Testing out Annabel Karmel recipes: Can the culinary unskilled cope?
When one hears the name Annabel Karmel, images are conjured up of impossibly perfect organic meals baked at home, in a perfect middle class kitchen, perhaps with gingham curtains and a farmhouse kitchen table.
Chopsy Baby decided to put two of her books to the test in two busy working class, inorganic families.
Can the culinary utopia that her perfectly presented books teach be attained?
Baby and Toddler Food Diary
This spiral bound book makes for real ease of use in the kitchen when trying to follow a recipe in a small space with book balanced over flaming gas hob.
Mainly, the book is a feeding programme with nutritional advice for both new baby and new mum. It then goes on to take the parent through the different feeding stages from early weaning through to fussy three year olds.
With more than 80 recipes, there is plenty to try out and self fill in planners to keep you organised.
Chopsy Baby editor Jen Smith tested out the Pasta Salad with Pesto Dressing
Jen says: “This is a really simple recipe suitable for children 18 months and upwards. It can be prepared in minutes and use pretty much anything salad or vegetable wilting in the fridge. I really liked the two variations on the dressing. Mixing some mayonnaise with the pesto is inspired, I didn’t think it could work but it did.
“As I was washing up I tried to remind myself which combination of add-in salads I had used, but a really clever touch with this book is that it gives you a place next to each recipe to make your own comments and add your own variations.
“The personal record spaces in this book are great as you can fill in charts to plan meals. This is a great idea for less confident parents. There is also space at the back to note down other ideas or recipes.
“The toil and trouble you go to will also act as a nice baby record book in the future when hopefully you can look back and laugh at all the trouble you went to removing puréed carrots from the ceiling.”
This recipe makes a great lunch suitable for all the family.
Our attempt
Available for download here: http://www.chopsybaby.com/images/pesto.jpg
Baby and Toddler Food Diary
Annabel Karmel
£14.99
www.dk.com
Your Feeding Questions Answered
With more than 300 questions and answers to the problems that babies and toddlers can throw at parents when it comes to their nutrition, Annabel Karmel pretty much has a solution for everything.
This attractive book not only guides parents through the tricky first months, but holds their hand through weaning and disruptive toddler behaviour.
It is broken up into different development sections and peppered with yummy menus and interesting facts.
Top Tip
“How can I encourage my child to stop getting up and down from the table?
By simply removing her meal, so that she knows that the mealtime is finished, and that there is no more on offer.”
A winning tip that has now been passed around several parent and toddler groups.
This book is actually ideal for even the very early days with a new baby. As well as settling the worries of a new mum by answering the basic breastfeeding and milk questions a midwife won’t have time for, it will also give inexperienced parents a chance to read up on the potential problems ahead and be prepared for them.
The book’s layout allows dipping in and out of for useful information and casual reading as well as some great recipes to suit all pallets.
Chopsy Baby writer Deborah Adams tested out the Cupcake Caterpillar recipe
This recipe simply makes tasty little cupcakes, with full instructions for sponge, butter icing and decoration. Arranging them into a caterpillar shape is optional and decoration can be adapted to any celebration.
Despite having no culinary skills of any sort, Deborah successfully made less of a Cupcake Caterpillar and more what appears to be a cupcake rack of pool balls prior to the break shot.
Deborah says: “I feel a sense of personal achievement and a deep satisfaction knowing that I have made these amazing tasting cakes. In my view, re-creating an Annabel Karmel recipe makes me feel like I belong to an exclusive club of mums who have suffered to reach a state of culinary perfection. I can now say I have baked, successfully, and now feel like I should be presented with a certificate to prove my worthiness.
“This is a fantastic recipe to create with your toddler to teach them not only vital domestic skills, but the scientific aspects of mixing liquids and solids and cooking them to create a new state.”
Chopsy Baby can confirm that these cakes did indeed taste fantastic and highly recommends the recipe.
Our attempt
Available for download here: http://www.chopsybaby.com/images/caterpillar.jpg
Your Feeding Questions Answered
Annabel Karmel
£14.00
www.dk.com
Annabel Karmel is a domestic goddess in the kitchen, but that shouldn’t let you be put off from investing in a couple of her books and giving it a go.
Over the last twenty years, Annabel has written 17 books and worked with some of the top experts in child nutrition. This is the reason she is so good at. It is because it is her passion and she has made it her business.
Giving your child a well balanced diet filled with as many healthy meals as possible is all a parent can do. With a little help and guidance from Annabel’s recipes and her spot -on behavioural advice, it is much easier than you think to give your child an excellent nutritional start in life.
For more information about Annabel Karmel, visit her website at: www.annabelkarmel.com