1 in 6 Americans are facing hunger.

1 in 6 Americans live at or below poverty level.

1 in 7 Americans use SNAP benefits (food stamps.)

1 in 8 American’s are currently served by Feeding America.

More than 50 million people, including nearly 17 million children, are facing hunger.

Nearly 6 million Americans are fed by food banks each week.

How does this happen?

How.does.this.happen in a country where, ironically, obesity rates are skyrocketing?

*shrug*

It just does. Nothing is ever perfect in an imperfect world…though there is hope and you can help.

Tomorrow, Campbell Soup Company will team up with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to collect food donations in order to provide assistance to the millions of Americans who are struggling with hunger.

Now in its 21st year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993. In 2012, generous Americans donated more than 70 million pounds of food, which marked the ninth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected.

Helping Stamp Out Hunger is as easy as checking your mailbox. Just leave a bag of non-perishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 11.  Your letter carrier will then pick up and deliver the food to a local food bank. Examples of non-perishable items include: canned meats & fish, canned soup, canned vegetables & fruits, juice, pasta sauce, pasta, cereal, rice and peanut butter. They ask that you please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.

I have my donation bag on the front porch and ready to set out…do you?

I’ll admit. When our son was younger (he’s now 13) and before the instant education of the internet, I fell into the pit of fast food meals. Why not? As a busy  parent of a young child, it was all too convenient to just drive-thru, pick up a quick meal and get on with the day. Or, how about getting a “break” by sitting in a Playland without having to worry about your child for thirty minutes. Fast food was an easy lifestyle solution for the now.

After a little while, I started noticing that our son stopped finishing meals. He wouldn’t eat the fries and a drink was always left in a cup holder in the backseat. That got me to thinking, “Am I wasting money on a meal he doesn’t event eat?” So, I started ordering the Happy Meals with chocolate milk and apples, instead of orange drink and fries. I thought I was doing good! “Look at me! I’m the mom ordering the more “healthy” choices for my kid’s Happy Meal.” I’m so sorry, son. Choosing “healthier” choices for a fast food meal is like putting make-up on a pig. On the outside it all looks okay, but no matter how you cut it, it’s still a fast food nightmare.

Well, eventually he stopped eating those items too. At that point, I realized it wasn’t the food he was attracted to, it was the toys! Hot Wheels, Shrek, the Invincibles…I was jeopardizing my own child’s health for pieces of crap, discarded after five minutes, junk toys? *facepalm*  From then on, I refused to buy kid’s meals. On occasion (mostly during time constraints), we would run by for a double cheeseburger (because that’s the only thing he would eat.) During that time, I started educating myself. I read books. I scoured the internet. I joined a co-op and started incorporating more and more organic foods into our lives. My family was NOT going to be seduced by the evil empire of fast food any longer.

For us, fast food is no longer an option. It hasn’t been for years now. In all honesty, I physically gag at the smell of McDonald’s (what IS that damn smell?) I love my family too much to fill them with that sort of food…if you can call it food. A french fry or a dried up hamburger that never molds? Not real food in my book.

As parents, we have a tough battle ahead. The fast food industry is huge and seems like a forever hopeless fight. Online games, sponsorship of school programs, online and offline advertising, cross-promoting, celebrity endorsements, radio ads and the constant changing of needless plastic toys. No matter where you turn, the golden arches are staring you right in the face. In order to make a real difference in your children’s health, you have to start by making better choices for your immediate family. I promise, even if your kids throw a fit now, they aren’t going to hate you for not taking them to McDonald’s. If each one of us did this for our families, we would ultimately win the big fight.

Choose health today.

You can join the twitter effort too! Let’s let @McDonalds know how we feel.

I’m tired of @mcdonalds marketing junk food to kids. I’m one ofthe #MomsNotLovinIt. #MothersDay MomsNotLovinIt.org (via @stopcorpabuse)

— ItsToni (@ItsToni) May 8, 2013

Spring is here…summer is coming…you can already taste those ripe, meaty tomatoes growing in your garden…

Yeah…

Caprese salad…garden tomatoes so fresh they still think they are on the vine, aromatic basil freshly picked and creamy HOMEMADE mozzarella cheese all drizzled with olive oil and balsamic.

That was me today. I was already tasting this summer meal before I even decided to attempt to making fresh mozzarella.

What could be so hard? Milk, citric acid, rennet, kosher salt…a few pots, a thermometer and some cheesecloth. I had it all. I could DO this, right? Wrong.

