Time Travel: How to make Your Own Pasta

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Made from scratch, can't go wrong

A lot of my friends joke that I was born in the wrong time.  I love doing almost everything the old fashioned way, and pasta is no exception.  Don’t get me wrong, I still use dried pasta; I even use it pretty often.  But… fresh pasta isn’t even really the same animal.

Dried pasta is made from flour and water whereas fresh pasta is flour, eggs, oil, and sometimes water.  This means that fresh pasta is much, much heavier than dried pasta, which is why they must be treated so differently.

Fresh pasta + heavy sauce = extremely heavy dish, so read carefully!  No one likes feeling like they ate a cannonball, so the recipes I’ll show you all have a pretty light sauce.  You worked hard to make the pasta, show it off!

But is it worth the work?  Making this is pretty easy, but it’s not as easy as making dried pasta.  Boil water, insert noodle; hard to beat as far as ease of use.  While I admit that there is more work, it is unquestionably worth it.  Not only is the texture completely different from the dry in a ox stuff, the pride of eating a pasta dish that you made every component of from scratch is a great feeling.  Somehow it tastes a little better than it should, know what I mean?

Plus, why not try out tradition?  This is not nearly as difficult as you might think, and like everything else; the more times you make it the easier it will be.   Ready to give it a try?

The super traditional way to make fresh pasta is on a cutting board, but I hate making a mess.  I seem to all the time anyway, but I try not to.  Anyway.  Instead of making the dough on a cutting board, I prefer to make it all in a mixing bowl.  Less mess, less cleaning, and I just let the dough rest in the bowl anyway.

Whether you choose the board or bowl, the recipe is the same.  Simply put two cups of all

Just getting started

purpose flour on your board or bowl in a mound, then make a well in the middle of the mound.  Crack 3 eggs into the well and add about a tablespoon of olive oil (no need for extra virgin here).  Sprinkle a little salt in, and we’re ready to mix.  Choose your weapon carefully.

What weapon?  What you use to mix the dough.  You can use a fork, a wooden spoon, a regular spoon, your hand; pretty much anything goes.  Of course, you could also do this in a mixer with a dough hook attachment if you have one.  I’ll call you a cheater though.

Whatever you use, begin by mixing the eggs and oil together in the center of well, try not to get any flour in just yet.  Once the eggs and oil are a little happy together, stir in a little bit of the flour surrounding the well.  Stir the flour until it’s mixed, then bring in a little more of the surrounding flour.

Continue this until all of the flour is incorporated.  Dough way too dry?  Add water about a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes  together.  If it gets too wet and sticky, just sprinkle a little flour on the surface.  Now, we need to knead.

Kneading the dough just works out all of the proteins in it to make it stronger as well as thoroughly combining everything together.  Good anger management too : “Work late?  I’ll show you working late…”

Nice and smooth

You don’t have to be delicate with pasta tough.  It’s tough.  So kneading it is much easier than some other dough.  Put the ball in on the table in front of you and flatten it out a little, then sprinkle with a little flour.  Fold the point furthest from you into the center of the dough, then press it down and forward til they merge.  Now, rotate 90 degrees and repeat.  You only need to do this for a few minutes, until the ball becomes smooth.  Once that happens, time for a nap.

Not for you, for the dough!  I mean, you can take one too if you want; it doesn’t really matter.  Put the dough (loosely covered with plastic wrap) in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.  Why?

If we try to work the dough too much at once, the proteins in it will get overdeveloped.  The dough won’t stretch properly and will eventually tear, which is always a bummer.  Luckily, 15 minutes in the fridge will prevent that from happening.  After its rest, we’re ready to rock and roll.

Actually just roll.  You’ll need a pasta machine for this, but they aren’t expensive and last

rolling with the pasta machine

forever.  Seriously.  Your great grandchildren can easily use the same one, and we all know how I feel about handing things down.  Sorry, back to making the pasta.

Pasta machines are extremely easy to use.  Cut the dough call into thirds and coat one third with flour, then flatten.  Coat the rollers with flour so nothing sticks, set the rollers to the largest setting (widest gap between rollers), and roll the dough through.  Go through one more time at that size, then decrease the size y one.  If you need to cut the sheet you’re working with, just cut it and set the rest of to the side.

