Epic Cake Decorating Day

Beanstalk Stump Cake

Our school has a fair every October, but because we just joined the school last January we have never been to the feté.  One of the requirement for every class is to bake a cake for the cake walk.  There is also a friendly competition for the snazziest cake, so naturally I wanted to enter.  I immediately started thinking of something to make and as usual my mind was blank. I usually don't have a clue what I will make but I got lucky here. Our class booth is the "sleeping giant," you know the Jack and the Bean Stalk story.  I figured I'd make a beanstalk themed cake, the ax was an afterthought but my favorite part!!  

My eight year old wanted to make a cake too she went with the draw bridge theme, I love her cake! She made a sitting night at rest with his helmet off hanging out by the river.

We worked, mostly in silence sharing tools, ideas for hours. 

 What a treat to be able to sit with my daughter and craft something that we are both totally absorbed in.  Who knows if either of our cakes will win a prize but I know someone lucky cake walk winner will be taking them home for sure!

Claire's drawbridge and Knight cake

UPDATE
Claire took first place in her division!!!
YEA CLAIRE!!
I won nothing.....

Let The Kids Decide What's For Dinner

Kids love to give their opinion and to be the boss so let them, sometimes.  Dinner can be tricky with toddlers and siblings and distractions.  It’s hard to tear them away from a game or task to come to the table.  Admit it, if you were in the middle of writing an email or playing with Lego's and someone made you get up in the middle of it for dinner you may be have a tantrum too. We need to be gentle with kids, they live in a whole other world of make believe and play, they may be in the room but their minds can be elsewhere. A warning 10 minutes before dinner can make a huge difference in getting them to the table with sanity!  If that trick fails then for sure involve them in the dinner planning to start their engines. 

Kids want to be involved, feel independent and be a part of the group. Get them involved in dinner, planning so they know what to expect.

Start small by stocking your fridge with healthy brightly colored veggies, and proteins. Keep a well stocked pantry full of whole grains and rice and beans.

When it comes time to plan dinner have your kids help choose a veggie, a protein and a starch.  Let them know that plain pasta just will not give them the energy they need to play for hours. (remember eating a rainbow is the way to grow) Letting your child understand choices gives them confidence and good decision making skills. Set them up for success by starting with simple choices.

Pick Your Toppings Pasta Night

Once they decide on the 3 or 4 ingredients,  cook them up and, put them in separate dishes and let them “mix” their own bowl for dinner. Feel free to offer a sauce on the side like olive oil or Alfredo and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. We like to have a bunch of sauces and spices on the table so everyone can tailor the meal to their liking.  Get them used to seeing different foods arrive each night.  Give them some guidelines, for instance, only add ingredients one spoonful at a time, it is easier to add than take away.  and they have to try everything they have chosen to mix in. Give lots of praise even if it tastes bland and boring. Try to avoid saying something tastes bad in front of a child, being negative around food will quickly create a picky eater. This is about building self-esteem around eating not necessarily what they end up eating. The point here is you are putting them in the driver seat, put on your seat belt and get ready to take a ride.

Grown-ups can go heavy on the veggies to model meals for the kids.  Adding nuts is a great way to get protein too!

Choose wisely like trying whole-wheat pasta vs. white pasta, shredded zucchini vs. sausage, white beans and grilled chicken instead of ground beef. 

Use ingredients like bacon and some meat as seasonings or flavorings instead of using them as the star of a dish.  

For do-it-yourself pasta night here are a 2 ingredient suggestions, using the same pan, sauté one after another.  

To sauté, heat a large shallow pan on medium heat, add 1- 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add your first ingredient, continuing adding until everything is cooked.

Chicken-ish Pasta Dish 

Chicken apple sausage, cut in rounds and sautéed

Sautéed zucchini rounds

Cooked whole-wheat rigatoni or elbows

Shredded green apples, raw to add on top

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Gobble It Up Turkey Sauté

Ground turkey, sautéed

Broccoli florets, steamed

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Quinoa or Brown rice, cooked

Taco Night

The ever-popular taco night, another great way to get your kids experimenting! Put out bowls of ingredients and let the kids add what they like. Smearing re-fried beans in the bottom of the taco can help the ingredients stick, thus preventing ingredient spillage! Cutting the ingredients into small bits makes it easier for little mouths. Use soft or crunchy taco shells and lots of healthy ingredients like:

 

Corn tortillas, soft or crunchy

Ground beef or turkey or a mixture (cooked with taco seasoning and crumbled)

Shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese

Shredded lettuce

Green or black olives, sliced

Avocado, sliced

Red or green salsa, mild

Re fried beans, organic, warmed

Diced tomato

small amounts of sour cream

corn off the cob

caramelized onions (raw onion can be too harsh for kids)

Crunchy Granola a Whole New Generation

A fun craft to serve your creation in

My latest article from Edible Fall 2011

Stone's Soup Corner
Crunchy Granola a whole new generation...
When I told my parents 18 years ago that I was moving to California, they labeled me as "crunchy granola." I was pretty offended. After all, I wasn't a hippie; I was a modern 20-something heading to San Francisco to seek out conversations about art in cafés with Beat poet types! They also asked me when I was coming back, to which I replied "never."

