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Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes
"I love my mom and I'm a good cook, and still I can't help wishing that Emily Franklin would adopt me--or maybe send me a care package. But at least I've got her recipes now. And this book, which is the perfect mix of heartwarming and mouthwatering. Yum." --Catherine Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy "Emily Franklin's Too Many Cooks is a boon for anyone trying to cook healthy simple meals for children. It is also great fun for those of us who love to peek at the domestic lives of others. Franklin has a warm, unpretentious voice and appealing recipes that are asking to be tried." --Jenni Ferrari-Adler, author of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant Hilarious and wise, Too Many Cooks celebrates a year in the family kitchen with one mom, four kids, and a picky pediatrician husband. Emily Franklin's food memoir Too Many Cooks was born of two simple food and children. A foodie and former chef, Franklin wants to pass on her love of food and cooking to her kids; she wants them not only to enjoy what they're eating but to know what they're eating. So, over the course of a year, she introduces her children to new dishes--some exotic, some thrown together with whatever she has in her cabinets--with varying degrees of success. Undaunted by failure ("This tastes like sand!"), Franklin pursues her culinary mission from the heartland of Indiana to the Umbrian countryside. Some meals conjure visions of pleasure while others are utter catastrophes. Along the way, she discovers how a delicious (or even disastrous) meal can bring families together and feed the soul. As Franklin chronicles her family's year around the kitchen table, season by season, she shares original recipes. From comfort, kid-friendly food like Mummy Nuggets, to the more adventurous Saffron Fish Chowder, to food made on the fly like Orange-Oaty-I-Don't-Know Cookies, each recipe follows a charming or bittersweet or laugh-out-loud anecdote that captures the chaos of cooking for four young kids. Franklin seasons her stories with how-I-did-it advice on cooking and parenting that makes this such a delightful and inspiring read. And with more than 100 simple, mouthwatering dishes, Too Many Cooks is a happy mix of recipes, memories, and good storytelling.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
6 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Emily Franklin
35 books146 followersGrowing up, Emily Franklin wanted to be “a singing, tap-dancing doctor who writes books.”
Having learned early on that she has little to no dancing ability, she left the tap world behind, studied at Oxford University, and received an undergraduate degree concentrating in writing and neuroscience from Sarah Lawrence College. Though she gave serious thought to a career in medicine, eventually that career followed her dancing dreams.
After extensive travel, some “character-building” relationships, and a stint as a chef, Emily went back to school at Dartmouth where she skied (or fished, depending on the season) daily, wrote a few screenplays, and earned her Master’s Degree in writing and media studies.
While editing medical texts and dreaming about writing a novel, Emily went to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim and met her future husband who is, of course, a doctor. And a pianist. He plays. They sing. They get married. He finishes medical school, they have a child, she writes a novel. Emily’s dreams are realized. She writes books.
Emily Franklin is the author of two adult novels, The Girls' Almanac and Liner Notes and more than a dozen books for young adults including the critically-acclaimed seven book fiction series for teens, The Principles of Love. Other young adult books include The Other Half of Me the Chalet Girls series, and At Face Value, a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac (coming in September 2008).
She edited the anthologies It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties and How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. She is co-editor of Before: Short Stories about Pregnancy from Our Top Writers.
Her book of essays and recipes, Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, 102 New Recipes ~ A Memoir of Tasting, Testing, and Discovery in the Kitchen will be published by Hyperion.
Emily’s work has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Mississippi Review as well as in many anthologies including Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today's Top Writers, and Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Emily writes regularly about food and parenting for national magazines and newspapers. She travels, teaches writing seminars, and speaks on panels, but does not tap dance. Emily Franklin lives outside of Boston with her husband and their four young children.
Having learned early on that she has little to no dancing ability, she left the tap world behind, studied at Oxford University, and received an undergraduate degree concentrating in writing and neuroscience from Sarah Lawrence College. Though she gave serious thought to a career in medicine, eventually that career followed her dancing dreams.
