Kitchen Gadget Girl Cooks

The Master’s Swim Team that I work out with has been having a big event this month, encouraging swimmers to swim 50,000 yards, or 100,000 yards, or whatever gigantic number of yards they desire. The idea is to reinvigorate your workout and challenge yourself.

Because of a cold and a little travel, I am going to make it to about 10,000 yards, or 250 laps. Not too bad, overall. But nothing compared to Mitchell, who is on track to complete 250,000 yards!

In addition to swimming, the team is also encouraged to bring in a can of food for every 200o yards, as a donation to a local food bank. I joke that my goal is 5 cans of food.

Leaving practice the other day, I looked over at the collection barrel for the food bank. It was great to see so much food, cans and packages, piled high. Even overflowing.

As I walked away, I had an internal discussion with myself about the kind of food that is donated during these drives. I saw cans of beans and stew, rice, and the ever-popular, ramen noodles.

I started to think that donating a package of ramen noodles ($.20 a piece, if you buy the big box from CostCo) can be a very inexpensive way to donate, with a seemingly large bang-for-the-buck. Cans of stew and soup make an easy meal, and canned beans are high in protein.

However, this is not the food we eat at home.

Lately, I have been avoiding buying beans in a can, since it is easy to cook them up in a pressure cooker and freeze some for later use. I also have concerns about the amount of sodium in canned goods, and still don’t completely understand the impact of BPA linings of food cans. Soup I make from scratch, generally from vegetables from our CSA, and the only time we eat ramen noodles is at swim meets in the summer!

And then, my struggle comes down to money. If I am going to give $10 to this food drive, am I going to seek out Massa Organics Rice ($4 for a 2 pounds bag) and buy two bags, or stick with grown-who-knows-where rice from the grocery store, and buy way more than 2 bags? If I buy beans, I can buy 10 for $10, if I stick with a generic brand, but if I want to buy organic, Eden Foods brand beans in BPA-free cans for $2.50 a pop from Whole Foods, which means only 4 cans for the food drive.

The other argument I have with myself is just because I eat this way, doesn’t mean everyone else does. Where is it my place to dictate my food preferences through donations. Why shouldn’t I just buy and donate the least expensive food items, with the greatest nutritional value. Who cares if it is local, organic or sustainable?

I guess I do.

So, my workaround for this great dilemma is to donate cash directly to the food bank. That way, everyone is happy. I can give the amount I feel comfortable with, and the food bank can purchase the items they really need, based on their clients requests. Win-win.

Have you had similar internal discussions? What have you decided to do?

In the first ten days of this new decade and year, I have spent time thinking about my goals for 2010. I thought I might be clever and come up with ten goals and share them with you, and encourage you to adopt my goals, and then decided that, no, that’s silly. But after watching Food Inc., I do have one idea to share:

Care about your food

That is pretty easy.

And apparently, it is the most important thing you can do. Think about what you put in your mouth. Think about the food you buy. Read a label. Or two. Talk to a farmer. Or two. Know what is available and make your own choices. Ask questions (don’t be afraid — if the store/food purveyor doesn’t like the questions, move on).

[Ooops, careful, starting to sound preachy...]

I don’t really want to be. But caring about your food should be a high priority. It is your body, and as far as I know, barring any unusual scientific breakthroughs, it will be your only body in this lifetime.

If you want to eat a bag of peanut M&Ms, by all means, do. I know I would (and have). But understand your choice.

I am not asking you to subscribe to a CSA, shop at Farmer’s Markets, buy only local/seasonal produce, eat only sustainably farmed foods and meat. Those are my own personal choices.

I am not asking you to plant a garden, source local food, and cook from scratch. Those are my own personal choices.

I am asking you to think about your food. Any questions?

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment on the Progressive Tools Giveaway! The winners are:

Comment #9 – Kristi C.

Comment #28 – DeeAnn S.

The slicers are winging their way to the winners as we speak.

Happy Holidays to all of you, and be sure to check back in the New Year for more giveaways!

Over the last couple of years, since I started participating in the Eat Local Challenge, I have developed an interest in finding food close to home. We subscribe to a vegetable CSA through Two Small Farms, as well as a fruit CSA through Frog Hollow Farms. This weekend at the FoodBuzz Conference, I learned about more local food options, some part of the Foodzie community.

Foodzie is on a mission to help you find tasty food from local food producers. As a sponsor of FoodBuzz, they brought several of their favorites and demonstrated a great diversity of products.

FoodBuzz had loads of interesting and local staples, here are some of my favorites:

Olive oil:

Stella Cadente Olive Oil and St. Helena Olive Oil Co. are two local olive oil companies. Located in Fort Bragg and St. Helena, California, respectively, these shops are turning out tasty olive oils and vinegars, and any would make an outstanding holiday gift for the locavore on your list.

