Come on in My Kitchen: Win a Copy of Annabel Karmel's delicious Toddler Cookbook

It is easier for me to envision a cookbook for toddlers and maybe even one using toddlers as an ingredient than it is to imagine a guide to cooking with toddlers.

When DK offered to send me a review copy of Annabel Karmel's new Toddler Cookbook, I had a sneaking suspicion it was one of those "toddler" books truly geared for age 5 and up. I am rarely so pleased to be proven wrong.

Although not every step of every recipe is toddler-friendly, I readily found recipes that 2.5 year-old Ranger and I could work on together. Not only that, they were recipes we might actually enjoy eating.

While some recipes include meat (chicken satay skewers, lettuce boats with chicken, salmon fishcakes, and chicken dippers), vegetarians won't feel excluded (pita pizzas, corn quesadillas, cherry tomato sauce, and mini Caesar salad with homemade croutons). There are also 10 snack, drink, and dessert recipes.

The book is well-illustrated with great photographs showing kids enacting EACH STEP of the recipe. Clear bowls prevent obstructions and everyone's hand seems magically out of the way throughout. Ranger loved seeing kids cooking, and the photos helped him see himself in the unfamiliar role of cook.

The strong visuals gave me courage to tackle meringues for Valentine's Day (while Ranger was taking a nap). I was tempted to stop there and proclaim the recipes easy and delicious, but deep in my heart I knew only a toddler-tested recipe would do.

Tonight we made mini banana muffins. The author calls for whole wheat flour which is a pleasant departure from stereotypical kid fare. Ranger and Jim were the mixmasters. They mashed a banana (which Ranger seemed to feel kind of guilty about), mixed ingredients, and then (drumroll, please) sifted in the dry ingredients. It turns out that while Ranger likes mixing, he loves sifting with my old school rotary sifter (which I need to upgrade to one without a loose handle). If we get homebound by another ice storm, I am breaking out all the flour and sugar and setting up a toddler-powered home grist mill.

We all had a great time, and I'm starting to realize how toddler Ranger can participate in the kitchen activity without risk of injury or meltdown. And the muffins, well...

even extraordinarily picky Ranger couldn't keep his hands off them.

Which is how I feel about the Toddler Cookbook (list price $10.99, $8.79 at Amazon).

WIN A COPY!
Thanks to the kind folks at DK, five Baby Toolkit readers (with U.S. addresses only) will win copies of the delicious Toddler Cookbook. To enter this random drawing, email babytoolkitcontests(at)gmail.com with the subject: Toddler Cookbook. Entries will be accepted through 11:59 PM CDT, 3/9/2008.

General disclaimers regarding contests on Baby Toolkit: we'll do our best but we can't guarantee the same efforts from the postal system. If a prize item were to be lost in the lost in the mail, we would take it as a message from a higher power that the situation was simply not meant to be (no compensation or replacement will be issued). One entry per household. We will use a random integer generator at random.org to determine a winner. Jim, Adrienne, their parents, and Ranger are not eligible for this contest. We respect your privacy and will not use your personal information for any purpose beyond determining a winner and sending prizes.

Good luck, we really think you're going to love this great book!

***This is the independent opinion of the geek family at Baby Toolkit, (c) 2008. We accepted a free review copy of the book, but under no obligation. We wouldn't write about it if we didn't like; we regularly decline reviews. We receive no compensation from DK or its affiliates for this review (though they are supplying and shipping the contest prizes). We do like DK as their travel books (including Rough Guide) and Eyewitness books have been household favorites as long as we've been a household.

Hanging with the Lost Boys: A Teepee of One's Own

For my handsome godson's fifth birthday, I made him a play teepee. The teepee was intended for his fourth birthday, but I dramatically overestimated my sewing speed: it wasn't completed until 6 months too late.

I was a little unnerved that a teepee might not be the right gift for a young swashbuckler-in-training (our godson has a penchant for playing pirates). Jim however explained that it's a perfect Lost Boys compliment to any good Peter Pan pirate play... and not that betighted Disney Peter Pan but the unkempt archetype of the awesome (and quite funny) J. M. Barrie story. (Download the free book or audiobook from Project Gutenberg or enjoy a great (true to the book) film adaptation.)

As we walked into our friends' empty house to set up the teepee as a surprise, we stumbled upon the best Tick Tock (crocodile) puppet ever. (Its maker, Wild Republic also makes a fabulous 20" plush giant squid which makes me wonder what would comprise a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea playset). This household (replete with imaginative older sister) is primed for Peter Pan.

When we set up the big teepee in the privateer's bedroom, it pretty much blocked all closet access (sorry, PirateMom). The teepee is big enough hold a couple sitting adults. The good news is it can fold up into a corner when not in use.

For the sewing geeks, I used Butterick pattern #4251 and decorator weight fabric. For the engineers, it's supported by six sturdy 84" tall 1" diameter PVC pipes. The fabric portion is about 6 feet in height.

It's the easily most rewarding thing I've ever sewn because I know the recipient loves it.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Zrecs mom Jenni for her great teepee which inspired me to return to this mostly abandoned project last summer. Their fort week has other great recommendations for the less crafty. You can also check out our easy pro-naptime crib fort.

Don't forget to enter our HABA discontinued dice dome giveaway before it ends on Friday.

***This is the independent opinion of the geek parents at Baby Toolkit, (c) 2008. We have no undisclosed relationship with J. M. Barrie, Jules Verne, or their estates, Project Gutenberg, Wild Republic, Butterick, or PVC makers.

Hot Dog Flowers: Definitely NSFV*

*NSFV= Not Safe For Vegetarians- although Jim thinks we could do this with a veggie dog, I suspect it only works with the extraordinary snout count in hot dogs.

When I was a wee child, there used to be a chain of Sir Beef Restaurants. As far as I know, there is only one left in this universe. This is a tragedy for two reasons:

1. The jokes.
2. They used to make these flowers out of hot dogs that boggled my wee mind. A picky eater like me could turn my nose up herds of hot dogs (or is that just one?), but a hot dog flower still gets me every time.

My dad, being an engineer, had to figure out how to make them at home. His efforts turned out much better than our flaming attempts at DIY microwave popcorn. It's not hard at all, and it's fun to watch if you don't mind cleaning the wurst spatter out of the microwave later.



If you like this hack or need a vegetarian palate-cleanser, check out how we slice apples.

***This is the independent, unsolicited opinion of the geek parents at Baby Toolkit, (c) 2008.

Cleft in Twain: Recycled Shower Curtain Splat Mats

Okay, the title really gives away the whole idea. Rather than using a flimsy, disposable, wipe-clean splat mat under our high chair, we opted to vertically cut an old waterproof shower curtain in half. The result is durable and cheap splat mat.

The best feature of a shower curtain splat mat (other than fact it lays pretty flat on the floor and doesn't bunch up) is machine wash-ability. Add a half cup baking soda to the wash load and a couple towels or sweatshirts (for friction), and air dry. Do not use bleach or detergents with bleach.

***This is the independent opinion of Baby Toolkit, (c) 2006-2008.