This past week we became foster parents for the first time. That is, fosters of two shepherd mix puppies that are about 3 months old. I have been volunteering at the SPCA of Westchester since the beginning of the year, and I love it. I’m a dog walker, and I also help the dogs learn more “adoptable” behavior (like, not lunging at the front of their cage and barking their heads off when someone comes close) using clicker training. Taking in two foster pups was the next step, and these dogs — named Monkey (the darker one) and Pouch by my boys — were fantastic sweetie pies.

Because they are not yet housebroken, we had them gated into our entry/dining room, which has a tile floor. This also meant there were two safety gates separating my kitchen from the rest of the house, with eager-to-play puppies in between. So, the dogs became yet another reason to make a quick batch of pasta for dinner rather than having a meal plan and cooking something more well-rounded.

They are definitely my cutest excuse for not cooking yet. The pups were reluctantly returned to the SPCA Thursday morning, and they found new homes the same day. We miss them, but I’m trying to teach the boys that it’s OK for an experience to have been both happy (having them) and sad (returning them) at the same time. We did a good deed fostering them, and we do hope to foster more dogs in the future.

Yesterday, I made a fresh batch of chicken soup, and tonight I roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. We may actually be on our way back to a varied diet. I’ve made a promise to myself to create a meal plan for this coming week. If you want to help me out, let me know what you’ve been cooking — I could use some inspiration.

If you Like Chick in the Kitchen on Facebook (go head, click Like, I’ll wait…), you know I was in Maui on vacation for a week. My sister, who is living in Australia, met me and my parents there to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Believe it or not, Hawaii is pretty much a half-way point between New York and Brisbane. It was a heck of a long flight, but even if Maui wasn’t enough of a draw, spending a week with my sister was! It was fun to have my nuclear family together again — we laugh a lot.

“Practice Aloha” is a slogan created by Mark Ellman, a Maui chef. We ate at one of his restaurants, Mala Ocean Tavern, and in terms of creativity and flavor it was by far our favorite restaurant on the island. Our waiter, Jeremiah, definitely had the aloha vibe down. Practicing aloha is open to interpretation, but it essentially means putting a positive vibe out into the world by treating everything around you with love and respect. That includes people, animals, and our environment. Mala’s menu reflects this, and we especially loved the Stir Fried Brussels Sprouts with Sesame Seeds, Fresh Mint & Crispy Wontons.

We also had a chance to eat at Aloha Mixed Plate (my favorite for laid-back island vibe, great drinks, and delicious chicken, all on an outdoor patio overlooking the ocean); Cane & Taro (my dad had some rockin’ huevos rancheros); Leilani’s On The Beach (we had coupons for free Hula Pie — “This is what the sailors swam to shore for in Lahaina” — Oreo cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, fudge topping, macadamia nuts sprinkled on top, and whipped cream FTW!). Hula Grill and Roy’s – Kahana Bar & Grill were just OK.

We did spend a full day driving the Road to Hana, which is a 1.5-lane wide road traversing the north side of Maui in a series of blind curves and switchbacks. It is not a drive for the faint of heart, and my dad did a fantastic job keeping us safe. The Twin Falls farm stand photo above is taken just at the start of the trip. We’d packed a picnic lunch from Safeway the night before, as there is not much in the way gas stations or food along the drive. And as far as waterfalls, well, the four of us are a little jaded. We’ve spent a lot of time in Ithaca, NY after all, and there are some spectacular waterfalls there too.

At the end of that day trip we stopped in a cool little town called Paia, where Mama’s Fish House is an institution. We had our second chance to sample poi here, which is a traditional, bland porridge made of pounded taro root. This version was thicker, described as “one-finger: by our waiter because you eat it by dipping just one finger inside. We’re previously eaten a much looser version at Aloha Mixed Plate. Really, there is nothing offensive about poi, since it barely has a flavor. My sister didn’t mind this second version though, and was the only one of us to finish the small sample they gave us. Here’s the poi, looking as pretty as it can look:

There were two more fun food highlights. First, we had an opportunity to tour the kitchen of the Sherton Maui, where we stayed. I love a good behind the scenes tour, plus I am fascinated by how restuarants can cook for such huge amounts of people. Conrad Aquino is the executive sous chef there, and he definitely exudes the idea of practicing aloha. He was incredibly good-natured, always with a smile on his face, and seemed really excited to show me, my mom, my sister, and one other guest around the inner workings of the kitchen. Look at the size of those whisks and dough hooks in the back corner! They dwarf my own KitchenAid many many times over. (They actually use an industrial-sized Hobart mixer.)