BIG FAT DOUBLE FUCKING FAIL.

Sigh.

So, to save you some headache, here’s what NOT to do when you think you’re going to pump out some luscious mozzarella on the first try (and if you do, don’t tell me about it.)

Do not use Junket Rennet tablets. Although, the box says you can use it for cheese making, apparently the rennet is not really strong enough to make a nice, firm cheese curd. I found this out AFTER I noticed my milk was not curdling in an allowable amount of time.

When your cheese looks like this, instead of a smooth, thick custard, do not think you can just mix up an extra tablet of Junket Rennet and all will be okay. It’s already jacked up by this point.

 With high hopes of the extra rennet working, cutting through said curds with a knife does not mean you have a “clean break.” After thinking, “It only needs more time to set up,” it’s still not going to work. The required 5 to 7 minutes turned into 2 hours and I ultimately did not have the smooth custardy curds I was looking for. The only result was thicker pin-head curds.

 Most importantly, do NOT buy regular grocery store milk, especially if it’s on markdown for $1.99. (Hey, I wanted to do a trial run on the cheap…whatever.) I already knew I could not use ultra-pasteurized milk, but this was just pasteurized. Apparently, even regular pasteurized milk is brought to such high heat that it’s not good for cheese making. Who knew? After some internetz research, I found THIS to be a picture of milk that has been over-heated.

What’s good in all of this? Well, if you happen to get to this stage, you can still use salvageable curds, mix them with some herbs and use as a cheese spread. Though, I didn’t even have enough to do that; they just dissolved upon straining. To justify the waste, I fed it to the compost pile.

What did I learn? Well…

• I need to find fresh milk. It sounds like raw milk is the way to go, if you can find it.
• I need to find cheese making rennet, not Junket tablets.
• Don’t be a cheapskate. I wasted more time and effort than it was worth.
• Patience. (I have none…maybe Craigslist has a bundle?)
• Screwing things up only makes you better as it allows you to understand the process and troubleshoot more clearly.
• Most of all, I learned that I HATE TO FAIL.

Round two, coming up…

(I do need to give a shout-out to Chef Chris, @MyFavoriteChef on twitter, for giving me a bit of insight and encouragement on this endeavor!)

“Bolognese sauce, known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese, is a meat-based sauce originating from Bologna, Italy. Genuine ragù alla bolognese is a complex sauce which involves slow cooking using a variety of techniques, including sweating, sautéing and braising. Ingredients include a characteristic soffritto of onion, celery and carrot, different types of minced or finely chopped meat (generally bovine, including beef, and possibly pork, such as pancetta), wine and a small amount of tomato concentrate. In Bologna,  ragù alla bolognese is customarily paired and served with tagliatelle, made with eggs and northern Italy’s soft wheat flour. Acceptable alternatives to fresh tagliatelle include other broad flat pasta shapes, such as pappardelle or fettuccine, and tube shapes, such as rigatoni and penne.” - From Wikipedia 

Now, I typically keep a pretty wide variety of ingredients in my kitchen; I understand not everyone does. It’s difficult to want to make a beautiful pot of bolognese when you feel like you need to spend money on products like red wine, spices and pancetta. It becomes one of those recipes you “hope” to make, but sadly never do.

Well, here’s your chance to make a lovely ragu without all of the worry. I call it Everyday Bolognese because it’s simple to make for any night of the week. The recipe basically calls for items that you would use in regular pasta sauce; items that should be easily found in your fridge and pantry. Once finished, the bolognese is thick but tender with the sweetness of the carrot outshining the acidity of the tomatoes. The original recipe is by Chef Greg Johnson, from AllRecipes. Here’s my adaptation.

Mangia bene, vivi felice!

**I made the bread sticks out of a simple pizza dough HERE. After baking, brush with melted butter with garlic powder and a crack of black pepper.”

Venti quad low-fat iced vanilla latte.

That’s my poison.

Drive up. Straight out the window, I drop my six dollar tithe to St. Arbucks.

