I recently received “Teen Cuisine” by Matthew Locricchio to review. I am a picky girl about what I will review, but this seemed like a fun opportunity to work with my pre-teen daughter Tiny. We cooked, we laughed, and Tiny is super excited to ‘guest’ blog here at ThingsToLearn!
The BEST things about ‘Teen Cuisine’:
- My #1 favorite thing is the format. It is written Step-by-Step. Priceless when you’re working with others in the kitchen. It kept us going in an organized and forward direction (like reheating the oven before we’re ready to put things in…or combining dry ingredients before starting, etc)
- For my #2 favorite? Definitely the pictures! Makes a huge difference when you say the name of a recipe and your family looks at you cross-eyed. When you have the pic to share, everyone was picking food based on the colorful and delicious images.
- Next, I love love LOVED that the recipes were leaning toward gourmet, but not so out there that my family actually WENT cross-eyed. Hee! Our picture is a good example: Grits and Cheddar Cheese Souffle. I love Grits, but never have them unless I’m out of town (in the South:) This was a delicious way to introduce them to my family, and my daughter learned about using eggs, egg whites and tricks of a Souffle.
- Last, there must be a mention of the special sections. There was Safety, Kitchen Essentials, Metric Conversion Charts (good for Mom too!) and Kitchen Equipment and Utensils. These covered facts and information that anyone needs to know in a kitchen. I learned a lot and I’ve been in the kitchen for many moons. They also had diagrams that helped my daughter a LOT!
I could go on and on when it comes to the recipes. (my 3rd point above). There were 3 styles of pizza: Chicago, California and New York. Coast to Coast! With detailed explanations of how to work the dough, which ingredients and baking for each kind of pizza. Desserts, breakfast, and appetizers were also included. Ok, ok, it’s not a report. I am just excited because I was pleasantly surprised by the many good things in this book.
Now, for Tiny’s review:
What a book and to review it!? Wow. We, as you can see, made chedder gritz. Two words: YUM and r-r-r-ich! Thats only one recipe, though!! I’m so not finished yet!! The pictures, first of all, sooo persuasive! The author really worked hard! (It totally paid off!!!)
I like how it is organized,too. It had one whole section for sandwiches! When it introduced a new section, It had a mini table of contents for just the section! Talk about orginization! In a good way!
I enjoyed this book in another way, it had ”Chef’s Tips” and explanations of where the recipe came from and/or how it tastes. When you look at the recipe, you see the explanation, ingredients, “On Your Mark…” and instructions, and ”Get Set…serve!” and instructions. Organized!!!
It has been a pleasure reviewing this book (and trying the recipies…) Thank you so much for the opprtunity!
