Cooking Rocks!: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids

`Cooking Rocks' continues in print a Rachael Ray / Food Network theme of cooking with kids, a strong theme already championed by Emeril Lagasse in two recent books and several `Emeril Live' episodes. So, the most obvious comparison on which to evaluate Rachael's book is to compare it with Emeril's efforts.The premise of both authors' kid's cookbooks is that cooking is fun. While it has been a very long time since I was a kid, I have vivid memories of my attempt, at around the age of 9, with my 6 year old cousin, to make a cake from scratch with our elderly grandmother able to not much more than be an adult presence for two very inexperienced bakers. My mother's reaction upon returning home from work to our efforts, which featured using granulated sugar in place of confectioners sugar, and creating an ungodly mess in the kitchen did nothing to encourage further culinary attempts until I stood for the cooking merit badge in Boy Scouts. I really wish she had Rachael's book and attitude when I was a kid.The best thing about Rachael's book is her advice to parents and kids about cooking. This is because she was never actually taught how to cook. In the kitchen, there was never the question `Can you do ....?'. It was always put to her to `Please do ....'. Little Rachael would then proceed to figure out how to do it, or ask for help if she did not know or could not work it out herself.Another good thing about Rachael's book is that recipes are presented by age. There is one chapter for 4-6 year olds, another chapter for 7 years old and up, and a section for 12 years old and up. There are other chapters on beverages and snacks and on submarine sandwiches (sammies in Rayspeak).The recipes for 4-6 year olds may not appeal to adult tastes. They are offered to both appeal to young adolescents and be doable with a minimum of hot liquids, sharp knives, and electrical appliances other than the stove, wrangled by a GH (Rayspeak for grownup helper). I confess some of the dishes may violate the sensibilities of an adult aware of the evils of additives in commercial preparations, but the recipes may still be a good source of ideas.The recipes for 7 years and older take a big step up in complexity and palatability. They start to fit the typical Rachael Ray template, and, she claims they are suitable for grownups' tastes as well as for kids. One thing which appeals to me and which I hope appeals to kids is that the book does not dumb down the language. Sushi, paninis, and crudites appear undisguised with any Rayspeak pseudonyms.There is a fair amount of kid talk that may or may not work. As soon as I reached the third grade, my greatest ambition was to graduate to the adult stacks of our city library, which denied access to all who were less than 12 years of age. This is probably what led me to start buying books, as the material in the children's room simply did not satisfy me after the age of nine. I worry that the more precocious cooks to whom this book is addressed may be impatient with the aspects of the book clearly designed to interest young readers. If you have an especially bright kid who shows a great interest in food and cooking, neither Emeril's nor Rachael's book will be as good as Jamie Oliver's third American book `Happy Days with the Naked Chef'.All the recipes after this show little difference from material in Rachael Ray's earlier '30 Minute Meal' books. I am happy that although the '30 Minute Meal' trademark is in the title, Ms. Ray doesn't belabor this point in the text, as you do not want to rush things with kids in the kitchen with the abundance of heat, electricity, water, sharp edges, heavy metal, slippery surfaces, and germs.The biggest difference between Rachael's entry and Emeril's `There's a Chef in My Family' and `There's a Chef in My Soup' is that `Cooking Rocks' addresses three different age groups while Emeril's first book addresses the youngest chef candidates while the second addresses teenage and sub-teenage student cooks who would have no trouble reading the entire book on their own. Another big difference is in the way the authors present themselves and their audience. It is telling that Emeril appears in photographs while his audience is present as cartoons. In Rachael's book, her students appear in photographs while she and her sidekick dog Boo are present as cartoons.While I am really inclined to prefer Rachael's book, I think Emeril's second book has a lot more substance. Rachael's biggest original contribution to the dialogue is the lecture to adults on how to approach kids and cooking. Rachael also does a great service to the grownup helpers (GH, remember) by giving kid friendly directions to help find many of the ingredients in your favorite megamart. I am of two minds about Rachael's Rayspeak, the most famous example of which is `evoo' standing for extra virgin olive oil. I would have no objections to this if it were a general culinary term, but it is unique to Rachael and her family and, probably now to battalions of her TV fans. I have much less objection to her teaching kids to estimate amounts, as this is how cooks really work. I especially notice she is careful to direct kids to taste for seasoning. I also give Rachael and her publisher high marks for a very reasonable price and spiral binding which makes the book very easy to use in the kitchen.Rachael is great with her kid sous chefs on TV and has a very light touch in print. I recommend this book, but I cannot rate it higher than Emeril's book, so I give both four stars.

Recipes are sorted by age groups but there is also a recipe index.

Fun and yummy recipes. My son loves to cook and is often inspired by cooking shows. I've been teaching him how to cook for years, so he is pretty independent in the kitchen. I still help/supervise if the recipe requires advanced skills. One of his favorite recipes (7-11yr old section) is Worms and eyeballs--yummy and creative. We love the Thai Rice bowl! His confidence soared in making the miniShrimp Scampi Pasta. Seafood is not as daunting to cook now. He also made the Grilled T-Bone Steaks with my help (12-16 yr old section). Not only are the recipes delicious and doable, each one spells out in detail the steps. Includes when to start another part of the recipe/menu. Teaches great kitchen time management! This is often the key to preparing a meal stress-free and is not often taught. The menu ideas are great. So glad I bought this perfect condition used book.

Okay, so it's not clean eating or anything if that's what you're looking for, but it's not just happy face hot dogs or something dumb like that either... it's real food! Plus I like that it actually says which part kids can do and which the adults do. My biggest problem was figuring out what types of prep work I could have my daughter do and I didn't realize how over-protective or controlling or whatever, I was until I saw some of what it suggests a six year old can do. I let her try and sure enough, she can... way to underestimate her abilities, right? I'm learning though and she's loving it! I even bought her some of the "Curious Chef" kids knives and cutting board, and that way I don't have to worry about her lopping her fingers off and she thinks it's awesome that she has her own tools that really work! This book has ideas for different ages too, although it's true, there's ones in the 4-6 year old range that I'd like to make even if my daughter wouldn't be willing to help me! Thank-you Rachel Ray!

I love Rachel Ray one of my favorite Cooks in the world. I love this cookbook because it's easy to use and my kids loved it they've already done for recipes out of this book I would definitely recommend it to other families a good way to bond with children. Send good condition and Care exactly how I expected, and it was quick I mean I didn't expected that quick the book I meanThis is the third time I bought this book that's the one I gave it to me when I was a child

My middle child (9yo) loves to cook and over the years we've invested in several kids cookbooks. The one is the clear winner! My children still pull it out and peruse recipes. Many of the dishes are very creative and fun. It's kid-friendly without being cutesy. She has the book divided into sections by suggested ages; the beginning of the book is for ages 4-6 and are quite simple recipes, the last section is for teens, and contain more complex recipes. Even the more "complex" recipes aren't that complicated. The book has mostly cartoonish illustrations and not many photos of the dishes; this didn't bother me at all, but may be a problem for other families if you need to "see" the dish before you make it. All and all, I'd buy it all over again and I'm hoping she comes out with a new kids cookbook in the near future!

I bought this as a gift for my 10yr old Great Granddaughter to get her involved with helping her learn to read & do a bit of measuring(Math) as well as help her mother prepare some simple & easy dishes to do ...Have watched Rachel Ray for many meals & just saw her 2,000.00 show which was wonderful.

Not my favourite cooking star but my great grand girls like watching Rachel. They liked the book, which is what really matters.

Awesome for kids

My niece loves her book!

This book might just get your kids to help with the cooking.