There are six Kids Cook classes remaining in 2009.  I have three new ingredient topics for December, each repeated twice a week.  Bring your three to six year old child and enjoy cooking and learning about healthy food! Tuesday December 1 ~ 4:15 – 5 pm ~ Greens Thursday December 3 ~ 11:15 am – 12 pm ~ Greens Tuesday December 8 ~ 4:15 – 5 pm ~ Cranberries Thursday December 10 ~ 11:15 am [...]

Poultry is a topic of conversation everywhere these days.   It even came up at the conversation with Thomas Keller and Michael Ruhlman I attended last week. While I do not eat meat, I have experience assisting Alex in preparing hundreds of whole birds.  Here are our keys to a great turkey: 1) Buy a Quality Bird. Free ranged birds are arguably tastier and healthier.  Buying from local producers also keeps money in the local economy [...]

The holiday shopping days are upon us.  I put together this list of presents ideal for the locavore, gardener, or cook on your gift list. If you have the time, please shop locally to support your local economy and small businesses.  If you prefer online shopping, click on the pictures for links. Local ingredients – visit Local Harvest or your farmer’s market to gift a CSA subscription.  Alternatively, put together a basket of local ingredients [...]

With a light crowd and quick pace, I was able to visit the entire floor of the Fabulous Food Show on Friday night before the Ruhlman/Keller conversation. The fine folks at Blue Jacket Dairy offered samples of their gretna grillin’ cheese and cheese curds.  I am already a huge fan of the delicious gretna soft cheese, especially when crusted on a hot skillet. Owners Angel and Jim King said they will be at the Worthington [...]

Many Clevelanders are drawn to the Fabulous Food Show to see TV celebrities like Guy Fieri, Tyler Florance, and Sandra Lee.  In the opinion of many food lovers, the true stars appeared on Friday night when Michael Ruhlman and Thomas Keller held an open conversation around Keller’s new book, Ad Hoc at Home. Food writer and Cleveland native Michael Ruhlman started the conversation with the story of how he came to write the The French [...]

Today, Alex installed two pieces of wooden countertops. He made them with cherry plywood and aged solid cherry edges. Finished with six layers of polyurethane, they are smooth and cleanable!! Alex even let Lil help apply the glue. Yay Alex!! We have lived without proper countertops for 11 months!! I am just a little bit excited. (Now, get working on the other two pieces.)

This weekend (Friday-Sunday) Cleveland plays host to the Fabulous Food Show.  Held at the massive IX Center, the Fabulous Food Show features more than 200 vendors, the Main Kitchen Theatre and Culinary Celebration Theatre packed with celebrity and regional chef demonstrations, Grand Tasting Pavilion, Sweet Street and 100 ongoing demonstrations. The $25 ticket paid online ($27 at the door) gets you admission to enjoy samples from the vendors and a spot at one celebrity chef [...]