Sticky Fingers

More than a year ago we received The Toddler Cookbook as a gift. It's a cookbook with simplified recipes that parents can do with their pre-schoolers. The directions for each recipe are written as if addressing someone who's not qualified to handle a kitchen torch (lots of "Ask an adult to . . ." and "Wash your hands" after every handling of raw meat). But the book also assumes that toddlers can use a cup to measure sugar and stir ingredients together (which, of course, they're quite able to do, even if a little more wobbly so at times).

Annabel Karmel is the author; she seems to specialize in parent/child books, as our two baby record books are both authored by her. One thing that I found impressive about this book was the representation of different people groups in the illustrating photos. Boys and girls, men and women, whites and blacks are making these recipes. As someone who lives in a solid white-bread band of country with old-school values, I appreciate opportunities, no matter how passive, for our children to observe that there are many folk who look different than we do. And I appreciate cookbooks that do not assume all cooking and baking will be done by those with double-X chromosomes.

Gwendolyn and my first adventure with Ms. Karmel was the recipe for "chicken dippers": fried chicken strips with different dipping sauces. Here are my daughter's fingers dousing the chicken before breading:

 We run a high-end kitchen in our home. We ask even the sous-chefs to come dressed in formal silk dresses and gold angel wings (though shoes are optional):

The meal was delightful. We finished off every bit of those chicken dippers:

 Gwendolyn and I had so much fun that for my birthday supper I requested we do another recipe from the book. In fact, we did two: chicken satay skewers, and peanut butter bears (no-bake cookies with rice puffs as the base, pictured here):

 I am discovering that the vast majority of recipes are in fact toddler/pre-schooler-friendly, with a little adult help. Karmel's book is little more than an illustrated cooking guide with fun fonts and encouragements. But I must admit that sometimes a book with a couple of gimmicks is necessary to open up new possibilities for me.

The Toddler Cookbook by Annabel Karmel (2008): a reminder of how wonderful it is to have multiple generations in the kitchen, and another reason to love DK books.

~ emrys