The Juneteenth Cookbook is available to order from your local bookstore
(Seguin) — A recipe for preserving and celebrating history with your children and grandchildren might start with a cookbook.
This Juneteenth, local families are encouraged to stop by Pecantown Books & Brews to purchase “The Juneteenth Cookbook” by author Aria Agostini, who traveled from New Jersey to local bookstores this spring to promote her cookbook, written for younger generations.
During his visit, Agostini, who is also known for his original work “The Story of Juneteenth,” explained how this latest work puts history and tradition into practice.
“The Juneteenth Cookbook is a great opportunity for families to celebrate Juneteenth and bring the holiday to life. The Juneteenth Story tells the history, origins and evolution of the holiday, and the Juneteenth Cookbook itself is full of recipes, activities and ways to bring history to life through play, which I think is important for kids and families,” Agostini said.
She says one of the most important aspects of the book is that it will continue to preserve these traditions for generations to come.
“So this is important to my family. It’s really important that there are so many culinary traditions, especially in the African-American community, and I want to be able to celebrate those and bring those to life in a way that’s instructive to kids. A lot of kids love to cook, and they love to cook with their families in the kitchen. So this is a really great starting point for them to make real recipes with real, delicious ingredients, and then there are some things that they can explore on their own. So it’s important to have both dynamics,” Agostini said.
As for the recipes, Agostini says they’re designed to not only make preparations in the kitchen easier, but also taste delicious.
“There’s actually a recipe for my grandmother’s potato salad in there, which is something I grew up eating, and I made sure to include an illustration of the bowl that she always had the potato salad in. That was really important to me. Mac ‘n’ Please is our version of macaroni and cheese. It’s so good. It’s full of flavor. Dessert-wise, the red velvet ice cream sandwich is the best, it’s like a red velvet cookie with cream cheese ice cream in it. It’s so good. Some of these recipes are really simple and healthy and delicious, and watermelon snow cups are one of them. All you need to do is freeze some watermelon, shred it on a grater and sprinkle a little bit of Tajine on it for a little extra flavor. It’s so easy. I could talk about these recipes all day,” Agostini said.
Agostini said she began writing soon after becoming a mother, and events like Juneteenth tend to take on a whole different meaning, especially when young children are involved, she said.
“I had been doing marketing and consulting before that and through the pandemic, but of course I was able to evaluate what I was doing and writing was my full focus at that point. I’m writing full time. I have four books published right now — ‘Juneteenth Cookbook’ is my fourth — and eight more on the way, mostly picture books and early childhood reading books, but all of them are celebrating joy and truth, and mostly focused on shining a light on people of color, especially Black characters, because I want families to see us as we are and I want kids to see themselves in my books,” Agostini said.
While only a limited number of books are currently available at your local bookstore, The Juneteenth Cookbook and The Juneteenth Story are available to order now. The Juneteenth Cookbook is priced at $19.99, and The Juneteenth Story ranges from $9.99 to $18.99.
Pecantown Books & Brews is located at 212 S. Camp St.