The day before Christmas, everyone in Jose’s neighborhood seems grumpy, including his mother who is homesick for Puerto Rico, but when he and his parents return from the pizzeria where they borrowed an oven to cook their roast, the heavenly aroma reminds those they pass of all they have to celebrate.
A young boy and his sister gather the ingredients and grind them up in a molcajete, just like their ancestors used to do, singing and dancing all the while. The children imagine that their ingredients are different parts of an orchestra, the tomatoes are bongos and kettledrums, the onion, a maraca, the cloves of garlic, trumpets and the cilantro, the conductor. They chop and then grind these ingredients in the molcajete, along with red chili peppers for the “hotness” that is so delicious, finally adding a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt. When they are finished, their mother warms tortillas and their father lays out plates, as the whole family, including the cat and dog, dance salsa in mouth-watering anticipation.
Celeste is heartbroken when her grandmother dies, but when letters and recipes begin to arrive with her grandmother’s advice and recipes, Celeste finds consolation in preparing the dishes for herself, her mother, and their friends. Includes six traditional Cuban recipes.
Julia and Simca are two young friends who agree that you can never use too much butter — and that it is best to be a child forever. Sharing a love of cooking and having no wish to turn into big, busy people who worry too much and dawdle too little, they decide to create a feast for growing and staying young. A playful, scrumptious celebration of the joy of eating, the importance of never completely growing up and mastering the art of having a good time, Julia Child is a fictional tale loosely inspired by the life and spirit of the very real Julia Child.
A delicious folktale sure to make you laugh! Oh no, Maw Maw is out of the most important ingredient for her beautiful buttery biscuits- sody sallyraytus! She sends her family off, one by one, with a warning about the bear at the bridge.A delicious folktale sure to make you laugh! Oh no, Maw Maw is out of the most important ingredient for her beautiful buttery biscuits- sody sallyraytus! She sends her family off, one by one, with a warning about the bear at the bridge. Follow along as they try unsuccessfully to get the sody sallyraytus home. Who knew that a friendly, and very hungry, squirrel would jump in to save the day!
Award-winning author Jorge Argueta treats young readers to a bilingual recipe/poem for the classic Latin American version of rice pudding with cinnamon. From sprinkling the rice into the pot to adding a waterfall of white milk followed by cinnamon sticks, salt stars, and sugar snow, Argueta’s recipe is both easy to follow and poetic. Lively illustrations by highly acclaimed Brazilian artist Fernando Vilela feature an enthusiastic young cook who finds no end of joy in making and then slurping up the rice pudding with his family. In Argueta’s world, cooking not only satisfies hunger with delicious food but also provides an opportunity for all the senses — and the imagination — to experience joy and fulfillment. This book is wonderful family fun for those who already love rice pudding as well as for those tasting it for the first time.
For people who have left their homeland for a new country, comfort foods from home take on a huge emotional importance. This delightful poem teaches readers young and old how to make a heartwarming, tummy-filling black bean soup, from gathering the beans, onions, and garlic to taking little pebbles out of the beans to letting them simmer till the luscious smell indicates it’s time for supper. Jorge Argueta’s vivid poetic voice and Rafael Yockteng’s vibrant illustrations make preparing this healthy and delicious Latino favorite an exciting, almost magical experience.
In his fourth cooking poem for young children, Jorge Argueta encourages more creativity and fun in the kitchen as he describes how to make tamalitos from corn masa and cheese, wrapped in cornhusks. In simple, poetic language, Argueta shows young cooks how to mix and knead the dough before dropping a spoonful into a cornhusk, wrapping it up and then steaming the little package. He once again makes cooking a full sensory experience, beating on a pot like a drum, dancing the corn dance, delighting in the smell of corn . . . And at the end, he suggests inviting the whole family to come and enjoy the delicious tamalitos “made of corn with love.”
The sudden disappearance of fifteen-year-old Neil Flambé’s skills as a world-class chef leads to the closing of his restaurant, a cook-off to save his reputation, and the discovery of a dark curse that has plagued Flambé cooks for centuries.
In this tale from Cameroon, Yoyo has to make amends when she offends Brother Coin, the Great Spirit of the Market, by asking too high a price for her bitterleaf stew. Includes a recipe for a version of bitterleaf stew.