Raising Cultured Children One Meal at a Time

Taylor Swift and Sweet Potato Pound Cake

2011-11-18T12:29:00.011-05:00

This week was one of two big indulgences.

Indulgence #1

Sophie, her Aunt Jackie, and I went to the Taylor Swift concert on Wednesday night. Sophie sang and danced throughout Taylor's incredible 2-hour plus performance, which was more like a Broadway production than a music concert. The set design changed for every song. Incredible dancers performed throughout the show, sometimes dangling from ropes suspended from the ceiling in Cirque du Soleil style. There were even real fireworks. And, of course, there was larger than life Taylor Swift who mesmerized the sold-out crowd with her catchy tunes, contagious energy, and shimmery outfits & guitars.

Indulgence #2

I made a sweet potato pound cake for the first time. Talk about good!

I found the recipe in Southern Cakes by Nancy McDermott, one of my go to cookbooks for cake making.

Icing on the Cake

As impressed as I was with Taylor Swift, there's one thing she could have done to make her incredible concert all that much sweeter. Icing. Not the sticky sweet buttermilk glaze that takes the sweet potato cake from good to irresistible. No, not more fanfare. More genuine self.

I fully understand why Taylor keeps winning entertainer of the year awards. Her show is spectacular. But...it would have been a lot sweeter if Taylor had shared the part of her heart that is philanthropic and helped foster that gift in her audience.

And now for that sweet potato cake recipe, icing first....

Buttermilk Glaze

Combine ½ cup buttermilk, ½ cup sugar, ½ stick butter, 1 ½ tsp. cornstarch, ¼ tsp. baking soda in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Remove at once, stir well, and cool to room temp. Add one tsp. of vanilla.

Cake Ingredients:

3 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk (*I recommend using high quality buttermilk.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

4 eggs

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes

Directions

Heat the oven to 350°, and grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk. Combine the milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Set the milk and flour mixtures aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together with a mixer at high speed until light and well combined, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well each time. Add the sweet mashed potatoes and mix at low speed for 1 minute, or until the batter is evenly mixed.

Add about half the flour mixture and beat gently, using a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed, only until the flour disappears into the butter. Add half the milk and mix gently to combine everything well. Mix in the remaining flour, and then the remaining milk, beating gently only until you have a thick, smooth batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared tube pan, and bake for 350° for 60-75 minutes. *I recommend checking the cake at 60 minutes with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean and give it a few minutes more cooking time if it is not quite done. Mine ended up taking 65 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for 20 minutes. Then use a table knife to loosen the cake from the pan. Turn out the cake onto a wire rack, place it top side up, spoon on glaze, and cool to room temp.

Lost Voice

2011-09-28T13:17:00.005-04:00

Based on my extended blogging absence, it would seem that I have lost my voice or my interest in writing. Lest you think that is true, I have decided to break my online silence and admit that I have been busy exercising my voice offline.

Earlier this month, I did something I'd never done before. I met with Senator Kay Hagan and one of her legislative staff members. Sure, I have exercised my political voice before by voting, signing petitions, and calling my legislators. A face-to-face meeting with an elected official was a new experience for me, however. In a world of text, email, twitter, facebook and voice messages, this type of interaction almost seemed novel.

The sad truth about our current political system is that unless more people speak out in person, the less likely anything is going to change for the better. And that's a thought that makes me teary when I look at my kids. I am usually so busy just taking care of their day-to-day needs that I lose sight of the bigger picture- their future.

So, I have been speaking out more. And I am not going at it alone. In fact, I don't know that I would have the courage to speak out if it weren't for all the other great moms with whom I share this battle.

If you are interested in learning more about the Safe Chemicals Act or why I asked Senator Hagan to co-sponsor this bill, please leave me a comment or check out this link.

If you are already familiar with the importance of this bill and have not yet had a chance to speak out, please add your voice by telephoning Senator Hagan's office at 202-224-6342.

Sophie's Smoothie Recipe

2011-07-14T15:20:00.005-04:00

My husband Carlos regularly makes smoothies for his breakfast. We have a small handheld immersion blender, which makes clean-up particularly easy…unless Carlos overfills the cup….which has happened a time or forty-two.

He sticks all of his desired smoothie ingredients- fruit, yogurt, spinach, a splash of juice, etc.- into a large cup then blends them up in seconds.

Recently, our kids have gotten in on the smoothie making action. With minimal adult help, Louis and Sophie take turns making smoothie treats for one another. We recently discovered that Sophie had penned her own recipe (notice the omission of spinach). It does not disappoint and definitely adds some much needed coolness to these crazy hot summer days.