After a year or so in San Francisco, I decided to set aside my artist's tools and take up cooking–the right choice, looking back. The joke is on me because now one of my favorite recipes is what I call "Grab and Go Granola." I guess I was "crunchy granola" after all!

The ways of Woodstock may be gone, but the tradition of making healthy homemade snacks is alive and thriving. These days, "health food" is not just for love-in breakfasts or others on the fringe; it is mainstream. Snacks like granola are soaring in popularity and it seems every time you turn around there is a new gourmet granola on the market shelf. There are fruity ones, nutty ones, even regular-old cereals masquerading as granolas. A great way to ensure that your family truly is getting a healthy, wholesome granola is to make your own–and it's an easy and fun activity for kids, too!



KITCHEN CRAFT

In the cooking and gardening camps at Napa's Connolly Ranch, we teach the kids to make pots for seedlings out of newspaper. These paper pots are also a fun way to serve snacks like homemade granola. You can use newspaper or even plain copier paper or construction paper for colored snack cups. This is a fun and creative activity for parties and play dates, too. Try making different shapes, like squares or rectangles!

Materials needed:

Sheets of paper
Tape
Markers or crayons
A can (vegetable or soup cans work well)

To make:

1. Cut or fold the paper so that you have a piece that is long enough to fit all the way around the can (with a slight overlap) and is about 1 inch higher than the height of the can.

2. Wrap the paper around the can and tape the seam to seal the paper around the can–but not so tightly that you won't be able to slip it off.

3. Fold one end of the paper under the can to form a bottom for your cup.

4. Tape the seams to secure the bottom.

5. Have your child draw a design on the paper, then slip it off the can.

6. Fill your cups with your homemade granola or any other dry snack.

Grab and Go Granola 

Granola is easy to make and store and it is delicious plain or as a topping. Try it on yogurt! My recipe below is easy and adaptable. Add more or less of any ingredient to your liking and it will always be delicious. Experiment with different types of nuts and dried fruits–dried blueberries or cranberries give it a flavorful punch. Make a double batch because it will disappear quickly.

Yield: About 6 cups

INGREDIENTS

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (Note: Using large-flake coconut adds a great chewy texture.)
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ or flax meal
2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
2 cups almonds, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds or flax seeds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey 1/2 pound butter, melted
3/4 cup dried currants or golden raisins

TO PREPARE

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Spread coconut on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 5 minutes, checking constantly. Once coconut starts to toast it will brown quickly, so keep an eye on it. Bake until the edges are golden, then remove from the oven and transfer coconut to a shallow dish to cool. Once cooled, crush to break apart into individual strands.

Decrease the oven temperature to 300° F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small pan, melt honey, maple syrup and butter and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ or flax meal, sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds or flax, cinnamon and nutmeg, then stir well to combine.

Pour melted honey, maple syrup and butter mixture over oat mixture, then stir well to combine. Spread on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake at 300° F. for about 25 minutes, until lightly golden. Check often to make sure it does not burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then break up any large chunks with your hands and add the coconut and dried fruit. Store in an airtight container.

Hawaiian Birthday Bash, The Rain and Hula

Message in a bottle

Our pretzel hut.

Seven years past and now she's eight, not a toddler anymore but that doesn't mean that food can't still be fun!!

Claire was dead set on having a Hawaiian themed birthday this year, quite appropriate because we has just been to Maui for the first time 2 weeks prior to her party. We let her plan the favors and get a bunch of them in Hawaii, she wanted authentic Hawaiian goodies. We planned for goodies that were reusable and somewhat eco friendly.

The original party was planned for our back yard with a surprise of authentic Hula dancers and a lesson for the girls but the weather worried me. The forecast was cold and rainy and I could just imagine 18 wet and cold crabby girls. At the last minute I secured a gymnastic location, not my first choice but it seemed better than cold wet 8 year olds!

Making faces on the cheese people.

Pineapple with dried fruit

Table with leaves and shells

Pouches from Hawaii with a necklace in each one.