After the tour Conrad cut up several fruits for us to sample. We tried rambutan, guava (I didn’t care for it), and an apple banana (I wrote in my notes this was a “vanilla banana,” but I think I got it wrong). We also had a jambong, which is like a less-tart, enormous grapefruit:

My favorite new fruit, though, was the chiamito, or star apple. The flesh was lightly sweet and very soft, but not slimy (though I think it looks that way):

Conrad also made us a delicious upside-down tart in a pan. He layered the supremed (sliced) jambong and Granny Smith slices in a skillet, then sprinkled them with sugar and dotted them with butter (and not with a light hand, I must add!). The prepared puff pastry cut to size was placed on top, and allowed to cook. The finished dish was flipped out of the pan upside down, so the fruit — beautifully arranged — was on top and caramelized. Just to gild the lily, it was served with a scoop of vanilla and macadamia nut ice cream. Wow. It was delicious, and Conrad graciously gave us leftovers to bring out to my dad since it was his birthday that day. Although we never got a chance to eat in the resort’s dinner restaurant, we found both of their bar menus to be generously portioned, with plenty of lighter and vegetarian options. It was easy and pleasant to eat lunch at the resort — we didn’t even have to get out of our lounge chairs if we didn’t want to.

On one of our last days in Maui, we hit a local farmer’s market nearby. I have to use the term “local” loosely, since there were bananas from Ecuador for sale amongst the Hawaii coconuts. I did treat myself to a young coconut for $4. The gentleman you see here cut a hole in the top so I could stick a straw inside and drink the coconut water (it’s not cream at this point). Then when I was done he chopped the whole thing open so we could scrape out the meat. It was more fun than delicious — my sister says the coconuts she gets in Brisbane are infinitely better. We also bought a couple of coconut bagels (does that mean I can no longer call myself a New Yorker?), which were barely sweet plain bagels with a sprinkle of dessicated coconut on top. Not bad, actually. We also bought some local cheddar and made a breakfast out of all that, along with coffee and chai from the Bad Ass Coffee Co.

I used the word “paradise” a mind-numbingly large amount of times on this vacation. It was truly a vacation of a lifetime, and I’m thankful to my parents for helping my sister and I get out there with them. They deserve an enormous Hawaiian “mahalo” — thank you. There are so many pictures that could sum up the aloha I felt on the trip, but this one is a favorite. I’m going to keep trying to practice aloha, even now that I’m far from that island paradise.

I posted 40 meal plans this year, which means I was on top of dinner more than 75% of the time. That’s a lot of planning for dinner! The number also surprised me, because — at least during this fall — I felt I’d let meal planning get away from me. It’s helpful for me to look back and realize I did do a good job, overall.

I spent more time on other Chick in the Kitchen outlets this year than ever before. You can follow me on Twitter, Like me on Facebook, and follow my boards on Pinterest as well. I hope you will. I often post items in those three places that won’t necessarily make it onto my blog, and I love interacting with my readers on Facebook, especially.

As in the past two years (2009 and 2010), I took a look at my site statistics to get a feel for what you were reading. This year, the majority of my traffic came from the U.S. and Canada, with the UK, Australia, and Germany rounding out the Top 5. A little more than half of my traffic comes from search results, and almost 30% comes from referrals (someone linking to the site).

