to ask what would be a suitable cookbook for me to buy to cater for teenage DSs as I don't know where else to ask this question

[PaulineWhatsername]

I'm sure there's a cookery thread somewhere, but I'm damned if I can find it.

So the thing is I like cooking from a book, but most of the family cook books seem to be aimed at younger DCs and the other cook books seem to cater for very adult tastes. Is there an in between one somewhere? My DSs are 17 and 19. Any suggestions?

there are some aimed at students, dd2 has one that's quite good but don't know the name

Surely they would eat pasta, pizza, curries, roasts etc. why would they need special catering for or am I missing the point?

My DSs are a similar age to yours & are reasonable cooks. Their favourite cookbook is The Ultimate Student Cookbook by Fiona Beckett, and they also rate Sam Stern's books. They will dip into Jamie Oliver's recipes as well.

Have you looked at Nigella Express? I'm sure that one was written when her own children are mid/late teens, so some of her catering at least is for them

Not quite sure why teens would need different food cooked for them ?
There are lots of cookery books out there aimed at students - but that is more for them to cook from.

Thanks Drama - have just ordered the Fiona Beckett book from Amazon just a penny, plus postage

Delia Smith? Is this to teach them to cook or to cook for them? They can just eat food, can't they?

Second Delia Smith's cookery course, general good all round book... Jamie Oliver's naked chef/return of etc are very "blokey" and simple... but honestly would get them involved in surfing the net for things they'd like to eat.

www.cookingcomically.com/?cat=3 A friend at uni pointed this out to me, I think he's releasing a book soon...

Oh my, its for you not DSs. I really should've read that more closely. Ignore me, sorry! :S

The Sam Stern books. He is a teenage Jamie Oliver and his books are specifically aimed at teenagers (although I cook from them all the time)

What have you been cooking for the last 19 years?

Why do you need to cook special food for them?

Why are they not cooking for you half/a third of the time?

Wha?!

Ha ha ha! I was just popping on to say my teens just use regular cook books - any of them on the shelf - they just browse through and decide what they fancy (I think we do have a student book somewhere...)

And then I realised you are actually talking about catering for them in the you doing more cooking sense. Not, erm, them learning to fend for themselves like everyone else's teen children.

Why in the actual feck are you looking for cookbooks so that you can make teen food when your kids are 17 and 19??? And what on earth is teen food?

Do I have to suddenly cater differently when my own considerably younger teens get older? Do I tell them to stop cooking now, as I must go out and shop for a suitable book so that I can prepare them age appropriate food?

Is this a joke?!

What do they eat in restaurants? I'm betting that they haven't been able to access the chicken fingers menu for a good five or six years... I struggle to get my 11yo to eat from the kids menu...

I now have to schlep to amazon to see if such a thing exists... Would it be just to cook for boy teens? Are girl teens supposed to do it themselves? (Just checking...)

I am struggling to understand this, and I, too, would like to know what you have been feeding your children for the past 18 years. Is there really a difference between child and adult taste, and how do you think children's taste in food is shaped if not by the food given to them at home growing up?

If you are looking for a general purpose cookbook, something like Nigella's How to Eat is good.

This is a good one. Don't be put off by the 'teenage survival' bit. I think that's there because its aimed at boys!

Cooking Up A Storm

My DS eats the following (pretty much in order of preference) - none of which need a cook book so I'd be interested to know what types of foods you want to cook your DSs - they must be more adventurous than mine:

chicken roast dinner, spaghetti meatballs, pizza/salad, chicken kiev/chips/veg, burger/wedges/salad, chicken Ceasar salad, chicken in wraps with salad, prawn/salmon stir fry, chili con carne, sausage/mash/veg, gammon/mash/parsley sauce/veg. I'm sure there's other stuff but it's not stuff you'd need a recipe book for. Curry and Chinese are takeaways usually.

I'd love some ideas to expand on this but not stuff you follow a recipe for once then don't bother again as it's too much faff or not that good. just a couple of recipes to incorporate into daily life that aren't too involved.