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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

To go along with my post Have a berrylicious summer with Sylvan Dell Publishing and some berry recipes, here’s another fabulous blackberry recipe to nosh on while you’re reading Blackberry Banquet.

The recipe for Blackberry Cake was submitted by Elsie Cumpton of Worthington, KY to American Profile magazine. She remembers sending this moist cake by mail to her husband when he was stationed in Germany in the US Army back in the ’50s.

It would probably be a great cake to mail to our service people overseas, too. If this is something that appeals to you (it would be a wonderful activity to do with your kids) check out The Soldier’s Angels - Angel Bakers project.

Try baking the cake in the morning with your young early risers when it’s still cool out. If you have kids like my son, Nathan who wakes up at 6 a.m. or earlier, this will keep them busy for awhile. (And I won’t give you a dirty look if you decide to have a small slice for breakfast.)

Later in the day, take a few slices with you on a picnic or a bike trip to the park or beach. I’m guessing it’s so moist that you can eat it with your fingers like sponge cake.

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Another sign of summer are all the recipes I keep seeing for berry dishes. From the Denver Post food section  to Sunset and Bon Appetit magazines, there have been some terrific new takes on what to do with the summer berry harvest. Best of all, they’re very kid friendly, so I’ll be sharing the recipes (and some good books to go with them) in the next few weeks.

First, to get us in a berry good mood, from Sylvan Dell Publishing comes Blackberry Banquet for children ages four to eight . Author Terry Pierce tells the story of forest animals squeaking, tweeting, slurping, yipping, and chomping over the sweet, plump fruit of a wild blackberry bush. When a bear arrives to take part in the feast, chaos strikes.

Like all Sylvan Dell books, the last few pages feature a “For Creative Minds” educational section with fun facts and other activities.  (You can also view it online on their website along with Teaching Activities, quizzes: Reading / FCM / Math, and Learning Links.) I learned that even foxes like to eat berries - who knew?

Terry got the idea for her newest picture book while vacationing in Oregon. “Blackberry Banquet came to me one day when I was approaching my favorite wild blackberry bush to pick berries for making a pie,” she explains. “As I neared the bush, a flurry of animals fled from it, and it made me start thinking about how we’re not the only animals who enjoy such a sweet treat!” (You can read an interview with Terry on the Sylvan Dell site.)

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One of the first books that I came across when starting this blog was Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett. The book and its sequel, Pickles To Pittsburgh, seemed perfect for this blog - food and a slightly ridiculous story that would appeal to kids eight to 12.

My eight-year-old son Nathan picked the book up at the school library last month. I was thrilled - finally he’s reading something that isn’t about sports, wacky facts, or bodily functions! It must have been the illustrations and the story:

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.

Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. The town was a mess and the people feared for their lives. Something had to be done, and in a hurry.

I don’t know about you, but a story like this makes me hungry for spaghetti covered in tomato sauce, one of Nathan’s favorite meals.

My son, the “pastaterian”

Nathan became a “pastaterian” (someone who only eats pasta - or would if his parents let him) a couple of years ago. Needless to say, I make a lot of pasta and spaghetti sauce. I usually make sauce from “scratch” using the ever present supply of Italian venison sausage in our freezer and tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in cans. (Unless it’s the end of summer and we have fresh tomatoes.)

My recipe for homemade sauce is easy. I brown the sausage (you could use ground turkey or beef - just add more seasonings later) along with two to three large minced cloves of garlic. Then I add several cans of tomato sauce/diced tomatoes/pureed tomatoes, and season with basil, oregano, and maybe some red wine to taste. Then I bring it to a boil and simmer the sauce for a little bit…or until the hungry masses descend.

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Sometimes I come across “high end” recipes for grown ups that would be a lot of fun for kids. This sushi dish featured in the Denver Post is one of them. Now before you go, “My kids HATE fish!” this is vegetable sushi. It’s colorful, easy to make, healthy,and you get to dip it. (What kid doesn’t love dipping things?) If you have the patience, get the kids to help you chop veggies, mix the sauce, and assemble the sushi. My husband and kids enjoy making sushi together. Me? I enjoy eating it!

Vegetable Bouquets with Spicy Dipping Sauce
By Diane Carman, makes 25-30

Many regular supermarkets have all the Asian ingredients you’ll need from daikon radish to sushi nori (dried seaweed). If not, maybe there is an Asian grocery store near you. We love visiting our local Asian market and as a mom you’ll love their prices on meat, fish, spices, and produce.

Ingredients:

1. 1 carrot, scraped
2. 1/2   mango, not too ripe, peeled
3. 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
4. 1 small daikon radish, scraped (if you can’t find daikon radish, substitute jicama, which is mild tasting and very crunchy )
5. 1/2   red bell pepper
6. 1 package of Sushi nori (seaweed)

Dipping Sauce:

1. 1/4 cup soy sauce
2. 1 teaspoon sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar or worcestershire sauce
4. 1 teaspoon Chinese sesame oil
5. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Chinese chili oil, or to taste

Directions:

1. Cut carrot, mango, cucumber, radish and bell pepper into thin julienne pieces about 2 inches long. Blanch carrot pieces in boiling water for about 30 seconds, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking.
2. Bundle 2 pieces of each vegetable and one piece of mango and wrap in a 1-inch-wide by 4-inch-long piece of sushi nori, moistening the end with water to secure the bouquet.
3. Sauce: Stir ingredients together in small bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste.
4. Arrange on a platter and serve as an appetizer with dipping sauce.

Children’s Books About Sushi

Believe it or not there are few books for kids on sushi. Check these out:

• First Book of Sushi for ages four to eight
• Sushi for Kids: A Children’s Introduction to Japan’s Favorite Food for ages seven to 10
• Squeamish About Sushi: And Other Food Adventures in Japan for kids and adults