Kids Cooking Blogs

Holy cow, what I don't know. I just stumbled upon a few websites that talk about cooking for kids and I am so inspired. I am just learning to be creative in the kitchen with my 9 1/2 month old son but I really don't know anything compared to some of these great blogs. Please check them out.

One is dedicated to bentos. I love this. lunchinabox.net/

The other is an overall site. Looks like it was a 2006 James Beard Online winner. http://www.spatulatta.com/

Best Pickles Ever

This is a picture of ajar of pickles that I picked up at the Town and Country Farmers Market a couple weeks ago. They were like 12 bucks, yikes! But I shelled it out anyway as part of a "food themed" gift for my husband. Man was it worth the money. These are the best pickles with such an intense garlicky herby flavor. My 9 month old son can't stop sucking on the juice. That is his hand below.

The pickles are made with Burr Gherkins from McClendon's Farm - they're fat and short and spiny. I hadn't seen a Burr Gherkin but looked up a bit of info on them. According to the wikipedia page about Burr Gherkins, they are also referred to as the West Indian Burr Gherkin and should be harvested before they get bigger than 1 1/2 in. or they get bitter and tough.

They are so super fun to eat and I'm not sure if they are still available (I'm thinking not) but if you run across them, please pick them up!

Welcome to the first post

I guess I will start by telling you a little about myself. This might be the only time I talk about myself, I am much more comfortable talking about things I love, which is what you'll see in this blog. I am turning 30 this year, just had a baby, am married to a great guy and am an Arizona native but have not lived here my whole life. I was born in Tucson, moved to Southern California for 10 years (with awesome farmers markets nearby - that's where the food thing started, I think) until I came back to Arizona for college. I didn't know that I would be staying in Arizona (Phoenix) to have a great career in food (I've worked at a major major soft drink company, a major major coffee company, a high end restaurant supply company, a culinary school, an organic farm and a food magazine).

I have enjoyed all of it and have learned probably a lot more than I wanted to know - some scary restaurant food prep stuff. I will share some secrets to what I've learned and I hope that this blog will help others to eat better, cook better, shop better, organize better, feed their baby better and I guess learn from my experiences, or just be entertained. My mom encouraged me to start a blog, I suppose, due to all the weird things I have stored in my head that she thought people would be interested in reading.

By the way, that picture on the header. I took that at Crooked Sky Farm. That is Tuscan Kale for those of you who don't know. It's also called black kale or dinosaur kale. It's pretty great stuff. I would say that it is similar in taste to spinach, has loads of nutrition, you just have to cook it a bit longer than spinach. Here is a link to some recipes from an awesome CSA farm in California.

The title, with the reference to Under the Tuscan Sun, I thought would be cute and a fun play on words. I have not read the book but have seen the movie version and quite liked it. Diane Lane is always fun to watch in movies in European countries.

This is a work in progress. I am working on making this a great resource for folks looking for more information about where to find food in Phoenix. So, please be kind as I work on making this as rad as I think it will be.