Aside from being a pretty healthy treat, smoothies also minimize the amount of fruit that gets wasted in our house. We store all those little extra pieces of fruit that go uneaten and anything that's nearing its demise in bite-size form in the freezer.

And yes, when the kids aren't looking, we have been known to sneak spinach into their smoothies.

Raising Elijah

2011-05-08T09:17:00.007-04:00

Sophie just turned 7. My baby is not a baby anymore. To celebrate her birthday, she had a little slumber party this past Friday. At one point over the course of the evening, Sophie and her friends started to talk about boys...as in who likes whom. My husband half-jokingly suggested I "go shut that conversation down."

I didn't do any such thing. It did make me think, however.

It made me think about how hard we try to protect our kids from harm and how hard we try to teach them to be good people.

I thought about this all day Saturday as we continued to lavish attention on our birthday girl.

Then, I woke up on Mother's Day and became the recipient of all the attention. I was showered with kisses, homemade cards and croissants from my favorite local bakery.

After breakfast, Carlos took the kids out and about to give me a few minutes to relax in a quiet house. And that's when I decided to write this blog post.

A passage from my latest read by Sandra Steingraber, Raising Elijah, rushed to mind:

To the index of things felt acutely by parents but imperceptible to everyone else, let's add birthday cakes, the sadness of.

I'm referring to the moment that comes after the candles are blown out and before someone stumbles over to the wall switch and flips the lights back on.

After the song is sung. Before the cake is cut.

The moment the waxy smoke balloons up from the red-tipped wicks into the sudden darkness, and the mother of the birthday child realizes that there will never again in this house be a four-year-old boy. Or seven-year-old girls. Or a six-year-old boy. Or a nine-year-old girl. Or an eight-year-old boy. Or an eleven-year-old girl.

Was it ever thus? Was the sadness of birthday cakes a secret known to my own parents? And there parents too?

To be sad about birthday cakes is to lament the speed at which the earth circles the sun, which is a helpless, silly sort of sadness. It doesn't last long. Especially now that the lights are on again and before you is a laughing child- boy or girl- in possession of manners and psychomotor skills, who is doling out cake and ice cream to the neighbor kids and hamming it up for the camera.

It is never the birthday kid, but the other one- the younger or older sibling who is trying to be a good sport about it all- who looks over and notices. Mama, why are you crying?

Oh, someday you'll find out.

And, unbeknownst to him or her, that very sentence was also my unspoken wish, delivered just seconds earlier, as the might exhale blew out the flames that number of years already gone by. It's the same wish for every cake: Oh let them grow up. Let them find out. Let it go on.

As much as I joke with Louis and Sophie that I wish I could put my hand on their heads and keep them from getting any bigger, that's not really what I want.

What I want for them are happy, hope-filled futures.

Thanks to people like author, biologist and mother Sandra Steingraber, I do have hope that we can change the course of history for our children. In her most recent book, Raising Elijah Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, Sandra paints an eye-opening call to action by citing empirical evidence about the number of questionable chemicals allowed in our environment and the impact they are having on all of us, especially our kids. Think ADHD, autism, asthma, cancer, etc. As I read her fact-filled but beautifully written prose, I felt like I was going to burst.

We need cleaner air, cleaner water, and cleaner food.

If you haven't read Raising Elijah, please do so...sooner than later. There's lots of work to be done, starting now.

Real Boys...

2011-03-19T14:18:00.015-04:00

Real boys need people to be with who allow them to show all their emotions, including their most intense feelings of sadness, disappointment, and fear. Real boys need to hear that these feelings are normal, good, and "masculine." They need to know that there really isn't any feeling, activity, or behavior that is forbidden to them as boys (other than those that could end up seriously hurting them or somebody else). They need to be taught connection rather than disconnection.

~ William Pollack, Real Boys

I had originally intended to write a post exclusively about cooking with my 9 1/2 year old son Louis. Then, I read William Pollack's Real Boys and decided to combine the two topics.

Real Boys paints a vivid picture of the growing stress boys are under to act tough...but also play nice. It raises awareness of the harm we inflict on boys when we force them to act differently than they feel, to experience shame for feeling like they do. Pollack asserts that our society is forcing boys into manhood too early and that the resulting behavioral problems shouldn't be downplayed as "boys just being boys." Rather, he presents compelling evidence that many boys are depressed and that their depression often goes undiagnosed.

So how does Pollack's book tie into my cooking with Louis?

First, cooking is action-oriented. Pollack points out that for many boys, the act of doing something together can be as powerful a connector, and often is a more powerful connector, than the act of talking. And boys who feel "connected" are less likely to exhibit behavioral problems and depression.