And now, the Top 5s:

Top 5 Posts of 2011, Published This Year

1. Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies
2. Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup
3. Chatzilim (Israeli Eggplant Salad)
4. Ginataang Manok (Chicken, Ginger, & Spinach in Coconut Milk)
5. Roasted Cauliflower, with Turmeric and Garlic

Top 5 Posts of 2011, Published Anytime

1. Unstuffed Cabbage with Ground Turkey
2. Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs
3. Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
4. Packing Lunch for Kindergarten
5. Slow Cooker BBQ Skirt Steak

Top 5 Search Terms
These were the Top 5 terms that brought people to my site, once I removed “chickinthekitchen.com” and similar queries.

1. slow cooker turkey meatballs
2. turkey meatballs crockpot
3. israeli eggplant salad
4. turkey meatballs slow cooker
5. vegetarian mushroom barley soup

There were also three new dishes, all vegetarian, that I really enjoyed but that did not make a Top 5 list. They included Gigantes (Greek Beans in Tomato Sauce), Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad with Walnuts & Gruyere, and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette & Gorgonzola.

In fact, I’m making the Gigantes to bring to our friends’ house on New Year’s Eve — it will help offset the enormous quantity of pigs in blankets we’ll eat.

With that, I wish you a happy and healthy 2012! Thank you for reading and sharing with me.

J. and I took the boys camping for two nights in Fahnestock State Park a few weeks ago. He and I had both occasionally gone camping in the past, but we’d never done it with the kids, and they were really eager to go. We’d planned for our inaugural camping trip to last just one night, but this campsite required a two-night reservation and we figured we might as well try it. It was a blast. I turned off my phone as soon as we arrived, and kept it off through the weekend. It was incredibly relaxing to be in the moment with my family, only worrying about why the fish weren’t biting and whether we’d run out of marshmallows.

We needed two breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch. We were able to drive our car right to our campsite, so we didn’t need to pack light and could bring an insulated cooler. For dinner the first night, we had skirt steak and potatoes. J. had trimmed and marinated the steak ahead of time, then vacuum-sealed it in two packages for travel. (We wound up not needing the second package on that first night, so we grilled the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. Steak for breakfast? Yes!) I very rarely cook potatoes at home, but I got it into my head that I wanted to bake a few over the coals of our campfire. I’d seen a video on Campfire Baked Potatoes, where you slip slices of onion into slits in the potato before baking. I drizzled the Yukon Golds with olive oil and sprinkled on a little salt, then wrapped them well in aluminum foil. They were incredible, and we will definitely make them a camping staple. Dessert? S’mores, of course. Over the course of the weekend A. developed a marshmallow rule: you could roast 1 after breakfast, 1 after lunch, and 2 after dinner. We thought marshmallows after breakfast seemed totally reasonable while camping, so we obliged.

Our second dinner didn’t work out as well. My boys don’t eat hot dogs (actually, since we went on this trip A. has tried and now likes them) but we wanted to do something fun with campfire cooking. I thought about bringing dough and making pizzas over the fire, but chickened out before we left and thought Boboli pizza crusts would have a lower fail rate. The trouble was, we couldn’t get the heat right. The crusts burned before the cheese could melt, and the boys really didn’t eat theirs. With a little practice and the use of our cast iron pan, I was able to get mine cooked a little more evenly, but it was not an experiment worth repeating. Still, no one went hungry — it just meant we got to dessert more quickly.

Our breakfasts were simple. We used a Coleman single-burner propane stove to boil water for coffee (Starbucks VIA packets) and hot chocolate. On the first morning, we attempted to make pancakes on the stove as well, but they did not work out — we couldn’t keep them from sticking to the cast iron pan. No worries, we had leftover steak and challah rolls from the night before. On the second morning we stuck with cereal and protein bars. We kept our one lunch simple: bagels, hummus, and a big bag of cut-up vegetables. We’d also brought fruit and some granola bars, and popped popcorn in a pot on our stove.

Although it was a little tricky finding food all four of us would enjoy that would also travel well, I think we were successful. I’m on the lookout for more campfire recipes, though. I started a board on Pinterest about camping food and I plan to bookmark recipes I think we’d enjoy as I find them. Have a good campfire meal to share? Please let me know!

