Tag: Food
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The Great Zucchini Debate
Some Families Debate Politics, We Argue Over Vegetables “Look at the size of this one!” Many summer memories on my in-laws’ farm featured Dad emerging triumphant from the garden, holding an enormous zucchini aloft. Mom, on the porch, admired and exclaimed over the gigantic harvest, declaring each time that surely this is the biggest zucchini…
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When Meal Planning Derails the Meal Making
The path to my kitchen is paved with good intentions Meal planning starts with the best of intentions. Every time I enter the kitchen I intend to create an amazing, nutritious meal my family will love. Unfortunately, the reality of meal-making squashes the fantasy of meal planning. Statistically, just 6% of the meals I prepare…
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A Conundrum in My Kitchen
A full fridge means leftovers are at critical mass There’s a conundrum in my kitchen. While most people grocery shop when their refrigerator is empty, I have to shop when mine is full. It took me awhile to identify the reason. In my house, a full fridge does not mean there are food choices in…
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Food is Love and Cookbooks are Sacrilegious
Lessons from an Italian Grandmother My Italian grandmother taught me that food is love. She lived ten minutes from us growing up and never came over empty-handed, so my siblings and I were the recipients of an awful lot of love. And it was all from scratch. I don’t know if cooking from scratch is…
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Turning Outlaws into In-Laws
Saying “I do” doesn’t immediately make you family. Turning outlaws into in-laws isn’t easy, because marrying into a family and joining a family are two different things. Marriage is a moment, but joining is a journey. I’ve witnessed this phenomenon in our own family as the nieces and nephews begin to tie the knot.…
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The Recipe Rebel
There are two types of people in the world: those who read the directions, and those who should have. I am usually a rule follower. I don’t drink milk beyond its sell-by date. I launder my whites and darks separately. I always fasten my seatbelt. But when I flip open a cookbook to create…
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It’s Not Easy Going Green
Kermit the Frog was more right than we knew Throughout my childhood, Kermit the Frog lamented that it’s not easy being green. But while Kermit eventually figured it out (he does have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after all), I’m still struggling to reach that verdant state. In fact, going green in…
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Worth the Wait
Good things come to those who wait. The moment we have been waiting for has arrived: our local grocery store is now carrying orange flesh melons. We heard about these mouth-watering little beauties from a client last summer and quickly became addicted. The outside looks like honeydew, the inside resembles cantaloupe, and the sweet taste…
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Don’t Trifle with Tradition
I didn’t realize how traditional my family was until I tried to change them (the traditions, not the family). I made a slight change to a favorite homemade salad dressing for a recent family picnic. To my great surprise the family actually noticed, and they definitely did not approve. The faintly accusatory mutters of…