Decorated cups

The logistical issue was with the hula dancers and since I'd paid the deposit I was dead set on having them show.  We had to squeeze the gymnastics and dancers, snacks and cake into an hour and a half! Well I am happy to report it worked and better yet it was fast and easy!

I has some idea of what I wanted the food to be like but since had just had knee surgery the week before and was on crutches I had to give up some control. (yes that is tough for me) 

The lucky part is that I had a cookie decorating class lined up two days before the party and to my surprise it ended up being a beach theme. I used the cookies I made on the cake I just got lucky they went so well.  So I will show you what we came up with, some prior some day of the party. 

My long drawn out point here is that if you have some basic stuff on hand you can come up with a fun and creative party! 

Dried banana leaves as name tags

Here is some of what I had:

Cheese

deli turkey

dried fruit

shells

some Hawaiian decorations I got at the dollar store.

cloth napkins....

I got a pineapple not really knowing what I would use it for but it was a perfect way to skewer dried fruit and attach it to the pineapple with flowery picks to serve!

I rolled the cheese and turkey and drew faces with an edible ink marker.

The shells were decoration.

My mom helped me glue fabric flowers and Claire added stickers to the drink cups.

We used large banana leaves as tags on our goodie bags.

The cake we made with sugar cookies attached.

The cake was planned, Claire made to hut and cut out fondant flowers.

I ordered a sushi platter.

We had gotten sugar cane in Hawaii and added it to the drink cups.

The kids loved it and it ended up being a great day....it never rained!!

Girls in their Hula skirts learning a dance.

A happy birthday girl at home after the party.

Jessica Alba a Regular Mom: SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.

SPY KIDS:  ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D In theaters August 19th 

When we are in the kitchen we smell everything, I always ask the kids to tell me to describe the ingredients to me. We pick basil and rosemary and take big sniffs to get our creative juices flowing.  The new movie Spy Kids, All The Time In The World is in 4D has smell-a-vision or Aroma Scope, which means we get to smell what the actors are smelling! When you get to the theater you will get a scratch and sniff card, I know my generation will be excited. (I speak for all of us when I say we loved our scratch and sniff stickers)
 

Joel McHale, Jessica Alba, Mason Cook and Rowan Blanchard in "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D"

Jessica Alba star of Spy Kids All The Time In The World was as sweet over the phone as she seems to be on the big screen. She is very down to earth and seems like a regular gal who has made quite a name for herself in Hollywood. She has a 3 year old girl and had her second daughter on August 13th and is absolutely thrilled. Although she says she can't imagine having them grow up or be teenagers, she says that gives her a panic attack!  I was invited in on a call where a number of Bloggers got to ask her a few questions about her new movie, SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.  

 

There were some great questions about how she balances her time between family and work, what her favorite scene was and my question about feeding her toddler of course!

Chef Jen's question: Your new movie is called Spy Kids All The Time In The World. I am pretty sure that you don't feel like you have all the time in the world! Being a mom I want to know what your best go to snack is for your daughter? 

Jessica:

Although her daughter is picky at times she is a good eater. Her go to snack is fruit (I loved hearing this) 

On the run she grabs grapes. She says her daughter is all about being a big girl so when she gets a whole apple she is thrilled. Her daughter knows not to eat the seeds in the middle too.  She loves to eat peaches, mom says even though they are messy it's a big girl fruit that keeps her occupied!

JESSICA ALBA as Marissa Cortez Wilson in "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D"

My friend Amy of the The Family Chef 

asked Jessica, "what is your family's favorite meal?" Jessica replied with some of our family favorites like rice, veggies and she says her husband makes great tacos. She also said her daughter changes her mind 40 times a night, sounds like a typical 3 year old to me! Her daughter is good eater even though she can be picky, again, a typical 3 year old. 

Although many would describe her as an exotic beauty, Alba was raised in a traditional hardworking American family in California. She said she and her brother were always made to feel like they were number one. Although her mom sometimes held 3 jobs she made time to make them feel important and took the time to check in and remind them they are a priority. Jessica talked about working less these days and prioritizing time to spend with her family, I like this idea, and I think I will try it.

So if you are looking for something to do on a hot summer day, cool off with this cool new movie.

Spy Kids All The Time In The World

Synopsis
On the surface, Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) has it all...married to a famous spy hunting television reporter, a new baby and intelligent twin step kids.  But in reality, trying to mother Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who clearly don’t want her around, is her toughest challenge yet.  Also, her husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), wouldn’t know a spy if he lived with one which is exactly the case - Marissa’s a retired secret agent...

(All images courtesy of the Weinstein Company)

My Kitchen - A Well Oiled Machine?

