Monthly Archives: June 2011

Jun 29Making Homemade Kitty Treats with Kids

Every year, I look forward to the classes that I teach with the children who participate in the Marin Humane Society summer camp program. You might be wondering what on earth a cooking teacher might be doing at an animal shelter. Stop that! We are NOT cooking the animals. But we are cooking FOR them! Because so many of you have asked (via Facebook and Twitter) for the recipes over the years, I thought I'd share. See, I'm nice like that :-) Have you ever baked for your...

Jun 27Bouncing for Joy: Homemade Ice Cream with Kids

Summer - the simple joy of my daughter making ice cream with her friend, all on their own. In a creative way, of course. Want to try? My mom got us one of these nifty balls last year...Here is what we put inside to make our treat. Do you have any easy summertime treats in your repertoire?

Jun 24What's Cooking with YOUR Kids: ADHD and Blueberr...

What’s Cooking with YOUR Kids: ADHD and Blueberries

An afternoon with my son… warm, sweet, and tangy by Penny Williams Luke, my special needs son, and I had Saturday afternoon to ourselves -- just Mommy and Buddy. Daddy was working in his shop. Emma was on a spontaneous trip to the movies with a friend. I could sit on the computer all day and night between my blog, my real estate business, reading everyone else's great blogs on ADHD and parenting and family, researching ADHD, writing on my manuscript (I'd like to think it will become a book...

Jun 22Parenting: Progress NOT Perfection

Bring a parent is really hard. This is probably the only parenting issue that I am 100% certain about. We do the best that we know how to do. But let's be honest for a second. Do you ever have the temptation to avoid reality for just a moment, so that there would be less to feel guilty about? Before Robyn O'Brien was forced to look at the foods she was feeding her family, she didn't enjoy being "preached at" about the benefits of drinking organic milk. She had enough on her mind. She...

Jun 20Teaching Kids about Safe Ways to Harvest Shrimp

Children are hungry for knowledge. And they are our future consumers. All the more reason to teach them how to harvest food and shop wisely. DooFAPalooza was the ideal venue to inspire kids to play with their food and learn how to have fun and make good choices at the same time. Clean Fish led an interesting hands on activity with kids, teaching them about how shrimp are currently harvested. And even better than that? They made suggestions for a better alternative. Take a gander... If...

Jun 17Delicious Dessert Recipe – Just 4 Ingredients!

This recipe might surprise you. Especially coming from me. I usually write about healthy recipes and encouraging kids to eat well. But I have to tell you - I love dessert too. I just prefer good quality desserts over processed, packaged junk. And this dessert? Let's just say...OMG. It's easy. It's made from good ingredients. And it tastes good. I mean, REALLY good. I was inspired to make this recipe from my friend Naomi, over at Baker's Royale, who originally made this...

Jun 15Garden to Table Workshop: IACP Kids in the Kitch...

Garden to Table Workshop: IACP Kids in the Kitchen

For the second year in a row, I attended the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference. Much like last year's experience in Portland, this year's event in Austin opened its arms wide and greeted me with a smile. I came to town early for my first ever bookstore appearance (yay!). The staff at Book People were wonderful and we were easily able to draw families to our area of the store by offering a hands on cooking activity for children. An added bonus for me, of...

Jun 13My Not-So-Secret Love of Backyard Chickens

Several years ago, my daughter joined 4H. I did a happy dance because that meant that we finally had a legitimate excuse to get chickens. I have always been an animal girl, but when I was growing up, my mom never allowed me to get any pets beyond the family dog. It was sort of traumatic, actually. In 3rd grade, my class raised crayfish to learn about their life cycle. Many of the other children were allowed to keep theirs, but I had to release "Pokey" into the stream instead. When I was 13...

Jun 10Canned Alaskan Salmon – Healthy and Sustainable

I meet the coolest people through my job. I love connecting with families who are excited about feeding their children good food, and I love meeting food producers, who nourish us. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Shirley, the president of Pure Alaska Salmon Co. She comes from a long line of salmon fishermen (and women, of course) and cares deeply for the quality of the food that she eats and for the environmental implications of those choices. I had a few ideas for our...

Jun 8Post Conference Depression Syndrome

I spent the past week in Austin, Texas, for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Conference. And now that I am home, I believe I have officially recognized a new disorder. It is called Post Conference Depression Syndrome (aka PCDS). I attended the conference as a form of Professional Development, to learn more about the culinary industry... To connect with old friends... ...and network with new ones. I was eager to form partnerships with...