Cooking Co-Op and the New York Times

Be sure to read the article in this week's NY Times, "Saving Time and Stress with Cooking Co-Op":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23coop.html. This is why I am so passionate about cooking co-op. I truly believe this movement could change the world. Cooking co-op is a way to make natural foods as opposed to processed foods affordably available to the average family. I am doing some "detective" work to find out what" at risk "children are doing/ not doing for meals. I suspect fast food plays too big a part in there lives. In Parachute, CO a 13 yr. old was invited to a friend's home for a good home-cooked meal. When asked if she would like some salad, she asked- what's salad? English was not her second language but apparently heathy meals

are in short supply in this girl's home. What if it became the rage in this country to see how much more fun you could have while saving oodles of money with family dinners in your own home - cooking co-op style?

Happy Father's Day!

Isn't part of yesterday's celebration with food? It is important that Dad puts family mealtime as a high priority- if need be, write down the time of a family meal- it is an important appointment. My husband is a very good father and he encourages me to not let down my guard of that precious time of day. One Dad I know, lost his father at an early age. He cherished the memories of his family mealtimes and despite both sons playing demanding and time consuming high school sports, they had a family mealtime most every night- some nights it was at 8pm. And nobody could be excused from the table for 45 minutes. They started with the first period and wanted to hear about each son's entire day. Both boys were good students and graduated from Wake Forest University. Willie Lanier's father invested time in coming home after work and making those home-made rolls while listening to Guy Lombardo. Carve out time to celebrate the day together!

Two Dreams Come True

No, not sailing around the world, but as I blog, my kitchen is being demolished- a kitchen I am creating- not one someone else picked out. More on that later. And my mixed USTA tennis team won the state districts this week-end and will compete in August at the regionals in College Park, MD. Warming the bench is exhausting and I am just fortunate to have my name on the roster but watching such competitive tennis was inspiring and gave me a desire to raise my game. I couldn't wait for 5:30 am tennis indoors today- I stepped on the court focused and ready to practice what I watched. Came home and did sit-ups and push ups- at least I can practice with my team to help get them ready for regionals. This team has an unbelievable captain- selfless and comes up with perfect line-ups. Brutal honesty helped craft our victories this week-end- it did not feel good being on the short end of the talent stick. But I love the results! In cooking co-op, youv'e got to pick your winning team- maybe some better cooks on the roster but your cooking will be elevated the first time someone calls to rave about your dinner. And you need to be honest- say it nicely- that dinner just did not work for our family. Miracles do happen!

Willie Lanier-Pro Football Hall of Fame-Family Dinners

Willie Lanier won Super Bowl IV with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1969. He was the first black middle linebacker in pro football history and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Willie and I had worked in the same office - we had talked a lot about sports, but I had never asked about his early years. So I called Willie to find out what his family did for dinner. He had 3 other brothers and sisters, so there were 6 at the dinner table at 6 pm. His Dad was almost as good a cook as his Mom- "He made the best hot rolls...umm..hot rolls and butter and the house smelled so good. My Mom's favorite meal was navy bean soup with ham. From a very age, we all sat down to eat. It was part of our culture...Ginny I hadn't thought about this in a while...there was a song by Guy Labardo and his Royal Canadians that came on TV every night (he hummed the tune for me) - even in high school, we had dinner together...didn't talk much about football, we just shared ...seems simple but family dinner can get confusing with people in motion...it mean't something more than you realized...just to have the smell of those rolls again...think of the young people today who have no idea how fresh-baked rolls smell." For Willie, dinner was more than mealtime.

Happy Memorial Day!

It's Memorial Day and a reminder to say thank you to the men and women in service. And a time to remember those who fought throughout our history for freedom. Yesterday, after church, we packed a picnic and drove to Westover Plantation between Richmond and Williamsburg- best kept secret in this area. The home is beautiful and the view of the James River is breath-taking. Thanks to cooking co-op, I had an easy family favorite to quickly put together-Double Decker Turkey, Bacon and Havarti cheese sandwiches(see youvegotsupper for the recipe). I rounded out the meal with a marinated bean salad(thank you Costco), slices of watermelon, chips and cupcakes. Especially delicious eating outside in such a beautiful setting. This area is part of the cradle of our nations history as it is very close to Jamestown. So we stopped at many of the hisorical markers on the way back. My 21 yr. old daughter would read as the 14 yr. old son listened. We overshot Nathaniel Bacon's marker- perhaps because I asked nicely and perhaps because we just had bacon in our club sandwich- my husband turned around and we learned about Bacon's Rebellion. History and food go well together!

The Plan

Do you wake up one morning and then decide to leave the next day for your summer vacation? I don't think so. You need to plan. I recently saw this quote: " A fool with a plan is more effective than a genius with no plan. " I took that to heart as I recently was asked to play 2 singles tennis USTA matches- first I laughed as I am no young "whipper snapper" but then I came up with a plan- play on clay which slows down the hard fast strokes of the younger players and lob to their back-hand. There were times it did not look like it was working but I stuck with the plan and won both singles matches against better players than myself. That is what I like about cooking co-op - usually I have 1-2 months of menues planned with the help of others so it is easier to shop and cheaper since there are fewer left overs. We eat more natural food and less processed food when we have a plan for dinner. You need to plan. Nutritionists and weight programs encourage the same thing - plan. So one big topic at your dinner table tonight could be guess what- not who- is coming for dinner- guess each family members favorite meal and put it on the calendar.

Memories

That's what you are creating when you set aside time for family mealtime. Instead of junking my old breakfast table, I found a talented mom to creatively and colorfully repaint the 21 year old table which was the setting to hear many family discussions. Food is the WD-40 which loosens the jawbones and it's amazing what you can find out. "Hum...you said earlier you did not have much homework but now I am hearing about 2 big tests tomorrow." We had asked to hear all about the prom, but only sitting at that table, eating food did we hear how our daughter got home from the prom- by canoe. The dad(a lawyer) insisted they wear life vests. I am not a gourmet cook. I just love cooking co-op because it helps me do the things I want to do- take time out to hear the stories and create memories.