hi there
I would recommend the old favourite - Annabel Karmel - a lot of her initial recipes (in fact I think she has a baby purees book now) are easy to adapt to the baby cook (which I also have and love)
What time of day do I give it to her?
I would recommend the time you would give her her mid morning milk feed - just a few minutes before, so she is not too hungry to want to try from a spoon. Also, with one meal a day, if anything disagrees with her, she has time to work it through in the day, rather than at night which is always more distressing for all involved.
Do I give her the 8oz bottle before or after the solids?
After. it is important she still gets a lot of milk at this stage. You are just aiming at introducing tastes, rahter than filling her up. Take it all at her pace - better 2 enthusiastic mouthfuls than 4 bad ones.
Am I supposed to cut down her formula bottle?
No, not at all. if you get Annabel Karmel, she has in some books a timetable for when to time and introduce feeds as well as suggested menu plans.
Should I start with veggies or fruit first?
it doesn't matter. Good first ones are pear or carrot. When you are cooking your own evening meal, stick a bit of the veg of furit in the baby cook at the same time, freeze in a tiny pot and then you can defrost and reheat when required.
Should I mix her solids with a bit of baby rice to make it a bit milder?
You can do, but most initial flavours are bland anyway - all my 3 liked stronger flavours and despised baby rice on its own.
Do I need to change her formula to the follow on milk for 6 month olds?
I don't think so. it is a bit of a marketing gimmick, and although it does no harm, she will be getting iron from her diet soon anyway. follow on has made my dd (although not the boys before her) very constipated, so do be careful and if you do decide to switch do so gradually.
Good luck - let her get messy and enjoy it as much as you can. HTH