Working from Scratch: Lessons for Cooking and Life

"Friendship isn't a big thing.  It's a million little things" - Unknown As I'm stumbling through Mom's recipes and consequently the kitchen, the grocery aisles, the farmer's markets, I'm slowly learning to appreciate the hidden benefits of cooking meals from scratch. For years, okay, for my entire adult life up until this past year, I took way too much comfort in preparing meals from mixes or nifty little packages where the food items are dumped inside and supposedly accounted for on the outside label.  There is some logic here.  It's much … [Read more...]

Blurring the Lines Between Mother and Daughter

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new” Rajneesh   I never needed my mother more than the very first day I became a mother.   The day I delivered my first child, I worked from 8:00a-6:00p and complained of cramps from 8:00a-6:00p.  How was I supposed to know I was in labor?  It was two weeks before my due date and I had never had labor pains before.  It was also the hottest day on record for April … [Read more...]

Judy’s Black Bottom Cupcakes: far from rock bottom

Today ranks in THE TOP 5 HARDEST EXPERIENCES I’ve ever had as a parent.  I sent my “baby” off to sleep away camp in Maine.  I know this was a choice that we made so I can’t whine.  But, there’s something so wretched about loosening the “grip” on your child, watching them wave to you through the tinted windows of the bus, only to turn their head and vanish into the summer.  Knowing this day would come, we carefully scheduled a weekend chock-full of family activities.  We wanted to eek out as much quality time together as humanly possible.  First … [Read more...]

Friday-Food-Frenzy: Chilled Summer Soups

When most people think of cooking a summer dish, soup probably doesn't immediately come to mind.  Summer warrants cool and refreshing, not hot and comforting.  Have you ever tried chilled soup?  They're the most refreshing appetizer to any summer meal and they're simple to make.  My mom was heralded for her Chilled Cucumber Soup.  It always perked eye brows and taste buds whenever it was served.  She usually whipped up a fresh batch before we went over someone's house for dinner.  The cuisinart would be humming as the cucumbers and yogurt and … [Read more...]