After extensive travel, some “character-building” relationships, and a stint as a chef, Emily went back to school at Dartmouth where she skied (or fished, depending on the season) daily, wrote a few screenplays, and earned her Master’s Degree in writing and media studies.
While editing medical texts and dreaming about writing a novel, Emily went to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim and met her future husband who is, of course, a doctor. And a pianist. He plays. They sing. They get married. He finishes medical school, they have a child, she writes a novel. Emily’s dreams are realized. She writes books.
Emily Franklin is the author of two adult novels, The Girls' Almanac and Liner Notes and more than a dozen books for young adults including the critically-acclaimed seven book fiction series for teens, The Principles of Love. Other young adult books include The Other Half of Me the Chalet Girls series, and At Face Value, a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac (coming in September 2008).
She edited the anthologies It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties and How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. She is co-editor of Before: Short Stories about Pregnancy from Our Top Writers.
Her book of essays and recipes, Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, 102 New Recipes ~ A Memoir of Tasting, Testing, and Discovery in the Kitchen will be published by Hyperion.
Emily’s work has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Mississippi Review as well as in many anthologies including Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today's Top Writers, and Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Emily writes regularly about food and parenting for national magazines and newspapers. She travels, teaches writing seminars, and speaks on panels, but does not tap dance. Emily Franklin lives outside of Boston with her husband and their four young children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
December 5, 2024
I couldn't sleep, so I pulled out the only book in the library with a more light-hearted title than "The Troubled Land" or "Modern Money and Banking".
"Too Many Cooks": No doubt a cookbook which would give me that same vague "old lady" feeling that Lavender-Earl Grey cookies give me or the faint despair that an embroidered toilet seat and potpourri basket sends me into.
I did not expect to be invited to join Emily Franklin's family for a year. I didn't expect to watch Jamie, Daniel, Julia, and Will grow over four seasons. I didn't know I would laugh as Emily's culinary wildness - a personality trait I firmly empathize with - came through, and that I would come closer to crying than I care to confess when family dramas came up.
I remembered my mama's cooking - meals she spent hours on, meals she whipped up in minutes. Some disasters (the pilchard pie), some totally brilliant successes she will go down in potluck history for (a lasagne even Garfield would enjoy slowly, her six-egg cake that was lighter than a British mist, but rich as Solomon in flavor).
It was only faintly bittersweet to say goodbye at the end of the book, for, just as the memories of spending a vacation with family in Italy are tinged with sadness for what followed, they are also aglow with the soft warmth of what cooking, what meals are all about: serving, experimenting, having fun - but, most of all, spending time with those you love.
"Too Many Cooks": No doubt a cookbook which would give me that same vague "old lady" feeling that Lavender-Earl Grey cookies give me or the faint despair that an embroidered toilet seat and potpourri basket sends me into.
I did not expect to be invited to join Emily Franklin's family for a year. I didn't expect to watch Jamie, Daniel, Julia, and Will grow over four seasons. I didn't know I would laugh as Emily's culinary wildness - a personality trait I firmly empathize with - came through, and that I would come closer to crying than I care to confess when family dramas came up.
I remembered my mama's cooking - meals she spent hours on, meals she whipped up in minutes. Some disasters (the pilchard pie), some totally brilliant successes she will go down in potluck history for (a lasagne even Garfield would enjoy slowly, her six-egg cake that was lighter than a British mist, but rich as Solomon in flavor).
It was only faintly bittersweet to say goodbye at the end of the book, for, just as the memories of spending a vacation with family in Italy are tinged with sadness for what followed, they are also aglow with the soft warmth of what cooking, what meals are all about: serving, experimenting, having fun - but, most of all, spending time with those you love.
