I can't think of anything sadder than a hungry kid. One of the issues I care about most is improving the quality of food in public schools, not just for my own kids, but for those who might have it as the only meal of their day. More than 12 million children in the United States are growing up ...
Kitchen Chronicles
Blog it Forward to Fight Hunger — Your comments = Food!
Always willing to support a good cause, Shannon and I have decided that the Cooking With Friends Club will participate in the “Blog it Forward to Fight Hunger” initiative being led by Shoprite in conjunction with General Mills. As our members and readers, you can show your support by posting a ...
Playdate Gardening
Backyard playdates have taken a new turn this summer. At at least three recently, it's turned into a gardening and snacking session for the kids. At Emily's house, the kids asked if they could pick some yellow beans. Before the moms knew it, they put them in bags and announced they were opening a ...
A Lot of Scrubbing
Last Tuesday, I picked up my CSA share and then lugged two over stuffed bags of farm fresh veggies to Liz’s house. The plan was to use up as many as possible while creating meals. I walked into Liz’s, plopped down the two heavy bags on her counters, and we began to unload -- Fava beans, carrots, ...
Radishes, Radishes, and More Radishes
"So, what are you doing with your radishes?" is the big neighborhood question these days, after a bumper crop for the farm supplying the weekly veggie box for many of us. It's a wonderful conversation to have, to find out some of the innovative ways people are cooking and creating. It's a way to ...
My Stuffed Fridge
My first week back to reality and my husband is already complaining that our refrigerator is stuffed. To him it looks crowded. To me it’s just right. With my stackable containers filled with summer salads — corn, lentil, bean — (ok, maybe they aren’t stacked neatly the way they should be), I open ...
My Kitchen Away from Home
A few days back from vacation and I am already thinking about the kitchen I left three thousand miles and an ocean behind. Thoughts of my family, images of colorful fruits and vegetables, foreign labels and new cooking tools are still vibrant, but merely memories and not the everyday vacation life ...
Pasta Primavera Thursdays
Every Thursday, we eagerly open our CSA (community supported agriculture) box of fresh veggies from a local farm--spring onions, kale, radishes, bok choy, sugar snap peas, cilantro and kohlrabi have been some of the stars so far. The weekly arrival of surprise ingredients dovetails wonderfully with ...
The Fish Boil
In Door County, Wisconsin, where we recently spent a few days, people have for hundreds of years been cooking a communal dinner called a Fish Boil. It's a simple, delicious meal, just perfect for this low-key beach area about four hours from Madison. First, in a huge cauldron of water (think ...
The Pavlovian Effect
Sometimes just the presence of a friend in the kitchen is enough motivation to start cooking. (It’s very Pavlovian actually.) This effect took place the other day as my friend Jackie and I were having tea together. Although I tried to sit back, relax and sip tea, I found myself a bit fidgety, ...