Second, Pollack elaborates on something called the "timed silence syndrome." This often occurs when boys seem sulky but initially deny being upset about anything. Because they may be feeling shame and confusion, they withdraw. Often, there is a small window of time later on when a boy will indicate his readiness to deal with his troubles, so a parent needs to be alert and at the ready. Frequently, this opportunity will occur when there are other distractions at hand, possibly while driving in the car, throwing a football, or even chopping vegetables.

Finally, it is not new news that families who regularly eat dinner together are happier overall. Pollack includes multiple studies that cite the importance of family connectedness as a key to boys surviving adolescence. For instance, the Blake Bowden study of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital "found that adolescents who shared dinner with their families five times a week were least likely to use drugs or be depressed, and most likely to excel at school and have a healthy social life." That's powerful stuff.

And I've found, that if Louis or Sophie helps get dinner on the table, they're proud to have contributed to the meal, are more likely to try it, and better appreciate the "real" food they are eating.

Race to Nowhere

2011-01-13T09:37:00.018-05:00

Race to nowhere.

A depressing thought isn't it, a race that gets you nowhere?

Now, consider an adolescent child describing school as a "race to nowhere."

Even more depressing.

This past weekend, I went to see the much discussed documentary on the U.S. education system. Directed by a mother and first time filmmaker Vicki Abeles, "Race to Nowhere" is a must-see even if you don't have school age children...but especially if you do.

My interest in seeing the film was piqued after reading this New York times article and Derrick Jansen's book, Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution. As soon as I learned of a screening nearby, I bought my movie ticket online. I tried to rally some friends to join me. No luck given the short notice, so I ventured to the theater alone.

The documentary's message is important and cannot be imparted solely through the written word. Much like "Food, Inc." changed my perception of food, "Race to Nowhere" changed my perception of education.

The film expertly captures the mounting pressure on school age children (and their parents) to be perfect, well-rounded students and get into perfect, top tier colleges.

While I watched "Race to Nowhere," I experienced stress and depression as child after child shared his/her story. I cried when a mother talked about her 13 year old girl's suicide. I cried over one teacher's tale of utter exhaustion trying to fight for what she wants most- to help children love to learn.

After the film, I needed some fresh air, so I didn't stick around for the audience discussion. I did, however, make a personal commitment to blog about it in an effort to get more people thinking, talking and looking for new solutions.

The older I get, the less I feel like racing. I used to feel as if I had to have my hand in a zillion things. Aren't women supposed to be incredible multi-taskers? Isn't variety what makes life richer? Yes and yes but sometimes no.

It pays to slow down and figure out what is important to you and to the world around you. Kids need to play. Adults need to play. We all need downtime.

Earlier today, a friend of mine expressed happiness about finding a healthier alternative to her beloved childhood favorite Spaghetti O's. Although I do not share her taste in canned pasta, I share in the simple delight of her discovery. Knowing what makes you happy at heart is more important than knowing what makes others happy.

My takeaway from "Race to Nowhere" is that most kids today are working really hard to beat the system and make the adults in their lives happy. Consequently, they don't have the support or time to discover their own passions. There's too much homework, too much stress and not enough time to do what children do best...play.

One of my favorite parts of the film is a scene where Matt Goldman (founding member of the Blue Man Group and cofounder of the Blue School in Manhattan) suggests that it might be possible to create schools that kids enjoy well past their elementary years.

Imagine that. Schools that even adolescents love! Fun schools. Happy, passionate learners. Now, we're skipping somewhere.

Crunchy Kale Chips

2010-11-29T19:36:00.008-05:00

This time of year, farmers' markets are flush with kale. Ever since I started eating kale last year, I tend to sauté it with a little garlic and olive oil. Although Carlos and I enjoy it this way, the kids grimace after each and every bite making dinnertime anything but relaxing.

Too bad this abundant, cool weather green is so bitter. Wikipedia touts it as "a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties," listing beta-carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and calcium as some of its more endearing traits.

To my delight (Louis is not quite there yet), we have learned to make kale more kid-friendly. This past summer, an acquaintance shared her recipe for kale chips. It sounded promising, so I gave it a go.

I fired up my oven to 350˚ and set to work. While the oven was preheating, I removed the stems from a bunch of kale, tore the leaves into chip size pieces, and then tossed them lightly with olive oil and salt. I spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet so they'd crisp up instead of steam. After about 10 minutes, voilà...crunchy kale chips!

As long as you take your time arranging the kale chips in a single layer and avoid burning them, I think you'll be shocked by the transformation. When I make a batch, they often disappear before making it to the dinner table. Kale chips are now part of my regular lineup.

