Happy Book Birthday: Cooking Up Change

Happy book birthday to Cooking Up Change: Grandma’s Recipes from a Year in Black History! This combination picture book and cookbook is written by teen chef and food justice advocate Michael Platt (with a little help from his beloved grandma), illustrated by me, and published by Magic Cat Publishing and Abrams Kids. It’s also the sequel to Recipes for Change: 12 Dishes Inspired by a Year in Black History.

Here’s the official summary:

Cooking Up Change is both a celebration of Black history and an invitation to experience it through the lens of food. With biographies of figures who shaped important events and mouthwatering recipes that carry their essence, this book will inspire future leaders with real stories of trailblazers who helped to change the world.

One event per month is highlighted. After sharing the story of a person related to each event—such as Dorothy Height for International Women’s Day in March—Platt pairs each moment with a delectable recipe that carries the essence of the occasion. All the stories and recipes featured are inspired by his grandmother; the person who guided him in unearthing his Black heritage and moved him to fall in love with cooking.

Recipes include:

• Macaroni and cheese for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Key lime pie for Black History Month
• Deep dish peach cobbler for International Women’s Day
• Grilled fish for Jackie Robinson Day
• Molasses cookies for Memorial Day
• Red hibiscus drink for Juneteenth
• Apple pie for Independence Day
• Potato salad for the Great Migration
• Sweet potato pie for Labor Day
• Pork chops for Black Poetry Day
• Green gumbo for Election Day
• Coconut cake for Kwanzaa

Michael baked the molasses cookies from Cooking Up Change on an Instagram live yesterday, so here is the Memorial Day Molasses Cookie recipe so you can bake a batch too:

Along with the molasses cookie recipe, you’ll learn the history behind Memorial Day and you’ll also learn the story of Robert Smalls, an enslaved man who took control of a confederate ship and delivered himself and sixteen passengers from slavery to freedom in 1862.

Overall, I can’t wait for you to try the recipes from Michael and his grandma! Hope you enjoy trying the recipes and reading the stories as much as I enjoyed illustrating them. I always learn so much history as I work on Michael’s picture books.

A huge thank you to Michael and his grandma for writing this book. Earlier in this post, I mentioned that Michael is a teen chef and food justice advocate. Michael has also appeared with 11 of the best kid bakers in the country in season 4 of Kids Baking Championship on Food Network, he has given a TedX Talk, and he has been featured in the Washington Post, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and CNN. You can follow him on Instagram and on Facebook.

I also have to give a huge thank you to Michael’s mom Danita Platt, who is just as amazing. She teaches classes on Intersectional Home Economics on her Patreon and shares thoughts on Cultural Reclamation on her Substack. You can give her a follow on Instagram and TikTok too.

Thank you to Kim Hankinson, Helen Brown, the team at Magic Cat Publishing, and the team at Abrams Kids. You all were so kind throughout the picture book-making process and it’s much appreciated.

And thank you (once again) to my awesome agent Alex Gehringer and Bright Agency!

Cooking Up Change is now available wherever books are sold!

Proudly,
Alleanna