‘Tis the season to be frenzied. Really. Every year, the holiday spirit grabs ahold of me and I add one more DIY project to the list, squashing thejolly out like an ant on a Riverdance stage.

Last night, I finished Griffin’s fourth Secret Santa gift for school – the same school that told us these gifts had to be homemade but every sane parent knew better and purchased, except us. The twelve yearold could barely decoupage one more wooden something from Michael’s. “Mom, no one even knows what decoupage is?” Exactly, those parents are busy sheltering their kids with Suzuki violin lessons and fall baseball, while you are being cultured in Modpodge. Let’s just see who’s working for whom down the road. read more

Admittedly, I am intrigued by mysterious ingredients. What, not everyone wants to know how to ferment sand fleas? Neither fermenting or the nuanced taste for sand fleas have a place on crunchtime because we’re about real food possibilities without having beachfront foraging or erector set cooking. With that commitment and a whispered request from BFF, I will highlight recipes that have 5 Ingredients or Less and those recipes that can be made in 15 Minutes or Less with a nifty little graphic and a category listing to that effect. And in a few days, we’ll have a slightly new design for our site that will make it easier to browse. read more

Can I write about real food and and not address prop 37 — California’s proposition to require that food producers label genetically modified ingredients?

It’s not that I’m entirely against genetically modified foods for instance when it comes to ways to feed the daunting food supply demands or for so I can eat a seedless watermelon. And Prop 37 isn’t a panacea to tackle the problem of our malnourished, yet overweight society. Many GMOs in our foods have little nutritional value and yet food producers are permitted to call the foods healthy. Requiring GMO labeling is a step toward leveling the playing field.

Raising awareness works in changing eating habits, so I urge my fellow Californians to vote yes on 37.

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Tapas, known as little bites of Spanish food, translates to “caps.” Turns out, Spaniards, in an effort to keep fruit flies out of their wine, put small plates on top of glasses – caps. An empty plate, well, might be worse than the fruit flies, so they added small amounts of appetizer type foods on top of those plates and the idea of tapas was born. I learned this story in Barcelona last week on a food and wine tour, that became more wine than food, consequently, more fun than filling. What I remember was the compelling story telling and insider perspective from our tour guide Danny and the friends we made for life.

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Meg and Jen are neighbors we treasure. We live in a fussy Westwood neighborhood where meetings, like night’s discussion about Aleppo versus Canary Island pine trees, stir up excitement and prompt actions like examining our tree by iPhone light for mushrooms, and not the good kind. I was the youngest one at the meeting, so I had that going for me, until a Leslie Knope type from the councilman’s office showed up with her sensible pumps and clear skin enthusiasm.

Twelve years ago…

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