A cookbook for and inspired by children

Meghan Oricchio of Sparta is carrying on her father’s legacy in a variety of media.

She is working on a cookbook for children, and she has been posting episodes on YouTube of her father’s Emmy Award-winning show, “Let’s Cook with Paul Dillon.”

The show ran for 11 seasons on CN8, The Comcast Network, and Oricchio and her sister were sometimes featured on it.

Dillon was the associate dean of business, culinary arts and hospitality management at Hudson County Community College. He also was a consulting chef for public and corporate clients, including the 1994 World Cup, the 1992 Winter Olympics, and several PGA and USGA golf tournaments.

Something her father always wanted to do was start another show where he and Oricchio would cook together. They never got around to it.

Since his death in 2022, she has been posting two episodes a week.

“It is a labor of love. I am just so happy to put his videos out there,” she said. “My kids get to hear his voice all the time, and I am always watching to see what kind of recipes I should put out.”

She sometimes posts her twists on the recipe that was featured on an episode on social media. Oricchio is on Instagram @megkitchn and her father’s show is @letscookwithpauldillon on Instagram and YouTube.

She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2006 and went on to work at Myriad Restaurant Group, where she ran the events department for three restaurants: Tribeca Grill, Mai House and Centrico.

She later worked as an event planner and more recently in food sales.

The mother of three has been inspired by her children and their friends who love to be in the kitchen.

There was a time when she ordered HelloFresh so her children could follow the steps to make meals.

“The goal of the book is to give people more of an open mind that kids are more competent in the kitchen than we give them credit for,” she said. “The book will show children the fundamentals of cooking and how to explore safely.”

It will include substitutions to make that recipe gluten-free, a testament to her daughter who is sensitive to dairy and gluten.

Each recipe will have images of the utensils needed.

The book is aimed at children age 5 and older and is expected to be released in February.