It is official, March will be a month of cookbook reviews. It just so happened that I got some brilliant cook books from the library and we have been cooking up a storm. Twenty one new recipes tried and tested in the last few days!!! Now I mentioned this book in a previous post, Se7en South African Book Resources for Kids, and said I would get back to it… Back we got!!!
This is an alphabet book with a difference!!! There is an animal for each letter of the alphabet and we have read all the way through the quagga and right on to the zorilla. Now you may not know what a quagga is, but I had never even heard of a zorilla and frankly after reading about it I am quite glad we have never met!!! Each animal has a poem of about four verses packed with facts… some amazing facts and then followed by a recipe. At first glance I was a bit disappointed because the recipes weren’t African per se, I was quite mistaken in my dissappointment – the recipes are brilliant and really easy and my kids totally loved them and dove right in because, and here is the brilliant thing: ALL the recipes are totally doable by kids!!! The instructions are easy to follow, the ingredients are easily on hand and really I had very little to do with this review other than to offer an approving: Yummy from time to time!!!
So here we go Se7en recipes:
- Crocodile Crunch: Did you know crocodiles grow up to six meters in length?
Who wouldn’t like cornflakes dipped in chocolate sauce!!! The girls around here were very quick to get a handle on this one…
- Fox Frittata: Did you know that a group of foxes is called a skulk?
This was really easy a frittata topped with baby tomatoes from the garden!!!
- Kudu Kiss: A kudu, pronounced koodoo, and is a large buck with twisted horns.
This was by far the favorite recipe – but then it does involve: melted marshmallows, cream and cream cheese – no one was complaining at all!!!
- Quagga Quiche: Did you know? The quagga is an extinct animal, they were related to the zebra with stripes on their top half only.
We whipped up a quiche for lunch and were good to go!!!
- Tortoise Tarts: Did you know that a tortoise can live for 150 years? My kids just could not get their heads around an animal that was born before their great grandparents and still walking around!!!
They made a plain dough and we were meant to top it with canned apricots – we only had peaches but you get the idea… little tortoises!!! Gone!!!
- Ugandan Kob Upender: A sweet little buck that is the national emblem of Uganda.
This was an upside pine-apple cake. I have never tried one of these before and it was a hit… if your kid can make a basic cake then you are away!!! Line the tin with pineapple slices, pop your cake mix on top and bake until you are done!!!
- Zorilla Zest: I had never heard of a Zorilla, but just take a look at the picture and you will probably understand why I am glad I have never met one!!! The African version of the skunk!!!
This week, when it was reaching 40 degrees Celsius (over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, we really needed this recipe. The juice of a couple of lemons zizzed in the blender with ice, topped with soda water and a mint sprig – very refreshing!!!
That’s it a fun book, we all enjoyed it!!!
What a fun book and great recipes!
Hay Aunt Muffin, so good to hear from you!!! By the time you get back our kids should be able to cook you dinner – I will keep the definition of dinner broad: anything ranging from a sandwich to cheese cake with almost anything in between!!! Hope you all have a fun weekend!!!