March 24, 2019
2019 Bk 97. First of all - I love used books in which previous owners have written in the margins. It gets even better when the previous owner marks comments on recipes in books - this book a number of recipes that had been tried and liked well enough to earn a 'Great' or "I'll never cook brussel sprouts any other way than this again." This is a collection of essay and recipes. The essays describe a set of parent's desire that their children be open to trying new foods. The reader follows the family for a year, trying things in-season, things Italian and English and Korean and Indian and Indiana. There are small successes with her three older children voicing their opinions and helping her in the kitchen along the way. Franklin is one who likes to fix meals based on what she has in the cabinet as much as following family favorite recipes. We meet her parents, in-laws, husband, friends, and most of all, her children. Through her writing, the reader can watch her children mature in their eating tastes. The one opts for rice krsipie with M & M's for his birthday cake because he prefers that to cake. We see another deal with his dislike of peas, gradually coming to accept them in his food and learning that tantrums don't work when it comes to eating.
October 13, 2020
I loved the narrative and Emily Franklin's writing style, but some of the baking recipes did not turn out well for me. If it weren't for that, I would give the book five stars. In addition to Franklin's wonderful writing, I love the book's concept and I admire what she set out to do and accomplished in introducing her children to a variety of foods. The touches of humor are great, particularly when Franklin's husband seems to be a pickier eater than any of the children are.
November 14, 2023
I was hoping for more cookbook ideas with maybe some life color for context. Instead, this reads as a blog of motherhood—no problem—and the relatable context of how meal have to be somehow slotted into life. Not really any one recipe that stands out for me besides her spirit of grab stuff, try something, have everybody try it and then can decide whether to make again or not.
February 6, 2025
Hmm. Reading this again and am really enjoying it. Definitely at least 3 stars...so far anyway.
At times I really related to the author, at times she was a bit whiny and that annoyed me. Some fun anecdotes about being in the kitchen with kids and some parenting moments I could relate to. Not nearly as good as Molly Wizenberg and Kathleen Flinn's food memoirs.
At times I really related to the author, at times she was a bit whiny and that annoyed me. Some fun anecdotes about being in the kitchen with kids and some parenting moments I could relate to. Not nearly as good as Molly Wizenberg and Kathleen Flinn's food memoirs.
February 10, 2020
I liked it. Found a few new recipes to try. Made me think about how I have made many recipes "my own" over the years with substitutions and little tweaks to suit my tastes and my family. I wonder if I could write a book like this.
April 18, 2019
3.5 I enjoyed this memoir about a mom cooking for her family.
March 4, 2017
Emily Franklin is the mother of four children and is married to a very picky eater. This book is really a family journal which takes place of the course of a year and includes a recipe or two at the end of each chapter. It was fun to see how another parent convinces her children to try new foods. She tells it like it is and all parents can relate.
The recipes are interesting and simple. They have an international flair. There are no photos.
A fun, easy read and a few recipes to try out.
The recipes are interesting and simple. They have an international flair. There are no photos.
A fun, easy read and a few recipes to try out.
February 17, 2012
I loved the adventure that Franklin takes you on as she and her husband decide to introduce new foods to their children after seeing them pick chicken nuggets on the menu at a seafood restaurant. Franklin calls it their "quest to create happy, healthy eaters without tricks." There's no pureeing foods and putting them in to hide them from the kids, it's just putting it out there for them to experience and try.
Franklin shares stories of introducing new foods to her kids. I love how she finds ways to explore new foods that she's not even sure about and the honesty the children witness through the trails. At the end of each chapter she gives you several recipes that relate to the stories that were just told. The recipes look very promising. Some of the ones I look forward to trying first are: arugula sunflower pesto, sticky toffee pudding, crunchy snacking beans and the cold cucumber soup.
This book is worth the read as well as for the recipes. The tie in with cooking and motherhood will make you laugh and have you choked up at other times.
Favorite Parts:
It's as though we're at the zoo for the nutritionally challenged, what with the pizza nuggets, the ham 'n' cheese nuggets, even the spinach nuggets, which, although they contain some greenery, are just another way of nuggeting all meals.
Adam and I check with each other before responding-one of those silent parental conversations that occur only with the eyes.