As of 8/4/11 this problem has been resolved to my satisfaction. I believe GE made a good faith effort to keep my business. Please read the comments to get the full story. — Dara

If you follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook, you know that my GE Profile PDCF1NBX refrigerator broke this weekend. The photo above shows the current temperature of both my refrigerator and freezer — 65° F. This appliance is just shy of four years old, and still under warranty. Although we called in the problem before 9 AM on Saturday morning, the earliest repair date GE would give us was Tuesday afternoon. That’s basically four full days without a refrigerator or freezer, assuming the service guy actually shows up during that window and is able to fix the problem. I’m not holding my breath.

I complained about my problem on Twitter, hoping to get the attention of GE there, and it worked — kind of. @GE_Appliances tweeted me back, asking me to send an email about my problem to their special “eresponse” account, and they’d try to get me an earlier repair time. I contacted them immediately at that address, but no one responded. Hey GE, lip service does not fix my refrigerator. It was clearly a case of wanting to appease a public consumer complaint, and not a real attempt to solve the issue at hand.

It hasn’t been a great summer for many people near and dear to my heart. Illness, injury, death in the family. Lots of people around me are dealing with much bigger issues than a broken fridge. But one way I have been trying to help my friends is by cooking for them, and on Saturday I was scheduled to bring dinner to a family of twelve that had just lost a loved one. Thankfully I’d done all my baking and grilling Friday night, and with J.’s help getting bags of ice I was able to safely cook and cool the rest of the meal Saturday morning. Just like you, there are times I don’t want to cook. But there are times I really need to cook, too. It’s how I show people I care, and that I’m thinking about them. I hold out hope that a home-cooked meal comforts and steadies in a time of crisis. Without a refrigerator, this way of showing how I feel is not an option.

Tonight, I went to the grocery store to buy another two bags of ice. I needed a way to keep a couple of containers of the yogurt G. takes for lunch, and the cheese A. eats on his sandwiches safe for tomorrow. I’ve got a cooler filled with ice on the counter in my kitchen, acting as my fridge for the night. It’ll keep my kids’ favorites fresh for another day, and I’ll do the same thing again tomorrow night. It’s an inconvenience. It’s not the end of the world. But the fridge that came with our house lasted for 20 years without a problem before it finally gave up the ghost. I am skeptical about the lifespan of a major appliance that completely stops working after less than four years of service.

So pretty, no? I served this plate to myself, and allowed the kids to serve themselves at the table. In all, they had a choice of whole wheat rolls, lettuce and tomato, sweet potato fries (frozen, made by Alexia Foods), ketchup, and broccoli “trees.” You must know the punchline by now: What did they eat? The rolls. Ba dum bum.

G. did try a fry, but didn’t care for it. We had a snow day today, and truthfully both boys were pretty hyped up and not in the frame of mind to try something new. I am sure they would like this whole meal if they’d only try it, though! As it was, A. was excused from the table before he had even finished the roll. (Yes, it was that kind of day.)

The turkey burgers were really good — I combined the ground turkey with a little panko, yellow mustard, and garlic powder and pan-fried them in a bit of olive oil. The burgers stayed soft (I sometimes have a problem with ground turkey cooking up into a hard lump) and the mustard (a tip I got from Merrie) adds both moisture and seasoning.

This meal comes together so quickly, but still feels healthy and well-rounded. I’m sure someone else’s kids would love it.

In November, just as my CSA was ending for the year, I bought a Groupon for an Urban Organic Original Value Produce Box for $20 including delivery to Westchester (the company is based in Brooklyn). I thought I’d hold onto the Groupon until January, when I’d have used up the last of my CSA share and would be starting to incorporate more supermarket vegetables into my shopping. Had I bought the box without the discount, I would have paid a $25 registration fee as a new customer, plus $34.99 for the produce, plus another $4.99 delivery charge to Westchester (other areas cost less).

Urban Organic is all about certified organic produce, not necessarily local. They bulk buy from many different sources, and do try to buy locally when possible. But considering my box contained grapefruit, oranges, and tangerines (in addition to sweet potatoes, green leaf lettuce, Russet potatoes, eggplant, broccoli, Granny Smith apples, and Bosc pairs — I declined delivery of carrots, bananas, and kiwi) and it is a freezing cold January in New York, it is not all from around here.

