South Sea Island Home: An Awesome Children's Cook Book

My baby girl turned 9 years old this week. 9 years old! Where did that bald baby head and those chubby knees get to? They have vanished before my very eyes. How come I didn't see it?

As part of her birthday present we gave her a cook book. It was one I picked up in a hurry the day before her birthday because I had been procrastinating on going shopping. The local book shop has a wooden and corrugated iron awning out the front and I was afraid it might fall down on my head as I walked underneath it in an aftershock. I was also afraid that the shop might crumble down on top of me while I was shopping inside too, so any shopping I do these days is done in haste.
As it turns out, they only had three children's cook books to choose from, and the one I chose looked the best - had the most photos, and even has step by step photographic instructions (just like pioneer woman)! Perfect for my avid, wanna-be-cook daughter.

But perfect for me too! Actually, she's hardly had time to even look at it, because her mother has been trying out some of the recipes. Good thing they are simple, because my cooking skills have been a bit off lately - I've been making lots of mistakes - too busy I guess.

But these are so great - really easy, uses alot of basic ingredients that you would already have in your pantry, and doesn't take a lot of complicated mixing together.

The Best-Ever Step-By-Step Kid's First Cookbook is by Nancy McDougall. I can't find out if she's British or American.

I made these super-easy cream puffs for Meredith's birthday desert on Thursday night. I had unexpected guests for dinner that night and there were heaps to go around - though none left over! What I really liked about this recipe was the helpful tip that the author included on how to make your pastry light and puffy. And it really worked!

I made these peanut butter cookies in a flash for the school lunch boxes.

And for Sunday lunch today, I whisked up these Toads in the Hole in 10 minutes, and they were a huge hit. I secreted away 3 for the school lunches tomorrow, which is just as well, because I don't think there are too many left over.