Cooking Articles

Pumpkin, Non-Pie

How do I know that fall has officially arrived? When bright orange, gnarled orbs, otherwise known as pumpkins, started popping up everywhere I look. Where there once were flowers, now gourds in all shapes...

Take a Bite Out of History

Hard to believe now, but history was my least favorite subject in school. At that time, history was textbooks: boring chapters filled with names and dates to memorize. It wasn’t until I was an adult...

Discovering Kamut

Now that the weather has turned a bit cooler, my appetite for heartier foods has increased. I find myself craving soups, stews, chili, and hearty grain dishes. One of the grains I reach for most often...

Balancing Healthy Food and Happy Families

An old college friend of mine is a young mother of four children, all below the age of seven. It goes without saying that, among our group of friends from the old days, we hardly see her. Such is the...

Sukkot: A Jewish Harvest

Like virtually all Jewish holidays, the festival of Sukkot is marked by special dishes that are eaten in its celebration. The holiday itself is symbolized by plants and food, such as the etrog (citrus...

A Passion For Peppers

Like most passions, it started out innocently enough. We thought we would try “just one.” One led to two, two quickly became three, and after that there was no limit. Before we knew it, we were...

Tools of the Vegetable Trade

A typical walk down any supermarket aisle is quick to reveal how averse we are as Americans to doing work in the kitchen. Everything from onions to carrots comes pre-diced and ready for the pot. Stir-fry...

How to Eat Like a Rainbow

You hear it all the time from the nutrition advocates: for the most healthful diet, eat a rainbow of naturally colorful foods. The foods that contain the deepest hues also happen to have the most nutritional...

Vanilla: The Most Underrated Flavor

Ahhh, vanilla. My absolute favorite. I love anything vanilla flavored, scented or otherwise. I even wear vanilla perfume. I'm addicted to the stuff, I admit. It's got a soft, yet complex, not too-sweet...

Slow Cooking With Fall Flavors: The Halloween Crockpot

With Halloween just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about candy, costumes, and cooking! Halloween is the perfect holiday to rev up your culinary creativity and there is a multitude of ideas...

Pumpkin Seeds Make For Some Un-Scary Treats

About this time of year families around the country pack their kids in the car for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Amongst the misshapen orbs, over-sized behemoths, and miniature decorative types, the kids...

Stop and Smell the Apple Butter

Last weekend my older son and I were out for the morning doing weekend errands and just happened to stumble upon a neat little festival. As we zoomed up the road on our way to the closest kiddie shoe...

Take Me Home for the Ballgame

It has been a summer of “take me out to the ball game” but now it's time to take me “home” for the ball game. Summer is over and so ends the baseball season. With only the World Series left to...

Healthy Kiddie Meal Choices

It’s a parenting conundrum that many of us are faced with on a daily basis when feeding our children. Do you go with something quick and easy that you’re sure they will eat or do you try to offer...

Roll, Jelly, Roll

Jelly rolls. While I had never made ‘em before, I had looked in awe at many a party and picnic where these delightful dessert rolls appeared: pumpkin, apple spice, even raspberry crème. Yet they all...

Butter Beans Make Better Baked Beans

That’s precisely what hubby said when I asked him what he thought of this latest crockpot baked bean recipe. After all, it was a recipe that really was inspired by him: Just the other week when he...