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Moqueca: A Dish That Fuses Old World and New World Ingredients

I still don't really remember how the conversation started. All I know is that D asked if I would help his friends cook a dish that used old world and new world ingredients...for their AP World History project. I never say 'no' to kids wanting to cook something. Initially D wasn't involved; he just asked me to help R and J. Sure thing! Then, because they have the same teacher (albeit at different periods), D managed to ally himself with their project and Mr. Bourgeois said he could present along with them. Because time was short and they had a full day of robotics on Saturday, our dinner had to be on Sunday. The only problem: we were supposed to be having my parents over for their birthday dinner that night. A phone call later, I had convinced my mom that she and my dad wanted moqueca for dinner...and D convinced his friends that they were going to cook my parents' celebration dinner and get their assignment done. Phew. So, I bought the ingredients. And,...

IB Learner Profiles and More-Than-Basic Cheese Tasting

Years ago I taught a 6-week class about cheese! I was reminded of that when R brought up bringing cheese for a cheese tasting in his chemistry class this week. This was our discussion...and it always comes back to those IB learner profiles at our house. R: Mom, Thursday I need to bring cheese to my chemistry class for a tasting. D: Oooo! What kind? Gorgonzola? Époisses?? So many possibilities! R: No. Basic cheese. C: What's 'basic cheese'? R: Some kids have never had cheese other than on pizza. C: How is that even possible? D: They aren't risk-takers. So, I bought a small wheel of brie and sliced up a baguette for him, reminding him that that was for chemistry class not  his lunch. I was a little sad that he didn't think his current classmates would be open-minded enough to try some more exotic cheeses.  But I thought I'd share the cheese tasting I hosted at ISM several years ago. Talk about caseophiles in training...

Fulfilling Parental Duties: Creating Adventurous Eaters

To celebrate a new school year and to say farewell to Chef Brad (he's leaving to open his own restaurant), Aunt Jenn took us all to La Balena for dinner last night. It's one of our very favorite restaurants and we adore the owners, Anna and Emanuele. As we were leaving Anna gave them hats. They were thrilled though they both did lament, "We can't wear these to school!" It's against their dress codes to have any hats with writing or logos. And, of course, the big one - yes, I do mean my husband - joked, "Where's mine?!?" While Jenn is one of my oldest and dearest friends, nothing makes me love her more than watching her kids eating adventurously. If you follow my posts at all, you already know that I feel it's our duty as parents to create kids who eat real food; I believe that we, as parents, are responsible for making kids picky eaters. If your kid doesn't eat vegetables, it's because you didn't offer them vegetables......

D's Roasted Strawberries Bruschetta for #KidsCookoff

When someone pointed me to the Summer Strawberry Kids Cookoff   and we had fresh strawberries in our High Ground Organics CSA box last week, my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was game to create a fun, tasty appetizer. We've been enjoying dinners al fresco during these warm summer evenings. He carted his tray out to the yard. The contest rules stated 'five ingredients or less.' D asked if salt and pepper counted as ingredients; I thought so. He tasted his strawberry concoction and decided, with the cardamom (his favorite spice!), it didn't need salt and pepper. Great. I ngredients 1 to 2 pounds fresh organic strawberries (you can use 1 quart) 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 1/4 C balsamic vinegar 1 t ground cardamom crème fraîche and bread for serving Procedure Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Hull and slice strawberries in half lengthwise. Place them in a mixing bowl with red onion. Pour in the vinegar and toss to coat. Spoon the mixture onto a...

My Svenska Kottbullar at Curious Cuisiniere

For the main dish on our tabletop travel to Sweden, D and S made some Svenska Kottbullar , Swedish meatballs. So easy, so tasty! I decided to share the recipe over at Curious Cuisiniere when Sarah asked if I would be willing to share a cultural recipe. Sure thing. Thanks for asking. Visit Sarah's blog: here . She has some amazing recipes. And you can see my post, for her: here .

In Our Easter Kitchen for #FoodRevolutionDay

Last Sunday we celebrated Easter...there are many aspects to our celebration. For my parents, it's primarily about resurrection; it's a religious celebration. But it's also about spending time with family. They always have a game picked out that we play between lunch and dessert. This year we played a dice game called Left Center Right. Link to the game below.*  What fun! For the boys, it's about Easter eggs and - maybe - candy and an egg hunt; it's a party.  For my husband, it's about the feast...mostly the desserts. This year he requested a tiramisu. I still need to post that recipe! And, for me, it's about celebrating all the crisp, fresh flavors of Spring. We had Butter-Braised Radishes over Little Gems , Roasted Asparagus and Shaved Fennel , Blueberry Kouign Amann , and more. One of  April challenges  for the  Jamie Oliver Food Revolution  Ambassadors ( I'm the Monterey #FRD2015 rep! ) is to... Cook with Your Lo...

(Non-Traditional) Bojo Cake from Suriname

Bojo is a flourless cake made, traditionally, from grated coconut and cassava. Cassava is a starchy root plant also known as yucca. It's also, traditionally, made with rum-soaked rasins. I completely failed on multiple counts in bringing the ingredients for this dessert. I forgot the cassava in my freezer at home; so we used potatoes instead. And I intended to just use raisins - without the rum - but I left those at home, too. So, we did without raisins, too. It was dense and delicious...but is not your traditional Bojo. Ingredients 1/2 pound new red potatoes, boiled, cooled, and grated 2 C grated coconut (we used dried) 1/3 C organic granulated sugar 2 eggs 1/4 C coconut milk 1 T organic pure vanilla extract 2 t organic almond extract 4 T butter, melted 1 t salt Procedure Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Stir the coconut and grated potatoe together with t...

Romano Beans with Gremolata

The second recipe I decided on with for the cooking from the garden segment this morning: gremolata with green beans. Turns out the kids had grown and harvested Romano beans. They take a little bit longer to blanch, but I like them even better than regular green beans. Ingredients Romano beans, stem ends trimmed water olive oil 5 large garlic cloves, crushed and minced 2 organic lemons 1 C tight-packed Italian parsley leaves fleur de sel flakes freshly ground pepper 1-1/2 C coarsely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese olive oil Procedure Blanch the trimmed beans so that they are still crisp. Drain. As the beans cook, make the gremolata . Zest and juice your lemons.  Destem and chop your parsley. In a large mixing bowl, blend together the chopped parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add just enough olive oil so that it becomes a thick sauce. Toss the beans with the gremolata...