Yeah…you know what I’m talking about. You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

It’s the over-priced-can’t-do-without-gimme-gimme-gimme coffee drinks that we’re all so familiar with. The ones we wish someone would deliver to us because we don’t feel like getting dressed  or leaving the house or dealing with cranky kids every morning. Our cherished Starbucks. Oh, how we love thee. *insert angels singing*

So, it’s understood that we all love Starbucks, including myself. Fortunately for me, I don’t’ have one nearby. Therefore, I usually only get it as a “treat” when I’m on the road to somewhere. That’s not to say that I don’t buy whole bean Starbucks coffee to use at home. Though, for those of you who are frequenters, have you ever stopped to consider how often you frequent? Three times a week? 5 times a week? $30 a week? $120 a month? *yikes* Let’s say you average three drinks a week at six dollars per drink. That’s NINE HUNDRED THIRTY SIX dollars per year…on coffee drinks.

What else could you do with that money? Take a vacation? Invest? Pay an extra house payment? Buy organic food? Oh…wait…organic food is too expensive.

Ehem.

Anyway…I’m about to save you a few bucks. Here’s how to make delicious iced coffee without getting dressed, leaving the house or dealing with bratty kids. Mix a 12 cup pot of hot brewed coffee with one can of sweetened condensed milk*. Let it sit on the counter until it cools off a bit. Refrigerate overnight and serve over ice (the viscosity changes overnight so don’t skip the refrigeration part.)  Voila. I’m not even kidding. It’s amazing. You can even top it with whipped cream and caramel if that’s what you like. For about 2 quarts of iced coffee, it’ll probably cost you around $1.50.

It’s better than the venti quad low-fat iced vanilla latte.

Yes. There. I said it.

*Sweetened condensed milk contains only milk and sugar. I’m on the hunt for an organic brand to avoid the GMO sugar.

I’m a dreamer of culinary school. Cooking. Pastry. Baking. It doesn’t even matter. I just want to go to culinary school. Unfortunately, the keyword is “dream.” Now, I know some of you out there are saying, “It wasn’t what I thought it would be,” or “I went and I feel like it was a waste of time.” I’ve read the posts.  I still want to go. I teach myself a ton about cooking. I read books about food. I watch shows, movies and videos about food. I grow vegetables and herbs. I practice cooking and baking on a daily basis (sometimes ALL day.) I BLOG about food, for goodness sakes.

I do all things food.

It’s not the same.

It’s not the same as getting formal training. I kind of look at schooling like buying a gym membership. Yeah, you can lift weights or run a treadmill at your own home, but when you join a gym, you now have an obligation. Cooking, for me, is the same way. Without accountability, some days it’s difficult to dedicate yourself to the learning you know you need to accomplish.

With that being said, I find other ways to teach myself new things about food. One of my favorite ways is through chef demonstrations. Whether it’s a celebrity chef or not, watching other people cook is one of the best ways to learn. (How else did we learn how to do all of those cool things from our grandmas?) The National Restaurant Show, in Chicago, is a fabulous place to watch chef demo’s. On a huge culinary stage, celebrity chefs do their thing and make cooking look simple. If they can pull together delicious dishes in a makeshift kitchen, we can all EASILY do it at home…at least, we like to think we can. Err…I mean…I KNOW we can.

Last year, at the 2012 NRA show, one of the chefs presenting was Chef Mike Isabella. Isabella is the chef/owner of Graffiato and Bandolero, both in Washington D.C. He competed on Top Chef Las Vegas (Season 6) and was runner-up on Top Chef All-Stars. Chef Mike is a hard-edged, Jersey type of guy, specializing in Greek-Mediterranean types of food. With a cookbook focusing on Italian and his latest restaurant, focusing on Modern Mexican, Isabella’s specialties seem to be growing.

From his Italian cookbook, Chef Mike demonstrated how to make a simple gnocchi. Gnocchi are thick, soft potato dumplings, typically served as a primi piatto or first course (instead of a soup.) They can be coated with butter, pesto or various sauces. Because of health safety reasons, no one is allowed to taste the stage offerings. Although, after watching the gnocchi demonstration, I knew I could do this at home. Who would have thought something like this could be so simple? High impression value, little work…that’s what I like. I don’t have his cookbook, but fortunately, he handed out his gnocchi recipe. I put a bit of a spin on the recipe only because I had certain ingredients on hand. I topped mine with a simple tomato fennel sauce, but next time, I’m thinking black truffle butter. It must have been good. My 13 year old son ate three plates. So much for a first course. Give a try and let me know what you think!

Baseball season has begun. Between practices and games, you can find us at some baseball field (around northern Indiana) from now until late October (regular ball plus Fall ball.) That’s a lot of NOT being at home, which includes a lot of meals on the run. Since our family does not eat fast food or processed junk foods, finding healthy alternatives takes a little thinking and planning.

