Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook [Hardcover]

Gary Goss (Author), Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Blue Moon Soup will appeal to all the children in your house, even the ones who are now just kids at heart. The youngest ones will enjoy having it read to them, recipes and all, while they look at Jane Dyer's enchanting illustrations of dancing broccoli, a marching chicken, and a star-spangled, juggling clown. Hearing about Polka Dot Soup (black bean soup dotted with chopped sweet red pepper) and Brrroccoli Soup au Gratin (cheesy and creamy) might even enchant fussy youngsters into tasting something they normally shun. They can then assist in the kitchen as you make Ch-Ch-Chili or they can wonder at the magic of Abracadabra Soup, in which a beaten egg spins strands that cook in simmering, cozy chicken and rice soup (Avgolemono to the grown-up set). Children old enough to chop can do much of the preparation for One Potato, Two Potato, as well as for Lickity Split Pea Soup. Ultimately, for soups that have become family favorites, older kids may want the accomplishment of cooking from scratch on their own. If they do, the grownups will have no complaint, as the dishes in Blue Moon Soup are as sophisticated as in any cookbook for adults. Most recipes are mild enough to suit young palates, as author Gary Goss uses the same seasonings as he would for adults, calling only for lesser quantities, such as one-half teaspoon of dry mustard in his fish soup, and two tablespoons of optional wine. For some youngsters, though, omissions may be desirable, while for the adults, adding more generous amounts of the seasonings will avoid blandness. The recipes in Blue Moon Soup are grouped by the seasons, but stirring up a batch of Believe It or Not! Ice cream soup is sure to bring smiles all around the table at any time of year. --Dana Jacobi

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Blue Moon Soup will appeal to all the children in your house, even the ones who are now just kids at heart. The youngest ones will enjoy having it read to them, recipes and all, while they look at Jane Dyer's enchanting illustrations of dancing broccoli, a marching chicken, and a star-spangled, juggling clown. Hearing about Polka Dot Soup (black bean soup dotted with chopped sweet red pepper) and Brrroccoli Soup au Gratin (cheesy and creamy) might even enchant fussy youngsters into tasting something they normally shun. They can then assist in the kitchen as you make Ch-Ch-Chili or they can wonder at the magic of Abracadabra Soup, in which a beaten egg spins strands that cook in simmering, cozy chicken and rice soup (Avgolemono to the grown-up set).

Children old enough to chop can do much of the preparation for One Potato, Two Potato, as well as for Lickity Split Pea Soup. Ultimately, for soups that have become family favorites, older kids may want the accomplishment of cooking from scratch on their own. If they do, the grownups will have no complaint, as the dishes in Blue Moon Soup are as sophisticated as in any cookbook for adults. Most recipes are mild enough to suit young palates, as author Gary Goss uses the same seasonings as he would for adults, calling only for lesser quantities, such as one-half teaspoon of dry mustard in his fish soup, and two tablespoons of optional wine. For some youngsters, though, omissions may be desirable, while for the adults, adding more generous amounts of the seasonings will avoid blandness.

The recipes in Blue Moon Soup are grouped by the seasons, but stirring up a batch of Believe It or Not! Ice cream soup is sure to bring smiles all around the table at any time of year. --Dana Jacobi

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-This entertaining collection of delicious recipes for families to make and eat together opens with the words of Lewis Carroll's "Beautiful Soup" incorporated into a watercolor painting of two elegant turtles lifting the lid off of a lovely tureen. Goss offers 33 soupy concoctions, usually one per page, and arranged by season. The tone is lighthearted and full of quirky humor: "(No) Duck Soup: Groucho Marx's favorite lentil soup." The recipes are clear; the soups are thick and thin; hot and cold; meat, fish, and vegetarian; and meant to be appetizers, main courses, and even desserts. The last section contains eight recipes for bread and snacks to serve with all of that soup. Dyer's outstanding watercolors echo the tone of the text; there are 14 fanciful full-page illustrations, and whimsical spot art is scattered throughout. Soup recipes can be found in many general cookbooks for children; however, if you want a special treat for the eye and the palate, add this one.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers; 1st edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316329916
• ISBN-13: 978-0316329910
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great recipies for the whole family for the whole year, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook (Hardcover)

I just finished reading Blue Moon Soup and was impressed by both the artwork and recipies. Jane has done her usual great job with the illustrations. She found an equally impressive partner with Gary Goss. His creative hand, adds a unique touch to the often simplictisit subject of childrens' cookbooks. He makes the recipies challanging, fun, educational and above all great tasting. I will be using this cookbook with my children all year. I also plan on purchasing several copies as Channukah gifts.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Passable soup recipes in an enchanting format, March 30, 2003

By 

A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook (Hardcover)

If this were a picture book illustrating fairy tales or nursery rhymes, I could honestly give Blue Moon Soup five stars. Jane Dyer's illustrations have just that perfect, whimsical charm that makes such children's books unforgettable. Unfortunately, this is a cookbook that seemed to forget that its main objective is to provide a collection of soup recipes that the whole family will love.

The introduction hinted at such promising soups that were fun and simple to make that I really wanted to like BMS. In fact, the recipes did turned out to be simple; averaging about 11 ingredients each, including spices, and involving nothing more complicated than chopping vegetables, herbs etc. and throwing everything into a pot to simmer. Occasionally, you have to put something or another into a blender and puree. So far so good. The names and concepts of soup were even fun; Hot Diggity Dog soup (hot dogs), Polka Dot Soup (black beans), Abracadabra (Greek lemon-and-egg), Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater (obvious), and Believe It Or Not Soup (Ice Cream), to name a few examples. I will even go so far as to say that these soups generally are fresh, healthy alternatives to the canned varieties as they contain much less sodium and fat and are made from scratch. With all the chopping required I would limit kids' participation to just standing by and "helping" mom and dad by throwing ingredients into the pot, then stirring, but that could also be fun with a little imagination.

Where BMS lost me was in the flavor. Every recipe I tried needed heavy doctoring to attain a flavor discernable enough to justify going to the bother of making these soups from scratch. Possibly, too, I am used to commercial soups that are thick and hearty, leaving the BMS soups seeming runny and diluted by comparison. The chili recipe, claiming to be AbsolutelyThe Best, was even erroneous in its recommended cooking times by a few hours (dried kidney beans are NOT fit to eat after only being soaked overnight and cooked for a mere 30 minutes). The You Can't Elope soup was a simple mixture of pureed melons, half-and-half, juice, wine and vanilla that proved to be so bland that I found myself wishing I had simply eaten the sun-ripened melon in the first place. And do we really need a "recipe" for what every kid achieves instinctively anyway by mashing ice cream in the bowl until it's creamy and half-melted?

The lone standout recipe among the seven that I sampled in this book was the pumpkin soup, which was a welcome change of pace for pumpkin purees and nicely smooth, neither watery nor artificially thick. Even the spices were right on target.

I imagine that I will eventually try some others in this book, and so perhaps keep it on my shelf for awhile longer. IMHO, Blue Moon Soup is a nice choice for people avidly watching their salt intake who love homemade soups.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soups that the whole family would enjoy, July 11, 2000

By 

Mvons (CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook (Hardcover)

I originally check this book out of a library only to find that I would like to make ALL of the recipes. The ingredients in the recipes are items you have on your shelf. They don't strive to reduce fat or salt but instead strive to be healthy tasty soups. We save money by having one soup meal a week and I am thrilled to add this book to my cookbook shelf.