Disclaimer - I wrote this on a Spanish computer in an Internet cafe in Spain, please forgive spelling and formatting mistakes!

I was going crazy trying to cook in my kitchen! Yes I love kitchen equipment but my closet, my attic and my shed are not proper places to store my coveted equipment. Special things like a Le Creuset pot that Jacques Pépin gave me for working on his show years ago. A tea tin from Martin Yan from China, and various other important items, you get the picture. I always wanted to have someone help me organize my kitchen but it was always last on the list. I love those shows about getting organized, where a team ambushes you, tears apart your house and puts it all back together again!  I had my friend and organizer create a workspace in my office about two years ago and it was amazing. 

5 ways to know if you need a kitchen reorg!

1. If you only buy pre-made food because you can't get to your pots and pans.

2.  If you spend to much money buying items you already have but can't but don´t know they are in the cabinet.

3. If you never let your kids help in the kitchen for fear of an avalanche and trip to the hospital.

4. If your phone and take out menus are your best asset in the kitchen.

5. If when you walk in your kitchen you feel defeated before you start cooking.

I was starting to feel all 5 of these things in my own kitchen. I used to make more homemade pasta, breads and tortillas but all my tools had become buried and it was way too much work to dig them. Unless I was developing a recipe I felt as if my creativity had fizzled due to sloppiness.  I tried to do it myself, to organize a few drawers at a time, I thought I was doing so well but I wasn´t because hacking away one mess at a time was not effective. When My friend Diane a home organizer came to dinner one night I found her on her hands and knees pulling apart on of my cabinets. She looked at me and said, "how do you function in here?" Instead of being annoyed I just said, "well I obviously need help." So we scheduled a day for the kitchen to be transformed and I felt relief.  I wish I had taken "before" photos to show you but let's just say it wasn't good. Diane Woodall is amazing, she took apart my kitchen and put it back together again as a well oiled machine I am glad I made the call.  Here are some after photos for you.

My oils and vinegars used to be down below in my island and very hard to see. Now all my go-to ingredients are at eye level for easy access.

Everything is where we can see it now.

Slide out drawers for easy access.

This tall cabinet was full of shoes but now it is full of appliances I can easily get to.

We love paper straws, they are pretty and better than plastic for the environment and easy to reach now in the straw jar.

Look now I have an empty space!

Easy as Pie!

It's not apple season yet but at the Connolly Ranch where I run my cooking camp there is a tree and it does have apples. They apples are TART, well downright sour I'd say. The kids don't seem to mind though, they eat them because they get to pick them! Mostly they are used for making fresh pressed apple juice with the ol' press. The juice is divine but as for eating the apples could use another few months on the tree.

When it comes to kids they don't seem to care if the fruit is in season or if it has hit it's maximum sweetness I know this because all 130 kids at my camp enjoyed these apples. My daughter loved them so much that she smuggled home about 10 apples and asked if we could make pie! I thought "pie, in July, from apples...not exactly the fruit I'd choose. How about we use cherries or peaches I asked?"

Her response, "nope we have these green apples from the ranch, I want to use these," I agreed.  I did remember that I had a lump of pie dough in the freezer from last summer (it was Food Saved so don't think I was using some old freezer burned dough)  The great part was that I had worked cheddar cheese to the dough in an attempt to make a "fun flavorful" dough.

Cutting apples with kids can be scary until their knife skills get better...we used a chopper. I cut the apples and gave her the chopper to chop them with.  I told her to chop them very small so they would cook faster. She loved whacking the apples and obliterating them!

The easy thing about pie is you don't need a pie dish, free form pies or tarts are fun because they always look so pretty and rustic. You can pass of the "rustic" tart or pie as beautiful, anytime!

We needed a way to sweeten the apples without dumping a bunch of sugar on them and recently my daughter discovered that she likes apricot preserves. I wanted to use up the jar we had so I suggested it and she agreed.

Kids seem to love kitchen tools and the more you use the more skills they can gain in the kitchen.

We used a rubber pastry brush (not pictured) to spread warmed jam on the crust, they are perfect for this job easy to clean.  Warming and stirring the preserves makes them easy to spread.  After spreading the jam we added our apples, some droplets of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar for richness and a pinch of salt.

I taught her how to fold the crust up so the sweet goodness wouldn't leak out.

We baked it for 1/2 hour at 400F and it was amazing!!! She was so proud of her pie!!

Pickled Carrots or Carrot Pickles?

"Mom, I'd like to make some pickles but from carrots. What would we call them, pickled carrots or carrot pickles?"