I’ll admit. I’m a people watcher. A cart watcher. A cooler watcher. A watcher of food in general. It’s what I do. I don’t do this out of judgement…well, maybe a little…but mostly because I’m interested, interested in the choices people make with their foods. Sometimes the choices are pleasing, but most of the time I just want to yell, “Stop! Please, please don’t eat that!” While sitting at our son’s baseball games, I often look around. Flavored drinks filled with artificial flavors and food dyes, potato chips, soda, donuts, snack cakes, “fruit” snacks (if you can call them that)…tons and tons of items that can barely be considered food. You’re probably thinking, “So what, it’s a baseball game. It’s not going to hurt anything for now.” Well, we have one child. That child keeps us at a field three to four times a week, usually at dinnertime…from April to October. Some families have two or three kids in baseball, which means they are probably eating these foods for dinner, five to six times a week. That is scary…and saddening. It’s just not healthy, which contradicts the fact that we put our children in sports to keep them healthy and active.

My job, as a mother concerned with healthy eating, is to come up with alternative foods that we can enjoy when we’re on the run. Having these tasty items on hand also helps eliminate the temptation of filling up on concession stand candy and nachos. For our drinks, we always fill water bottles to carry in the cooler. What has happened to children drinking plain ole’ water? When we were little and playing outside at my grandma’s house, she would tell us to get drinks from the hose. We didn’t refuse and beg for pop. We drank water and usually had fun with it (and we never got sick.) One drink I do keep around the house, for most of the summer, is Hibiscus water. Our son drinks it during baseball games – purely Hibiscus flowers, cane sugar and water. No artificial flavors or colors to bog him down. Aside from bringing fruit and peanuts, another easily portable snack is homemade granola. If you’re looking for something a little more protein centric, how about pita bread and hummus? There are so many choices. Just simply take the time to get creative and be prepared.

What screams baseball more than a hot, soft pretzel (aside from an ice cold beer?) Here’s a recipe that everyone in my family loves. It may sound overwhelming, but trust me, it’s not. My 13 year old son made them for our last NWI Food Swap. I’ve modified the recipe to add dried fruit and spice. I’m thinking of making these today and freezing for the days to come. When a quick snack is needed, just remove from the freezer, pop in the microwave and go!

**Just for comparison’s sake, here are the ingredients in one Superpretzel sweet cinnamon: Enriched wheat flour ( wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, fructose, vegetable shortening (palm oil), sugar, cinnamon bits ( sugar, wheat flour, corn cereal, cinnamon, soybean oil), yeast, natural and artificial flavoring, malt, salt, dough conditioner (wheat flour, calcium sulfate, salt, enzymes), cinnamon, acesulfame potassium, aspertame, bicarbonates and carbonates of soda**

For many, many years, the entire northern half of Indiana (from Indianapolis to Chicago) lived without a Whole Foods Market. Can you even believe that? How sad?!? Most people never knew the goodness of an entire store…an ENTIRE GROCERY STORE…filled with good, clean foods*! (*That’s not to say you still shouldn’t check labels, even on “natural” products.)

Then…low and behold…

(Hey Hoosiers, you better sit down for this…)

April 10th happened. IT HAPPENED. Whole Foods Market came to Mishawaka. It’s here, people. It’s here!

THIS. Is a big deal.

Even though I’ve shopped Whole Foods on my many trips to Chicago, knowing a market is closer and not having to pay Indiana tax on food is a real bonus. Of course, I had to get in my car and make the trip, about an hour’s drive. Despite the stormy weather and crowded store, I really WAS excited to see what this new store was all about. “People, move! Can’t you see I’m trying to INSTAGRAM?” I had Facebook friends asking questions about certain products and I wanted to be able to answer them all. One friend jokingly asked, “Is this your first time in a Whole Foods? You’re posting like a first timer. LOL” I had to laugh because I really was appearing rather obsessed. 

For those of you who are not familiar with Whole Foods Market, it’s a grocery store that contains natural brand products. For instance, when you walk down the cereal aisle, it’s full of boxes but you won’t find any Kellogg’s or General Mills. Nope. All natural and/or organic types of brands. Same with every other aisle. It’s a wonderland for organic foodie’s, like myself. Aside from the gorgeous seafood and cheese counters, various bulk bins and fresh ground nut butters, I absolutely LOVED how Whole Foods tags products made locally and are Non-GMO verified. The tags help to eliminate guesswork and help you make better choices more quickly.

