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Little Cooks review: How a big non-cook got on with making a carrot cake with his two young daughters

I'm not a good cook. I can feed myself by making chilled things hot by putting them in the oven, but that's about it. But gathering ingredients and putting them together to eventually make something else, is alchemy to me. So it was with some trepidation that I opened the Little Cooks box delivered to my door and saw what was inside. How were those bags of ingredients going to turn into a carrot cake? How would I be able to help my two daughters - aged seven and five - follow the recipe? Would it be an epic parenting fail? A bit of pre-planning meant that by the time we began, we had gone through the list of ingredients and got everything we needed in addition to the contents of the box - such as eggs, honey, vanilla extract and milk. So, on a calm Sunday afternoon with lots of time ahead of us, we took a deep breath and began. All I wanted was easy-to-follow instructions, simple techniques, and some good father-daughter bonding. The box of delights Ease of instructions Simple enough for me to understand and to explain to the children, it made clear how long it should take (it took us longer). It broke down the ingredients needed and those supplied, as well as the equipment we would need - ie. a blender, whisk and round cake tin. There was also diary alternatives listed and a handed nine-point guide to what needed to be done and when. There was some mild confusion (on my part) misreading the need to melt the butter so I just put it in the mixing pot, and the girls got a bit fidgety at times, but so far, so good. The preparation We loved getting all the ingredients together and talked about what needed to be done. The girls were involved in cutting the butter to make sure we had the right amount, and loved putting everything into the mixing bowl. They poured the flour and the dates into the mixing bowl and helped measure out the honey as well. My wife and I did the carrot grating and melting the butter, but the girls had a go with the electric blender and whisk under close supervision and loved it. Zoe and Mia making the mix The baking One we had the mix all sorted, we popped it in the over and started to prepare the icing. The girls really got involved in this, measuring out the cream cheese, butter and honey and were fascinated to see it all come together. When the cake had been in the over for about 35 minutes and had cooled down, they loved putting the icing on the cake. Looking good, and tasting good as well The tasting This was the big moment. How would it taste? We were delighted at how it came out, although we had perhaps left it in the oven for a bit too long. There was enough for all four of us to have a slice one day, and then to share it out with friends the following day. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles The Verdict We loved the whole process and philosophy of Little Cooks and we all think families will love the idea of spending time with each other on a practical and fun life skill. Here's what we each had to say: Dad: Loved the cake and loved the process of learning a bit of baking along with my girls. Mia, seven: I liked it because it smelled carroty. Zoe, five: I didn't like the taste of the cake but I liked every part of making it Mia enjoying making her carrot cake About Little Cooks It works on a subscription model with boxes being sent once a month. There are one, three, six or 12 month subscription plans, with prices ranging from one month is £12.99, three months £35.99, six months £59.99 and a year is £99.99. It prides itself on real food, organic where possible, including natural sugars and unprocessed ingredients. Overall out of five: FIVE


Carrot gets FDA nod for over-the-counter use of smoking cessation device

Carrot received 510(k) clearance to use its Pivot sensor for smoking cessation. It measures carbon monoxide levels in a person’s breath. Photo credit: Carrot Digital health startup Carrot received the green light from regulators for patients to use its smoking cessation device without physician oversight. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company makes an at-home device, called Pivot, that measures carbon monoxide in a person’s breath, which enters the bloodstream when a person smokes. Based on this device data, the company has built a digital health program including real-time feedback, text-based coaching and nicotine replacement treatment delivered to patients’ homes. It’s also drummed up partnerships with some health plans, including New York Life and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina. Part of the goal behind the company is to make quitting tobacco more accessible, rather than an intimidating, all-or-nothing process. The expanded indication was based on a single-arm, open-label study of 234 people who smoke. They used the device for 12 weeks, and filled out questionnaires on their attitudes toward quitting smoking and smoking behavior. By the end of the study, a little less than half of participants said they intended to quit smoking in the next month, compared to about 15% at the start of the study. About 55% of participants’ motivations remained unchanged, whether or not they intended to quit. About 48% said they had tried to quit after 12 weeks, and the number of cigarettes consumed per day decreased about 41% from the start of the study.But more rigorous data will be needed to prove that Carrot’s device had a meaningful impact on people’s smoking behaviors over the long term. Some future steps include a randomized, control trial and studies that follow people’s outcomes over the longer term.


Vaccine passports: Boris Johnson drops the carrot and picks up the stick

It has finally happened. After months of urging young people to do the right thing, Boris Johnson on Monday night tossed away the carrot and picked up the stick. With the air of a disappointed father vowing to remove privileges from an errant teenager, the Prime Minister warned that only the double jabbed will be allowed to play en masse in September. Nightclub and sporting privileges will be removed from refuseniks unwilling to help protect society, with vaccine passports introduced just in time to ruin freshers weeks around the country. In some ways, it was inevitable. Poll after poll warned that young people were far less likely to take up the offer of vaccination than older generations. According to YouGov, those aged 16 to 34 were twice as likely to say they would refuse the jab as those aged 55 to 75. By Sunday, every adult in the country had been offered a vaccine, yet three million 18 to 34-year-olds – 35 per cent – have either not booked an appointment or have decided to reject the jab. This is tricky when so much of the current Covid transmission is happening in younger age groups.  The most recent case rate data from Public Health England (PHE) shows that infections are highest in those aged 20 to 29, with 614 cases per 100,000 people compared to just 27.9 per 100,000 in the over-80s. It means the very people who are driving the pandemic are taking the least responsibility in stopping it. Yet their reluctance is easy to understand. Young people are at little risk from Covid and have faced huge disruption throughout the pandemic. Now their parents and grandparents have been protected, it is easy for them to believe they do not need a vaccination. Couple that with a generation bombarded with vaccine conspiracy theories through social media and you have the perfect recipe for non-compliance.  They may have got away with refusing the jab had it not been for one final nail in the coffin. On Monday, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ruled against giving vaccinations to the majority of children. There are around 13 million under-16s in Britain, which means that even with a perfect vaccine uptake only 80 per cent of the population could be vaccinated, making it far harder now to reach herd immunity – although it is still  possible that natural immunity could tip the scale. A soaring case rate also makes herd immunity harder to reach, so it has suddenly become far more important to scoop up the last remaining few million young people who have not yet come forward.  Now that the Government has committed itself to ending the school bubble system, it is crucial to keep community spread low to avoid outbreaks in unvaccinated populations of schoolchildren.  The Government will also have been watching carefully what has been happening in France, a notoriously vaccine-hesitant country. Last week, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, announced that citizens will need an immunity "health pass"  to visit bars and restaurants following poor vaccine uptake. On Monday, a record 926,000 French people booked their first dose through the online medical platform, with hundreds of thousands more booking slots on Tuesday. So it is a gamble that is likely to pay off for Mr Johnson. One suspects few youngsters will refuse a jab that helps get their lives back to something resembling normality. It may even teach them a little something about collective responsibility – and in an era of epidemic levels of self-absorption, that can only be a good thing. Should only the double-jabbed be allowed entry into large venues? Tell us in the comments section below