Continue this process until the second thinnest setting, then roll the sheet through the cutters.  Congratulations, you have fresh pasta!  Still a little unsure?  Ask in the comments below, there will be a video of this process soon.

Graduations, Gallbladders, and Moroccan Carrot Salad

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My cousin graduated from college last week, so of course my family went en masse to the graduation and to congratulate him.  Ceremonies, dinners, smiles, hugs, a whirlwind of taking in the massive step he was taking in life.  Of course, we went out to eat.  A lot.  Probably too much.  C’est la vie.  But if our biggest problem is eating too much, I’m never going to complain.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t our biggest problem.

My dad came home (it was an 8 hour drive) in extreme stomach pain.  My family tends to have a very high tolerance for pain and discomfort, so he wouldn’t go to see a doctor.  To be fair, it’s almost a tradition.  My grandmother once had a heart attack off and on for 3 days before she finally went to the hospital, then when admitted told them she had to leave because she “had a lot of housework to do”.  I had issues with my pacemaker for a month before I went in to get it check.  So, we can’t really say much about him not going.  Since he won’t go, he started trying to fix the pain for himself.  Of course, he had to know what was causing it.

My grandfather had gallbladder issues, so that was the primary suspect.  After a few hours of research on WebMD, he started drinking hot water with lemon once a day.  He cut saturated fats out of hit diet and stopped drinking coffee, by far his biggest vice.  He’s eating healthier now than he ever has in his life.  Seeing this, I asked him about it.

“Honestly, I hate to admit it; but I have way more energy, I don’t feel as tired or sluggish” was his response.  So that got me thinking.

Why don’t I eat healthier?  How hard can it be?  Will I feel a difference?  Thus began this journey.

I’m slowly weaning myself off of Diet Coke, something I drink obscene amounts of.  I’m learning what foods are healthy and why, and since I already cook most of our meals I have a huge advantage.  Additionally, I’m going to rank my energy level 4 times a day to track the differences.  There’s only one problem with all of this:  it sounds awful.

I mean seriously, it just doesn’t sound fun at all.  Why would I do something that isn’t fun?  I wouldn’t; I know me.  So let’s make it fun!

In the spirit of cooking travel, I decided to expand my horizons and try a new country whose recipes I hadn’t tried much of yet.  This is especially difficult for me because I’m terrible about eating vegetables, so I really wanted to make it new and different to increase the odds that I would… you know… eat them.  Where did I end up?

Morocco, actually.  Why?  No reason at all.  This dish is actually a carrot salad, and I chose it for a few reasons:

  1.  It takes less than 5 minutes to make
  2. It keeps well
  3. I can make large amounts of it
  4. It’s good at room temperature, which few things are (I tend to prefer hot food)
  5. It’s extremely healthy

Plus, the ingredients are quite cheap and you can easily put your own spin on the recipe if you want.  But enough jibber-jabber, let’s get to the recipe itself, shall we?

First, peel one pound of carrots and cut of the very top where the stem was.  Grate with the coarsest grater you have into a bowl, and give yourself a pat on the back.  The hardest part of this recipe is done!  Add a healthy sprinkle of kosher salt, one half teaspoon of paprika, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and one teaspoon of cumin.  We now reach the first of several choices: the garlic.

You can either chop fresh garlic into a paste (my preference) or just use garlic powder, which is slightly faster.  Use two cloves of fresh or a half teaspoon of powder.  Next choice: citrus.

You can either use an orange or a lemon, completely your choice.  I go with lemon, but use all the juice of whichever you choose.  Lastly, add a small handful of chopped cilantro and one third cup olive oil.  Give it a nice mix to introduce everything to each other, and you’re done!

You can easily make this the night before and it makes a great quick snack.  But that’s not what I like best about it.

What I like best is that because it’s so easy this Moroccan carrot recipe is fantastic for kitchen time with the kids.  Even my two year old can add the spices, help mix, or even help juice the lemons.  Not only does this give them practice making food, they are much more likely to eat something that they’ve helped make.  Anything that gets them to actually eat a vegetable is okay in my book for sure.  But what about you?

Do you try to eat healthy?  Are you a soda or coffee fiend?  Would you change your diet for more energy, or are you the ‘only live once’ mindset?  Let me know!

White Chocolate Risotto With Red Wine Honey Figs… and a Graham Cracker?

