Community Corner

A Cookbook To Help Young Adults

Rebecca McDaniel's recipes are for a generation who never learned to cook.

Rebecca McDaniel is concerned about the things our kids eat. "If you’ve seen our teenagers lately, you know the obesity rate is just huge.  Have you gone and seen some of the high school kids these days?"

McDaniel, a teacher in southern California for ten years, received the dreaded pink-slip three years ago, but took the news with a grain of salt.  "No lemons here."  She made lemonade of her newly-acquired free time and wrote "This Week's Menu", a cookbook now available in Menlo Park at Kepler's Books on the El Camino.  The book compiles 100 of her favorite family recipes, recipes easy enough for anyone to try, but particularly aimed at youth who need some help.

"We’re seeing kids getting bigger and bigger, they don’t know how to feed themselves, they’re not given the opportunity to learn basic skills, and they don’t know how to cook.  I mean, they simply don’t know their way around the kitchen,  so this book was designed as a launch pad; it’s very simplistic, there are easy-to-follow recipes, they sound like they should be difficult, but they’re not, and it also teaches you how to make a weekly menu.

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McDaniel does not believe kids are necessarily to blame for their poor diets. "Because of massive budget cuts in California, most school districts cannot foster a home economics course. As a result, our younger generation is not offered the opportunity to learn how to cook, and this cookbook is designed specifically for them."

McDaniel avoids trends.  "It’s not a health book, and it’s not anything geared to diabetics. It is good, old-fashioned meals, dinner meals."

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"My focus is not low-fat; my focus is regular meals throughout the day, making your own food, not going to the fast-food, and personally for me, I like having my family around in the kitchen; it’s a way families connect.  You get to find out what’s going on in your kid’s life.  It was a strong part of my upbringing, and what I’ve instilled in my daughters."

She says the book is very simple, based her experiences. "My husband was helping me make Kung Pao, and the last step was to stir fry. He began running around the kitchen, telling me he couldn’t find the stir fry. I finally said ‘It’s not a thing, it’s what you do!’"

As for selling the book to a skeptical child, McDaniel's suggests a conversation with your teenagers. "Diabetes is on the rise.  You’re more prone to get it, because you’re starting off with bad habits. I promote healthly living.  I don’t believe in dieting, but I do believe in exercise and healthy living.  Why wouldn’t you want to feel better about yourself?

You'll find a wide assortment of recipes in the book:  Littleneck Clams, Tamales, Ono Mahi, Shepherd's Pie, Margherita Pizza, Avocado and Kiwi Salad,  even Mud Pie and Pears Bell Helene.  You can read more about Rebecca McDaniel on her website.

Here's one recipe from McDaniel's book she was willing to share with Patch:

Coconut Shrimp with Orange Butter Sauce

1 lb. shrimp

1 box tempura batter mix

8 ounce bag shredded coconut, sweetened

Vegetable oil

(When mixing the tempura batter, extra water may be needed to insure the consistency is similar to pancake batter.)

Prepare the tempura batter according to box directions. Peel and devein the shrimp then pat dry.  Place the shrimp in the tempura mix and coat.  Pour a cup of the shredded coconut out onto a plate. Allow the excess batter to drip off the shrimp before dredging through the coconut.  Pour ½ cup of oil inside a non-stick fry pan and heat to medium. Oil is ready for frying when it cracks and pops after sprinkling drops of water on the oil.  Fry the shrimp in batches until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.

Orange Butter Sauce

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup whipping cream

½ teaspoon dried ginger

1 tablespoon honey

Melt the butter in a saucepan, careful not to burn. Stir in the orange juice and cook over medium heat 3 minutes. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and simmer until ready to serve.

Serve with grilled pineapple, or sliced mangos.


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