The Story of Stuff

2010-10-26T07:58:00.006-04:00

This past spring, a friend of mine handed me a copy of Annie Leonard’s book, The Story of Stuff. I placed it on my ever-growing stack of must-reads and promptly forgot about it. School let out. The kids and I relocated to the beach for an incredible 5 weeks of together time while our kitchen was being renovated. The Story of Stuff sat on my bookshelf gathering dust while the summer whizzed by.

Had I read The Story of Stuff before our renovation, I might have approached our kitchen project differently.

Don’t get me wrong. I love our new kitchen, and I am putting it to good use.

I just think differently about buying new stuff now.

My grandmother’s kitchen has looked the same for as long as I can remember. Her oven is older than I am. It’s a thing of beauty much like she is. Whenever I see it, I remember eating grilled cheeses in her kitchen as a child.

Unlike most of the stuff produced today, my grandmother's oven was built to last. Today's stuff is built for consumption.

Rather than save and cherish our things, we have become a society that throws things away, so we can consumer more and more. We are always on a quest to get the latest and greatest. To keep the economy growing, we shop til we drop.

Unfortunately, the stuff produced today costs so much more than the dollars and cents we hand over to acquire it.

To make our stuff, we are depleting our natural resources faster than the earth can replenish them.
Millions of people all over the world have and continue to lose their lives because of the “conflict minerals” used to make our stuff.
To produce our stuff, we use obscene amounts of water while others don’t even have enough to drink.
We use toxins to produce our stuff, polluting our air, our water, our food, and our bodies.

Trade organizations like the IMF, the World Bank, and WTO have strayed from their original purpose and have “created and perpetuated huge imbalances in global wealth while trashing the natural environment and destroying communities all the way from Argentina to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between.” (page 129)

We have no way to get rid of all the stuff we are consuming, so we burn it, we throw it in landfills, and we even ship our toxic waste to less powerful countries.

We are drowning in our waste- our wasteful extraction, our wasteful production, our wasteful distribution, our wasteful consumption and our wasteful disposal.

It has always bothered me that it often costs less to replace stuff than repair it. Now I get it. It doesn’t cost less. It costs exponentially more. It’s costing us our lives.

I am sad, enraged, but hopeful all the same. I am hopeful that at least one person who reads my blog will read The Story of Stuff and help fight for the future. Who knows, maybe the very copy I borrowed from my friend will make it your way. I sent it on a journey to and for you. So please don’t let it collect dust on a bookshelf like I did. This stuff is way too important for that.

Foods from A to Z

2010-09-30T20:50:00.003-04:00

Nope, it's not a spelling test...although it appears we all need some practice with the word "zucchini."

No, this is another attempt to get my children to expand their food palates. I am tired of hearing "Ooh. Yuck. Awwww mom!" when I put healthy, diverse dinner options on the table.

It's really quite simple why I spend so much time fretting over what Louis and Sophie eat.

I want my children to be healthy.
I want my children to learn to enjoy eating nutritious foods.
I want my children to learn to make good decisions on their own.

This is no small task because processed foods are everywhere. They are laced with sugar, fat, and salt not to mention a slew of chemical additives that leave children hunkering for more.

Carlos and I regularly discuss nutrition with Louis and Sophie, and they are beginning to make healthy choices for themselves. We're also bribing them. Yes, you heard correctly. If food companies can use addictive ingredients to their advantage, we are not above using cash incentives to fight this food war.

For the last month, we have been playing a game I invented out of exasperation, Foods from A to Z.

The rules are simple:

1. You must take 4 significant bites of a new food before writing it on the chart.

2. You must not gag.

3. You do not have to eat all 4 bites if you hate the first bite, but you cannot get credit.

4. Foods you already love do not qualify.

5. Desserts do not qualify, although any fruit in its natural form is fair game.

6. Once you have completed all the letter slots, you win a cash prize.

So far, my kids are trying more foods than ever before. I can't say that they've fallen in love with vegetables, but we're making steady progress. Now to think of a dish that begins with x...

Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Cake

2010-08-09T14:20:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy, fun-filled summer over here. How it is August 9th already, I have no idea. Where did July go?

The problem with taking a break from blogging is similar to taking a break from jogging. It's hard to get motivated to start back up again, especially the more time you let lapse.

This summer, I've been much better about sticking to my physical exercise routine than I have my mental exercises. I need to get back into a groove, so here I am.

Today, I'll start with dessert. Is that cheating? I have to agree with Mary Poppins on this one. A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. So rather than try to jump back into blogging by philosophizing on a serious matter, I'll stick with something sweet- Ina Garten's lemon cake. This is definitely what I make when life gives me lemons. My family thanks you Barefoot Contessa.