Here’s what the box looked like when I received it:

Unfortunately, all the heavy fruit was on top of the more delicate greens. The lettuce held up fine, but the spinach looked on its last legs. The eggplant was in the worst shape of the bunch, with its skin peeling off on its lower half (it looked like it had been wet for a long time), and the top quarter practically dissolved when I picked it up. After a night in the fridge, it was unusably mushy, and I had to throw it all out, even though I am usually happy to carve out bad parts to find what can be saved. That said, the rest of the produce looked mostly unblemished, save for some cosmetic bruising (particularly on the apples).

Best of all the, everything tasted great. The lettuce smelled as though we’d just pulled it from our home garden, and it was fresh and crisp. The citrus was full of sweet juicy flavor — no anemic, dried-out fruit here. We really enjoyed the pears and apples as well. It was a lot of fruit for us, though — we tend to eat more vegetables than fruit, and a week later there are still some pieces hanging out on our kitchen counter.

We are lucky that we have a couple nearby indoor farmer’s markets to choose from during the winter, and I would tend to buy my produce there than use any delivery service again. I like the atmosphere of the market, and if I had to choose I’d prefer to buy local produce over organic anyway. I’m also willing to buy non-organic produce from the supermarket (though my grocery does have a fairly large selection of organic, most of it shrink-wrapped on Styrofoam trays, which just slays me), so I don’t feel that I need a resource like a delivery service to keep our produce consumption up.

While Urban Organic seems like a pleasant one to work with (the driver called for directions and was courteous; a customer service agent called once to thank me for buying the Groupon and to let me know the box was on its way) and on the whole the produce was in good shape and tasty, it’s not the right service for me to use again, at any price.

Disclosure: If you use the Groupon link above to sign up for an account, I get $10 in Groupon Bucks when you buy your first Groupon. I bought this Urban Organic Groupon with my own money, and will continue to buy Groupons regardless of whether I earn their Bucks or not.

Did you miss me? I missed you! If I’m not updating here, you’ll probably find me on Twitter, so make sure you’re following me there, too.

As 2010 comes to a close, I want to thank you. Yes, you.Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for emailing. Thank you again. I write this site for me, but I am always grateful and humbled to hear that you find it useful or entertaining, too. And a special thank you to Merrie, for telling me she was waiting to read this year’s stats.

For a look back at last year’s statistics, check out Top 5 of 2009, Two Ways.

Top 5 Posts, Written in 2010
1. Rain Water Grill, Hastings on Hudson (lots of hits from Google)
2. Thanksgiving 2010: The Plan (linked on 5dollardinners & foodnewsjournal)
3. An Accidentally Beautiful Breakfast (linked on Tastespotting)
4. Reusable Coffee Mug, Disguised as Disposable
5. Slow Cooker Chicken Vindaloo

Recipes that weren’t as popular, but that I want to make again this year include Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Flanken, Honey Spiced Chicken Thighs, Farro with Roasted Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese, and Martha’s Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken & Beans.

Top 5 Posts, Written Anytime
1. Unstuffed Cabbage with Ground Turkey (linked on Tipnut)
2. Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins (linked on Simply Recipes)
3. Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs (top Google search term, see below)
4. Chicken and Figs
5. Want to Try

Top 5 Search Terms
Lots of people want to make turkey meatballs in their Crock-Pot!
1. turkey meatballs slow cooker
2. slow cooker turkey meatballs
3. zucchini chocolate chip muffins
4. turkey meatballs crockpot
5. slow cooker coq au vin

Top 5 Countries Reading CITK
1. United States (about 87% of my traffic)
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Australia
5. Mexico

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011!

I volunteer for a committee through our school PTA called Caring Community. This group provides meals both short- and long-term for people in our community (elderly, school staff, students and their families) that are in crisis, usually due to illness or coping with a loss. Thankfully, it has not been a terribly busy committee.

