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Kid-Friendly

The Dude

The Preschool Chef: Cooking with Young Children

Our advice for cooking with preschoolers—including the best dishes for them to start with.

Toasted Manioc Flour With Eggs and Scallions

Farofa is the term for a side dish using toasted farinha de mandioca—in English, manioc flour, which is a dried flour similar in looks and texture to breadcrumbs, made from yucca. The making of farofa as a dish couldn't be easier. It is plain manioc flour toasted in butter. A few of the classic farofa dishes include eggs and scallions, eggs and bacon, banana, bell peppers, and dendê oil, green beans and carrots, peas and corn, and so on and so forth. Farofa can be extremely dry, since the manioc flour immediately sucks up all the juices from anything it encounters, especially when it's served plain. The trick to making a moist farofa is to use a small amount of manioc flour in proportion to the other components, turning a side dish into a savory accompaniment that is so tempting, you may even forget there is a main course.

Custom-Made Ice Cream Sandwich

Children of all ages will adore these homemade frozen treats. My recipe for Yummy Chocolate Cookies pairs perfectly with a variety of ice cream flavors. So you can be as creative as you want in choosing a filling—or two!

Strawberry-Vanilla Swirled Frozen Pops

No need to wait for the ice cream truck. These colorful homemade pops capture the warm-weather synergy of ripe strawberries and creamy vanilla.

Owl Brownie Pops

Dylan's Candy Bar owner Dylan Lauren created these brownie pops as a fun way to use leftover Halloween candy. To watch Lauren create these brownies, and to take a tour of Dylan's Candy Bar, check out our videos. The instructions below are just for inspiration—feel free to experiment with different kinds of candy and decorating supplies. Most of the candy can be found in the candy aisle of supermarkets or at Dylan's Candy Bar.

Old-Fashioned Meatballs in Red Sauce

Most of us have a tough time saying no to the lure of a meatball. Well, here is a batch of meatballs ready for the test. These particular ones, a mixture of beef and sausage, are laid out in a pan, then smothered in crushed tomatoes and seasoned with grated Romano cheese. Then they're baked in a hot oven, which accomplishes two things. First, it saves the step of browning them on top of the stove. And second, the sauce is automatically seasoned with the savory meatball juices and zesty, salty Romano.

Bacon, Lettuce, and Cantaloupe Sandwiches

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Grilled Pizza with Tomatoes, Corn and Cheese

Al Forno restaurant put Providence on the culinary map, and grilled pizza-invented there by chef George Germon had a lot to do with it. Here's one to make at home.

Chocolate and Cinnamon Meringues

More confections than cookies, really, meringues accompany ice cream well and add a festive dimension to the table. They are best baked on a cool, dry day.

Caramel Lollipops

Because caramel hardens so quickly, make these lollipops in 2 batches, 10 at a time.

Apricot Financier

(Apricot Almond Cake) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Coconut Chicken Soup

Green onions make all the difference in this new take on a popular Thai soup.

Lime, Apricot, and Soy-Sauce Chicken Wings

These sweet, tangy wings should appeal to even the pickiest kid. Eight pounds may sound like a lot, but no matter how many of these we made in our test kitchens, they always disappeared quickly. You may not have the oven space to cook the wings and the macaroni simultaneously. We found it best to do the wings first, then keep them warm under foil while baking the macaroni. Finally, because the wings tend to leave a mess to clean up, we like to make them in disposable foil roasting pans.

People Are Not Happy About Trix’s New Colors

Childhood. Ruined.
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