One baking tip: Before I pour the lemon syrup over the warm cakes, I take a toothpick and prick their tops a good bit. I like as much syrup as possible to seep into the cakes because it keeps them moist and extra sweet.

Hungry Sophie

2010-06-16T22:13:00.003-04:00

We have a rule in our house. Once you get up from the dinner table, dinner is done. The kitchen is closed. There's no more food until breakfast.

The other day, Sophie thought that perhaps I might bend this rule. Perhaps it was because we were at the beach? My hunch is that she just wanted to exercise her new love of writing...on anything...including paper towels apparently.

When I took one look at her precocious self, I laughed out loud. UNICEF popped to mind.

Despite her charming ploy, I did not feed her any late night snacks. Instead I grabbed the camera. That was distraction enough this time.

Isabel's House of Butterflies

2010-05-22T16:15:00.003-04:00

My son Louis recently completed a global warming project for school. As part of his research, he interviewed our friend Beth who is proactively involved in climate change legislation. Beth also happens to be an avid gardener and butterfly aficionado. Milkweed flourishes throughout her garden and awaits egg-laying monarch butterflies as they make their migration north every spring. Milkweed is the only food monarch caterpillars eat. No milkweed. No monarch butterflies.

When Beth began answering Louis’ question about the impact climate change could have on monarch butterflies, I was more alarmed than Louis to learn about all the factors already working against them.

I did not know that entire populations of milkweed in the Midwest have disappeared due to increased pesticide use on corn and soy fields.

I did not know about the increased deforestation of the monarch's natural habitat in Mexico, the oyamel fir tree.

I did not know that rising temperatures might alter the monarch’s metabolism, life expectancy, and migration patterns, possibly leading to extinction.

While Beth was telling Louis about a natural wonder that occurs in Mexico every winter...how thousands upon thousands of butterflies congregate in oyamel fir trees, Sophie suddenly chimed in that she had just read a book called Isabel’s House of Butterflies. Neither Beth nor I knew of it, but were thrilled that Sophie could contribute to the conversation.

Sophie’s teacher recently let me borrow Isabel’s House of Butterflies. This picture book is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, except in this case the main antagonist is poverty not greed.

With the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a host of other toxins threatening our livelihood, it is a sad irony that all the money in the world cannot buy us out of the mess we continue to create.

At the conclusion of Louis' global warming project, he suggested that we learn to consume less- less gas, les electricity, less water...less stuff. Much like a child who sets aside a newly opened toy and opts to play with the box it came in instead, maybe less really is more.

More Than Toys and Stuffed Animals!

2010-04-19T17:42:00.005-04:00

Sophie just handed this note to me. One of the best recipes for a smile that I know...and no chopping involved! Reminds me that I need to pick up a pen and paper more often.

Jamie Oliver's Vegetable Jalfrezi

2010-04-09T06:11:00.006-04:00

Lately, Jamie Oliver has been in the press about a subject near and dear to my heart- feeding our children better.

Coincidentally, over the past several months, I've been road testing some Indian food recipes from his book Food Revolution.

So when Carlos and I recently invited some adventurous, vegan food friends over for a Sunday night dinner, I decided to give Jamie's Vegetable Jalfrezi a whirl. Because of all the spices involved, I suspected I could easily replace the butter and yogurt with vegan alternatives without compromising the quality of the meal.

I rounded up my ingredients and began chopping...and chopping....and chopping. I even made the jalfrezi paste from scratch.

The verdict: Yummy, nutritious and well worth all the chopping (which I actually enjoy and find stress relieving).

I liked the recipe so much that I made it again last night, even added some pak choi I had on hand. Because of all the chopping, it's a fairly time consuming meal to prepare. Fortunately, you can get several meals out of it. Plus, if you plan ahead, it comes together very easily. For instance, I made the jalfrezi paste earlier in the week and built up my supply of chopped vegetables gradually.

My kids, at first reluctant to try something strange looking and smelling, ended up eating a decent amount of their meals. Louis commented that it was "interesting" and that he liked the rice the best. Sophie was intrigued with the fact that I put a dollop of yogurt on the top.

I was talking to another mom yesterday about how hard it is to move our kids away from a diet consisting primarily of sugar, salt and fat (i.e., fast/processed food). Carlos and I will keep exposing our kids to new foods with the hope that they will someday learn to enjoy healthful, flavorful eating as much as we do. It's definitely a journey that requires lots of patience, planning and the occasional detour. Last night's dinner was a step in the right direction.

