I recently received two Annabel Karmel books for review: Top 100 Finger Foods (pictured here) and Top 100 Baby Purees.
Ms. Karmel (can I call you Annabel?) hails from the UK. I know this not only because of the savvy promo materials and bio I received along with my copies of the book, but also because of the use of "mum" throughout her website. Always a dead giveaway, and never a loss on charm!
First, a word on purees…I don't get why anyone would buy baby food. I love me a good Cuisinart! It's five days after the farmer's market, your carrots are getting disappointingly bendy, but it breaks your heart to think of throwing them in the compost. They're still edible, for god-sakes. They're just not…crunchy.
So…puree! Food never went to waste when my daughter was eating baby food. But..gasp…she just turned one and refuses anything she perceives as baby food now. Sadly, Top 100 Baby Purees came just a little bit late for me to put to use. The book will be most helpful to parents with babies in the 6-12 month range. Given that I've just exited the world of baby pureeing a month ago, though, my mind is fresh with opinions!
The first stage recipes are good, very basic (most are), but I was very impressed with the recipes in the remainder of the book. Fun recipes such as 'Cinderella's pumpkin' (leeks, butter, pumpkin squash, vegetable stock) and 'Cherub's Chowder' (onion, potatoes, stock, corn, milk and chicken) impressed me and made me long to whiz my food processor again. Wipe tear.
Lucky for me, both of my kids were perfect victims testers for my cooking out of Top 100 Finger Foods. Squee! The little burgers on the front caught my eye and saved my behind for my daughter's 1st birthday barbecue this past week. I made a variation of the turkey burger sliders and they were a huge hit, with both kids and adults alike. Yum! Like the turkey sliders, most of the recipes are doable. Some are surprising (baked parsnip and sweet potato chips–why hadn't I thought of that before?), a few were weird (sushi for kids? Raw fish kinda skeeves me out, no matter how many people seem to think it's so hip and healthy and bla bla bla. I just can't do it. And I certainly can't serve it to my kids.). For the most part, I was in love, though. Annabel (since we're now on a first name basis), you had me at mini jam tart.