I have been in the kitchen every second of every spare minute working on styling recipes for a cookbook with my husband the photographer. I have made, cookies, fudge, omelets, shakes, scones, pretty much everything you can imagine. Somehow in between the recipes for the project and meals for my family (and not to mention I'm running a full time cooking camp for 3 weeks!) I am cooking with my daughter. We are making Popsicles in our Zoku, pies, hand ground corn tortillas, eggs, grilled cheese on a stick,  pickles...you get the point. I love what I do don't get me wrong but summer is tough when the kids are out of school and schedules are out of whack.

She has always loved my food but I have been waiting for her to blossom as a little chef and it happened. The timing is all-wrong, I mean really kid, couldn't you wait until I wasn't so busy? The answer is is that it doesn't matter, I will always be busy and I HAD to take advantage of this NOW! Her taste buds are hopping and her little brain is churning with ideas, it's my job to facilitate that. If my kid wants to try onions I sure as hell am going to help her with that! Tonight she made a pie that was so delicious I was in awe. Sure I help her, give her tips and even chop ingredients but I am really trying to let her drive, really trying. as she gets more comfortable with the equipment I will just sit in the passenger seat and try not to use the invisible brake.

Sweet Pickled Carrots 

Getting kids to eat acidic foods or foods with any flavor can be a challenge but if  THEY make this recipe they may change their mind!  This is a great kid friendly base recipe for pickling veggies, let them add a variety of veggies or other herbs and spices to experiment.

Great on tacos!!

 

Makes about 8 cups

Ingredients :

    2 pounds organic carrots, 1/8" slices

    1 medium onion, finely sliced half moons

    2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

    2 cups water

    3/4 cup vinegar of your choice (recommend 1 part rice vinegar and 2 parts ume plum vinegar)

    ¾  or up to 1 cup sugar

    1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Blanch carrots in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Place carrots, onions and garlic in two 3 cup glass jars or bowl with a cover.

2. Meanwhile, add water, vinegar(s), sugar and salt to a saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil and ensure sugar has been completely dissolved.

3.  Pour hot liquid over vegetables. Let cool to room temperature, cover and store in refrigerator.

Announcing Our SodaStream Winner!!

Congratulations APRIL J. you win!!!

Thank you for all your entries and keep looking for our next great giveaway starting very soon!!

Salad Days

It finally happened, yes it's true...my child loves salad!! I knew the day would come, she always liked her veggies and was OK with chomping on lettuce, but a salad was not on the menu for her. Salad is a tough one for kids, it can be acidic, or slightly soggy or just green! The advice I give in my cookbook Toddler Cafe is to present some form of salad every night.  Put it on the plate, just a few leaves and cut up veggies let your child get used to seeing the veggies there but don't force it. You may end up eating a few extra veggies while you are cleaning up because they probably will leave them untouched every night for years....but...eventually they will eat it. (fingers crossed)

Another tip is to use very crisp lettuce like baby Romaine and cut it small. I like to cut the length of the leaf and then across to make smaller bite size pieces. Having to manage large leaves of lettuce can be un-fun for little mouths, so chop all the ingredients small.

 Of course it was not all my hard work and determination to get her to like salad, it was school! One day the second grade made a salad, they were so excited it was as if they had just all gotten a candy bar or something!! All 17 of them came screaming in the class room, "LOOK WHAT WE MADE, LOOK WHAT WE MADE, WE MADE A SALAD!!!!"

I just happened to be in the classroom for reading groups and got the witness the total frenzy of excited eight year olds first hand.  It was so cute, they were so proud of harvesting and making the salad including the dressing.

That night when Kidlet came home she asked if she could make a salad for our dinner. She has always cooked with me and always created her own "recipes" but she hadn't really made anything fully edible yet on her own. I said with gusto, "sure you can make the salad tonight!" I fully thought it would be horrible, I mean she has been making salad for her pet rat but now she's working on one we are going to eat!! I knew there would be a mess, corn smashed on my socks and dried up lettuce to be scraped off the floor but I didn't care.

She chose her ingredients and I helped get the appropriate tools for her. I showed her how to scrape the food in to the bowl from the cutting board instead of manhandling it in small fistfuls into the bowl.

She made the dressing with lemon, olive oil, salt and a few drops of Balsamic vinegar. Her veggies were, sweet corn, broccoli, carrots, lettuces and parsley, all chopped well.

She tossed it and served it and was beaming and proud and truth be told it was really good!!

Now she wants to make the salad every Friday night, we dubbed it Shabbat Salad and she is in charge of  that part of the meal now.  We always say what we are happy about on Friday dinner and on that particular Friday I was happy my daughter was exited about salad!