The Unhealthy Truth

2010-03-02T09:39:00.006-05:00

My 8-year old son Louis suffers from migraine headaches. Over the years, my husband Carlos and I have narrowed down his primary headache triggers to dehydration, too much sun, too little sleep, and certain foods/ingredients. Although we have had some success reducing the frequency and duration of Louis' migraines, our prevention measures aren’t full proof. He is a kid. When Louis goes in a downward spiral, it looks something like this.

His eyes get sunken.
His face goes pale.
He starts to yawn.
He loses his appetite.
He may start vomiting if we don’t act fast with medicine.

When the headache takes over, we darken Louis’ room and put cold compresses over his eyes. Even if he’s fortunate enough to fall asleep from pure exhaustion, he’ll cry, moan and rock as he sleeps.

It’s an awful cycle, and we’ve always been thankful it’s not life threatening.

Or is it?

In an effort to protect Louis from these painful attacks, we have gradually moved our family away from highly processed food towards organic, closer to the source alternatives.

Recently, I read Robyn O’Brien’s The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It. As warped as it sounds, I am thankful that Louis’ headaches led me to this book. I hope you’ll read it too. Additives in our food aren't just triggering Louis' headaches. They're causing lots of other problems, many of which are life threatening.

How have we let this happen?

Robyn O’Brien helps answer that question. She is not a scientist, but a former financial research analyst and mother of 4. When her youngest child Tory exhibited a strong food allergy to eggs, she began digging. I’ve always wondered why food allergies and sensitivities have been on the rise, but Robyn didn’t just wonder. She got passionate about scouting out the truth. She engaged the scientific, business, and medical communities then published her mind- boggling discoveries on:

rBGH (the growth hormone given to dairy cows)
aspartame (a.k.a. Nutra Sweet and Equal)
Genetically modified foods such as soy and corn
the questionable tactics large corporations (especially the multi-billion dollar agrichemical giant Monsanto) have taken to influence the outcomes of “scientific” research and subsequent food legislation

Did you know that most European countries have banned many of the things that we Americans consider safe and eat everyday. O’Brien writes that “a whole host of companies, including the U.K. branches of Wal-Mart, Kraft, Coca-Cola, and the Mars candy company (who makes M&M’s), have voluntarily removed artificial colors, the preservative sodium benzoate, and even Rumsfeld’s aspartame from their products.”

Talk about feeling duped. Can you see the wool over my eyes?

This morning, I opened up the Charlotte Observer and saw an article on Michael Pollan’s new book, Food Rules. Pollan is a professor of science journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the much-acclaimed book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. His approach may be different than O'Brien’s, but his message is the same- the Western diet is problematic. Those who rely on it “invariably suffer from high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.”

Guess I just added another book to my must-read list. I've also bumped the documentary Food, Inc. to the top of my Netflix queue. Maybe I'll eat some organic popcorn while I watch it.

Meatless Meal

2010-02-15T10:27:00.003-05:00

How is it February 15th already? Didn't the ball just drop?

Life here is happily busy, but I have missed blogging. There's so much to catch up on...starting with yesterday, for instance. Yesterday, I made Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese for Carlos after the kids were in bed, not so much to celebrate Valentine's Day but to celebrate our engagement 12 years ago.

I don't remember what I ate that evening when Carlos proposed. All I recall is that Carlos was acting oddly. He downed a glass of champagne as soon as we sat down, asked the couple dining next to us if he could shift our table their way for a sec, then got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. The rest of our meal was a blur.

Now back to the rigatoni I made last night. It was delish, very hearty and easy to make. A fabulous cold weather meal. Because we like spicy food over here, I might add a little red pepper next time I make it...which will likely be soon!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

Crossroads and Windmills

2009-12-04T07:57:00.015-05:00

I've been pondering my next blog entry for some time. I haven't had writer's block per se. More than anything, I've been trying to get my hands around the next phase of my life, especially as it pertains to my professional aspirations. In my confusion, I kept putting off updating my blog. A pinched nerve in my neck probably didn't help matters.

Today, not only am at a crossroads in my life, but I have finally accepted that I am here, which is probably why I am finally making the time to blog. Plus, my pinched nerve is not feeling quite so pinched anymore.

So where have I landed exactly?

I'm not 100% sure.

I feel a bit like Dorothy when she first lands in Oz, a bit disoriented but ready to figure out how to get back home. For now, I do know that I have decided to devote less of my time to Professor Pocket, not because I don't see the potential for the business or believe any less in our mission to help children develop a love for different languages. Quite the contrary. There are a lot of factors at hand, and I feel a great sense of sadness about stepping away from a business that has defined my professional life for the past 5 years.

