When you cook with a friend, one of the best benefits is you genuinely learn more about that person. You talk about all kinds of life things, you find out where she keeps her spices, and -- this is one of my favorites --what kinds of foods she likes and dislikes. One of the first questions when ...
Kitchen Chronicles
Fried Rice Demo
Fried rice has been the topic at our Thursday morning playgroup lately. Why, you may ask? Well, because it’s a perfect “one dish meal” for the family. It can be made quickly, is packed with a ton of veggies, whatever protein you like, and uses day old rice: What could be better? Jackie makes her ...
Communal Cooking With Kids
You all know we are huge fans of sharing our kitchens with our kids, making everything from granola to pizza a group experience with family and friends. But I wanted to tell you about three projects my preschooler and kindergartner have done this year in their schools, which show communal "cooking" ...
Sunday Dinner Just Waiting
The idea of a sit down Sunday dinner with family and friends may sound appealing, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. With weekends jam packed with errands or kid-centered activities, coming inside to cook on a Sunday afternoon doesn’t always work. The urge to entertain and serve a home cooked ...
Family Recipes
If there's anything more wonderful than a family recipe, it's continuing the tradition by sharing it with children, family, and friends. I was so lucky this week to when Lori chose her Ukrainian family's pierogie recipe for a cooking date. Katrina, Lori and I took turns rolling little balls of ...
Let’s Get Ready to Spread the Word
For those of you who regularly cook with your friends and others who are “converts,” you know how contagious it is. You’ve “been there done that” and are hooked. We’re excited to announce that a whole lot more women are about to discover what we already know to be so great. We’re excited to be ...
Stockpiling With Friends
The real-time note on facebook from my cooking friend Katrina popped up as I was posting about some food adventures. Katrina, in her first trimester with her third child, asked if sometime the month before the baby is due I could come over and big batch cook and freeze with her, stockpiling her ...
Irish Soda Bread? (Well, sort of.)
To acknowledge St. Patrick’s Day, Jackie and I wanted to cook something this morning that would celebrate the holiday but that would also be well received by our kids. For me, corned beef was out of the question, since I spend the dinner hour on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway on Tuesdays. (Yes, ...
When Store-Bought Won’t Cut It
Last Thursday, my son Zack had his friend Oliver over for an after-school play-date. I greeted them with cookies and, if you can imagine, they turned them down when they realized they weren’t homemade. Oliver, who is obviously used to home baked chocolate chip cookies as well, was less-than pleased ...
Rethinking the Dinner Party
The main reason many of us don't have more dinner parties, or even one or two friends over for dinner, is that we put too much pressure on ourselves alone to shop, cook, entertain and clean. Let's rethink the dinner party and make it a communal experience, not just a potluck but a time to come ...