Another one of the main questions I received was, “How do their prices compare to the grocery store organics?” That’s an important question as price seems to be the main reason why people don’t choose organic foods. If you’re already eating organics, the prices won’t shock you. Matter of fact, I found them very comparable to most of the organic items I already buy. I will say, the meat was rather eye-popping on cost, but I expected that. (I plan on staying with my local beef, pork & chicken connections.) Produce was especially good priced; lots of it comparable to non-organic items. I’ll be honest, I did spend more than I usually do on weekly groceries. Although, I didn’t just limit my purchases to the regular things. I had some recipes in mind that needed certain ingredients, and I also bought some items that I would have never been able to find in my immediate area. Plus…my cheese monster just went crazy.

Just to give you an idea of prices so you can compare, here are a few examples: (FYI – 365 is the Whole Foods organic brand)

• Nature’s Path Organic Instant Oatmeal: $2.50 box
• Annie’s Mac & Cheese: $1.50 box
• 365 Organic 2% Milk Gallon: $5.99
• Organic Pasta: $2.19 box
• 1 lb. organic rolled oats: $1.95
• 365 28 oz. can organic tomatoes: $1.99
• Ground Round: $4.50 (grass fed until last 2 months – no antibiotics)
• 365 Organic soy and hoisin sauces: $2.99 each
• 365 Cherry Vanilla Cream 6 pk cane sugar soda: $2.99
• La Croix 12 pk: $3.50
• 32 oz. Organic Valley Half and Half: $3.99
• 64 oz. 365 Organic Orange Juice: $3.99
• 8 oz. Organic Valley Heavy Cream: $2.19
• 1/4 lb. organic dried cherries: $4.16
• 1/2 lb. + Organic fresh ground peanut butter: $3.65
• 1/2 lb. – organic roasted sunflower seed kernels: $1.48
• 4 House made spicy Italian sausages: $4.17
• 8 oz. 365 organic maple syrup: $7.99 (why is ANY maple syrup so expensive??)

Anyway, I purchased several more specialty items like local Traderspoint Creamery drinkable yogurt and chocolate milk, fresh made sushi, more sausages (like chorizo & andouille) and more cheese than any one person should have bought. I didn’t purchase much produce as we get organic boxes delivered each week. I did buy a bundle of WHOLE baby carrots (with the tops attached) for a buck 99. I didn’t need them but I liked the idea of great presentation.

On my next shop, I’m going to make it a point to only purchase my regular grocery items and will see how their total compares to the local grocery store total. I’m already guessing it’s going to be a bit higher. Mainly, because the local store doesn’t have such the selection of organic items,  I’m having to buy some foods that aren’t organic, purely out of necessity. I’m so excited to finally replace some of the conventional staples with better choices. Despite the cost, eating organic is important to me and my family and we’re willing to cut costs in other places to ensure good quality of food.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I’ll be over here in the corner with my Italian bread and triple-crème. Roar. 

(If you would like to read our story on how we started affording organics, I have a series of posts HERE.)

**Oh, and by the way, this is NOT a sponsored post. I just like sharing the love.**

Somebody slap my hand because I can’t stay out of this homemade granola. I’m like a kid and a cookie jar. I talk about this like it’s a bad thing. It is, kind of. I mean, all of the ingredients are organic, healthy, whole foods, but I’m sure the calorie level is not okay when you eat handful after handful. Perfect for a pick-me-up but not so much as a main course.

I suppose I don’t need to mention that I love homemade granola. A few months back, I found this recipe posted by the NWI Society for Sustainable Living. It caught my eye because didn’t include honey (which I strangely don’t like, even though I TRY to like it,) it called for orange (which I LOVE) and large coconut shavings (because, duh.) I was finally able to get ingredients in bulk, so today…on this rainy, rainy morning…was a perfect day for granola. Although, not so perfect for my lack of will power. Enjoy!

Excuse me while I go take a granola break.

———-

Just for comparison’s sake, here are the ingredients in Quaker Chewy Oatmeal raisin bars (it was the closest flavor to the granola above.)

Granola (whole grain rolled oats, sugar, rice flour, whole grain rolled wheat, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils* with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness and/or sunflower oil with natural tocopherol added to preserve freshness, whole wheat flour, molasses, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, caramel color, barley malt, salt, nonfat dry milk), corn syrup, crisp rice (rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), raisins, oatmeal cookie pieces (sugar, wheat flour, rolled oats, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, salt, sodium bicarbonate), sugar, corn syrup solids, glycerin, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil*, sorbitol, calcium carbonate, fructose, salt, natural and artificial flavor, molasses, soy lecithin, cinnamon, BHT (a preservative), citric acid.

