by
jillbcooks 1/29/2009 8:07:00 AM
I just read about a school where selling snack foods during the lunch period set off a parental brouhaha, since the practice conflicted with rules about healthful eating that the school had previously adopted. The school did not allow for these types of snacks to be sold, or even to be eaten in classrooms for celebrations. The rules also prohibited teachers from giving students candy.
Times have changed a lot since I was in elementary school. Back then we routinely celebrated everyone’s birthdays with cup...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
Cupcakes, Valentine's Day, children, health, school, treats
by
jillbcooks 1/27/2009 9:05:00 AM
You know that sound, the one that is an absolute annoyance? Though tempting to ignore, I learned last week that attention must be paid to a screeching fire alarm.
When I was a kids, the sound of the fire alarm on a Sunday morning meant that mom’s bacon was done. It would be my job to respond to it by standing on a chair and waving at the fire detector with a dish towel until it stopped.
Now, I live in a building with multiple units and my home shares a wall with my neighbors’ place. I heard their fire alarm going off and figured it would stop, that someone burned toast or something. It didn’t stop, though. And soo...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
bacon, fire safety, potholders
by
jillbcooks 1/22/2009 8:10:00 AM
I am developing a series of cooking classes for teenagers. The classes are at a local high school and are only an hour long. This means that I need to develop quick recipes that will keep teens’ attention and that strike a balance between healthy (or “healthier”) recipes and treats. I also like to develop recipes that are familiar to kids—one way to do that is to replicate restaurant recipes. Our first class will teach teens how to make a frozen coffee drink and whipped cream from scratch. The drink is easy to make. We begin by adding about 3 ounces of cooled, strong coffee to a blender. Add a tablespoon of brown sugar and ...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
cooking classes, scones, teens, blackberries, coffee, latte
by
jillbcooks 1/20/2009 7:24:00 AM
Cooking is a novel and fun way to celebrate a birthday. Cooking parties are appropriate for children ages 2 to teen, and can be scaled appropriately so kids can enjoy a hands-on experience. Children as young as two could decorate cookies with adult support. Children as young as four can make cookies from a mix with adult leading them through the steps. Older elementary-age children can follow an adult’s directions. Tweens can make cookies with an adult’s supervision.
The key to a successful kids cooking activity is preparation, so the entire process of cooking is controlled and kids can have a fun experience in a safe environmen...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
Birthday Parties, cookies, children
by
jillbcooks 1/15/2009 10:40:00 AM
Here in bone-chilling Minnesota, my thoughts are already turning to warmer weather and all the fruits and vegetables I look forward to growing. I have wonderful memories of my grandparents’ garden plot, which was quite large and yielded everything from beans to squash to potatoes and more. Their plot was quite large and my grandfather even built some raised wooden platforms and walkways. That is definitely too much for me to contend with, so I keep my gardening in pots. People don’t realize it, but you can grow bunches of carrots and even potatoes in containers on tiny condo patios, and it all starts by starting seedlings long before the spring sun arrives.
...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
gardening, pasta salad, winter
by
jillbcooks 1/13/2009 8:42:00 AM
I saw a financial expert on a television show this week who challenged viewers who have debt to avoid dining out at restaurants for a whole month. Though it may be difficult to believe, American consumers spend over $400 billion dollars a year at restaurants. For many families, going out to dinner might be a regular activity for relaxing and enjoying time together. I know when I was young, my family loved to go out for dinner. It always seemed like a special treat.
If you have developed a taste for your favorite foods, it might be difficult to stop dining out. But, eating at home does not mean that you have to forego your restaurant favorites. There ar...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
bread sticks, pizza, restaurant
by
jillbcooks 1/8/2009 8:50:00 AM
In the season of resolutions, lots of people resolve to stop doing things—stop smoking, stop eating deep fried foods, stop spending money. Ceasing a behavior can be very difficult to do, let alone turn it into a regular habit. This year I am resolving to add rather than take away; I am resolving to add more fruits and vegetables and to try to find innovative ways to do so.
When it comes to make changes, I am the type of person who inches toward rather than runs toward it, so I like to make incremental change, even if it is a bit of fruit and veg here and there. This past weekend my husband and I had friends over for dinner. I made it my goal to ...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
applesauce, carrot cake, diet, fruit, vegetables, vitamins
by
jillbcooks 1/6/2009 12:01:00 PM
A couple weeks back, I headed to my hometown of Buffalo, New York to visit family, celebrate the holidays, and, well, eat.
If you hail from a town like Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Cleveland, chances are you have a bunch of favorite hometown places that you must make a pilgrimage to if you are in town. The place may look non-descript and might be a dive or (horrors!) even a dump, but is much beloved by the community. It took much convincing when I began bringing my dear husband (then fiancée) home almost ten years ago, but he does realize now that the very best pizza in the known world comes from a moderately shabby take-out only pizza joint just minutes from where I...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
barbecue beef, Buffalo, hometown, hot dogs, travel
by
jillbcooks 1/1/2009 10:15:00 AM
Getting dinner on the table and gathering the family to enjoy it together is no simple task for any busy family. Work, traffic, sports, play rehearsal, Cub Scouts, and all the stresses of daily life make cooking seem more challenging than ordering pizza and devouring it while flipping on the television while other family members retreat to homework, video games, exercising or the multitude of activities that keep busy families on the move. If your family is anything like mine, it takes everyone’s efforts to pitch in and get things done around the house. Dinner is no exception.
Kids can share in kitchen duty, and probably would do so happily. Cooking together...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
cooking, dinner, family fun, meal, New Year