Toddler Café: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater [Paperback]

Jennifer Carden (Author), Matthew Carden (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2008

Every toddler goes through the stage where they want nothing but "O"-shaped cereal. The challenge for parents is getting kids to ask for fruit salad instead of cupcakes. Faced with this seemingly impossible task with her own child, Jennifer Carden has created The Toddler Café, a guide to making mealtime with children fun and interactive. It offers simple, creative ways for kids to identify with their food, like saying tuna salad is what mermaids eat, or making Minty Pea Pops in ice cube trays. Carden has created over 50 unique recipes that encourage families (including toddlers) to work together to prepare, eat, clean up, and best of all, look forward to a healthy, delicious meal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What's nice about these recipes is that they're simple to cook and grownups like them, too. Except picky ones." NY Daily News, April 4, 2008

"Finally, there's a cookbook that encourages kids to play with their food." The Times-Union, April 3, 2008

"There are so many really cool recipes inside this book that will wow any child." BabyGear.com, May 11, 2008

"What I loved about this 50 recipe book is Jennifer's old school approach to feeding kids and getting them involved in the cooking process. The recipes are straightforward and they are things that the whole family can enjoy." Project Foodie.com, May 3, 2008

"Carden has created over 50 unique recipes that encourage families (including toddlers) to work together to prepare, eat, clean up, and best of all, look forward to a healthy, delicious meal." Stitch Lounge Blog, May 1, 2008 "The Toddler Cafe is full of great ideas to have fun with children at the table. It is a lovely gift for parents on their child's first birthday - before picky-ness shows up. Hurray for mess!" Super Chef Blog, May 1, 2008

About the Author

Jennifer Carden is an artist, chef, food stylist, and mother in the San Francisco Bay Area. She contributed to The Healthy Baby Workbook.

Matthew Carden is a photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811859274
• ISBN-13: 978-0811859271
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jennifer is a Chef, food stylist, and mother living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked with some of the best cookbook authors in the business, including Jacques Pepin and Mollie Katzen. She has done live television food styling for Guy Fieri of Guys Big Bite. She has written and developed recipes and menus for restaurants and major food companies nationwide. In addition, Jennifer has contributed recipes to The Healthy Baby Workbook from Chronicle Books. Currently, she serves as a consultant for What's Cooking, a Bay Area cooking school for children and families. Jennifer's innovative ideas and humorous slant on feeding children have led her to develop books and products that help parents to feed their children healthy, quick, uncomplicated food.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not quite deceptive but close..., January 23, 2009

By 

Veronica (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toddler Café: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater (Paperback)

I turned to this book because my toddler and I were in an eating rut. He has no problem eating healthy, but I needed a few more recipes/combos in my arsenal. This book is loaded with recipes, however, they were a far cry from what I was looking for.

While not along the lines of Deceptively Delicious/Sneaky Chef (there's no denying that the pea pancakes are peas) I felt that too many of the recipes sugared up the veggies and had too many sweet angles in general for my liking. In addition, a good number of these recipes were just not efficient on time and with a toddler and 6.5month old, efficiency is key. And speaking of efficiency, I about lost my bottom jaw when I viewed the ridiculous number of pantry and refrigerator supplies I was required to have "on hand". And then there were a few recipes that were just a little too over the top. While I'm sure the pb&j french toast is quite tasty, I don't need help getting my kid to scarf pb&j down anyway (using natural peanut butter, low sugar jelly on whole wheat bread), why would I french toast it?!

The book looks good and the photos are beautiful, the info is just not good for day to day.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful cookbook with lots of yummy toddler recipes, March 17, 2008

By 

J. Vogel (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Toddler Café: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater (Paperback)

I have bought a few cookbooks focusing on babies and toddlers, and this has been my favorite. Not only are the recipes creative, fun and delicious, but the photography within the book is also beautiful (there are pictures accompanying about half of the recipes). The author provides recipe notes for each recipe, which often include ideas for variations. I've already made several of the items in the book, and they have been a hit with my daughter (and with me!).

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yummy in my Tummy, May 15, 2008

By 

P. Schwimmer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toddler Café: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater (Paperback)

My daughter is 16 months and not a bad eater but she seems to eat the same things over and over. I made the rice balls with beets and she loved them, as did I! I have also made the pumpkin ravioli and the pea pancakes. A word of advice, DON'T change the recipes. The author knows what she is doing. I tried to make the ravioli with baby food because I could not find frozen pumpkin and it was a disaster. I did however start to experiment with my own "toddler cafe" ideas. Some worked and some did not. I made potatoes pancakes in a mini muffin tin (so I did not have to fry them) and it worked GREAT! I can't wait until my daughter is a little older so she can make these fabulous recipes with me. Keep on cooking!