In November, I made my first ever visit to a physical therapist. Little did I know that this experience would help heal so much more than physical pain caused by the pinched nerve. In order to tend to the physical pain, I was forced to slow down yet again. I've had more time to think about what is important to me. I am thankful for that time and am relieved that the pain is gradually lessening.

Interestingly, a gentleman from Harper Collins emailed me several months ago and asked me to review a book. I was a little surprised that anyone would offer to send me a free book since I'm hardly a hip, well-followed blogger.

Looking back, I think how fortuitous his offer was. Timing is everything. Like physical therapy, the book I received, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, has been more unexpected medicine for the soul. Anyone who has ever felt discouraged or misunderstood for believing in something strongly can find inspiration in this book.

Reading William's memoir was both awe-inspiring and comforting at the same time. My eyes welled with tears on a number of occasions and again when I read the closing passage below:

"It was an incredible feeling to see the machines that I'd been imagining for so long. Now here they were, twisting in the wind before me. I'd come full circle. The pictures in the library book had provided the idea, hunger and darkness had given me the inspiration, and I'd set out myself on this long amazing journey. Standing there, I waited for the next direction. What will I do next? I thought. What was in my future, after having come this far? I looked out across the expanse of machines and saw how the mountains seemed to tumble and dance along their twirling blades.

As I watched them, they seemed to be telling me something-- that I didn't have to decide just then. I could return to Africa and go back to school, reclaim the life that had been taking from me for so long. And after that, who knows? Perhaps I would study these machines and learn to build them, then plant my own forest of them along the green fields of Malawi. Perhaps I would teach others to build more simple windmills like the one I had at home, to provide their own light and water without having to depend on the government. Perhaps I'd do both. But whatever it was I decided to do, I would apply this one lesson I'd learned:

If you want to make it, all you have to do is try."

Thank you, William Kamkwamba. You are an inspiration to us all.

Kid Art

2009-10-28T20:02:00.007-04:00

I can't keep up with all the reading I want to do. Know the feeling? I have books and magazines aplenty scattered throughout the house. Some have even taken temporary residence on the floor of my car. Every time I step around the growing piles, I wish I were a speed-reader and that my house would clean itself.

Right now, I am halfway into Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind. It's a fascinating read that emphasizes the growing importance of right brain thinking. I had put it in my parent must-read pile, and am happy to report that it can double as a business read too (which interestingly occurs with some frequency).

Last week, Thomas Friedman wrote a piece in which he quoted Pink. The gist of his article was this. Fix our schools, not just our banks. It's not enough to focus solely on the 3 Rs. We also need to foster "entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity" among students.

I couldn't agree more.

Take these family portraits Sophie drew the other day. At times, her creations clutter my home like all those piles of books waiting to be read. Regardless of whether we save/display her artwork or add it to the recycling bin, it's not about her finished products as much as it is about the creation process. When Sophie sits at our kitchen table doing art, she is learning. She is telling stories. She is happy. Just look at those smiles...and those fancy earrings she's wearing.

Eat, Pray, Love

2009-09-28T08:24:00.009-04:00

A few months ago, I tuned in to TED to watch a fascinating 20-minute talk by Elizabeth Gilbert.

After watching her mesmerizing insights on nurturing creativity, I decided I would read her much-hyped book Eat, Pray, Love despite the fact that a significant number of my friends had commented that they'd found it "too self-indulgent."

With this recurrent theme as a backdrop, I skeptically commenced reading about "one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia."

I was immediately hooked. Granted, few us could easily replicate this same intercontinental journey, but that's not the point of the book. It's about finding inner peace, contentment with self, spirituality...call it what you will.

On page 155, Elizabeth writes:

"Life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death. Time--when pursued like a bandit--will behave like one; always remaining one county or room ahead of you, changing its hair color and name to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you're banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only a burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you. At some point you have to stop because it won't. You have to admit that you can't catch it. That you're not supposed to catch it. At some point, as Richard keeps telling me, you gotta let go and sit still and allow contentment to come to you."

In a nutshell, I am glad I read this book and am thankful that I don't feel the need to go anywhere far away to find inner peace...at least not at this point in my life. But if anyone wants to send me to Italy, I won't object!

My First Time Cooking Kale

2009-09-03T07:16:00.015-04:00

Yesterday, I was reading the October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit and was captivated by Molly Wizenber's article How I learned to Love Kale. Really? One can love kale?

