March 6 2011 • Posted by corene • 2 Comments
Summer Camps? Really?
YES. REALLY. Time to start thinking about Summer camps and getting the kiddos signed up. Several camps we are interested in have wait lists already! Please feel free to recommend any camps you are excited about - in the Seattle area or beyond. Warmer weather will eventually be here!
February 28 2011 • Posted by corene • 2 Comments
Searching for recipes…
...just got a little easier! Thanks to Google’s new search tool. Cool huh? I thought so. Anything that makes life a little easier. Thanks Google!
February 23 2011 • Posted by corene • 1 Comments
One year in, the mantra is still: Don’t dumb down kids’ food
I’ve met so many wonderful folks who care deeply about food and kids in the past year. There are awesome bloggers and chefs out there cultivating their own communities of food loving families. Yes…this lil’ website has been up and running for an entire year now! I still don’t have an official business or final direction on where things are going - but I’m so grateful for the relationships I’m building. Fun things are coming, I promise! It’s an honor to be a small part of such a big, important mission.
In the past year our family moved out to a suburb near Seattle. The people we’ve met through our neighborhood school and activities are incredibly involved in the community - we are so lucky to be a part of it! I’m often asked by other parents about how I ‘get’ my child to try new things or like vegetables. Of course we foodie patooties know it’s a lot more than that. My number one piece of advice for parents is still: Don’t dumb down your kids’ food. Bring the flavor and variety! Try serving all kinds of world cuisines and flavors. Cook with the kids in your life. Processed, fatty foods may actually dumb down your kids anyway, so avoid it early. We never go to McDonald’s so my daughter doesn’t ever ask for it. Celeb-Chef Anthony Bourdain takes the stand against the “evil empire” to another level in his latest read.
Now I’m no food snob - our family made a beeline for the famous giant corn dogs at Disneyland last year. I’m all about the sometimes food theory.
None is this is new news - but it’s what has worked for our family. Do you have a unique family-favorite recipe to share? Please share on our Facebook page! Thanks so much for being a part of the Foodie Patootie community ~ Isn’t life delicious?
January 7 2011 • Posted by corene • 0 Comments
Coming Soon: Community Garden
What a crazy few months. We moved across the lake to a property in the woods. Our daughter started kindergarten in an entirely new school environment (and thankfully seems to be thriving). I’m a Girl Scout cookie mom, Art Docent volunteer and regular chauffeur of 5 & 6 year old kids. If someone would have made this prediction for me a few years ago I would have told them they were NUTS. But here I am and I’m loving it more than I could ever have imagined.
Now I went and did it again. In a recent community newsletter there was a little blurb about gathering up volunteers for a steering committee for a new community garden to be built at a park near my home. I emailed the coordinator, went to the meeting last night - and now I have a fat notebook and year-long commitment to help get this thing built. The words “community rock star” are used in the volunteer materials, which is good - because I’m ready to rock and roll. I’ve never been a part of something like this before!
Obviously from my sporadic blog posts I’m definitely no official food blogger. Right? Maybe, maybe not. But I look forward to updating the progress on the Beaver Lake Park P-Patch/Community Garden/Organic Food Fest (no official name yet). It feels good to be involved and part of something that will truly make a difference in the place I choose to call home. Let’s get digging!
Updates to be posted. Any advice that I can share with the awesome group of citizen volunteers ready to rock this thing would be appreciated!
December 25 2010 • Posted by corene • 0 Comments
Merry Merry!
A very Merry Christmas to those celebrating today. Hope your holiday menus are delicious and your time spent with family and friends filled with love. All my best!
~Corene
December 19 2010 • Posted by corene • 1 Comments
Holiday Cheer
This is the giant, light-up Santa head we put in the window every year. My husband’s mother won it at an office Christmas party over 50 years ago. We are in a new house this year but giant Santa head is still going strong and we found a new window for him to glow in.
I’ll still be making those Grasshopper Squares people clamor for every year (seriously, make them. They are fantastic!)
What are your must-makes? You know, the dish you MUST make during the holidays or your friends and relatives will TP your house. I’ve started a Facebook discussion - come join us!
I wish you and your families the very best this holiday season and always. Thanks so much for being part of the Foodie Patootie community!
December 1 2010 • Posted by corene • 1 Comments
Let the Holiday insanity begin
We’ve already had our first snow in the great Pacific Northwest and it’s only December 1st. Our family is in a new house this year which means finding new, special places for old, cherished Christmas decorations. We put our tree up early this year (usually wait until after husband’s birthday). Bring it on!
The Holidays mean cooking (OK, everything means cooking, but especially the Holidays) What are you cooking up this Season? The recipe sharing insanity is rolling on twitter - I added this Brussels Sprouts dish to my Thanksgiving feast this year - it was a complete hit.
Twitter is also home to #cookieweek - I shared a favorite recipe for these crazy Ammonia Cookies. Anyone else ever had these? The baking ammonia creates these wonderful, crackly crevices…trust me - delicious. Plus it blows people’s minds when you tell them how their made. I used to pick up the ammonia at Market Spice in the Pike Place Market - I’m hoping they still carry it. Just don’t use anything other than the ammonia powder made for baking or you’ll be poisoned and sorry. I’d keep the kids away from the stuff, too.
Let the insanity begin!
October 20 2010 • Posted by corene • 0 Comments
Extreme Squash
Fall is my favorite time to eat! The harvest is peaking…pumpkins and insane variety squash are everywhere…and it’s time to braise. All those good cooking smells have really helped make our new house feel like home. What is your favorite thing to cook this time of year?
We have already been to several pumpkin patches but the best is yet to come. This weekend it’s a trip to Washington State’s beautiful Skagit Valley. If you haven’t been it’s truly a foodie family paradise.
We love our pumpkins of course…but have also come to love the funky varieties of squash that seem to be everywhere. This photo is of a Galeux d’Eysines squash. The strange texture is perfectly spooky and sneakily disguised as a science lesson. The funky warts that form on the outside are caused by a buildup of sugars under the skin. Trust me: One of these on your porch or centerpiece is certain to spark a conversation.
We haven’t tried carving one…which is surprising because my husband is very fond of cutting into any vegetable for the sake of art. He was the one who came up with the ‘spook-ini’ - a giant zucchini with a face lit up by a tea light.
Has anyone tried carving one of these warty wonders? I’d love to post photos of your squash-o-lanterns!
September 26 2010 • Posted by corene • 0 Comments
Where the heck have I been?
Well we have been ‘back to school’ for 3 weeks now. My daughter is loving Kindergarten and I’m having all kinds of fun putting together healthy school lunches. For the past month or so we have been moving into our new home. It’s something we’ve been working on for over a year and now we finally have moved in! I was away from my computer for so long ~ I’m ready to get back to blogging, recipe sharing and talking with you about FOOD!
It feels great to be back just in time for Fall ~ which is my favorite season for cooking. How about you? Any recipes to share? I have some gems I’ll start sharing in the next few days. I look forward to reconnecting with all the Foodie Patooties out there! Happy cooking.
August 17 2010 • Posted by corene • 2 Comments
Back to School Lunch!
I’m looking for your ideas for fun school lunches. Feel free to submit here or on our Facebook Page. Let’s inspire each other and send those Foodie Patooties back to school in delicious style. I’m working on my ideas now - can’t wait to hear about yours!
