Children's menu

Involving the whole family in food prep is bound to stir nostalgia, even if Grandma’s kitchen repertoire lacked evocative dishes like Pigs in the Poke (mmm, battered hot dogs) and Knothole Eggs (which are fried into a cutout in a slice of bread). NYC mom Rae Grant embraces a retro sensibility in Cooking Fun: 121 Simple Recipes to Make with Kids (St. Martin’s Griffin, $20), with letterpress and collage illustrations inspired by cookbooks of the 1920s and ’30s. Throwback recipes include, in addition to those already mentioned, Ohio Sloppy Joe and Sunny Day Cheese Biscuits.

After the meal, finish off with a Crumbs Bake Shop treat—straight from your own oven. Mia Bauer has simplified her formulas for decadent goodies like Superstar Raspberry Bars and Lyle’s Lemon Cookies and packaged them for the hungry masses in Crumbs: Bake Shop in a Box (DK, $17). The kit includes 15 wipe-clean recipe cards plus measuring spoons, decorating stencils and a sweet picture book, Lolly LaCrumb’s Cupcake Adventure. But let’s face it: The real draw here is teaching your little sugar fiend to make his own $3.75 cupcake.—Molly Fedick