Cooking Outside the Pizza Box
Easy Recipes for Today's College Student
by Jean Patterson and Danae Campbell
Published by Barron's Educational Series, 0-7641-2495-1
Available at your local bookstore, at amazon.com, and at www.barronseduc.com.
Read reviews of Cooking Outside the Pizza Box
Read articles on college students and cooking
Reviews:
USA Weekend, "New Books for New Cooks," by Constance Kurz
Essence magazine, "Books that Cook: Required Reading":
One reason first-year college students put on weight and gain "the freshman 15" is possibly the newfound freedom to choose when, where and what to eat. The what is often fast food laden with calories and lacking in nutrients. But if you're the typical college student with limited kitchen facilities and on a budget, what can you do? The answers are in Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today's College Student by Jean Patterson and Danae Campbell (Barron's). It offers grocery-shopping tips and tasty, simple recipes for healthy student bodies.
KLIATT, excerpted:
Anyone living on his or her own for the first time will benefit from using this wonderful book.... This would make a perfect purchase for any high school graduate!
Des Moines Register, "Dorm Room Entertaining," by Erin Crawford, excerpted:
Packing for college typically involves a new computer, multiple suitcases of clothing and a fresh backpack. Maybe it's time to add a book to the mix. Rather than sentence your kid to two bleak semesters of dorm food, consider bestowing the gift of an age-appropriate cookbook that could save them from delivery pizza and Ramen noodles.
Two new books, Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today's College Student and Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat are friendly, useful guides to building a kitchen, mastering cooking basics and putting together some dishes that the modern teen would actually be interested in eating.
Cooking Outside the Pizza Box is packed with how-to topics on cooking technique and clean-up. A recipe for Sauteed Salmon with Lemon starts by telling the student to turn on the exhaust fan or open a window. The recipes are as basic as rice and as complicated as an Asian noodle salad, a quick recipe that nonetheless involves some chopping and cooking. But best of all for dormitory residents, most recipes are microwave-friendly.
San Diego Union-Tribune, "New Cooks on the Block," Maureen Clancy, excerpted:
Let the Chicken Littles of the world fret about crashing meteorites, alien invasions and "The Big One." We in the food world know there's a much greater potential disaster out there: Nearly 2 million kids will graduate from college this month, and many of them can't even boil water.
"We have now a whole generation of kids whose parents didn't cook very much," said Christopher Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine. "The schools dropped home ec classes a long time ago, and the whole notion of basic home cooking is getting completely lost."
Jean Patterson, co-author of the just-released Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today's College Student, considers herself a good example of the culinary lost generation.
"I pretty much ate bagels and English muffins when I was in college," said the author, who tested the book's recipes with her sister, Teresa, a senior at University of Nevada Reno.
But the picture is not all gloom and doom. Experts say that a vast number of kids are watching the Food Network. Cooking schools across the nation are beefing up the classes that appeal to twenty- and thirtysomethings.
An array of books like Patterson's are nudging young people to dine on Crispy Turkey Cutlets at home instead of Burger King at the mall.
Chicago Tribune Syndicate, "Slim Chances: Don't Let College Freedom go to Your Waist," by Bev Bennett, excerpted:
If you're entering college, you may revel in your newfound freedom. You can skip breakfast, stay up until 2 a.m. chatting with roommates while munching on chips, or take a third pass through the cafeteria line.
Unfortunately, many of the liberties you enjoy while on your own can contribute to unwanted weight gain. To make sure you're prepared to cook for yourself, Danae Campbell suggests keeping your cupboard well stocked with staples, such as whole-wheat pasta, couscous and brown rice.
"You can grind out a lot of meals using these ingredients as the base," says Campbell, a food writer in Glendora, California, and co-author of a collection of easy recipes for college students.
"Shop for staples every two weeks, and stay well supplied so you're not stuck without food when it's finals time and you can't shop," she says.
Campbell also suggests cooking extras, such as a whole roast chicken, so you have enough food for several meals.
Pasadena Star-News,
"Cooking for the First Time," by Martin Gonzalez, May 12, 2004
(register with the Pasadena Star-News Web site to search for and access article)
Pasadena City College Courier, "Tasty Cooking Tips for the Gourmet Challenged," by Priscilla Moreno
Links to articles on college students:
"Healthy College Food" on about.com
"College Students Get Recipes for Success" from the Boston Globe
"Home Cooking Away from Home" from Western Kentucky University
"They're Off to College Now" from the San Francisco Chronicle
"School's In, Nutrition's Out?" from the University of Guelph
"Blending Good and Evil" from Michigan State University
"Cooking On Campus: Dining In" from University of Tennessee
"Creative Students Cook Up New TV Reality Show" from the Ithacan
"Students Eat Healthy for a Variety of Reasons" from Howard University
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