Books to Drool Over

Welcome to Books to Drool Over, in which I share the cookbooks that have struck my fancy over the past month.

This month I'm going to share some of our favorite kid cookbooks, one that we own, and two that we've gotten out of the library again and again. But first, I have to show you this one so I can take it back to the library:

The Ex-Boyfriend Cook Book: They Came, They Cooked, They Left. I've never really had an ex-boyfriend so I have no idea why this book appealed to me--I guess because I like the social aspect of sharing recipes. The stories in it are funny and at times a little disturbing, and the pictures are quirky.

Will I use it? Some of the recipes looked yummy . . . until I read the stories behind them. Frankly, reading about Donald's shroom incident and the cat giving birth on the author's stomach turned my stomach enough that I'm surprised she could ever eat enchiladas again, much less his recipe. So, back to the library this one goes, untested.

My mother-in-law got Kids Can Cook for my oldest son a few years ago. She's legally blind, and I don't think she even noticed it was a vegetarian cook book. My son (who is a big fan of the carnivorous fare) hardly notices, either.

Do we use it? There are recipes for cookies in here he makes over and over again, and he's enjoyed making some of the other things, too. The recipes are clear enough for him to follow with no help from me, and let me tell you, there's nothing sweeter than a cookie that starts with "Can I make cookies?" and ends with, "Here, Mom. Want one?" with very little work in between. We haven't tried the recipe for vegan cheese sauce, but I think we will because both boys love the Mac & Chreese they get at their vegan friend's house. Best of all, anything in this cookbook is healthy enough that I feel good about our family eating the results of his labors. Cookies included.

Okay, these Star Wars cookbooks are silly, and we first checked them out because Ben was a Star Wars fan who wasn't allowed to watch any of the movies because he was five and we were mean like that. But I'm here to tell you that Yoda Soda is one of the most delicious drinks we've ever made (it has lime sherbet, lime juice, and Ginger Ale, among other things). The pictures are hilarious, complete with Star Wars action figures rappelling off the food, although they can occasionally be misleading. Evan was very excited to make Opee Sea Crunch, until he realized the picture was showing fried fish instead of a cookie or bear claw. And the Darth Double Dogs are cool-looking (like a double light saber) but two foot-long hot dogs for each biscuit center? Who's going to eat all that?

Do we use it? From the first Star Wars cookbook, we made the Yoda Soda, Greedo's Burritos (which were quite good if I remember right), Tie-Fighter Ties, and the Skywalker Smoothie. From Star Wars cookbook two we have plans to make Pit Droid Pizza, Protocol Droid Pasta (with a bread topping that looks like C3PO!) and possibly the Nabooli Forest (it's basically tabouli, with celery stalks sticking straight up out of it to make trees).