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White chocolate risotto

White chocolate risotto with figs... yummy!

Sometimes, we all need a midnight snack. Sometimes, it needs to be sweet. Believe it or not, I’ve been dying to make this for about a week now. Tonight at around 9:30, it reached critical mass. It required a grocery run that my sister was nice enough to take me on (still can’t drive very well for a few weeks), but was totally worth it. May I proudly present my own creation: White chocolate risotto with red wine and honey poached figs and graham cracker crumble. It’s like a tongue twister, right? Don’t worry, it’s actually very easy to make. Less than half an hour in fact. So give it a try!

First, take some dried figs, cut off the stems, and cut them in half. Toss them in a small

Figs getting ready for a swim

bowl with a cup of cheap red wine and a tablespoon of honey, then ignore for a while.

Combine 3 cups of milk with 2 cups of water. Why? Traditionally, risotto is cooking with a broth like chicken broth or vegetable broth. Since this is a sweet risotto, the milk is the cooking liquid. Unfortunately, if the milk gets too dry the proteins in it can get… icky. So we water it down for a little insurance. Make sense? Anyway, put the milk/water mixture in a saucepan on low heat.

Everything's ready!

Lastly, measure out a cup of Arborio or risotto rice and yes, it does matter. Why? Properly cooked risotto is a creamy consistency that in Italian is called all’onda or ‘to the wave’. What gives it this wonderful, creamy texture is the starch covering each little short grain of rice. Try to just switch out a different kind of rice… a disappointing bowl indeed. Fortunately, Arborio rice is very easy to find in any supermarket now. The only other thing you need is a cup of white chocolate chips.

Figs getting poached

Pour the fig/honey/wine mixture into a small sauté pan and set to the lowest heat setting you can. We’re finally ready to start the rice!

Heat one tablespoon of butter in a new saucepan and add the rice, then stir until it is all coated. Let this toast, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, before adding the first 2 cups of milk/water. Once you add the liquid, something important happens: the timer starts. What timer?

If you have the rice on medium high heat your rice will be done it about 27 minutes exactly. But that’s not all that happens. Once you add the liquid, you cannot stop stirring. Don’t get me wrong, you can for a minute or two, but not much longer. To explain why; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Let’s say that the bottom of the saucepan is Romeo and the risotto is Juliet. Knowing their tragic end, you decide to save them from themselves and keep them apart. But they really want to be together, in this case the rice sticking to the bottom of the pan like a toddler to their blanket. The only way to prevent this? Stirring! So protect the young couple from themselves and stir, ok?

Simply add the liquid one cup at a time as it is absorbed until the rice is cooked. How will

Finished white chocolate risotto :-)

you know? Taste it! Risotto, as pasta, should be al dente when properly cooked; that is it should have just a bit of bite to it. Now remove it from the heat and turn off the heat on the figs as well. Stir the white chocolate into the risotto, then serve into a bowl. Garnish with a few figs, their liquid, and a crumbled graham cracker, and enjoy! What do you think? What would you change?

How to Vacation in Your Kitchen

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‘DELAYED’ flashed on the screen next to her flight number and she let on a groan. Now what? A 30 minute layover had just turned into a who-knows-how-long layover and this airport has exactly 3 shops. Airport math says 3 shops is only an hour and a half of entertainment at most, so she just hoped it wouldn’t be longer than that.

But it was. 4 hours later, she boarded the plane and managed to score a window seat. Not too roomy, but it came with a view. The view taking off wasn’t too exciting, but looking out over the clouds at cruising altitude – breathtaking. After her ears finally popped anyway. A bag of peanuts and two very small beverages later, the plane began its descent. Landing gear down, coming in nice and smooth, the plane hopped to a stop as the crew got ready. Finally, the doors opened and she followed the other passengers en masse to the baggage claim area.

Where she waited. And she waited. And finally found out that apparently, 4 hours wasn’t even time for her bag to switch planes. She tried to stay calm, breathed and thought to herself:

“I need a vacation from this vacation!”

We all love vacations, taking a break from the daily grind. But they’re not 100% relaxing are they? Hopefully 90%, but they can dip down to 50% relaxing quickly. The travel, the packing, the planning, the reservations…
Now I have a headache.

