I don’t have an iPad or an iPhone mores the pity as yesterday I heard about yet another app I would really like to have! Do I just give in now and get one under the pressure of all the apps I want? I’m not sure, but this latest one is certainly persuasive! Annabel Karmel, baby food guru (or Princess of the fish pie as she calls herself), is behind Annabel’s Essential Guide To Feeding Your Baby And Toddler which is already massively successful and it’s easy to see why!
Over 200 of her delicious recipes which aren’t just healthy and nutritious but also taste of food rather than mulch (this is generally the word I would use to describe baby food) are stored on the app which means it has more recipes than any other recipe app out there. As well as recipes and video content showing precisely how to cook, it contains video content from some of the UK’s top experts on everything from teething to reflux, sleep advice and developing hand-eye coordination. Karmel calls it the ultimate pocket nanny!
Her own children are grown now but it was through bringing them up that lead her to cookery for tiny tots. She is not a chef by training but more through love and having had three tricky eaters herself she couldn’t be better placed to be writing her best selling books – something, she says, she never runs out of inspiration for. Massively popular throughout the globe, not just in the UK, I’m inclined to think she knows what she’s talking about. Why isn’t she on television I asked? Well, she has done a few things here and there but apparently there’s not been the need for a cookery based show for children’s food.
I’m surprised about the lack of television appearances but her assistant told me she’s often not well received because of the sort of person she is, well spoken and well dressed. Although I have to say I found her quite cold, she didn’t for instance, make any moves to come and speak to me while we had coffeee as a group even though I was struggling with two tired and hot children so couldn’t possibly make the move myself, I think that it probably doesn’t matter. It would be great to have such a programme, especially with other shows for first time Mum’s (and old hands) like ‘One Born Every Minute’ being so popular these days. They’re the experts so I’m probably wrong but I’d personally like to see her cooking and presenting a small programme of this genre. I can’t say I’ massively drawn to the personality of Nigella Lawson but I still want to cook her yummy food. She came across to me quite similar to Nigella, quite proud of herself. On the one had of course she should be but I’m quite British, I think a little modesty is slightly more attractive.
Still, modest or not, she’s a best seller for a reason and it’s because she knows what she’s doing. I’m sure in the comfort of her own home she’s delightful and her app is superb so blowing her own trumpet is honest if not altogether appealing. If her teriyaki chicken really IS the best teriyaki chicken in the world then I guess why not say it? Her next move is a book with recipes for the whole family. I know Mums who’ve been eating her food themselves anyway so I’m sure this new dedicated book will be a massive hit, especially with the families where children have grown up with her food. Good luck to her and the app really is great!
The app includes a meal planner, recipe notes, kitchen timer, interactive speaker and an interactive conversion calculator. I love the fact it will prepare you a shopping list then give you the option of crossing off the bits you know you already have, that seemed very sensible to me. Episodes from Annabel’s Kitchen, a programme she made with her own funds for a children’s channel in an attempt to break into television, are included. Sounds good doesn’t it.
When we met Annabel yesterday she gave an interview with television presenter Jenni Falconer before taking us for coffee in a book shop. I’d like to thank her very much for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to hear all about her new app and other projects. I hope I wont offend her in any way with my surmisation, she looks like she’s made of strong stuff so let’s hope not.
I was not paid to write this post.
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