Someday the kids will be grown and the house will be immaculate and I will wish they were home to scrape and mess, so I try not to mind.
This is the cruelty of parenting: to try to do such a good job raising your kids that you are eventually out of a job.
Cooking, like parenting, is sometimes a leap of faith-that they dough will rise, that the tenderloin won't be too rare or too brown, that the wobbly Jello-O will set. That the hodgepodge of items in the pantry, on a shelf, in the fridge, can be fashioned into one coherent meal. That babbles and drool and mumbling baby sounds will form, one day, all of a sudden into a single word that will alert you to all that lies ahead.
And maybe that’s part of it - we cannot save it all for tomorrow. I am always stockpiling for the next meal, the next season. I am constantly battling the urge to look back or forward with my kids, to think of how they were or will be, rather than how they are. The task of any good cook, of any parent, is to be present - in the kitchen and out. To taste all the items, absorb each child’s day, all those moments, and form them into the day’s meals.
Franklin shares stories of introducing new foods to her kids. I love how she finds ways to explore new foods that she's not even sure about and the honesty the children witness through the trails. At the end of each chapter she gives you several recipes that relate to the stories that were just told. The recipes look very promising. Some of the ones I look forward to trying first are: arugula sunflower pesto, sticky toffee pudding, crunchy snacking beans and the cold cucumber soup.
This book is worth the read as well as for the recipes. The tie in with cooking and motherhood will make you laugh and have you choked up at other times.
Favorite Parts:
It's as though we're at the zoo for the nutritionally challenged, what with the pizza nuggets, the ham 'n' cheese nuggets, even the spinach nuggets, which, although they contain some greenery, are just another way of nuggeting all meals.
Adam and I check with each other before responding-one of those silent parental conversations that occur only with the eyes.
Someday the kids will be grown and the house will be immaculate and I will wish they were home to scrape and mess, so I try not to mind.
This is the cruelty of parenting: to try to do such a good job raising your kids that you are eventually out of a job.
Cooking, like parenting, is sometimes a leap of faith-that they dough will rise, that the tenderloin won't be too rare or too brown, that the wobbly Jello-O will set. That the hodgepodge of items in the pantry, on a shelf, in the fridge, can be fashioned into one coherent meal. That babbles and drool and mumbling baby sounds will form, one day, all of a sudden into a single word that will alert you to all that lies ahead.
And maybe that’s part of it - we cannot save it all for tomorrow. I am always stockpiling for the next meal, the next season. I am constantly battling the urge to look back or forward with my kids, to think of how they were or will be, rather than how they are. The task of any good cook, of any parent, is to be present - in the kitchen and out. To taste all the items, absorb each child’s day, all those moments, and form them into the day’s meals.
March 29, 2011
This is a really different book written by a woman who was a chef on luxury yachts & then became a mother & dives into culinary adventures with her 4 children. It goes through "seasons" and at the end of each one there are a handful of recipes to try. I got some good ideas & lots of new recipes.
Some quotes that I enjoyed are below:
At the end of the day, you try your best with kids, give them everything you can, and see how they turn out at the end. Who hasn’t done the same thing in the kitchen?
If you puree vegetables and add them to brownies, all you’re really doing is getting your kids to like brownies, which they probably already do.
It’s not my job to choose my children’s tastes, to demand that they enjoy certain foods. It is my job to give them the emotional strength to navigate the roads ahead, be those roads intellectual, environmental, familial, moral, or social. To give them the gastronomic tour, lead them with a map, but in the end, hand the compass and guidebooks over to them so they can weave through the culinary landscape ahead.
Some quotes that I enjoyed are below:
At the end of the day, you try your best with kids, give them everything you can, and see how they turn out at the end. Who hasn’t done the same thing in the kitchen?
If you puree vegetables and add them to brownies, all you’re really doing is getting your kids to like brownies, which they probably already do.