Fortunately, there is any easier way if you don’t feel like expending all the energy to travel to your destination of choice: bring it to you. It’s easier than you think, and costs far less. Just bring the destination to you!
No passport, no luggage, you don’t even need to be patted down – unless you have a close friend and too much wine. First step?

Choose where you want to go (or stay, as the case may be). If this is going to be a group trip, which I always recommend; get the whole group together to decide. I know; you’re afraid if you let all of them have a say then you’ll never be able to agree. Fear not, I have a solution.

Obviously, the old standbys like a coin flip or rock paper scissors are available to decide between two choices. But what if your group can’t narrow it down at all? There’s the draw straws method, names out of a hat, or just roll a die. Personally, I say just write all the ideas down and choose an order; that way you can get try them all. More food, more people, more fun, right?

Once you have a ‘destination’, let’s create some atmosphere, shall we? A quick trip to any music store will yield music from the area you chose, and if you want to simulate the flight you can get some really uncomfortable chairs as well. After the music, you’re dangerously close to starting the best part: the cooking.

Depending on how much you want to spend, I recommend decorating a little bit to spice up the ambience. Let’s say we were traveling to Spain as an example. Maybe hang some red drapes or curtains, a few pictures of bullfighting, or pictures of dancers to match the music that was chosen earlier. Or go for broke and just release some bulls in your neighborhood.

We’re finally to cooking! Clearly, every country and culture has its own flavors and ingredients. When people think of Italy, they think garlic, balsamic vinegar, parmesan, etc. What many don’t know is that within each country, the sub regions differ quite a bit as far as what ingredients they use and how their flavor profiles end up. Of course, how detailed you want to be is up to you.

Using my example of Spain, I’d use almonds, garlic, tomatoes, and onions to create a rustic dish that really brings out the area. A paella for example, or a simple Romesco sauce. Don’t panic if you don’t know the flavors of the area; just do a simple internet search for traditional dishes from that region and build a shopping list from that. Remember, the whole point of this is to keep it simple and easy.

We know where we’re ‘visiting’, we have some music, and we have some ingredients. Now for my favorite part: inviting as many people as possible, and cooking. So many people complain that they hate hosting a party because they feel like they’re in the kitchen the whole time, well… bring the party to the kitchen!

Make sure everyone has a drink in their hand, something to do in the kitchen, and someone to talk to; sitting down to eat will come all too quickly.

Cooking Amazing Food is Easy Using This One Secret Ingredient – and it’s dirt cheap!

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Cooking isn’t hard.  In fact, anyone can make edible food with no knowledge or experience.  But edible food probably isn’t your goal, is it?  You want amazing food!  Visions of dinner guests oozing over each bite, raving about how the dish is restaurant quality.  Or even better, that it reminds them of some bit of long lost nostalgia that has finally been released from subconscious depths.  But enough psychobabble.  How can you make this food?

You must understand how to use the secret ingredient!  It must be used throughout the cooking process, layered in carefully and thoroughly at each step of the process, much like salt.  However, being a zero calorie ingredient without sodium, this item cannot be overused, cannot overpower, and has no health risks.  Seems too good to be true, right?

It isn’t.  The problem is that this ingredient requires careful focus to use.  We’re busy!  Careful focus is not something we’re good at anymore; it’s a skill set that we’ve lost almost universally across all industries as our lifestyle has become more frantic.

That stops now.

You have to take your time to use this ingredient; you have to slowly master seeing the details, the little details, of the dish you’re making.  Don’t worry; you don’t need to be a master chef!  Just one little thing at a time, even if it’s a fast dish like a stir fry.  Let me walk you through the first 3 steps of a stir fry to show you what I mean, then I promise I’ll actually tell you what the secret ingredient is.

Since it goes so quickly, step one of a stir fry is getting everything cut, sliced, diced, and ready to go.  Detail to focus on?  Uniform sizes.  If they aren’t uniform sizes they won’t cook evenly, which will be either a mushy or a crunchy bummer.  Once everything is ready, we’re on to step two:

Heating up the pan with oil.  Detail to watch?  The pan needs to be hot enough that the oil is smoking, not so hot that the oil has a burnt flavor.  If there’s no sizzle when you add your ingredients, you won’t get that nice caramelization and everything will stick.  A bummer.  The last step?

Removing the food when it’s cooked!  Paying attention to when the vegetables are just right to take them out and serve them steaming how and wonderfully crisp yet tender.  The secret ingredient to master this process?

