Happy Thanksgiving- Cooking in Quantity

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and let this show you the potential of starting your own cooking co-op in the New Year. You will be learning how to cook in quantity and you will enjoy eating on the left-overs the remainder of the week. What if more meals could be as well-designed as Thanksgiving? Turkey goes so well with stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry salad, green bean casserole etc. So often we find a good recipe but the trick-of-the-trade is what else goes well with that new recipe to make a memorable meal. So practice this Thanksgiving and plan on having more memorable meals in 2011 with the help of 3 cooking co-op partners. And the other main ingredient for memorable meals is the conversation and sometimes laughter with family and friends. Food is the wd-40 to grease the wheels and see what's on everyone's minds. So get cooking and get talking.

"The fashion world has a big fat crush on ...cuisine"

That is one of the headlines from this week-end's WSJ. The article cites Gwyneth Paltrow's eating tour of Spain for PBS. Barney's Christmas windows will feature Anthony Bourdain and Paula Deene. "The fact is, fashion and food have always had a relationship. As designer Isaac Mizrahi (also an enthusiastic home cook), points out: "It's no coincidence that Paris is the fashion capital of the world and the food capital of the world." As fashionable and fabulous as Gwyneth Paltrow is, she admitted in an interview with Vogue: "When you're having dinner with your kids and your husband and someone says something funny or you're dying laughing because your 3-year-old made a ...joke, it doesn't matter what else is going on. That's real happiness." The Fianancial Times reported this morning, "Casual Dining Appetites Revive as Confidence Returns."Instead of eating out, have the confidence and poise of fashion models and actresses, to plan, cook, experiment on your own home-cooked dinners. Make eating at home with family and friends the fashionable thing to do! "That's real happiness."

Home Economics

Here are the headlines: 1) "Healthy Eating Getting Pricier" Oct.,2010 Tufts Univ. Health& Nutrition Letter. "Prices of foods rich in nutrients rose at almost double the rate of junk food from 2004 to 2008...Prices of the healthy foods(veges, fortified whole-grain cereals) rose 29.2%, while the least-nutritious foods( high in sugar, fat and refined grains) went up 16.1%...The growing price disparity "may pose a barrier to the adoption of healthy diets," researchers warned." 2) "Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices" Nov. 4, 2010 WSJ. "Packagers and supermarkets start to pass along rising costs, even as consumers pinch pennies." In the last year, boneless USDA Choice Chuck roast is up 13%, whole fortified milk is up 10% etc. "Costs are being driven by growing demand for meat in China, India and other emerging markets." Necessity is the mother of invention so why not try a new way to put dinner on the table- cooking co-op! What is most important to you? Spending money eating out, grabbing to go dinner because you have not planned ahead? Or would you rather have those hard-earned dollars go toward your mortgage, home-improvements, beach trip, or an earlier retirement? A revolution is brewing...hum stewing!

Family Dinner is So Important Because...

Patrick Henrey lived, married, and learned his most valuable life lessons here in Hanover County. As the busy and proud father of 17 children, he believed the family was the foundation of a strong society. The family dinner time is one of the key ingredients of a strong and productive family. Case in point. WSJ article "Parental Role Aids Anorexia Recovery." You think? "Closely monitoring the meals of a child with the eating disorder trumps sessions with a therapist...(the parents) tag-teamed to sit with (their 13 yr. old daughter) through 3 meals and 3 snacks daily...( Soon) her daughter was gaining weight consistently.. and the (mother) started "seeing sparks" of her daughter's personality again." And then a qote from Tennis Magazine in a interview with John Isner, "We never got much in the way of material things, but if you can be spoiled by good cooking,my mom spoiled me 3 times a day all my life." Cook at home and sit down for dinner to create healthy moments and memories. Be sure to vote tomorrow and think of Patrick Henry and his wisdom!

Enjoy Your Company Over a Bowl of Stew

We met some very special friends at the omelet station in Ashville, NC 2 1/2 years ago. They came to visit this week and spent 2 nights. Right as they left, my daughter brought 4 friends home for the week-end. I didn't have much time to fix anything so I went to my now 20 years-in-the-making Brunswick Stew in which I place all the ingredients in a slow-cooker and then let it cook overnight. So late Wednesday night, we sat down and enjoyed our friends from Birmingham, AL over a bowl of stew, biscuits, and a slice of Caroline's Six Layer Caramel Cake my mom sent just in the nick of time. Then Sunday for lunch, we ate the remaining Brunswick Stew enjoying the conversation with 5 beautiful, smart young ladies in their 20's. What a blessing! We hated to see both groups of our company leave. Conversation and good food go hand in hand. Cool weather is here. It's time to fix my Brunswick Stew ( see recipes tab) and invite friends and neighbors into your home. The laughter and fun will brighten your week!

Happy Columbus Day!

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue... So speaking of sailing, here is a Mark Twain quote on commitment which is needed as you resolve to cook more home-made dinners via cooking co-op or any other plan you can devise to keep you vigilant in protecting the family dinner hour. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

"Never, never, never,never give up!"

- Winston Churchill during WWII. What a week-end! My 7.5 combo team from Keswick, VA won our division at the state tennis districts in Va. Beach in dramatic fashion. First and most importantly 10 different personalities with different talents all came together and played as a team. The most gifted players were humble and willing to play with any partner. Poetic justice was literally served when one of teammates, months away from double knee replacement, served to win our 2nd match and played her best points of the match to seal our victory. To win our division, another team were down 0-6, 1-4 to come back and win 0-6, 7-6, 1-0. ABC Sports does not get any better- the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Our team never gave up. They analyzed what wasn't working and came up with a plan. And so the point is, just because you have tried and tried to be more organized with your home-made dinner plans, verses eating out, pizza etc.- never give up! Try something different. Get a special four-some together to try cooking co-op as a way to eat more natural foods as opposed to processed foods while saving money and stress at the same time. Miracles do happen.