Clueless in the Kitchen: A Cookbook for Teens

by Evelyn Raab, George Walker (Illustrator)

This thorough and witty culinary guide demystifies the kitchen and its contents for young adults and anyone who's found themselves in front of a full fridge exclaiming, "There's nothing to eat here!" With 200 easy-to-follow recipes, Evelyn Raab shows the culinary neophyte how to make all kinds of simple and scrumptious dishes for every meal and occasion. Revised for a new generation of students, this amusing cookbook focuses on creating whole, healthy foods using fresh ingredients. Recipes are coded with easy-to-understand icons and symbols that sort each dish into categories, such as vegetarian meals, cheap eats, couch potato, mom and family food, and cooking to impress. Clueless in the Kitchen includes informative and entertaining chapters The book also features information and advice on meal planning, a glossary, a conversion chart and a handy index. Whether living on their own for the very first time or just on their own for dinner, Clueless in the Kitchen is the only guide novice cooks need to create an interesting, easy, delicious and nutritious meal.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

216 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 1998

Reviews

[Julie Suzanne]

Tested by one typically apathetic 14-year-old boy who agrees it's better reading than any of the novels I've recommended this summer, and is finally, FINALLY pumped about cooking dinner. He made an awesome dish out of ground beef & Top Ramen (and loads of vegetables, but it was still technically "ramen" so therefore acceptable), cake from scratch, and even felt undaunted by the lack o' frosting in the house. He said, "It's okay, there's a recipe for frosting in here, too." Laden with factual information about food, food prep, grocery shopping, etc., it uses language that feels authentically teen casual, thus making it far superior to Home & Careers textbooks & his mom's cookbooks.

[Amanda]

Canadian cooking made dead easy. I've used this book over and over for the last 20+ years, and some of the recipes are regular favorites in our rotation: Chowder From The Black Lagoon, Idiot- Proof One-Bowl Chocolate Cake, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese. And now my kids are learning to cook by following these instructions, too. How to cook rice, boil an egg, make coffee. It's the best.

[Seri]

This is the only cookbook that is easy for me to understand. I actually made some food successfully! It is also really helpful because it has guidelines on how to pick vegetables, dismantle a chicken, etc.

[Liisa Duerig]

My mom gave me this book when I was a child, it came with a set of measuring cups. I'm now 42 and it's still my go-to cookbook. You can tell the family favorites by which ones are crispy disgusting and covered in food.

I'm currently travelling abroad and asked my spouse to send me a photo of a specific recipe for Tuesday BBQ. "Look for the dirtiest page in the 'main course' section." Everyone thinks I make the best chicken kabobs ever and they have no idea I'm reading a children's cookbook and laughing at the texts.

[Alistair Miller]

This book covers all the basic recipes that you could want to make and also gives useful basic information on how to keep a hygienic kitchen. There are plenty of colour pictures to give the amateur a handy visual guide as to how the dish should turn out.

[Karen Lackey]

My first ever cookbook, and I still use so many of its recipes to this day. Have read it cover to cover several times. It does a really good job of making cooking approachable and explaining things in a thorough yet simple way.

[Amanda Wilkins]

This is very helpful! It has a lot of advice for beginners. Definitely written more for teens — I felt talked-down-to a bit.

[Kadee]

This book had some very fun and exciting recipes. I’m very excited to try them out!

[Patrice Sartor]

GENRE: Nonfiction: Cooking.

SUBJECT/THEMES: Cooking, teens in the kitchen.

SUMMARY: Evelyn Raab seeks to give teens instruction on kitchen basics, everything from what spices they should keep in stock, to what appliances are necessary (and which are just nice to have), to full recipes. None of the ingredients list any processed foods, yet they are all fairly simple and perfect for a beginner. The recipes are divided into these sections: breakfast, salads and sides, meat dishes, pasta, eggs, fishy, vegetarian meals, baking, desserts and snacks.

EVALUATION: I love to cook, and I have a strong affinity for cookbooks. However, I am prejudiced towards the cookbooks that have drool-worthy, large, full-color photographs. I pulled out each cookbook in the young adult section of my local library, flipping through them, trying to find one that had glorious pictures of the recipes. None of them did, to my dismay. Instead, I had to rely on the layout, the look of the recipes, and the other information. Despite its lack of pictures of food, this book delivers on the other counts. I especially like all of the helpful advice the author offers in the beginning. She even tells the reader how to defrost their freezers, and how to get dishes clean in the dishwasher! I did not try any of the recipes, though I looked them over. Both metric and standard measurements are given. Especially nice were the little icons next to the title, which denoted things such as “mom food”, or “couch potato food”. The back has a list of cooking terms and their definitions, and an index. What I liked best about the back matter, however, were the meal plans. For example, for “The Intellectual Boy/Girlfriend”, the reader should make the following: pita crisps with hummus, Irish lamb stew, cole slaw with un-creamy dressing, cornbread and crème caramel, all included recipes.

WHY I WOULD INCLUDE IT: I know a number of adults, both male and female, that do not cook, cannot cook, or both. This boggles my mind, and makes me feel sorry for them. To me, cooking is a basic skill that everyone should have. I have vowed that my sons will not be going off to college before they know how to cook a proper meal. Therefore, to me it is vital that a cookbook/guide to cooking be included in a young adult nonfiction section, and this one is a very good one.

