Last weekend we put in a small garden. Before we belonged to a CSA, we would grow lots of lettuce and tomatoes, plus some peppers and sugar snap peas. With the farm share, though, we get more lettuce than we can eat, so we held off on planting any this year.
We did plant several varieties of tomatoes, a black bean plant A. started growing in school, sugar snaps, and a couple of hot peppers. We filled in the rest of our squares with some flowers A. chose. I’ve never had flowers in a vegetable garden before, but we had the room and I like seeing them as I pull into our driveway.
Updated on 4/25/10: The bake sale raised more than $1,000 for Share Our Strength! And sold out of all the donated goodies.
This Saturday, April 24, Club Fit in Briarcliff is hosting a Share Our Strength Great American Bake Sale. The event is organized by my friend Alison, all the goodies are donated (by Club Fit and bakers like me), and the money raised goes to Share Our Strength, a charity aiming to end childhood hunger in America.
I made two types of muffins: Chocolate Chip Banana, and Apple Flax. They both turned out well, and look cute all wrapped up in the cello bags and ribbon we were given for packaging.
Stop by this Saturday, April 24th, from 8 am to 1 pm, and pick up a treat or two while making a contribution to a worthy cause.
I am not turning over my house for Passover this year. (Here’s what I did in 2008 and 2009.) I’ve been thinking about taking this year off for a while, and my decision was reinforced when we dealt with a 4-day power failure a month ago. I had to toss everything in my fridge, and while it was empty it seemed appropriate to do a deep cleaning. It felt like Passover — the cleaning part beforehand at least — had come early.
I have never been good at explaining the “why” of the choices I make for my kitchen to my boys. The why, to me, is often “because that’s how my mom did it” and that’s not a very satisfying answer to a little kid. It’s not satisfying to me when I say it out loud either, though I guess that is the very definition of tradition. I label my kitchen kosher-style, but over the past year or so I have become a lot more lenient in what that means. Without the personal conviction that I’m keeping this set of rules because of my own religious beliefs, it has been harder and harder for me to see a reason to keep shredded mozzarella off the table when I am serving meatballs. The boys don’t eat the meatballs anyway, so there’s no actual mixing of meat and cheese going on — they just want some cheese on their pasta. And I could not care less if you want butter on your baked potato while eating a steak. I still don’t combine meat and milk in the same dish when I cook, but this is more a lifelong habit than anything else.
This relaxing of my overall nod to kashrut has definitely colored my feeling about keeping Passover, and the work involved in doing so in my home. So, 2010 is a trial year. As we get closer to the start of the holiday, I am feeling a little left out of that small club of people that completely turn over their kitchens. I am, however, really looking forward to making a great dinner for my parents on Sunday. They will be in the jaws of that no man’s land of no more chometz in the house, but the holiday hasn’t started yet — what do you eat? I’m glad we’ll be able to feed them! Then on Monday I’m looking forward to cooking for the first seder with my family at my parent’s house. The Pesadich dishes, silverware, and pots I grew up using for just 8 days out of the year are touchstones that bring the holiday home for me.
At about 3:30 AM on Friday morning, February 26 we lost our electrical service during a heavy, long-lasting snow storm. And we have been without power — or heat — since then, until 4:30 PM yesterday. That’s four days of no utilities in the middle of winter. We spent Friday night in the house, sleeping around our fireplace, but then had to jump ship and go to J.’s parents. It was just too cold. I’m back now, in my warm house with every convenience around me, and a very big smile on my face. Look for a meal plan posting later today.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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