Top 5 Black Friday Finds for your Little Chef

1) Little Tykes – Get Out ‘n Grill; Toys R Us; Sale Price: $25 (reg. $39)

The Get Out ‘n Grill rivals dad’s backyard set and makes the perfect holiday gift. It comes with a mock burger and hot dog for “cooking” and stainless steel-looking grill utensils. Barbeque inside or in the yard for the full play experience.
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2) Step 2 – Lifestyle Welcome Home Kitchen; Walmart; Sale Price: $50 (reg. $100)

This is not your average play kitchen! The Lifestyle Welcome Home Kitchen is a luxury play experience decked with a granite-looking counter top, detailed “crown molding” with wallpaper borders and “top of the line” appliances (including a phone to chat on while cooking!) A special cookware set even turns on realistic cooking sounds. This play kitchen is so upscale your little chef won’t be able to tell their kitchen from yours!
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3) Play Market; JCPenney; Sale Price: $29 (reg. 69.99)

Practice counting and making healthy food choices with a pint-size market! The Play Market comes equipped with a cash register filled with mock money and 20 play fruit and vegetables.
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4) Playful Chef Cooking Sets; Amazon; Sale Price: $30.39 (reg. $40)

Inspire your little chef’s with a Playful Chef Cooking Set. This fun cooking set comes with 21 cooking tools sized for little bodies, including a tool belt apron and five kid-friendly recipes. Parents receive an overview of how to teach your kids in the kitchen, to garnish the important lessons of nutrition, food safety, measuring and following directions.
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5) Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Box; Amazon Sale Price: $15.92 (reg. $25)

Let kids cook on their own with the Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Box. The 31 piece toy set includes a wooden child-safe knife and cutting board for kids to practice their chopping skills on bread, fruits and vegetables. The kids will love the realistic crunching noise the food makes when they cut it.
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Feeding your family…after the turkey.

No doubt, many of you are going to have a house full of guests this Thanksgiving. The dinner menu is likely planned and your shopping lists are finished, but…what are you going to feed everybody for breakfast the following morning?! Try one of my classic go-to dishes when I have friends and family staying overnight. My Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole is a huge hit, and its simple ingredients are always on hand. I make it on Wednesday night  (before my kitchen gets crazy), wrap it in foil, and put it in the fridge. Friday morning, I just pop it in the oven, and breakfast is done!

(Make two! Bake one off and put the other in the freezer for another stress-free morning meal.)

Each casserole yields approximately six servings.

Shopping List:

• 1 pound turkey sausage
• 3 medium red russet potatoes
• olive oil
• 6 whole wheat bagels
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 cup mushrooms
• cup milk
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese

(Many thanks to Staub for this dish!)

For the complete recipe click here!

Hope your turkey is tasty!
–xoxoxo,  Cricket

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Want something unique and super yummy to make this fall? Take advantage of all of the fall flavors with this Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe. The kids will love getting their own individual ‘bowls’ to eat from. Feel free to get creative with your stuffing mixture—but, don’t forget to share your ideas!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Serves 4

• 2 acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 4 tablespoons butter, quartered
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 box stuffing
• 1 c water
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 1 c dried cranberries
• 2 c diced turkey breast (or chicken breast)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place squash, face up, in a shallow baking dish. Drop one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of brown sugar in each half.
3. In large bowl, combine stuffing, water, apple, cranberries and turkey breast.
4. Fill each half with stuffing mixture.
5. Wrap each half tightly with aluminum foil.
6. Bake for 60 minutes or until squash is tender.

Serve with gravy or cranberry sauce, if desired.  

South African Pumpkin Fritter Recipe

South African Pumpkin Fritters

Serves 4 (makes 16 fritters)

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

1/2  cup flour

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In large bowl, combine pumpkin, flour, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

3. Drop spoonfuls of mixture into pan and lightly flatten with a spatula. Cook until golden, about 4 minutes per side.  Cook in two batches.

4. In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over hot fritters before serving.

Find this recipe and many more in Cricket’s book Everybody Eats Lunch.

http://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Eats-Lunch-Cricket-Azima/dp/0979338441

City Treehouse – 4 Week Cooking Series

Playful Preschool Cooking at City Treehouse

Bring your preschoolers down to City Treehouse for some creative cooking with Cricket during this four week hands-on cooking series! Recipes will focus on age appropriate themes such as numbers, colors, and shapes while also celebrating the fall holidays.

Space is limited, so register today!

Information:

• 4 week cooking series
• Fridays: 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18
• 11:00am to 11:45am
• Ages 2½ to 5
• Caregivers are asked to participate in the class
  

RECAP: Everybody Eats Lunch Class at Whole Foods

Everybody Ate Lunch!

A few weeks ago, Cricket taught a world-class cooking class at Whole Foods based on her cookbook, Everybody Eats Lunch. Children learned about different cultures and their lunchtime routines and then worked together to create a beautiful and tasty Mexican Cactus Salad (get the recipe here).

Thanks again to our friends at Whole Foods and the Bowery Culinary Center for another successful class!

Take a look at some photos from the class here!

Mexican Cactus Salad

RECAP: Food Network NYC Wine & Food Festival

The Weekend Tasted Good!

On October 1st, Cricket and The Creative Kitchen team were joined by about 40 hungry chefs-in-the-making at the Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival which benefited the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength. The kids chopped, sliced and diced their way to a delicious lunch…check out photos from the event here!

We owe a BIG thank you to Food Should Taste Good for donating bags of their delicious all-natural chips which we served alongside the Caribbean Mango Salsa that the children made (get the recipe here). The corn and chocolate chips brought the perfect amount of crunch to the event! Plus, each child left with a couple bags of Food Should Taste Good chips to munch on at home (grab yourself a bag here).

Thanks again to everyone who came out to support us at the Festival. It was a fun-filled and tasty weekend…and we couldn’t have done it without you!

Caribbean Mango Salsa

A BIG Thank You to Food Should Taste Good!

Food Should Taste Good…and it will at the Food Network NYC Wine & Food Festival!

In just a few days, The Creative Kitchen will be cooking up a storm at the Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival benefiting the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength! 50 hungry children will take over Chelsea Market in NYC this Saturday, October 1st at 11:30am for a fun hands-on cooking class with Cricket. They will make and taste a delicious lunch using recipes from around the world. Limited seats are still available for this class, so buy your ticket today!

We are SO grateful that Food Should Taste Good has generously decided to donate some of their amazing all-natural chips for Saturday’s event. We will serve their chips alongside the dish the kids make for them to munch, crunch, and enjoy! We’ll post the recipe from this weekend and some photos of the dish and chips next week, so check back in then!

In the meantime, if you can’t make it to the event this weekend, don’t miss out on all the crunchy goodness of Food Should Taste Good Chips…go out and pick up a bag (or ten…) to enjoy in your own home! They come in 14 adventurous yet kid-friendly flavors, so there is something for everyone. Spice things up with a bag of the Jalapeno. The Chocolate chips (pun intended) offer a uniquely sweet and satisfying twist on dessert. Or, if you’re in the mood for something cheesy, try the Cheddar.

Bonus for Kids: These chips are not just your average potato chip…they’re cheese chips, chocolate chips and everything bagel-chips, made with all-natural ingredients from some of your all-time favorite foods.

Bonus for Parents: Food should TASTE good, but it should be also BE good for you. These chips are made with high quality, all-natural ingredients and are free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. So now you can FEEL good about what you put in your child’s lunch box or serve up at your next party!