ITEMS WITH SIMILAR APPEAL:
• Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat, by Megan Carle.
• The Absolute Beginner’s Cookbook, Or, How Long Do I Cook a 3-Minute Egg? By Jackie Eddy.
• Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook, by Sam Stern.

[Laura]

Easy-to-follow recipes that teach the basics of working in the kitchen. Geared to teens that don't have experience in the kitchen. I wish I had this book when I was a teen. I lived on Mac and Cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cheap take-out from the Taco House. Now I'm struggling to learn how to cook for real. I liked that this book has REAL recipes. It doesn't have "easy" short-cuts like using canned soup or packaged hamburger helper. It's downfall is that it is for "Teens". Do teens want to read something that is for teens? Especially teens who are on their own (which this book seems to be geared for). And the snappy jokes are a little grating. But the recipes are great!

Just an example of the snappy language: "Oh, yuck. You've got yourself a whole chicken, and now you have to dismantle it. And though you don't need a degree in veterinary medicine to take a chicken apart, it might be helpful to get to know your victim before you begin." (p. 85)

[Eva]

Even if you're not a teen, university/college student or an absolute beginner to cooking, this book has decent options with recipe choices (including vegetarian and some dairy-free options) and it is organized/grouped in an easy to follow way. There's also a great section on kitchen supplies as well as pantry supplies that you should keep regularly stocked. There are handy guides on how to cook rice and other things that may seem simple but that someone has always wondered how to do correctly. My only complaint is that the book isn't spiral-bound, because even though that format presents its own challenges, a spiral binding would make cookbooks so much easier to put on a table and follow along with. Still, in spite of that, this is a great and simple book for beginning cooks and it's not overly complicated to follow, nor does it insist upon hard-to-get ingredients so I would recommend it.

[Donna]

Pushing 30, I still love this book. My grandmother bought it for me when I left home, it goes over things like "how to shop" that a kid who had no interest in cooking might not know. Some of it is pretty basic (even for me!) but considering how much most cookbooks assume you know everything... well, I like this.

The recipes are tasty, easy to follow, and man, I make EXCELLENT cheesecake thanks to this book. :)

[Jennifer]

My sister gave this book to my son and it's a wonderful introductory cookbook with some practical recipes for young adult just starting to cook on their own but that stand the test of time for the more experienced cook. The vegetarian chili is a favorite, and the beef stew is pretty good too.

I always forget the name of this cookbook, so thought if I added it to my goodreads list, I could find it!

[Lbaker]

I purchased this book at a used store on a whim, having two teenagers I thought a book that gave matter of fact recipes and advise would be welcome.

What I didn't expect was how much I like the advise and the simple, straight forward recipes.

Most of the recipes I add a little of this or that, but the book encourages that and gives a base to begin cooking.

I use this book nearly weekly, and my kids are not getting my copy when they move out!

[Melody]

Bought this cookbook for Georgia when she was about 11. She made several things from it. It is written in an entertaining, amusing style, the recipes use very little "convenience foods", and everything that we have tried has been delicious. A wonderful book for the young, beginning cook. The Bruschetta recipe has become one of our standards. Very simple, very quick, the best!

[Caitlin]

AMAZING COOOKBOOK.

My Mother got this for me when I was a teenager (I'm 24 now), and I still use this maybe once a month or more frequently? Everything is spelled out for you, easy to read and make, and just all around a great cook book for those of us who aren't born to cook or bake.

I highly recommend it.

[Crnbryeggshls]

This book offers a fun approach to cooking for beginners, and a lot of kitchen jokes for more experienced cooks. Besides covering the basics of cookware, ingredients, cleaning, techniques, and tool maintenance, there is also a great, if idiosyncratic, guide to menu planning. It makes a great gift, whether you're giving it someone else or just treating yourself.

[Sarah Hendricks]

Love love LOVE this book! Most things in here are fairly simple cooking techniques, with easy-to-find ingredients, but no convenience foods. I laugh all the time at the jokes, and the food hasn't failed me once! I love the self-saucing chocolate fudge brownies and fish in foil packets. Great gift for teens who are interested in cooking - and even those who aren't!

[Zoe]

This is a great cookbook for beginning cooks and great basic cooking instructions for those wanting to learn more. It has mostly from scratch cooking recipes and focuses on eating nourishing, inexpensive meals. I learned a lot from it and continue to use it almost every week.

[Mo]

Just pure awesome.

This book will answer just about anything and every question you have about cooking.

[Katie Streeter]

This is an excellent cookbook for beginning cooks and a great reference for those who already know their way around a kitchen.

[Avrelia]

I think this is one of my favorite cookbook, lack of colorful pictures notwithstanding. No-nonsense, witty writing + smart and easy recipes = love.

[Shahna]

Was given this as a gift when I turned 13 and started highschool. I still use this cookbook all the time. Got some pretty handy recipes in there. My favourite part is the desserts. Nom Nom NOM

[Bri Norton]

I enjoyed this very much :) very cute and simple for people who actually do just wanna learn how to cook!