I’ve seen these types of groups referred to elsewhere as Community Outreach, Sharing/Caring, or Helping Hands. The chairs of the committee coordinate dinner delivery for families in need from a larger group of volunteers willing to cook, and pass along any information on allergies, favorite foods, and how many people need to be fed.

Recently my turn came up again to cook for a family of five (plus extra for leftovers) that could pass on Italian food, but likes Chinese. Since my standard spinach lasagna or Baked Ziti weren’t a good fit, I decided to make Bob’s Cold Sesame Noodles, A Year of Slow Cooking’s Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli (heavy on the broccoli), and rice. I included a small batch of M&M cookies as well.

This was my first time making the Beef & Broccoli, and I would make it again with some changes. I used frozen, but thawed broccoli florets as per the recipe but I was reminded after cooking it that I just don’t like the way frozen broccoli smells or tastes. I think I’d much prefer it with fresh broccoli, steamed first and added just before serving. Also, even cooking on low the dish was done in 4 hours — so watch it carefully.

Does your community or school have a similar organization? I think it’s a perfect fit for our small town, and especially helpful in cases where a family may not have nearby relatives or a church or synagogue to lean on in trying times.The only hard part about the way our group is set up is there is never feedback on the meal you prepared. Every cook wants their food to be enjoyed, and that wish is magnified when you’re hoping the meal provides a brief respite from troubles in addition to filling bellies.

Three and a half years ago, I started meal planning and cooking more. Before then, a plain bowl of pasta with shredded mozzarella on top could have been lunch and dinner for a month at a time — that’s what the boys wanted, and there was little I seemed able to do to entice them to try anything else. It didn’t make me feel good about my parenting, and I was so frustrated with my kids’ limited diet. I didn’t want to fight about food.

I started with a simple theory in early 2007: if I regularly presented new food to the boys, and they saw others in their family eating and enjoying it, they would eventually try it too. It’s been a long haul proving that hypothesis, but 2010 has been a breakthrough year for us. True, the boys are older and they may have grown into an expanded food repertoire on their own. But I’d like to think my commitment to cooking — and not offering alternate meals if they didn’t like what I’d made — has had something to do with it.

On Tuesday, I made turkey burgers with whole wheat buns and lettuce and tomato, kale chips, and sweet potato fries. None of these items, save the bread, are things the boys normally eat, though they’re close. They will eat roast chicken (not that different from ground turkey), white potato french fries, and potato chips (salty and crunch, like the kale I made). As with many meals, I knew that at a minimum they’d eat the rolls; ideally, they’d try something else on the table as well. My 5 year-old — the pickier eater of the two — asked if he could please try the kale chips. He also asked for a piece of lettuce, and tried both a sweet potato fry and a bite of turkey burger without any fuss. He didn’t care to eat a second bite of any of those things, but the trying in and of itself is a huge step from where he was even six months ago. A. made himself half a tomato sandwich, and then a lettuce sandwich — 100% more vegetables than he would have eaten any given night a year ago. My parents and I had to avoid each others’ eyes, afraid we’d break the magic of all this new-food trying if we said anything.

At seven years old, A. now looks forward to tobiko (fish roe sushi), steak, J.’s smoked brisket, apples, watermelon, cilantro (he eats it by the spoonful), rice, roasted chicken, lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans, and more. He frequently tries food that J. and I are eating, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take him into any restaurant — we’d be able to find something he’d eat. We’ve come such a long way since April 2008, when he would accept just pasta and yogurt.

Likewise, G. continues to take small steps towards a wider acceptance of different foods. Tuesday night was an extreme example of his budding willingness to taste new things, but it is a trend now, and not an exception to his usual behavior. I even cheer when he tries something like Reese’s Pieces, because it challenges his belief that he doesn’t like peanut butter. Maybe next he’ll try a peanut butter sandwich.

At the boys’ annual doctor check-ups this year, we were asked several lifestyle questions: “Do you wear a helmet when you ride a bike?” and “Do you like going to school?” I was relieved that for the first time in their lives, I was able to answer “Yes” to “Are you happy with their eating habits?” Yes, we’re getting there. And yes, that makes me happy.