Love.  Calm down, I’ll explain!  I know, I know.  It sounds cheesy.  It sounds corny.  But if you can truly apply this to your cooking, you’ll have amazing dishes every time.  More importantly, you’ll outstanding memories of creating the dishes, which is what cooking is all about anyway.  Just love everything.  Every step of the way, love it like crazy.  How?

When you select your ingredients at the store, look for the best.  Really think about the farmers that worked to grow those vegetables; give their hard work the respect it deserves.  An ear of corn isn’t just a $.25 item, it’s months of work!  If you can remember that, you’ll protect your ingredients, and your dish will shine for it.  While it cooks?

Spread the love!  Watch over the dish, invite the people your with to come stir, flip, chop, whatever.  Get them involved!  More people, more memories, more inside jokes, more you-had-to-be-there moments… those are what cooking is about.  Everyone cooks so confused and thinks it’s about the food.

Don’t get me wrong, the food is important.  Just not most important.  Taking the time to put this care, this love into your food reflects in the finished dish.  Then comes the best part:

Inviting others.

Love of all kinds is infectious.  Now, control yourself a little.  Reel it in.  Just show them how to love the food, the cooking, and the rest will come on its own.  I know that you’re busy, that you barely have time to cook.  But it’s like another other addiction.

At first, you can only carve out time to cook a nice breakfast every Sunday morning.  A couple months go by, you rearrange a few things, and make Sunday night a regular family dinner night.  Then friends start coming.  Then they feel guilty that they always come over, they invite you a different day…

One year later, most of your friends come to your for cooking advice, you see your friends almost nightly, and you have more stories to tell that you have time to tell them.  Not a bad place to be.  Is that unrealistic?  Not at all.  The secret to it all? Just a little love.

 

When did you last cook with your family?

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How long ago was it?  Two days?  Four?  Thirty?  Forget the number; it doesn’t really matter.  Was it recent enough?  There’s a chance that it was pretty recent, that just yesterday you and your kids grabbed a recipe that looked interesting and made it happen.  Odds are better that it’s been a while.  I’ll be honest; I didn’t cook with my family as much as I wanted to, until I figured out how.

Like anything else, cooking with loved ones is a skill.  There’s a secret though: no one knows how to do it.  Or at least what the goal is.  What do I mean?  Most people would say that if you are good at this ‘skill’ (cooking with family, or cowif for short), then your food will turn out better.  The secret is…

It doesn’t matter.

Why?

The food isn’t what’s important.  Stay with me here, I’ll explain.  At the end of the day, what do you really remember about cooking with everyone?  The food?  Or the cooking?

Sure, you may kick yourself for adding a little too much salt or letting the garlic go 2 minutes too long, but that’s not what’s going to stick.  I know what memories will really stick, what will really matter.

You’ll remember your daughter laughing so hard milk almost came out her nose, or your husband almost dropping a meatball.  So keep track, this is the first secret: the skill of ‘cowif’ (cooking with family) is in creating memories, not food.  But I promised a different secret, didn’t I?  How I figured out to cook with mine more often.

Before we wander down that very important path, don’t feel left out if you don’t have any family that you live with or any kids to teach how to roll a meatball.  Do you know how I define family?  Anyone that massively impacts my life in a positive way.  I have a lot of family because of this; you probably do too.  Get together and cook up some inside jokes, some memories, some you-had-to-be-there moments.  You’re not too busy! That’s what I thought too.

That’s the state of things isn’t it?  We’re busy.  You’re busy.  You’re overworked!  You might even be a little underpaid even we’re going to be really honest about it.  So why do you do it?  For your family!  Here’s what I figured out: my priorities were a little… skewed.  Are yours?

We don’t mean them to be.  It sneaks up on us, like our car getting old or our shoes getting worn.  It’s just all the sudden happened.  There’s nothing you can do to stop it.

Okay fine, there is.  Just reset your priorities.  Don’t panic, it won’t take long, it won’t throw your life into upheaval, it won’t even be difficult.  Just set aside the time.  Pick one day each week that everyone can commit one or two hours to and rotate who picks the recipe.  Think it’s impossible?

