Inspire Your Tweens Next Recipe

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I’m pretty lucky because all my kids like to read!  Vayda is always reading something, it seems, which is great because her little sister sees her reading and gets excited about reading too.  Oh, and she is always asking Vadya to read her a story, and thankfully Vayda is always more than happy to read to her little sister.

Vayda and Mattie are the youngest of my children, and they have a special bond. It’s truly heartwarming to see the two of them together.  I mean, sure, they argue and fight, but when it comes down to it, they will both tell you they are each other’s best friends.  I love it. I love listening to them play with each other and read stories together, but I will admit my favorite time with them is spent in the kitchen.  Not only is it where some of our best recipes are created, but it’s also where some of our best conversations are had, we have the biggest laughs, and some of my best memories are created in the kitchen.

Cooking and baking are so much more fun when the kids are around.  Plus, they have new, fresh ideas.  I can’t count the times they have told me to try something I would have never thought of, and it turns out awesome!  Lucky for me, both my youngest daughters enjoy cooking, baking, and spending time with me in the kitchen while I’m making dinner or just having a little fun creating something.  They both do an excellent job, but Vayda is a bit older than Mattie, so she tends to pay more attention to certain things I do and is able to focus more when I’m trying to teach them something.  Poor little Mattie; she tries hard, but she just doesn’t have the attention span yet.  Which is okay because it works in Vayda’s favor for the time being because Mattie is her little “go for” this and that girl. Hey, it works, and Mattie is happy because she gets to help cook.

Does your child enjoy cooking and dream of being the next Bobby Flay or Giada? Does he or she watch MasterChef Junior & Chopped Junior and say, “I could do that?” My kids do; Vayda has watched MasterChef, and the Food Network has been one of her favorite channels for as long as I can remember! Now that she has a little sister, they watch the Food Network together and have a notebook filled with recipes they want to make. And, to think this all started with mudpies in the front yard, lol. I used to get so mad at them for tearing up the yard; I had no idea they would love cooking and baking as much as they do. If your teen is a foodie too, I can’t suggest Dex by Sherri Lynn Fishbach enough. My daughter Vayda told me it was a terrific book even if you are not a foodie; it’s just even better if you are.

Vayda recently read a unique fun book called Dex, which is a new novel that has been slammed with excellent reviews, referring to the book as a “fast, funny tale” and even a delectable debut.”  It’s even been endorsed by Reese Schoenfeld, the founder of the Food Network, who says it’s essential to have your kids’ reading the menu!  Dex is an inspiring story for tweens 8 to 12 as well as a great read for all adults that love food.

I asked Vayda what the book was about, and she told me it is a story about a 12-year-old boy named Dex Rossi who has a lunch stand in his front lawn and is in love with a girl he will never get because she is in love with the jokes.  Dex works hard to try and raise enough money to buy himself a gym because he wants to get into shape and hopefully win the girl of his dreams, but things don’t happen that way, so he ends up spending his money on something else when he finds out his grandma’s restaurant is not doing well, and he wants to help her save it.  So, he produces a plan and gets his sister and a few friends to help him get things up and going.  Once things start going, everyone starts to hear about what a great chef Dex is, and he even gets his TV show on the Eatz network.

Things are going well for Dex until he runs into an associate who has a major secret that he has kept from everyone, but Dex knows that he must find the right ingredients to be successful.  Vayda told me how the book ended, but I don’t want to tell you because it truly is a cute book. After she told me about the book, I had to pick it up and read it a bit, and it’s cute.

I also asked Vayda why she liked Dex, and this was her response: “I like the book Dex because it is a good book that was easy for me to follow, and it was about something I enjoy doing.  It also gave me some clever ideas for recipes I want to make, but my mom isn’t letting me make another recipe until I remember to clean up the kitchen when I’m done.  Dex was a book that I could relate to, and it was funny and reminded me that I need to work hard for the things I want.”  She forgot to say, like cleaning the kitchen when I’m finished with my recipe, lol.

Even as an adult, I found the book to be fun and engaging; there were a few times I giggled aloud and have started to like Dex.  The book sends a great message and does a fabulous job encouraging children to get a little creative in the kitchen because since Vayda finished the book she has been doing a lot more cooking and baking.  In fact, she made some delicious chocolate cream bars the other day, and tonight she made some chocolate cherry cookies, and she did the cookies all on her own.  I lent her hand with the cream bars because they asked me to.  I’ll be sharing Vayda’s creative, fun new recipe with you after the holiday, so be sure to be on the lookout for Vayda’s Dex-inspired recipe!  She’s going to be making some Christmas popcorn that you’ll love.