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If there’s a more Fall-spirited, festive, happy-making dish around, please fill me in.

Let’s talk about ingredients first, starting with this squash. (I know, I know, three straight weeks of squash…next week will be squash-free, promise).

The name “Carnival” really sums it up. This squash makes me want to throw on a party hat and blow on a plastic kazoo. Am I the only one?

Carnival squash is a heritage breed and can usually be found at your local farmer’s market. If you’re really lucky, lighting strikes, and you’re there on the right day, you can find them at Whole Foods. Especially around Thanksgiving when Whole Foods erupts into a massive delivery channel of straight-from-the-farm produce, from Winter greens to Winter squash, Garnet Yams, and everything in between.

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The Carnival squash’s skin ranges from dark green to vivid orange, and the flesh is sweet and a little spicy. I’ve got to be careful about using the word “flesh” since my kids erroneously presumed that I was feeding them humans when we did our mystery food challenge last week. I assume that you won’t make the same mistake. We don’t eat humans in our house, and neither should you.

If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know that I have a habit of prepping ingredients right after I get home from the store. Prepped ingredients are far easier to incorporate into quick-fix meals, so I usually slice and roast squash with nothing but olive oil, salt and pepper, and then figure out how to use it at a later time.

Likewise with homemade stock. Whenever I’m at the store, I pick up a few extra pieces of bony/collagen-filled meat, which I make into stock that can either be refrigerated for a few days, or frozen. If you’ve ever wondered who that person is buying up those packages of chicken backs, lamb necks, or chunky pork bones – that would be me. They’re cheap, and the bones give your stock incredible body.

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green_cabbage_picky_eater_picky_eating_kids_FeedMeDearly

Our experiment with green cabbage serves to illustrate an important point when you’re dealing with kids: they’re fickle. Mark my words (in fact, look them up on the site, they’re there for all eternity), the kids liked red cabbage. Loved it. Inhaled it. Which led me to believe that they’d likewise inhale green cabbage. And although Sam was a taker, this gorgeous veg wasn’t received well across the board. But even if I have one victory, it’s a major victory…

ME: Who knows what this is?

SAM: Cabbage.

IN UNISON: Green Cabbage.

SAM: It looks like cheese inside…

ME: Green Cabbage. That’s right. OK. Do you think it’s going to taste the same or different as red cabbage?

SAM: The same.

LAUREN: Different.

EMMA: Different.

ME: Yeah? OK. Let me give you each a piece. You think you’re going to like it? Because you guys love red cabbage right?

ME:  You love Red Cabbage right?

(silence)

ME: OK, maybe loved is the operative word.

EMMA: I want one of that cabbage.

ME: So, do you want a crunchy piece from the inside or a softer, greener piece?

EMMA: Crunchy.

LAUREN: I want a crunchy piece.

ME: And then you can compare it to the softer piece on the outside.

SAM: UMM…I’ll try it.

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It was the Mister’s birthday last week. 5 golden years, how quickly they’ve gone. I can still remember the day he was born. I’d snuggled him close to my chest and that evening asked the nurse if all seemed OK. He hadn’t made a peep. Just slept and ate, slept and ate. In hindsight I should have recognized a little personality in the making: easygoing, not one to make a fuss.

It was with this no-nonsense attitude that he tagged along to Lauren’s doctor’s visit the day before his birthday. The older kids were off school that day, and it was a perfect opportunity to spend a few hours in Central Park…

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Eating Oreos. While wearing a Mustache sweater. It is Movember after all.

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Maybe one day his grill will look like that. For now we’ll chalk it up to a good case of Oreo teeth.

Central Park is so pretty at this time of year…..

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Did you know that wild cats live in the Park? Sam found a leopard and stalked it…

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We’re talking squash again this week. Two weeks in a row, I hope this isn’t a fireable offense. What can I say, I’m passionate about squash. As if last week’s post didn’t convince you…

We stayed in New York this weekend since we had a few activities planned. One of which was the highly-anticipated feedfeed Market Day at the Union Square Greenmarket.

I first linked up with feedfeed on Instagram where they’re building a strong community of like-minded people who love to cook. Their website is growing, and is quickly becoming a go-to source for inspiration on a broad range of topics, from pies and soups to pancakes and smoothies. As the website evolves and becomes more searchable, its curated content will surely rival some of the biggest food websites today. I’m just happy to be a part of it all – as both observer and occasional contributor.

I was finally able to meet the founders of feedfeed – Julie and Dan Resnick – in person this weekend. Their Market Day event at the farmer’s market brought together a number of chefs, nutritionists, stylists and food bloggers and it was fun to chat with everyone about the changing food landscape.

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Social media and social platforms such as feedfeed are no doubt improving the way that food is cooked at home. Restaurant-quality food is making its way into home kitchens as home cooks become more innovative and experimental.

My food has changed immensely since I’ve become part of a community who cooks and then shares the output online. I’ve become more confident, and have started to take risks with my cooking. I’ve become intrigued by unique flavors and textures, influenced in large part by the global accounts that I follow – from home cooks in the Middle East to UK-based naturopaths, and minimalist-minded Scandinavian food stylists. Like a sponge, I’ve soaked it all in, eyes wide open.

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A couple of things went wrong with this experiment. Clearly I haven’t learned my lesson about trying new foods when the kids are cranky and hungry. A worse mistake was to serve the squash alongside their favorite chicken dish. But then we started talking about “flesh”…human flesh (?)…and the jig was up. Better luck next time…

ME: Who knows what this is?

LAUREN: Squash.

ME: Yeah, it’s squash. What kind?

LAUREN: I don’t know what kind but… is it yellow?

ME: No it’s not Yellow Squash.

EMMA: GREEN SQUASH!

ME: No, it’s got a name… It’s got a special name like the fruit of a tree you know. What do Oak trees drop in our backyard at the lake?

ALL: (silence)

ME: What do the bears eat?

SAM: Acorns?

ME: Yep! This is Acorn Squash.

SAM: EWW. It’s made with acorns!

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