The key is that planning.  You have to set yourself up for success, and as busy as you are the only way to do that is to plan it out.  Here are the steps to do so:

  1.  Figure out who all who want to share in these experiences and memories with you.  Make this list as big as you possibly can!  Firstly, people won’t be able to come each time, this way you can reach out to them other times.  Secondly, this gathering will probably grow over time.  And thirdly, life is short!
  2. Figure out the best day and time for everyone.  This might be the same time each week, the same time each month, or it might need to be tweaked on an ongoing basis.
  3. Decide who is in charge of the recipe.  Different recipes, different cultures, different countries… these are your vacations.  This is how you travel with your family without taking any vacation time from work.  Challenge yourself!  Explore new horizons!  You might not like everything that you try, but the experiences will still be fantastic.
  4. Commit!  This is the easiest place to drop the ball.  Be ruthless, be relentless!  If someone says something came up, make sure it’s something that really is a priority, and not something that’s just a distraction.

Four steps.  Maybe an hour or so of work.  Is it worth it?

Think to the original question: When did you last cook with your family?  How do you want to answer that question a month from now?  Like most things, the words that you use really don’t matter.

‘2 months ago’ with a twinge of regret and a slight sigh

‘I don’t remember’ wondering why we don’t cook more?

‘4 days ago’ with a slight grin, remembering the eggs incident

One last secret.  The answer to the question isn’t really my main focus; it isn’t what I want to help you with.  What I want to help you with is how you feel when you think about that question.  When someone asks you about cooking I want you to laugh before they can finish their sentence, for tears to well up and for you to shake your head thinking about what a mess you and your friends made last time.

Want an example?  Today some of my friends came over and we made a real simple ratatouille in about an hour with some pasta.  In that hour, we discussed non vegetarian onions, watched a 13 month old try 5 different vegetables, and watched that same 13 month old go from bored to begging to be picked up so that he can help stir the pot.  In an hour!

So when are you going to start?  When are your memories, your inside jokes, your never-forget moments going to bubble out of the kitchen?  Take those four steps and a piece of a paper, get moving!  If you feel like spending more time with family and learning a few things about cooking, sign up for more of my cowif secrets.  You are overworked and underpaid after all, at least give yourself this. ;-)

Why My Kids Play With Knives

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My kids play with knives.  Don’t yours?  Now don’t get me wrong; I don’t recommend that if your kids are young, but mine are 3 years old and 2 years old.  What?  That’s too young?  Nah.  I mentioned they play with toy knives right?  There are a few reasons why.

First of all, they have an appreciation for how dangerous knives can be.  I know it sounds backwards, but I’ll explain it a little bit later.  Secondly, they’ll be more comfortable with knives when they are old enough to start using them.  Thirdly, and most importantly, you need knives to cook good food.  Sorry, there’s just no way around it.  I know there are all kinds of tools to replace knives, but we’ll go into why I’m not a fan of those a little bit down the line.  But…

Before we get too carried away into why your kids should play with knives, do you play with knives?  Do you know how to sharpen or hone it properly?  Or know what honing it means?  Or even how to tell if it’s sharp?  You can’t properly teach what you aren’t comfortable with, so let’s spend a few sentences getting comfortable with our bladed friends, shall we?

First: sharp knives.  Sharp knives are less dangerous than dull knives.  That’s right; I said it.  Dull knives skip off of what you‘re trying to cut, sharp knives just do their job.  But how do you know if your knife is sharp?  Grab a piece of paper and try to slice through it, a very sharp knife can do this easily.  If it can’t, sharpen your knife!  How?  For another time!  Right now: back to giving your kids some knives.  It’s safe, you’ll safe!

Well it’s safe as long as it’s a toy.  The key is treating the toy like a real knife, panicking  when they ‘cut’ themselves, showing how to safely use it, etc.  Want this to be extremely effective?  Let them cut something with your hand over theirs, very slowly.  They only earn this right by showing you that they can treat their own “knife” with respect.  But what can they cut with their toy knives?

Anything!  Use your creativity!  Jellybeans, marshmallows, lettuce… anything that a toy knife can cut.  You don’t think they’ll have fun cutting right next to you?  Think how proud they’ll feel!  And they will gain an appreciation for the fact that knives can cut things, that knives can be dangerous, all without being able to actually cut them selves.  Plus…

They will be more comfortable when they go to hold a real knife.  Why?  The entire point of a toy is to e as similar to the real thing as possible, so if the toy feels like the real thing, and you act like it’s the real thing; there should be almost no change with a real knife.  This means that you don’t have to retrain them on how dangerous they are, how to use them, etc.  Although, to be fair, some of you may be wondering: why do they even need to use a knife?