It’s not my job to choose my children’s tastes, to demand that they enjoy certain foods. It is my job to give them the emotional strength to navigate the roads ahead, be those roads intellectual, environmental, familial, moral, or social. To give them the gastronomic tour, lead them with a map, but in the end, hand the compass and guidebooks over to them so they can weave through the culinary landscape ahead.
October 7, 2009
I've been on a non-fiction kick recently, which is highly unusual. Fiction has dulled a bit and needs to be put aside while I indulge in some good, narrative non-fiction.
"Too Many Cooks" was a really enjoyable read. The author's children are charming (so much so, I wonder if they can possibly be real!), as is her husband and the rest of her family. The stories are short and sweet, leaving you hungry (literally!) yet satisfied.
My biggest complaint about the book is the actual recipes. The author cooks completely unlike me -- not following recipes, cooking extremely healthy with bizarre ingredients that, while they might taste just fine, are impossible to find in my area. So my advice is to read the book for the stories, not the recipes as there aren't very many that sound that appetizing.
I guarantee, however, that this book will make you want to go mess around in the kitchen!
"Too Many Cooks" was a really enjoyable read. The author's children are charming (so much so, I wonder if they can possibly be real!), as is her husband and the rest of her family. The stories are short and sweet, leaving you hungry (literally!) yet satisfied.
My biggest complaint about the book is the actual recipes. The author cooks completely unlike me -- not following recipes, cooking extremely healthy with bizarre ingredients that, while they might taste just fine, are impossible to find in my area. So my advice is to read the book for the stories, not the recipes as there aren't very many that sound that appetizing.
I guarantee, however, that this book will make you want to go mess around in the kitchen!
October 23, 2009
Excellent inspiration to get you out of the rut of "kid cooking" - validated by the wonderfully recognizable anecdotes of raising a family.
I loved this quote: "I can say that cooking for one whiny, picky child is far more difficult and stressful than for forty on the rolling seas. But I do it anyway... I have long believed that cooking and parenting go hand in hand. Not only because children need food and one of the earliest ways we connect to them is by feeding, but because both are wonderful and messy... At the end of the day, you try your best with kids, give them everything you can, and see how they turn out at the end. Who hasn't done the same thing in the kitchen; closed their eyes, shut the oven door, and hoped that when the time comes to reveal the dish, it's recognizable and good?"
I loved this quote: "I can say that cooking for one whiny, picky child is far more difficult and stressful than for forty on the rolling seas. But I do it anyway... I have long believed that cooking and parenting go hand in hand. Not only because children need food and one of the earliest ways we connect to them is by feeding, but because both are wonderful and messy... At the end of the day, you try your best with kids, give them everything you can, and see how they turn out at the end. Who hasn't done the same thing in the kitchen; closed their eyes, shut the oven door, and hoped that when the time comes to reveal the dish, it's recognizable and good?"
October 2, 2010
As a reluctant cook,very few of the recipes inspired me but the tale of the author's year with her four small children resonated. Each short chapter is a vignette where Ms. Griffin attempts to introduce her children to a healthful and varied diet, sometimes with success. At home and abroad, this family enjoys good food and sees the wisdom in involving the kids in the cooking. I particularly enjoyed the author's frequent references to nursing her baby - not only could I relate to her profound feelings of joy to have that relationship with her child, but also to the kind of motherhood where scheduling frequent nursing opportunities is a matter of utmost importance to stave off embarrassment and pain! In short, I feel like I know this mother from my own years home with little ones. An endearing, amusing read.
July 27, 2012
I want to own this book and try all the recipes with my family. I haven't read a cookbook/memoir that had so many recipes that seemed absolutely realistic to try and serve. My favorite part is that she introduced her kids to a huge variety of vegetables and cuisines, but from her description of the recipes, it didn't sound like it was a huge waste of time if the kids weren't excited about it. Which is usually my problem, I feel like I spend way too much time preparing meals that no one except Robert or I will eat.
I also loved seeing how she involved her kids in her cooking. Doing real things. I got the impression that the "mess" of cooking with kids didn't bother her as much as it bothers me, but that's something I can work on.