Salt:

La Mar’s Mendocino Seasoning Co. in Gualala, California, is bringing local salt to the Bay Area. When fishing closures forced them to shutter their sport fishing business on the Mendocino Coast, they turned to a all purpose seasoning mix that Lora used to make for holiday gifts. Bob began to produce handcrafted sea salt and they were able to combine their interests into a new seasoning company.

Chocolate:

Au Coeur des Chocolats is practically right around the corner from my house, in Redwood City, California. Featuring sea salt caramels, handmade chocolates and caramelized almonds, Shawn Williams and Doug Basegio are created excellent artisan chocolates on the Peninsula.

Wine:

Ehlers Estate, an organic and biodynamic winery north of St. Helena, California, served up some of my favorites in their 100% estate produced wines, including Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. They also produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

Handley Cellars in Philo, California, the Anderson Valley, makes the most of their cool wine growing climate, producing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurtztraminer and a sparkling wine. We tasted the sparkling wine, a 2006 Handley Brut Rose, made from 80% Pinot Noir grapes. A tasty sparkler, it would be great on the holiday table this year!

Well, I think I have covered the basics – olive oil, salt, chocolate and wine. Oh, wait, there is one more. Popcorn!

479 Popcorn is another local company producing tasty, ready-popped corn for your enjoyment. The popcorn is sourced from the Sacramento area, quite local indeed. I tasted the Chipotle Caramel + Almonds, and it was nicely balanced, not too sweet and not too spicy. Other flavors include Fleur de Sel Caramel, Madras Curry Coconut + Cashews, and Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt. They are also branching out and providing a Pop It Yourself Kit, with special sugar and salt blends.

All great gift ideas. In fact, if you were super clever, you might include one of everything and send it to your sweetie for the holidays!

About this time last year, I was contacted by Lydia Walshin from Perfect Pantry and Drop In & Decorate, with a unique proposal. Have a party, she suggested, and invite your friends to come over and decorate cookies for the holidays. Then, take those cookies and donate them to a local non-profit organization serving basic human needs in your community.

Wow, I thought, what a great idea. I always host a cookie exchange or two during December, but after you exchange the cookies and eat lunch, there is not much to do. Decorating large sugar cookies to donate would be a great activity. So, last Christmas, I hosted my first Drop In & Decorate event to support the Ronald MacDonald House, and then in May, hosted another Drop In & Decorate for Mother’s Day. Both occasions were well received, with friends commenting about how enjoyable it was to decorate and create with worthy recipients in mind!

This year, as the holidays approach, I am again thinking about hosting a Drop In & Decorate event. I will chose a Saturday or Sunday, so I have time to prepare, and may start reaching out to non-profits before Thanksgiving. I learned a couple things from my last two events:

1. Start calling non-profits earlier than you think
2. Be flexible when offering the cookies – some organizations were having special parties they wanted the cookies for, others could only take donations M-F
3. The cookies can last a week or two after you make them – all that frosting helps, plus wrapping them individually in plastic bags helps keep them fresh

If you’d like to host your own Drop In & Decorate® event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help! Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product — including sugar cookie mix, icing and flour — to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And Lydia will include a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, donated by Wilton, while supplies last. Write to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com for more info on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.

And if you plan on hosting your own event, be sure to check out Lydia’s great information on how to Host Your Own Party, as well as Recipes for Cookies and Icing. I typically make Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies a week or so in advance, and freeze them until I am ready to decorate. I make the Royal Icing with the help of friends, and my family helps package the cookies when they are all set.

Are you planning to host a Drop In & Decorate event? Let me know!

One of the programs I learned about this weekend at Foodbuzz is the Food For Thought event, in support of Mission Graduates. On Wednesday, November 11th, 25 restaurants in the Mission District of San Francisco will donate a portion of their sales to Mission Graduates, a non-profit organization focused on increasing the number of Mission District kids who are prepared for and complete a college education. Participating restaurants include Maverick, Foreign Cinema, Little Star Valencia, Range and Mission Beach Cafe.

So, if you are planning to eat out on Wednesday, November 11 in San Francisco, consider a trip to the Mission and support Mission Graduates. Feel-good eating at its best!

Scharffen Berger was one of the official sponsors of BlogHer Food in September, and while I am still sad about their acquisition by Hershey and subsequent announcement early this year about the closing of the Berkeley factory, I am happy that the Scharffen Berger brand is still around and that I can still rely on their quality artisan chocolates for important family recipes, such as my Grandmother’s Brownies.  The Scharffen Berger/Hershey folks were onsite at the conference, along with Elizabeth Falkner, Executive Chef of Citizen Cake and Orson, promoting chocolate and their new contest.

