“Spoon?”

That’s what Megan asks before we sit down to the table for every meal.  It’s actually more like “uun”, but I get the point.  She’s at that stage where she loves to feed herself, but still rarely gets that much in her mouth!  I spend more time cleaning up her mess than I do cooking dinner sometimes!

Of course I know it’s important for her to learn how to eat with utensils, but can I just say that I LOVE the EASE that comes along with Chicken Finger night!!!

Recently, I was asked to review a copy of Annabel Karmel’s Top 100 Finger Foods.  I checked out her website to see if the book was something I might interested in.  And my first thoughts were “SO cute”!

Then when I had the book in hand, my first thoughts were “SUPER cute”!

The first few pages are just some good, practical advice.  But then she quickly moves into the Recipes.

My “standard” for Cookbooks isn’t really all that hard.  I love pictures.  Lots & lots of COLORED pictures. And I love good recipes with good directions.

That’s not asking for too much in a Cookbook, is it??

So.  How does this book rate?

The pictures - LOVELY!  Not every recipe has a picture but definitely the majority.  And it’s not just little tiny pictures.  It’s full page size pictures.  A Plus!  And on top of lots of colorful pictures, pages are just randomly purple or green, yellow or blue … just fun to look at!

The recipes - Another good job!  So far, everything’s been nice & easy to read and understand.  I will say that not all of the recipes will end up on my table, because some just require a little more than I usually give for dinner or because I know that Evan or Megan just won’t eat it.  But that of course can be said with almost every cookbook in my cabinet right now!!  And some of Annabel’s recipes that I might not use on a regular basis, but I’ll definitely think of them for a party or event!!

Now, above my “standard” for cookbooks, the Top 100 Finger Foods gets two extra bonus points!

The “key” - Each recipe comes with what I’ll call a “key”.  It tells you exactly how much time should be spent for Preparation & Cooking.  I LOVE it when recipes tell me that!!  I usually start dinner at 5pm.  But I need to allow 15 minutes for food to cool off.  Isn’t it the worst to hand an 18mo their dinner & then realize it’s too hot to eat!! Does NOT make for a happy Megan!

The “tips” – This is probably my favorite part!!  She tells you if a recipe is “suitable for freezing”.  I LOVE that!!  Seriously!  Remember, I became a big-time “freezer believer” during my Once A Month Cooking Day.  But I must admit, I’m still a little scared about knowing which recipes are good to freeze & which aren’t.  So I love, love, love that she tells me!!  If it’s not suitable, she simply says “not suitable”.  But if it is suitable, then she’ll go on to give you specific directions – about thawing & how to re-heat.  Did I mention I love that part yet?!  She’ll also remind you if something’s suitable for under a certain age or not.

Obviously you can tell this book is written by a Mother!  Good, Healthy Recipes with lots of good advice!

And now it’s your turn to try out some of Annabel’s recipes!  Just leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of Annabel Karmel’s Top 100 Finger Foods.

For additional entries, you can:

Subscribe to this here old blog.
Or follow me on Twitter.

Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry – and of course if you already do, just tell me you do:)

Contest ends 3/20/10 at Midnight Eastern Time.

*Disclosure – I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review.

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