Stirring Up Fun with Food

March 20, 2017
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Gellar’s path from teenager to young mom is a trajectory undoubtedly mirrored by many of her fans, and they have a treat in store with this book, which goes beyond the merely aspirational and Pinteresty with blueprints for natural foods made from scratch that also manage to be cute and clever. Vegetables are allowed to be their own delicious selves, as in baked crunchy green bean “fries.” For each month, the proverbial busy mom gets a meal’s—or a party’s—worth of simple recipes that hang together. Some have show biz links, such as July’s Shark Week menu or May’s Star Wars menu (Gellar and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. voiced characters in an animated version of the franchise). Recipes are solid, thanks to coauthor Russo’s Martha Stewart Living background, and are as tempting for adults as for children—if a little weighted toward muffin-size versions of staples such as macaroni and cheese and shrimp lo mein, and a cheerful variety of food-on-a-stick that includes Caesar salad and latkes. Agent: Dan Strone, Trident Media Group.

May 15, 2017

Actress Gellar and former Martha Stewart Living editor Russo are the cofounders of Foodstirs (foodstirs.com), a culinary lifestyle brand and e-commerce website that offers baking kits by subscription. In this family-friendly cookbook, they bring together a year's worth of recipes and food crafts, including shrimp lo-mein "cupcakes," sweet pizza with fruit toppings, mini turkey potpies, and s'mores parfait. Some recipes, such as mummy dogs and cake pops, will be familiar to social media savvy foodies, but all will motivate kids to get creative in the kitchen, especially around holidays. Expect plenty of charming bites served in cupcake cups, in jars, or on a stick. VERDICT A fun introduction to food crafting for families with young children. Older and more skilled cooks will also enjoy Karen Tack and Alan Richardson's Hello, Cupcake!

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
She may be best known for her role as Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but actress Gellar proves that she can also slay in the kitchen with her debut cookbook. Gellar and coauthor Russo offer more than 100 recipes that will not only get parents excited about cooking but the kids, too. Gellar and Russo knew that if they were going to get their kids to eat food that was good for them, they would need to get their kids involved in the cooking process. But, as they say, why cook when you can craft? So together, they came up with recipes such as Apple Pie Pops, Tortellini Batons, Snowflake Pizzas, and S'mores Parfait. These recipes and 100-plus more offer fresh ingredients and a fresh take on traditional cooking. With carefully curated recipes for every month of the year, as well as different holidays, parents and kids alike will enjoy seeing what kind of fun they can cook up in the kitchen all year long.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)