Promotion for Hachette
From breakfast through to dessert and all the meals and snacks in between, Edmonds My First Cookbook includes more than 90 recipes to instil a life-long love of baking and cooking. With an illustrated, step-by-step layout, you’ll find it super easy to cook with your little one and become a champion pikelet-maker, an expert afghan-baker or an award-winning pizza-creator!
We gave Kidspot reader, Katie, the chance to review Edmonds My First Cookbook and try out a couple of the recipes with her two kids.
“The secret ingredient is always love”
Since I was young I have loved being in the kitchen, and I’m really glad that this passion for food and cooking is something which both of my children have inherited. Since Charlotte (6) and Alice (3) were both little they have loved being involved with baking and meal preparation, and more recently they have both developed a real interest in kids cookbooks. We have tried lots of different types, but the ones which have been most successful have simple but tasty recipes which the girls can complete for themselves with just a little support. We were so excited to review Edmonds My First Cookbook, specifically designed to get kids in the kitchen cooking, and foster a lifelong love of preparing nutritious and healthy kai.
The book is similar in look and feel to the other books in the Edmonds series which are very well known and loved. In this version, the familiar orange cover and spiral binding is jazzed up with cartoon-inspired drawings of some of the recipes contained within it, as well as rainbow coloured writing, which made it instantly appealing to both of my girls. The book is split into two easy to understand sections- savoury and sweet, making it simple for kids to find a recipe they would like to make.
All of the recipes are presented in steps, with an illustration of each step provided to make it really intuitive to follow. Both my six and three year olds loved how involved the step illustrations made them feel, and it meant that even if they didn’t understand the words, they were able to engage with the recipe. Another cool feature was that many of the measures in the recipes were in cups and table/teaspoons, again making it simple for even the youngest cooks to participate with minimal equipment.
A great recipe collection
The selection of recipes was fantastic. The book contains a collection of simple but super tasty recipes, with a great balance between savoury and sweet. There are lots of classic family favourites in there like sweetcorn fritters and scones, as well as a few more modern takes like sushi and poke bowl. There was certainly no issue in finding recipes we wanted to make, in fact there was more of a problem deciding which awesome recipe to make first! This book has recipes simple enough for any child, but which would also be the perfect staples for student life and beyond (a little like the other Edmonds recipe books). The recipes are all written clearly so that my six year old was easily able to read them herself, and the methods and techniques used were simple enough that she was also able to help her youngest sister.
There is a section right at the back with standard weight abbreviations and conversions, oven hints, food safety and using the recipes. It would seem like this is really aimed at adults supervising their kids using the book, although this can easily be read by an older child, or an adult to younger kids. There was also a standard recipe index, and it was a really cool introduction for my daughter as to how this works. The only thing my kids struggled with was that there weren’t photos of each completed recipe, but rather small illustrations of the completed dish. Often when trying to decide what they would like to cook, the girls look at the pictures, and photographs are a little easier for them to interpret. It also meant that my three year old needed a little more support when trying to decide what to cook. This certainly wasn’t a deal-breaker issue for us, and the girls and I really enjoyed using it.
Pikelet perfection
Having had a good look through, we settled on a selection of sweet and savoury recipes which caught our eye. The first recipe we decided to try was a classic- pikelets. The recipe’s steps were very easy to understand, and the girls completed the entire thing themselves with very little help from me. Both the mixing and the cooking processes were well explained, and they came together quickly and easily. The results were awesome – the pikelets were fluffy and light, with a hint of sweetness, and perfect for topping (our favourites are jam, honey and marmite – separately of course).
Mexican fusion
The next recipe we tried was chicken enchiladas. Unfortunately I realised quite early on that I didn’t have enough tortilla wraps to continue with the whole recipe, however, we substituted pasta in, and made it into a Mexican fusion dish. Once again, the recipe was easy to understand, and Alice really loved adding all of the ingredients into the pan to make the tomato sauce. The finished dish, although not quite what we had wanted to prepare, was still awesome, and both of the kids loved it.
Pick-your-own poke bowl
Another successful recipe we tried was poke bowl. We decided to prepare each of the ingredients separately, and then everyone constructed their own bowl at the table. The kids loved prepping the vegetables and tuna, and they also really enjoyed making their own bowls, eating way more vegetables than they would normally choose. We particularly loved the dressing which was added to bring everything together, and this will definitely be a meal which is added into regular rotation at our house.
Super snickerdoodles
The fourth recipe we made was snickerdoodles. I had never heard of these biscuits before, but the girls loved the sound of the name, so we decided to give them a try. Once again, I let them take the lead with this recipe, and they found them very easy to make. They were able to complete most of the steps between themselves (with just a little support from me), and the completed biscuits were absolutely scrumptious- perfect for enjoying with a hot drink and a good book.
Brilliant bliss balls
Watch Charlotte and Alice make the delicious bliss balls in the video below.
The fifth and final recipe we tried was for bliss balls. This was an amazingly simple recipe which, again, the kids completed with very little supervision, but packed a real punch in terms of flavour. They were so delicious we went through the batch very quickly, but knowing how easy and economical they were to make meant that we could whip up a second batch in no time at all. The kids have already requested we make these again, and I know that these will become a regular easy bake for us, and a great alternative to chocolate and other lollies.
A new kitchen companion
Overall we have loved using this book. It was easy to use, the kids really loved making recipes from it, and it definitely encouraged them to make recipes for themselves which were achievable and super tasty. This is a book which is great for kids, but which can also grow with them to become a perfect source of basic recipes for whatever stage of life they are at. Perfect for any child, it would also make a great gift, giving years of enjoyment and fun in the kitchen. We all loved using this book, and I know that it will be a regular kitchen companion for us for a very long time.
A note from Alice:
“I liked cooking with my sister. The recipe I liked the most was bliss balls. I also liked making the tomato sauce (it was yummy). I like this book – it is really fun in the kitchen making things.”
A note from Charlotte:
“I enjoyed all of the recipes. I really liked making them myself with Alice. My favourite recipes were bliss balls and pikelets. I loved using the blender to mix the bliss balls and rolling them in coconut. I also really liked flipping the pikelets in the pan. I have seen more recipes in there (the recipe book) which I would like to try. All of the recipes we made were yummy. I love cooking – especially when I get to lick the bowl!”
Katie was provided with “Edmonds My First Cookbook” for the purposes of this review. Opinions are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kidspot NZ or Hachette.
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