Anyone with more than one child knows that what you do for one kid you must in some way do for the other.

We had another cause for celebration in our house so I didn’t have to stretch to keep our child-honoring in balance. Last month we gave a nod to the boy for reading at a level way beyond his parents’. Then, we wanted a special moment for our daughter to commemorate her earning a National Gold Key Award for her photography from Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

It’s an exclusive honor that she rather underplayed which meant her mom had to overplay and of course tie it to food rather than give her the preferred shopping spree. She also earned awards and publication of two photos that she captured on our African vacation. read more

What to do with leftover seafood? Freeze. Toss.Cook.Cat food. Who has leftover seafood?

Soup is one answer or something more hearty, a risotto or paella. More interesting, however, is the Whole Foods and Peruvian answer, make ceviche. Cooking fish either way – heat or citrus – sustains its life by killing bacteria that will make the food take a turn.

I know, scallops seem decadent, but I always find them on sale or ‘previously frozen’ (meaning the guy at your grocer’s seafood counter just thawed them from a bag located in your grocer’s freezer section), and the frozen bag of scallops itself is also an option. Finding bargain scallops are worth the hunt because these mollusks are low-cal with luxurious flavor, low-cholesterol, and they are a pure protein packed with omega 3’s.

A few weeks ago we had a party, a big party. read more

Tragedy – I am addicted to the lazy susan.

Comedy – Some nights I’m too lazy to turn it.

Ever since I bought the lazy susan, I cannot stop making smorgasbord dinners. Sure, we have a few more tiny dishes to wash, but that job ends up in the husband department, perpetuating the lazy in susan. Susan delivers – dinner is more engaging for kids, they eat more because they’ve assembled it, but the real benefit for a meal like this, is that it’s prepped way before I need it. With just a few exhausting trips between the refrigerator and table, I yell, “dinner is ready.” It’s ready-to-serve and it’s fresh, which is especially helpful on these days when I’m not quite sure what time everyone will be ready to eat.

You know how it is, kids get older (16 and 10), they start making their own plans and mom’s are less in charge – so painful for one who likes to know her plans. Don’t get me started on the mystery that is still this summer.

A dinner that I can organize and make on my terms, but I can put on the table on their schedule, just works for everyone. And, we cannot say enough about the healthy qualities of Mediterranean food. It is good for the heart and that’s good for the soul. Try it with our lemon chicken, so easy and tasty for a few meals.

So, get lazy tonight and put some greek foods on stage. Break a leg…of chicken or lamb.

Aged wine & imported cheese, salty meat & sweet jam, peanut butter & bananas, Justin Bieber & Snoop Dogg – these are things that delight us on their own, yet elevate to another level with the right partner.

Such is the case with this inspired and effortless pairing between salad bar vegetables with goat cheese & grilled rustic bread. Tartine means ‘slice of bread’ in French and it really means open face sandwich in France. It seems chefs everywhere have been loading up these breads with inspired toppings, creating promising meals that fit in your hand. We thought to give it a try for crunchtime because it comes together in minutes and will even wow the open-face fussies at the table. read more

It’s officially spring but winter and seasonal depression lag. In winter, and I’m speaking from having lived in Wisconsin, Chicago and New York, I craved maybe the worst foods to lift me from the winter doldrums. Comfort foods like potatoes, breads, pastas, and cookies – warm chocolate chip cookies – were on my mind and continue even here insunny rainy California. Instead of carbs, we need more Big D foods, those rich in vitamin D, to do the job.

Over the past few years, our commitment to staying out of the sun has been good for our skin, but bad for our vit-D absorption. In the winter when the sun is out for maybe twenty three minutes each day and those minutes we’re spending in windowless meeting rooms or holed up with a laptop, we can suffer from seasonal depression. What do we do about it? We eat away our sadness in the form of lasagna and scones. Okay those foods can make me happy for at least seven minutes until gloom returns.

It stands to reason that if we fed our bodies more vitamin D, we might ward off seasonal depression, and thus, our craving for give-me-hugs food. read more