My little one has fallen hard this week with one of those viruses that are doing the the rounds at the moment. While not a difficult patient, I would have to admit that cabin fever has well and truly set in. Once over the initial freak-out following "Mummy I feel hot and my neck hurts" you can start dosing with the juvenile versions of drugs and hoping for a 5 minute window to have a shower. However, a couple of days later Cbeebies characters are beginning to infiltrate my brain and I'm thinking of adopting Charlie and Lola. So, not having had the chance to do much cooking over the last few days, I thought I'd use this post as a kind of virtual adult conversation, something I've been rather short of recently!
One advantage to being stuck at home means that I can dig out the chocolate and tomato sauce splattered books that have, temporarily, taken a back seat to the shiny, new usurpers. The book you can see here was the first kid's recipe book I bought after the little one was born and it has been a bit of a bible ever since. Mark Hix is the executive chef at The Ivy in London and, aside from the relief that even top chefs can be stumped about what to feed their kids, the book is inspiring, without being preachy and the photography is fantastic and spontaneous. I often turn to it when she is going through a fussy phase ( what do you mean you don't like mushrooms anymore?) or when trying to get her meals back to some kind of normality after a bout of illness. The recipes are easy to follow and have guidelines as to what ages they are suitable for. From purees to risottos, crispy pig tails(?!) to party food, I would recommend this book to anyone even if they had just found out they were pregnant.
My other attempt at maternal doctoring is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which we have been reading chapter by chapter for the past week, so the lion above can only be Aslan, picked up yesterday, before a visit to the doctor, at a fairtrade shop I didn't even know was there. Very politically correct of us considering this is Fairtrade fortnight and putting him together kept the telly off for another half hour. I read the Chronicles of Narnia countless times as a child and adult and I love that she is loving them in turn. The fact that she saw, and loved, the movie first has not taken any of the magic away, so maybe I won't have to wait until she's read The Lord of the Rings before letting her watch the movies!
I won't go without a quick recipe from Eat Up. I used to make these wedges all the time (what do you mean you don't like chips either?) almost as much for the crunchy bits of Parmesan stuck to the bottom of the roasting tin as anything else.
PARMESAN AND ROSEMARY BAKED POTATO WEDGES
Simply cut some large potatoes into wedges with the skin on. Pour a thin layer of olive oil into a roasting tin and put in an oven preheated to 220 C for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, then place in the oven and bake, turning every so often, for about 40 minutes. Scatter some freshly grated Parmesan and some rosemary leaves over the potatoes and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
You poor thing... nothing worse than sick kids! That book sounds great. Been wanting to try out the Book Depository too, so will go for it! Don't you just love kids the way their tastes change on a daily basis!?
Posted by: Deborah | February 27, 2007 at 04:29 PM