I just enjoyed the book and felt hungry for her meals. Loved it.
I also loved seeing how she involved her kids in her cooking. Doing real things. I got the impression that the "mess" of cooking with kids didn't bother her as much as it bothers me, but that's something I can work on.
I just enjoyed the book and felt hungry for her meals. Loved it.
May 22, 2011
I love a good cookbook-slash-memoir. I like that the author's intent is to broaden, rather than fool, her children's palates and that the recipes have nothing to do with adding pureed vegetables to brownies. The scope and timeline let the reader watch as the Franklin's children age and mature over the course of a year. Her family members are well-developed as characters and there were lots of moments where I laughed in recognition or read parts aloud to my husband, wanting him to experience those same moments of empathy and recognition. This is definitely a book that I'll go back to not only for the recipes but also for the voice of Emily herself and her ability to write about cooking and parenting in an engaging and realistic way.
December 19, 2013
This cookbook sold my kids on broccoli!
TOO MANY COOKS by Emily Franklin does two different things, both equally well: tells funny, offbeat stories about where and how her recipes originated and provides accurate, useful actual recipes. This may sound obvious or simple, but I have tried many cookbooks and found otherwise. Too many cookbooks either are pretty coffee table books without viable recipes or simply books of recipes that have not been properly tested. Every recipe I have tried from this cookbook has been a success, with favorites including the pesto, the roasted broccoli, and the ingenious progression from homemade chicken nuggets to many more advanced culinary options for eating with children. Also check out her excellent blog The Well-Cooked Life. wellcookedlife.com
TOO MANY COOKS by Emily Franklin does two different things, both equally well: tells funny, offbeat stories about where and how her recipes originated and provides accurate, useful actual recipes. This may sound obvious or simple, but I have tried many cookbooks and found otherwise. Too many cookbooks either are pretty coffee table books without viable recipes or simply books of recipes that have not been properly tested. Every recipe I have tried from this cookbook has been a success, with favorites including the pesto, the roasted broccoli, and the ingenious progression from homemade chicken nuggets to many more advanced culinary options for eating with children. Also check out her excellent blog The Well-Cooked Life. wellcookedlife.com
May 29, 2009
This was a great book! Initially I grabbed it at the library because nothing from my "to-read" list was available. The random pick turned out to be a good read.
I try to introduce a wide variety of foods to my boys, and it was encouraging to read another mom's take on the same thing. Her recipes were inspiring. If I wasn't in the middle of a move, I'd have made more than a few right away! I'd like to own a copy (or check the book out again) so I'd have the recipes. Life is too hectic right now!
I try to introduce a wide variety of foods to my boys, and it was encouraging to read another mom's take on the same thing. Her recipes were inspiring. If I wasn't in the middle of a move, I'd have made more than a few right away! I'd like to own a copy (or check the book out again) so I'd have the recipes. Life is too hectic right now!
October 3, 2009
Probably more like a 4.5, which says a lot considering that our dietary restrictions automatically force me to pass on a large portion of the recipes. That said, there are still plenty I have bookmarked!
I loved the writing, it was as much a book about mothering, parenting, family, choices, and celebrating the day to day as it was about recipes. It just so happened that those recipes were woven perfectly into the family story.
Truly enjoyable, immensely readable - I was wanting one more year in their lives!
I loved the writing, it was as much a book about mothering, parenting, family, choices, and celebrating the day to day as it was about recipes. It just so happened that those recipes were woven perfectly into the family story.
Truly enjoyable, immensely readable - I was wanting one more year in their lives!
April 10, 2011
I guess I'm not Franklin's target audience - moms from affluent backgrounds with several children. The recipes are consistently interesting; I plan on trying some of them. As a matter of fact, in a Twilight Zone moment (cue theme), I had mango chicken for lunch, really liked it, thought about how one might make it at home, opened the book later that day, and there was the recipe at the end of the next chapter! It was amusing that her husband turned out to be a pickier eater than the kids.
