My inspiration for writing “Teens a League of Their Own” came from working with regular and special need students in all grades K-12. They were interested in the cooking and baking shows on television, yet showed skepticism when trying to cook or bake on their own at home. Even though they had interest in cooking/baking, they needed extra help with reading and comprehending recipes. They complained most child cookbooks on the market only had simple, non-cooking recipes. They wanted to make foods from recipes in adult cookbooks-but were confused when reading them.I realized that when I was a child, these same issues applied to me. I would end up re-writing recipes in a simple step-by-step method on index cards, including the order of ingredient use and method of preparation of each item in the ingredient list. This method made it easier for me to keep track of where I was when following the recipes and preventing me from adding in double of some ingredients or leaving ingredients out. When writing “Teens a League of Their Own,” I used this method to make my adult recipes easy for any age cook/baker to follow. 21st Century cooks/bakers are starting at the early ages of 4 and 5. Teens are already preparing full course meals and creating their own recipes and cookbooks. Students helped test the recipes in my book; showing me they were capable of following the recipes, using kitchen tools and techniques, and developing their own methods in the kitchen. My book includes 200 kitchen tested and photographed recipes connecting with the upcoming generation and inspiring any age or level cook/baker to make future attempts in the kitchen arena.