Molly Wizenberg's monthly contributions usually inspire me to branch out and try my hand at something new. In this case, inspiration hit the same day, and I marched myself to the grocery store to secure said bitter greens. I needed to go to the store anyway, and I had a hunch that kale would make a nice accompaniment to the roasted balsamic chicken and potatoes I'd already planned to serve for dinner. Rather than use the pasta recipe Molly suggested (which I'll try when I'm not already roasting potatoes), I found one for Sautéed Kale with Garlic, Shallots, and Capers towards the back of the same issue.

It looks like Molly has made a kale convert of me. Now to find some kale seeds to sow for a fall harvest. As it turns out, another perk of kale is its cold hardiness, so I'll be able to keep my kitchen garden going a little longer this year. I don't know if kale will make me miss summer tomatoes any less, but then again, that wasn't the title of Molly's article.

Getting Back into the Groove

2009-08-29T09:00:00.004-04:00

I just returned from a nice morning run. Now that the kids are back in school (Sophie just started Kindergarten!), my Saturday mornings feel like Saturday mornings once again. As wonderful as our summer was, something in me craves order and routine. As I jogged along this morning with only my iPod for company, I felt very peaceful...sensing the slightly cooler temperatures on the way and enjoying the beautiful blue sky. When Heartbeats by José González started playing, I knew immediately that I would blog today. This Sony ad captured my heart many years ago and first introduced me to José González. Even if you've seen it already, it's a great way to start the day, especially if coffee is involved.

Which Hand Is It In?

2009-07-23T15:30:00.001-04:00

I have a rare thirty minutes without kids underfoot, so I thought I’d try to pen a few sentiments before hurrying off to my next “to do.”

Thirty minutes isn’t a lot of time to write, especially since I tend to be a perfectionist about choosing my words. Still, today I want to share a few thoughts about Mama Nat, my 88-year old grandmother for whom I am named. Plus, having a thirty-minute deadline when you’re writing about someone who has lived almost 89 years might be a good thing…lest you end up writing a book instead.

This past June, Mama Nat spent 5 days with the kids and me at the beach. To say our time together was special would be an understatement. For 5 days, we were pretty carefree, sharing meals, the beautiful scenery and lots of stories.

I was particularly impressed with Mama Nat’s ability to captivate Louis and Sophie’s full attention for 20 minutes using only a penny. First, she ushered my kids to the stairwell and made them sit on the bottom step. Next, she put her hands behind her back, hid a penny in one of them, put her hands back in front of her and let the kids take turns guessing which hand held the penny. If they guessed correctly, they got to move up a step. If not, they had to stay put. Sophie was the first one to reach the top of the staircase, and she was tickled to finally beat her brother at something. (Note- I was in hysterics the entire time as I watched and listened to Mama Nat’s conversation with Louis and Sophie as they progressed slowly up the stairs.)

Mama Nat used to play the “Which hand is it in?” game with my brothers and me when we were little. Apparently, even in today’s digital, fast-paced world, it still hasn’t lost its appeal. For that matter, it may even be considered novel.

Cherry-Almond Muffins

2009-06-27T07:28:00.005-04:00

It's been awhile since I last blogged, so I thought I'd serve up something sweet. I found the recipe for these cherry muffins at Culinary Cafe.

Because I had buttermilk on hand, I used it in lieu of the milk with great results. Also rather than stirring a whole cup of almonds into the batter, I saved some to sprinkle on top of the muffins right before baking. Finally, wanting a more substantial looking bakery muffin, I used my large muffin pan.

One last note:

When I bake, I tend to treat the suggested baking time as a variable. Every oven, pan and batter bakes up differently. I have the most baking success when I flip on the oven light and keep a close watch on my baked goods, rotating whatever I'm baking about mid-way through the baking cycle. I am a big believer in administering the toothpick test sooner than later because a dry muffin is like a corked bottle of wine. Bad.

Cherry-Almond Muffins
from: Culinary Cafe

Mention muffins today, and you'll conjure up visions of blueberry, date-nut, cranberry or other fruit muffins. Sweet summer fruits are a wonderful addition to a basic muffin batter; the following version teams cherries and almonds, a fruit and nut that were made for one another.

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cherries, pitted, coarsely chopped, and drained
1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon almond extract
granulated sugar

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Sift together dry ingredients and add them to butter/sugar mixture alternately with milk. Stir in almond extract, then gently fold in almonds and cherries.

Spoon muffin batter into 12 greased muffin cups; cups will be quite full. Sprinkle each muffin with a little granulated sugar, and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 30 minutes, or until muffins test done.

Wise Words

2009-06-08T22:03:00.002-04:00

My mother-in-law recently sent me this article written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. I found her 45 life lessons particularly timely and wise.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry..

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34.. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.