For many adults the thought of kids in the kitchen brings up dreaded images of spaghetti sauce dripping from the ceiling, pudding wallpaper, and eggshell battlefields with no survivors. I used to think this way myself until about ten years ago, when I plunged head-on into the shared adult-child cooking experience. I found out some very good news: cooking with children can be an absolutely wonderful, eye-opening experience for the adult as well as for the child.

How did this awareness come about? Intrigued by my then-toddler son's enthusiasm for his weekly preschool cooking session (the sheer existence of which was a revelation to me), I started going into the classroom to watch. I was tremendously moved to witness the passion with which these very little children (ages three through five) approached every detail of food preparation. I was struck by how they rose to the occasion and could (and did) earnestly concentrate when allowed to really get involved in the project at hand. Soon afterward, I spent some time in the pre-school running the cooking classes in collaboration with the classroom teacher, Ann Henderson. Those lessons eventually evolved into a cookbook for preschoolers, called Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes (Tricycle Press, 1994).

click here to view the "Real Salsa" recipe from Honest Pretzels

Inspired to give it a try at home, I have now been cooking with children–my own and many of their friends and schoolmates–ever since. Of course, my children have gotten older and matured, and their experience and appreciation of cooking has deepend. As their reading, math, science, and logic skills have developed, and their physical coordination has become more refined, I have felt a need for a cookbook that speaks to them and to other children in the middle age range (eight years old and up). With this mission as a guiding force, I have spent the past few years working with grade school- and middle school-aged children to create Honest Pretzels.

The goal of this book is to address a more sophisticated palate, a broader interest level, and a more mature set of skills–to pick up where Pretend Soup leaves off. While writing Honest Pretzels, I have enjoyed the wonderful privilege of learning firsthand what cooking means to kids. It means a great deal! But don't just take my word for it. Open up your kitchen to your children, let them lead you through the recipes in these pages, and make the leap. I think you'll be glad you did.