A good book - if you can relate to the author's lifestyle.
A good book - if you can relate to the author's lifestyle.
August 5, 2009
Anything regarding food will catch my fancy. I found the book at times to be a bit meandering almost verging on pointless, but Franklin's pointed and beautiful observations about the conditions of the human experience combined with the shared challenge of raising children and helping them cultivate a diverse food palette made this an enjoyable tale, in addition to the recipes shared throughout each chapter may make this one worth owning.
June 22, 2014
I really loved this book! I not only enjoyed the peek into the author's family life, I really enjoyed all the recipes! I've tried several from this dollar store find and all have been praised by the family. I have many more to try and I'm excited to continue. I'm so happy I plucked this book from obscurity on the Dollar Tree shelf and added it to a cherished place on my bookshelf. We've become fast friends and I'll be looking for other works by Emily Franklin. :-)
XXOO
~Hope
XXOO
~Hope
July 13, 2014
I really loved this book! I not only enjoyed the peek into the author's family life, I really enjoyed all the recipes! I've tried several from this dollar store find and all have been praised by the family. I have many more to try and I'm excited to continue. I'm so happy I plucked this book from obscurity on the Dollar Tree shelf and added it to a cherished place on my bookshelf. We've become fast friends and I'll be looking for other works by Emily Franklin. :-)
XXOO
~Hope
XXOO
~Hope
August 20, 2009
I enjoyed this book but still am finding it hard to believe that her children actually ate some of the stuff she says they ate! My child is a picky eater and I'm trying some of her technics, without a ton of success so far... Also tried her cooking style, winging it with what you have in the pantry. It isn't so hard after all!
August 20, 2009
I can't say I loved this book... there were a few recipes I'll try... I was hoping for some kid-friendly recipes but that wasn't really the premise of the book (they were mostly 'what new foods can I get my kids to try' recipes using ingredients my kids (and husband) wouldn't like due to their strong flavors).
December 31, 2011
Hmm. Reading this again and am really enjoying it. Definitely at least 3 stars...so far anyway.
At times I really related to the author, at times she was a bit whiny and that annoyed me. Some fun anecdotes about being in the kitchen with kids and some parenting moments I could relate to. Not nearly as good as Molly Wizenberg and Kathleen Flinn's food memoirs.
At times I really related to the author, at times she was a bit whiny and that annoyed me. Some fun anecdotes about being in the kitchen with kids and some parenting moments I could relate to. Not nearly as good as Molly Wizenberg and Kathleen Flinn's food memoirs.
March 30, 2011
This is a great book! A former private chef is now a stay at home mom. She writes lovely essays about her 4 children, then at the end of each chapter includes the recipes. Her recipes are very simple, most feature olive oil, salt and pepper. Her family is a big fan of anything roasted, so I tried a few recipes. Her kids are adventurous eaters so she must be doing something right.
October 5, 2010
I'm loving this book! It's full of fun personal stories about taking care of 4 children. I find myself laughing out loud and nodding my head in agreement to many things she writes (and I only have 1 child.) There are great recipes throughout that I'm planning to try and an index in the back so I can easily find the page they're on later.
August 13, 2012
Delightful chronicle of life as a mom of 4, with recipes at the end of every chapter. Emily not only loves to cook, but she involves her kids in the process, getting them to try new things and express their opinions about what they cook and eat. Interwoven with tales of food and cooking are the stories of one year in the life of this family.
October 23, 2013
This was a fun, light look at a mom's journey to introduce her children to good, interesting food. Some parts had a travelogue element to them. Others were neat commentaries on parenting. Recipes were enjoyable. Stopped 75 pages short b/c just have other stuff I want to read more and had sort of gotten her gist.
September 24, 2009
I enjoyed this until I was about halfway through, but reading it then became tedious. It seemed to me that the author was trying too hard to be funny, and many of the anecdotes were pointless and not very entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews