Fathers day and my Baeba: Babycook!

Brendans first fathers day was a lot of fun. I woke up early early on Sunday and worked my ever living but off all day cooking up a storm. I made ribs (Avoid Emerils rib rub, it's far too sweet... Unless you like that sort of thing) a bbq apple pie (see recipe below) tons of vegetable skewers, sweet potatoes, bbq corn and hot links for my baby. It was a lot of work. I was so tired at the end of the day, I found myself folding clothes and actually nodding out mid sentence to people. But hey, it was worth it!

My mom got me one of those neat Baeba baby food steamers/processors when Levi was around five months, and I've only really just started to use it on a regular basis. (If you are unsure as to what a Baeba: Babycook! is, see here)

Considering all the time and money you would spend on going to the grocery store and purchasing old dingy baby food, I would say you save on both. Not to mention your child learns from an early age what real food actually TASTES like!

Basically, I set it up on the counter, it doesn't take up much space and is pretty easy to clean. When I cook dinner at night, I select a vegetable once a week or so that we are eating, and I just cut up a bit more of it. Tonight we were eating caldo de pollo, one of my grandmothers recipes, which calls for carrots. I usually buy all my root vegetables organic so I just chopped one up uniform and small and tossed it in the steamer pot.

(Lots of people are stumped on how to make your own recopies with the Baeba as it uses that funny steamer method, and gives you the water to mix it with after cooking (to much your food is runny, too little and your food isn't done cooking!).... just put the food in the blender, no steamer basket, and pour in purified water, just enough so that the food is covered. Then pour that liquid into the water holder, and then steam!)

When it is done, you just pour the carrots into the pot with the remaining steamed liquid (it should be full of the nutrients that were leached in the steaming process) pulse a few times to the babies ability, and then there you have it. Home made baby food. What could make a mama more proud?

Though... most times, Levi is more interested in playing with the nifty Baeba spoon than eating his meal...

The negatives for the Baeba?  Not all the parts are dishwasher friendly, it doesn't give you a perfectly uniform puree, you always have lumps you have to squish out. For the price tag of $150, it seems a little flimsy and the blenders blade is nothing to brag about. More than once, the food has backed up into my machines water cavaty and I've had to clean it with a bottle brush. Yuck. Overall though, I would say it is worth it, as it eliminates all fuss and any excuse a lazy parent might have.


Cinnamon Carrot Puree

• 1 medium sized carrot
• Enough water to cover carrot in shallow pan
• dash of cinnamon 
• pinch of nutmeg

Cut your carrot into small, uniform pieces to ensure no lumps or hard bits.Place water in double boiler, shallow pan, or your Baeba: Babycook! if you wish. Steam until tender. Place ingredients into blender and blend to desired constancy.

BBQ Apple Pie

Crust

• 6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 ounces vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Water to moisten
• 12 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 3/4 cups, plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Filling

• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds apples, I chose 4 Fiji and two Granny Smith
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon orange marmalade (my secret ingredient)
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• A dash of cinamon
• A dash of nutmeg

Preheat grill to 400 degrees .

Place butter and shortening into fridge for 1 hour.

Combine flour, salt and sugar. Cube the butter and shortening and pinch in by hand, until mixture looks very mealy and pea like. If you like, you can use a food proccessor for this step, but I like to do it the way our grandmothers did.

Add water until mixture is just moist enough to stay together. Divide the dough evenly into two halves, round them out, cover with plastic wrap. Leave in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Peel and core the apples. Slice into 1/2-inch thick wedges. Toss all of the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl and allow to drain.Toss the apples with the remaining sugar, flour, jelly, lemon juice and salt.

Roll out dough, assemble pie. Place pie in either propane or charcoal BBQ for 50-60 minutes. If using propane, use care, as high flames will cause the pie to burn.

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I was told it was the best pie I've ever made... and I've made a few in my day