January in Australia is summer, and it is then we have our summer holidays. In Adelaide where I live it is also the hottest time of the year, sometimes reaching temperatures of 45 Degrees Centigrade (113F) with clear blue skies and weeks without rain.

Ideal weather for solar experiments with the kids, as they tend to become a little crazy staying inside out of the sun.

On 5th January 2013 I was trying to clean my workshop when I came across a big roll of self-adhesive foil tape and just at the same time my daughter Eva (4yo) decided she wanted me to do something with her and it was then I had an idea. "We can make a solar cooker with this" I said, "can we cook sausages on it?" said Eva, "yes maybe lets see."

I also got out an old off-set parabolic satellite dish I'd been keeping in the shed and so Eva set about peeling the backing of the foil tape while I stuck it on the dish reflector.