weave of her words."
Karen E. Hoover resides in Utah with her husband and two sons. She will be signing copies of her first release at The Gateway Barnes & Noble in Salt Lake City, March 16, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
--more--
Pre-orders are being taken on the Valor Publishing Group website at www.valorpublishinggroup.com .
For interviews or to book speaking engagements with Karen E. Hoover, please contact her publicist, Justin Anderson: justin@valorpublishinggroup.com or call him at 801-455-2824.

She is currently having a contest as well. Her link is under my "Other People's Contests." Take a look!

2) It is Read and "E" Book week, something new that I didn't know existed. Marsha Ward's novels are 50% off on Smashwords.com. Just use coupon code RAE50 when checking out. http://is.gd/9UCqc Pretty interesting, but I like new, interesting things.

3) I've had the opportunity to be in several different classrooms this week and have found it very interesting to see which kids have been taught to take responsibility for their actions and who has not. Yes kids are head strong but most are. That doesn't mean they are not capable of understanding how to take responsibility for their actions.

When I had my own classroom, I tried to teach my 5 and 6 year olds that it wasn't Mom's responsibility to put their folder in their backpack every night. They could put it in or get the paper signed or show Mom or Dad their work. Don't wait until it's too late to teach children that. They are never to young to have some type of reasonable responsibility. In fact it helps them grow into a better person.

4) I was going to write more notes on the ANWA Conference, specifically those on Aprilynne Pike's, the author of Wings, class but I'm thinking a book is calling me to read a bit before I go to bed. I was very impressed with her and her road to being published. I learned a lot about her as a person and am more willing to read the rest of her books. Tomorrow, hopefully, I will share more on that.

Until then, Happy Reading! Life is a Journey, Enjoy the Ride! :)

kid writing/spelling

Kid writing tip. DON'T spell the word out for a child, especially if they know all of their letters and sounds. They will want you to tell them. They will whine, plead, beg, coerce, get mad, scream, throw a tantrum but don't give in. It actually hurts them. Make them think about the sounds they hear in the word. Make them write what they hear (even if it is not how the word is really spelled or even remotely close) and continue on. If we continually tell them how to spell things or even give them the individual sounds they become dependent on someone else to figure out how to spell things.

I know as an adult it is very difficult to watch a child spell a word wrong but it is for their benefit. We think we are helping them but we are not. They will never learn how to work on their own if they never have to do anything on their own. Let them experiment with the spelling, if a silent letter is not there, it's alright. They will get it. In fact they will be better off if they make that discovery themselves.

This is coming from someone who has spent a lot of time in many different kindergarten classrooms where too many kids are wanting their hands held in sounding out words. It doesn't matter if it is just a random bunch of letters just as long as they have spent the time to sound out the word. The connections will be made and they will be better off if they are allowed to experiment. It is part of the developmental process. They are capable of it too, but as adults we contribute to them thinking they are incapable of doing it. There are always excepts to the rule, but they are very few in comparison to the vast majority (and even then the exceptions need the chance to experiment and grow too).