Discover Dinnertime

I had the opportunity last week to go to Charlotte, NC and meet Susan Dosier, a former Southern Living Executive Food Editor. I came away with a gem of a cook book she and Julia Dowling Rutland(currently the Food and Entertaining Editor, Coastal Living) created as a guide to building family time around the table. Included with some unbelievably good-looking recipes are 8 good reasons to eat dinner with your family. 1) Your child will read better. 2) Good conversation shapes the future of our country. 3) Shared mealtimes give your family a unique identity. 4)Eating together may reduce children's behavioral problems. 5) Table time gives your children a regular time to talk to you-and you to them. 6) You're likely to eat more nutritious meals when you eat with someone else. 7) Preparing meals together teaches your kids to cook...and clean up. 8) There's no better time or place to teach good manners. At selective stores, I am packaging this cook book and my DVD with a green ribbon around it for Christmas gifts. Recipes Susan highlighted I can not wait to try with my co-op- Creamy Pecan Chicken and Slow Cooker Picante Pot Roast served with Quick Cheese Grits.

A Word About Kitchens

This month 13 years ago, we moved into our home. And I still love my kitchen. You can see it in my DVD and in pictures on this web site especially if you look at the slide show on the helpful resources tab. This week as I was cooking my meal which had a lot of "moving" parts, I was thankful for it's modest size- any bigger and it would be too many steps from sink to stove top to refrig. And unlike many magazine kitchen photos- I do not have an island in the middle of my kitchen and I do not have a big hood over the cook top. I have a microwave with a fan over my gas cook top. An island can crowd and/or block your path to the needed item. When I recently asked a homeowner where she had her microwave(she instead had a beautiful wood vent over her cook top), she confessed it was in the utility room. It is so convenient to have the microwave right over the cook top and it is so perfect to have shelving above the microwave as that is where I keep my non-stick sprays, soy sauce, vinegar, worchester sauce etc. My countertops are white formica- not the expensive variety but they sure "pop" in pictures, slide show and my DVD. Small and affordable kitchens cook many a good meal. Easy does it!

Peak Fall Foliage= Brunswick Stew Time

I delivered my Brunswick Stew to my new cooking co-op along with ham rolls and some home-made chocolate cake(my daughter came home from NYC and so while making her a surprise, I made an extra cake to share with my co-op). Brunswick stew is one of my easiest meals to make. But once again, I found it to be everyone's favorite- one husband said it was his favorite meal and the male gourmet cook in our co-op loved it. One mom was surprised how much her children enjoyed it. See the menu on the recipe tab and in my DVD "If It's Tuesday, It's My Night To Cook" I demonstrate the making of this recipe. It also helped that it was a cool, rainy day that I delivered my meal. Read the tab About Ginny and click the memorable moment in which I first received the best Brunswick Stew of my life from a soon to be cooking co-opper. Her recipe was wonderful but time-consuming so I simplified it. It's best to have 2 slow cookers and make 2 batches because you can give some away to someone with the flu and freeze the rest. It's easy to shop for as most of the ingredients come from the freezer section. So ladies and gents- start your engines..um..slow-cookers!

Resolution: Resolve to Perform What You Ought

This week I read a fascinating article on US Airways Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703790404574469160016077646.

.html. And I also read a statement: " Character" and "Virtue" have been replaced by "Values". So what's the difference? Values implies a benefit but character and virtue implies something right and true. The title above is one of Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues which he wrote at age 20 as a plan for how he would live his life. Often I try to share the benefits of preparing and having dinner together as a family. Samuel Johnson talks of "private duties" leading to happiness. What if having regular mealtimes with your family-even if just husband and wife- is a duty? Jeffrey Zaslow in the above article said:"...it wasn't only his skills...that carried him in those tense moments over Manhattan. It was also his upbringing, his family bonds, his sense of integrity...Sulley's entire life led him safely to that river." The name of the book on Sully's journey-"Highest Duty:My Search for What Really Matters." Duty calls!

Resolution: Resolve to perform

Resolution: Resolve to perform

Resolution: Resolve to perform