Scharffen Berger and Tuttifoodie.com are hosting a Chocolate Adventure Contest, with two chances to win $10,000! That would be quite a bit of 70% Cacao bars, my friends.

All you need to do is come up with an original recipe using Scharffen Berger chocolate and one or more of the 16 adventure ingredients: pandan leaf, paprika (any varietal), sumac, banana leaf, black-eyed peas, cacao nibs, crystallized or fresh ginger, cumin, fresh mint (any varietal), fresh or whole dried chili pepper, Malbec, papaya, peanut butter, rice flour, raw honey, smoked sea salt.

Humm, maybe a chocolate truffle with Malbec and smoked paprika and smoked sea salt? Or how about a mole sauce with with chili pepper, papaya and cacao nibs? The possibilities are endless!

To participate, visit The Chocolate Adventure Contest for more details.

Ok, this is a post I was hesitant to write, because I am really trying my best to feed my family with all natural, healthy, local, organic, made-from-scratch foods. But sometimes, wanting-whats-best-for-my-kids and providing-whats-best-for-my-kids, collides.

Case in point, my son.

He is in middle school this year, is growing up, and looking for responsibility and independence. I want to foster that as a parent, I really do. So, when he comes home from school, and wants a snack, I suggest he make his own.

Only, when you don’t cook, the snacks lack a little bit of excitement. PB&J, Turkey Ham on whole wheat, crackers. You get the picture. And he comes home starving and needs something pretty substantial before his next activity.

And of the two kids, he has never shown that much interest in cooking, so if I wanted him to have a hot, hearty after-school snack, I was going to have to make it myself. I punted and bought a bunch of his favorite frozen food items from Trader Joes that he can heat in the microwave.

Is it going to kill him? No. Would I prefer that he made something from scratch? I do. Am I willing, 2 hours before dinner time, to make it for him? I am not.

Therefore, a compromise.

What he learns: cooking times, new flavors, independence, managing the microwave (only with a parent in the house, though), how to serve his own hunger.

What he doesn’t learn: how to turn raw ingredients into a meal, how to experiment in the kitchen, how to create something from scratch.

I am not too worried. As I said, I am using the processed foods to lure him into the kitchen, and once he is there, I will start the transformation to Chef Extraordinaire. I figure I will start with smoothies. How about any other suggestions?

Block parties are so much fun! I love getting our neighbors together and sharing a meal. The kids run up and down the street, riding bikes, and the adults get a chance to visit in the fading warmth of summer.

This past summer, we added a weekly event to our annual block party. Every Friday night was TGIF, and we gathered around 6pm with an appetizer and a bottle of wine. I provided tables for the food, as well as lemonade for the kids. The adults chatted and snacked, while the kids enjoyed summer fun on the street. In the height of the summer, when it stayed lighter later, we would often be out until 8:30-9pm.

Last weekend was our official block party – we started about 3pm, had a bounce house for the kids, a BBQ set up for people to grill their own, and lots of potluck food to share. Here are photos of some of the dishes my neighbors brought, boy do we have some great chefs on this street!

Plan your own block party

Depending on where you live, it is not too late to plan your own block party. Find a couple other neighbors who want to help and divide the tasks – someone can send out the invitation (Evite works well for this); someone else can be in charge of the permit to close the street; one person can take care of nametags and contact list (block parties are a great way to meet any new neighbors); and someone else can be in charge of organizing tables for food and the BBQs.

If you want, chose a theme or leave it completely casual. Many a good block party has taken place on the 4th of July or Labor Day. A few streets away, neighbors organize their party close to Halloween and decorate pumpkins. Make it green and encourage neighbors to bring their own reusable plates and utensils. Serve beverages from a pitcher, or cans that can be recycled. And remind everyone to bring a chair and clean up after themselves!

About 4 weeks before the party, send out the invitations and find out if you need a permit to close the street. Decide if you are going to have a bounce house or other entertainment and make those arrangements. As the party gets closer, gather all your other supplies. The day of the party, recruit a couple neighbors to help with setup, and as new folks arrive, give them something to do.

Tell me about your block party! What is your neighborhood’s special celebration or tradition?

This past weekend, I attended a conference for food bloggers in San Francisco, capital of good food (if not the capital, then one of the original 13 colonies). Even though blogging is a great activity and I have connected with loads of interesting folks, meeting people face-to-face is still very important.

I went this weekend with two things in mind – I was looking for my peeps, i.e. other food bloggers who write about topics that I care about, and for information on how to make printable recipe pages (that’s for you Sue!).

The peeps issue turned out to be the easiest. At breakfast, I met two out-of-town food bloggers, Diane of The W.H.O.L.E. Gang and Shirley of Gluten Free Easily. No processed foods for these two, already I am off to a good start!

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