Jill OConnor - Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids

By Jill OConnor

Photographs by Leigh Beisch

Dedication

For my mother, with love, who continues to teach me so many things, without ever having to say a word.

Thank you to my editor, Bill LeBlond, who always makes the process of writing a book for Chronicle a pleasure and a delight, and to Amy Treadwell and Sarah Billingsley for all their help and kindness with my many questions and concerns. Thank you to Leigh Beisch and Katie Christ for their beautiful images and especially to Ayako Akazawa for her distinctive and lovely design, and to my copy editor, Carrie Bradley. You turned my simple manuscript pages into a beautiful book with a personality all its own. Many thanks to Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, author and photographer of the wonderful book Hello Cupcake! Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make. Your recipe for Almost Homemade Vanilla Buttercream inspired my recipe for Pink Marshmallow Fluff Icinggreat minds think alike! Thanks to Heather Nunnelly, recipe tester extraordinaire, for juggling your culinary school responsibilities while simultaneously testing every recipe in this book with humor, enthusiasm, and honestyyou saved my life on more than one occasion. To my friends and family who took so much of their time to test, taste, and tell me what they really thought about the recipes in this bookI could not have done it without you. A heartfelt Thank you, youre fabulous! goes out to: Bob and Carole Reek, the best parents. Ever. Seth and Veronica Reek and my nephew Ethan and niece Jillian, for their giddy enthusiasm for all things chocolate. Adam and Sandy Reek and my niece Ava, who, like her Auntie Jill, knows the pleasure of Ah, food! Pete and Deb OConnor and my nephews, Brian and Matthew, who took their baking and tasting assignments very seriously. Nikki and John OConnor and my nephews, Michael and Luc, who baked with me in spirit, if not in the kitchen. Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes, the heart and soul of Hicklebees Childrens Books in San Jose, California, whowith their fabulous staff have always been there to support and encourage me. Cheryl Sternman Rule, an excellent writer and lover of good food, and her sons, Alex and Andrewmy two favorite banana pancake men. Sandi Burke and her sons, Alex and Adam, get a medal for being brave and actually baking from scratch. Stephanie Galeckas, a wonderful baker, and her daughter, Emma, and son, Thomas, who mastered the art of Peanut ButterPretzel Bonbons and lived to tell the tale. Cambi Martin who helped me so much without ever having to turn on the stove, and to her son, Zack, and daughter, Alex, who know a good chocolate cake when they taste one. Lynell Sanchez and her daughter, Anissa, and son, Jose, who taught me so much about peanut allergies and introduced me to the charms of sun butter. Susan Farnworth, a fantastic cooking teacher and an enthusiastic expert about baking and cooking with children, and her daughter, Amy, and sons, Sam and Scott, for their enthusiasm in the kitchen. Shelly and Randy High, two great cooks and terrific foodies, and their son, Alex (who wins the unofficial French toasteating contest). Kayla Vierra and her son, Joey, and sweet daughter, Grace, who baked and tasted chocolate chip cookies and gooey chocolate pudding with carefree abandon. Nella Henninger and her grandchildren, Miles and Hazel, who tested recipes together during their mountain vacation. Joel Bernard and Scott Maloney who ran across the Coronado Bay Bridge just to taste my New York, New York Super Crumb Cake and give me their verdict. Leah Karen Bentley and her daughters, Eliana and Jade, who made A Is For Apple PieStuffed French Toast and ate it for dinner. Debbie Homeier and her daughter, Maddy, and son, Joey, for trying my recipes before we had even met. Nancie McDermott, who knows what it is like to survive the writing process. Denise Marchessault and her daughters, Lucie and Elise, my Canadian connection, who spread these recipes to her friends in Canada and England for testing, and sent me such great advice and excellent quotes. Chrissy Hee, Richard Rea, and Lou Martinez, culinary students who tapped into their inner child to help me test these recipes while in the middle of their final exams. Tracy Howell, the artistic leader of Brownie Troop 5145, and all the little Brownies who never tried to sugarcoat it, and always told me what they really thought: Sophia OConnor, Emma Galeckas, Joie Nunnelly, Gemma Burrows, Taylor Seay, Eliana Bentley, Devynn Howell, Isabella Armstrong, Zoe Collins, Amy Schafer, and Lilly, Rose, and Daisy Cuthbert. And most of all to my husband, Jim, a real knight in shining armorespecially when I am battling my two demonsthe computer and that devil procrastinationand to my two wonderful daughters, Olivia and Sophia, who are overjoyed to finally be welcomed into my kitchen and who make it a much livelier, and sweeter, place as a result.

Text copyright 2009 by Jill OConnor. Photographs copyright 2009 by Leigh Beisch. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

eISBN 978-1-4521-0026-5

Prop styling by Sara Slavin
Food styling by Katie Christ

The photographer wishes to thank Jill OConnor for creating another fabulously delicious, fun book and having us be a part of it. Also to Ms. Ayako Akazawa and Anne Donnard for their support and great ideas. A big thank you to my team: Sara Slavin for her creativity and beautiful props, Katie Christ for her sense of playfulness and gooeyness in her food styling, Leena, Lauren, and Kate for their energy and humor and a big thanks to my daughter Eva Mae for use of some of her favorite toys in exchange for some pinkalicious cupcakes.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
http://www.chroniclebooks.com

Registered Trademarks

Butter Brickle, Heath Bar, Hersheys Milk Chocolate Bars and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are registered trademarks of The Hersheys Company. Bundt pan is a registered trademark of Nordic Ware, Inc. KitchenAid is a registered trademark of KitchenAid, Inc. Lyles Golden Syrup is a registered trademark of Tate & Lyle. McVities is a registered trademark of United Biscuits. Nestl Toll House Morsels is a registered trademark of Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. Nutella is a registered trademark of Ferraro S.p.A. Oreos is a registered trademark of Nabisco Brands. Pyrex is a registered trademark of Corning Incorporated. Rice Krispies is a registered trademark of Kellog N.A. Co.

I have a secret. Baking with children isnt always easy. I realized this a long time ago when I tried to make chocolate cupcakes with my daughter Sophia, an activity that ended badly with her running crying from the kitchen when I took the icing spatula away from her. My older daughter, Olivia, in all her teenage wisdom, likes to call me mean chef. My husband sometimes pretends an invisible time clock is ticking (sound effects included) while I am trying to teach one of them to cook, to see just how many seconds I can stand it before I snatch the whisk from their fingers. Is it just another case of the cobblers children having no shoes, or am I really just a big kitchen ogre?

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and a lot of time thinking about food. When I was ten, I made my parents a pot roast dinner for their wedding anniversary, tucking carrots and potatoes around the meat and sprinkling it all with dried onion soup mix before cooking it. In Mrs. Laraways fifth-grade class, I wrote my big class research report about chocolate; I wrapped the report cover in burlap and cut a big cacao pod out of brown construction paper and pasted it on the front. Very arty. To look for visual aids, my mother took me to Cost Plus World Market, which was very exotic to me at the time, and I found little chocolate-covered grasshoppers wrapped in silver candy paper. I fed them to the class at the end of my oral report and only after they had taken their last bite did I tell them what those crunchy bits were. At the time my point was that chocolate can make anything taste good. I quelled any possible rioting by passing out big Hersheys Milk Chocolate Bars before I sat down.