Teens cook How to cook what you want to eat

Gr 7 Up-Sisters Megan and Jill Carle love to cook, both from recipes and experimenting with what's on hand. When they eat something they love in a restaurant, they try to re-create it at home. If they find a complicated recipe, they fearlessly "take shortcuts that would probably give a chef hives." The result of their culinary passion is this appealing mix of 85 diverse recipes ranging from comfort food to sushi. The six sections include traditional American cuisine, as well as recipes for German, Chinese, and Mexican dishes. Basic cooking instruction is incorporated into the recipes themselves as well as in the sidebars sprinkled liberally throughout. The gently wry introductions for each recipe offer keen glimpses into the siblings' personalities and relationship, adding to the intimacy and warmth of this cookbook. Megan, a vegetarian, offers advice on adapting many of the recipes to her diet. "Kitchen Disasters" offer amusing accounts of mistakes made by the Carles or their relatives, complete with explanations of exactly why things went awry. The clear instructions and striking, full-color photos will equip teen chefs to undertake their own adventures, but the reliance on butter, cream, mayonnaise, cheese, and other high-fat ingredients is a drawback for those seeking a healthy diet. Evelyn Raab's Clueless in the Kitchen (Firefly, 1998) is a far more extensive collection of recipes that also includes more basic information about equipment, shopping, and food preparation.-Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.