If you have older kids who enjoy social networking sites like MySpace but who also like to cook, check out Yummr, an online social networking community of people who are passionate about food and cooking, and want to share food-related experiences, recipes, reviews, photos, and videos.

You have to be over 13 to join Yummr, however. (If your child isn’t, make joining and participation a family activity! Or you could do it on your own.) Yummr allows members to create their own foodie profiles complete with blogs, photos, galleries, and friends.

This week I have a challenge activity up at Yummr called Mommy Knows Best:

Preparing a fun and kid-friendly meal can be tough sometimes especially if you’ve got some little picky eaters on your hands. Do you know of some great snacks or recipes that are great hits with the kids?
Share your recipes and photos in this challenge inspired by member AMNichols‘ blog, My Readable Feast and This Mama Cooks! On a Diet, where she provides great healthy eating ideas for the whole family!

Join Yummr and meet me over at the Mommy Knows Best challenge to submit your recipes, tips and ideas. See you there!

Welcome to the Kids in the Summer Kitchen edition of the Carnival of the Recipes. Let’s see who’s joining us today – it’s quite a crowd!

• Jeff Tincher presents Homemade Spaghetti Sauce | Two Tongues Up posted at Two Tongues Up. Nothing better than making your own sauce, especially if you use tomatoes from your garden!
• Miss Jocelyn presents A Pondering Heart » Blog Archive » Brownie Pancakes, Anyone? Coookin’ up a storm… posted at A Pondering Heart.
• Tea Party Girl presents How to Make Inexpensive Iced Tea that Wows Your Friends | Tea Party Girl posted at Tea Party Girl. Summer time is the best time for a tea party!
• Bobby presents Pineapple Meatballs Recipe posted at Free Online Recipes.
• A Cowboy’s Wife presents Carne Guisada | My Wooden Spoon posted at My Wooden Spoon.
• Steve Bainbridge presents Grilled quail over warm lentil salad, with poached egg, garlic cream, frisee, and bacon posted at Professor Bainbridge on Wine. If you have no idea where to find quail in your area, check your local Asian market. They’ll carry it in the freezer case.
• Expat Chef presents The Expatriate’s Kitchen: Mac and Cheese (and Broccoli) posted at The Expatriate’s Kitchen.

• Stephanie presents Cherry Cobbler posted at Stop the Ride! I love cobbler!
• Chicken Recipes presents Baked Almond Chicken posted at Healthy Chicken Recipes.

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Have you had a chance to see Kung Fu Panda yet? We did the first week the movie was out, and I was very impressed. Not only did my children enjoy it, but I loved the characters, the story and the animation. It’s the best thing DreamWorks has done in years.

All the noodle and bun eating made me hungry and gave me a great idea for a Kung Fu Panda inspired meal – dim sum!

Eat In, Take Out, or Make It At Home

We like to drive into Denver on the weekends for dim sum at the Empress Seafood Restaurant. We were going to stop by on Father’s Day, but we woke up too late and my husband wanted to watch the US  Open on TV. So we headed over to our nearest Asian Market to pick up lobster for dinner, and noticed they had dim sum take out. We got sticky rice in lotus leaves, shrimp balls, and sesame seed dumplings with sweet bean paste.

We also picked up half a roasted duck since Lucie wanted to try it. Delicious, but greasy as to be expected. (Lucie is eating a sesame seed dumpling in the picture, and has pieces of duck on her plate.)

When we got home we also steamed up some Chinese beef buns that we had in the freezer. What a feast!

If you don’t have an Asian grocery with take out dim sum, try making your own at home. It isn’t as hard as you think thanks to Sunset magazine.

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In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck is one of my  favorite books of the summer. (Thanks Jim for emailing me and offering a review copy!)

For children ages four to eight, In a Blue Room is the story of a little girl named Alice. She is wide awake and insists on having a blue room before she can fall asleep. Her mama brings her flowers, tea, a quilt, and lullaby bells to help her sleep. While none of these things are blue, they help Alice get ready for bed. Then her mama turns out the light. Magically her darkened room becomes blue as moonlight fills her bedroom with blue light.

There are so many things I love about In a Blue Room. First, the illustrations by Tricia Tusa are gorgeous. I wish my room looked as beautiful as Alice’s bedroom. Then I love Jim’s use of color and the five senses – smell (lilacs and lilywhites), taste (orange tea), touch (a silky-soft and warm quilt), sounds (lullaby bells) and sight (colors and light). Not only is it a beautiful bedtime story that teaches the colors and senses, but it also reminds parents that we have to “set the stage” for good sleep both for our children and ourselves.

Foods that Make You Sleepy

I’ve written at my blog, This Mama Cooks! about foods that can make your children sleepy. In fact, a new study has come out showing that carbs may help you fall asleep faster because they raise tryptophan and serotonin levels.

But now that it’s summer, your child may be having a tough time getting to sleep because they’re too warm. If you don’t have air conditioning, try a cooling shower or bath before bedtime. A drink of ice water or cool milk (tryptophan!) will help, too.

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I recently did a Recipe Roundup: Fun Breakfast Ideas for Kids for the FoodieView blog. Not only does it feature recipes that kids will love to cook up and eat, but they’ll appeal to all those adults who are big kids at heart. And who’s the biggest kid of them all but dad?

This Father’s Day, I hope your family will be getting together in the kitchen to cook up a breakfast made for a king. (We’re going out for dim sum, which will probably involve going to the Asian market afterwards to buy a lobster for dinner. More on this next week.)

Make Dad Some Fancy Pancakes

One great idea I missed for the Recipe Roundup was sent to me by Kendra of the My Insanity blog. She and her kids made a special School’s Out for Summer Breakfast where they put pancake batter in squeeze bottles to make pancake.Basically you use the squeeze bottle to make pancake shape outlines, let them cook for a little bit, then fill in the shapes. Here’s a picture of Kendra’s son, Trenton, and his spaceship pancakes.

You can have fun making pancakes like these for dad. If he’s a sports fan make pancakes the shapes of footballs, hockey sticks, or baseball bats. If he likes to fish, make him some fish- shaped pancakes, fishing poles, and a few hooks and worms. If I was making these for my husband, I’d make a motorcycle-shaped one!

(Kendra’s post also contains a recipe for an Orange Julius, too. Yum!)

Spend Father’s Day with Little Bear, His Dad and some good books

One of the most endearing father-son pairs in children’s books is Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear and his dad, Father Bear. Why not get a few Little Bear books for dad to read to the kids before nap or bed time? Two good choices are Father Bear’s Special Day and Father Bear Comes Home. Both are terrific books for toddlers up to children age 8.

Don’t you think Little Bear would like some honey on his pancakes? I bet your family’s “papa bear” would like some, too!

For more Father’s Day book ideas check out:

• Pig Pile Elvis Style, Lemon Bars, and Father’s Day
• Father’s Day books celebrate dads of all kinds
• Father’s Day books from Daddy Dialectic