Category Archives: Just for Fun

Jan 17How NOT To Give a Cookbook As A Gift (and cake!)...

I know that the holidays are over, and you probably don't have to think about giving anyone a gift for awhile. But after receiving what was quite possibly the most unsuitable-for-me-cookbook, I have a few thoughts on the idea of appropriate gift-giving. Know something about the person you are giving a gift to. If you like the person, try to learn something about her interests or recent experiences. For example, if the person recently had gastric bypass surgery, you probably don't want to buy...

Dec 29Back from Vacation (+ food quotes to make you la...

Back from Vacation (+ food quotes to make you laugh!)

Ahhh, there's nothing like getting away from the daily grind for a little while. We just returned from a family trip with lots of relatives, and for the first time, I don't need a vacation from my vacation. Nice. We stayed at a low key resort, where all of our meals were included. (There's more on that, later.) But in the meantime, I thought I'd warm up my blogging fingers with a few quotes that I overheard that made me chuckle. Some are from parents to their children or the chefs, and...

Dec 8Kids: 3 Reasons to Play With Your Food

Yes. I said, "Play with your food." Here are 3 reasons why... 1. Liking new foods takes time. Each experience touching, smelling, seeing, and tasting foods may bring you that much closer to falling in love. 2. You might learn something. Maybe what you thought was a prickly pear is really a bitter melon! Who knew? 3. It's fun. And kids are supposed to have fun. (You, too, parents!) These photos were taken at the Solano Stroll at the DooF booth. If you want...

Nov 3Coming Soon - Our New Site: What's Cooking With ...

Coming Soon – Our New Site: What’s Cooking With Kids

Aside from Halloween festivities, there is lots to catch you up on: our attempts at a dairy elimination diet for our son, more school salad bar trials and tribulations (we have our very own Alice!), and a brand new website! After years of having two websites (one for What's Cooking and one for the blog), it's time for a face lift and a new look. Pretty soon, we'll be unveiling our new site: What's Cooking with Kids. There will be a brand new url (http://www.whatscookingwithkids.com) and I hope...

Jul 8I haven't forgotten you, dear readers

Hi, Just a quick note to let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have been really busy working on my book, which is due on September 1st. Things are heating up, so to speak. The publisher just informed me that they have named the book, formerly called, "It." I was starting to feel like a bad mother, calling my third child "It" all the time. I am waiting to get the clearance from the editorial team to tell you the new name...I think I like it. It's a little strange...

Jun 9I Won the 2010 Parent & Child Green Blog Awa...

This has been quite a week! I just returned home from Washington DC where I attended the launch of Michelle Obama's Chefs Move to Schools campaign. And as if that weren't cool enough for one week lifetime, I just found out that this very blog won the Scholastic Parent & Child Green Blog award! I'll be featured in the August/September issue along with the winners from 5 other categories. Don't miss it! Thank you for all of your support! I could have never made it without you. ps....

Jun 4Powerful Lyrics: Mouths To Feed

On an already emotional day of service and community building, I nearly went over the edge when our school principal dedicated this song to me. He wrote the song after taking a tour of the farms in West Marin with MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust). He has been very supportive of my work trying to change our school lunch program and wanted to publicly acknowledge how important it is to know where our food comes from and support our local farmers. I was touched when he shared the lyrics with...

May 24Vote for What's Cooking as Scholastic'...

Yowza! It's such an honor to be selected as a finalist for the Scholastic Parent & Child Parent Blogger Awards in the Green category. You know what would be an even bigger honor? If you would take a second to cast your vote for What's Cooking...and tell your friends to do the same. You might even want to tweet about it or put it on your facebook page! Voting ends on June 4, 2010. The more people that know about the What's Cooking blog, the more people we can inspire to consider the environment...

Apr 13SOS! Earth-Friendly, Kid Pleasing Dinners for Bu...

I am so proud of my friend Aviva. Not only does she help families get dinner on the table with her menu planning service, The Six O'Clock Scramble, but she also makes the environment a priority. Her new book, SOS! The Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue; Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families, came out TODAY and I want to give you a copy! I can't help but want to get a copy of this book in every family's hands... It offers tips for making meals, even if families are busy. It...

Mar 31Fun Passover Seder with Kids

We celebrated the first night of Passover at our friend's house. We have celebrated the holiday with them several years in a row and laughed when their 7 year old daughter said we were "like cousins that we see every year at Passover." I thought I'd mix things up a little this year. I brought my trusty Bag of Plagues, and scattered them all over the table for our (thankfully) brief ceremony. And for some exciting news... A publishing house told me today that they are interested in my book...