*Adds a dietarily insignificant amount of trans fat

Disclosure: I openly received the luncheon invite and gifts without any writing obligations. 100% my honest opinion. Affiliate link included. Recipes copied with permission from author. Disclosure policy here.

In the elevator.

Pushing a button for the 19th floor.

“Where IS this event?”

The elevator doors open and immediately, the comforting smells of home cooked food waft through the hall, exciting the senses.

“I have to be getting close.”

I soon found myself standing outside of an unmarked hotel suite.

A small door knocker awaits an alert.

“Knock. Knock. Knock.”

It gave the feeling that there should have been a secret knock. The feeling that someone should have opened a little peekhole, asking “What’s the passwoid?!”

Slowly, the door swung open. There was a smile, greeting us with a friendly welcome.

Faint music.

Home made ricotta cheese on buttery, baguette crisps and chickpea, parmesan & fennel salad.

Ladies having lively conversation, sprinkled with laughter.

Mushroom bolognese and roasted chicken.

Jars of pink tulips and deep chocolate cupcakes.

I was here at a luncheon cooked by Jennifer Perillo (of In Jennie’s Kitchen),  herself. A one-woman show, cooking for an event celebrating the launch of her cookbook, Homemade With Love. She did all of this in her hotel suite. IN.HER.HOTEL.SUITE, you guys. I’d be lucky to get that much done in my own kitchen, little alone in a hotel.

The luncheon was simply lovely. The cookbook? Absolutely gorgeous. Homemade With Love is, by far, the most beautiful cookbook I’ve ever seen (I’m not just saying that because she gave me a personally signed copy.) From the text to the layout to the short stories that prelude every recipe, it’s a complete work of art. Let’s not forget to mention the photos by Penny De Los Santos, which perfectly capture the essence of each dish. That night, I actually went to bed reading this book, savoring each and every page.

More than the cookbook itself, I was inspired. Inspired to try something new. Inspired to think of my own stories that make MY recipes heartwarming. Plain, old inspired.

Right away, I knew I needed (not wanted, but NEEDED) to make home made ricotta. I read the recipe, wondered if it was really THAT easy and an hour later, I had ricotta. Not grainy old store ricotta, but creamy, buttery, flavorful ricotta. The only problem was, I couldn’t stay out of it. “Home made ricotta is life changing,” said my friend Vanessa. She is right. Life changing for sure!

While I was boiling and waiting and straining and waiting for the ricotta, I put slow-roasted tomatoes in the oven. I didn’t have lemon thyme so I added lemon slices and regular thyme.Probably a bit more citrus-y than they should have been, but still rather divine, I must say. When everything was finished, I topped organic stone ground wheat crackers with a schmear of ricotta and a spoonful of roasted tomatoes and oil. If not for knowing my family would like to taste the ricotta, I gluttonously might have eaten the whole thing.

I foresee myself slowly making my way through this cookbook. Thanks to Jennie’s sponsor, Kitchen Aid, I also went home with a 13 cup food processor, which I won. Now I can make my own chickpea, parmasan and fennel salad with no effort at all. Between the luncheon and the gifts, I left feeling overwhelmed with inspiration and kindness. Apparently, that’s just the type of feeling that Jennie exudes. “[Her book] More than a cookbook, it’s a love song; an ode to family and life on life’s terms, and the nourishing and healing power of food prepared with joy in the heart,” says Melissa d’Arabian, host of the Food Network’s Ten Dollar Dinners.

I have to agree.

If you’d like to see what other people are saying, check out these posts:
Chickpea, Parmesan, and Fennel Salad from Gina from Bowl Licker
Flexing my Mussels in Jennie’s Kitchen from Ilina from Dirt and Noise
Food and Friends from Selfish MomBaking with my Kids from Homemade with Love from Selfish Mom
Easy and Delicious from Homemade with Love from Selfish Mom
Bruschetta with Homemade Ricotta and Slow Roasted Tomatoes from Chefdruck: French Foodie Mom
Dude, I Made the Best Pizza Last Night from Kim of House of Prince
Food is Delicious When It’s Homemade from Kim of Hormone Colored Days
Homemade with Love from Jessica of Momma’s Gone City