To cook good food!  You need a knife to cook great food, you must know how to cut thing properly to create fantastic meals and memories.  Yes I know; they have those lovely press dicers that will cut anything to the size you want just my smashing the food through it.  Not the same.  Cooking is love, and great food comes from listening to what the food tells you.  Using a knife to follow the ridges on an onion will always yield a better flavor in the finished dish than smashing perfect squares through a dicer.  I cannot stress this enough: you need a knife to make great food!  Want proof?  Pick any 10 recipes books that you consider excellent.  I will guarantee that the recipes call for things such as ‘diced onions, chopped garlic, etc.’  Can you get these from a jar?  Of course!  Along with the citric or ascorbic acid they come packed with.  Fresh is always better!

I know it’s scary.  I know that the last thing you want is to hurt your child.  I know that you don’t want to see them cut, crying, or bleeding.  No parent does.  So if you aren’t comfortable with anything that you’ve read here, don’t do it.  But any little thing that you can do will help your kids, no matter how small.  Let them cut mashed potatoes with a rubber knife if you have to, just give them a start.

After all, we should all play with knives a little.

How to Live Forever: the Secrets Finally Revealed

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The quest for immortality is as old as human mythology.  The fountain of youth, the practice of Alchemy, the quest for enlightenment… for every person searching to live forever, there are 15 stories reminding us why it would be a blessing and a curse.  But would living forever really be that bad?  Is it even possible?  Believe it or not, yes.  How?  There are actually a hefty variety of ways, but you don’t have to use all of them, just stick with what you feel comfortable.

Just to be clear, we’re not talking about physically living forever.  Where’s the fun in that?  We’re talking about becoming a spirit; an ethereal being and continues to have an impact on the physical realm.  Calm down, we’re not going all ghost hunter on you.  I’m referring to legacy.  Legacy is why when we smell cookies baking we think of our grandma, or why certain recipes don’t get changed through generations.  Legacy is the effect that people that are no longer with us continue to have, and honestly it is what virtually every person wants to leave better for the next generation.  We all want to change the world!  But we’re going to dial that down just a bit, and talk about a much simpler legacy: cooking.

This quest to have a legacy for my kids is what drives this site.  It’s why I moved their high chair into the kitchen to cook when they were younger, and why I let them sprinkle in the seasonings when they were less than a year old.  But you know what’s great?  I already see the effect that it’s having!  My 3 year old was ‘dicing pineapple’ while I wasn’t even home!  But how you can create this magical existence; how can you live on in the hearts of your loved ones every time they step in the kitchen?

The first way is simultaneously the most and least important: objects.  I know, I know.  That seems shallow compared with the most recent metaphysical ramblings, but hear me out.  Let’s say you have one specific pan that you picked up at a garage sale, but it’s your favorite.  You know everything about it, you cook everything in it, and every time you cook with loved ones (let’s just say your kids for the sake of this example).  Even if that is the cheapest pan in the world, they will think of you when they cook with it every time.  So how can you make this work for you?

Choose what objects will have the connection.  Whether it’s just a basic set like this or a set that will last 10 generations, take the step to get a ‘memories’ cooking set.  Cook only with this set, and start building those memories and establishing that bond.  Obviously we don’t want our whole cooking legacy dependent on pans, so what else can we do?

Create traditions.  They don’t have to be complicated or infrequent; they just have to be regular and dependable.  When I was 3 we had pizza and my grandparents every Friday with all of my aunts, and still remember it.  The crazy part?  We only did it for a year, but I still think of it whenever I have pizza at my Gran’s house.  Get a tradition going!  Don’t have time to cook?  Start a family night, pick a restaurant and get some carryout.  Use that special pan set you got if you have one, really build that strong memory connection.  Do you know what makes traditions the strongest they can be?  Creating them together and making them as unique as possible.  What does that mean?

Instead of just going out somewhere, cook together.  Make the same dish.  Or even better, make up your own dish together!  So why not get started now?  Create a tradition, grab something you can hand down, start creating memories.  Start making your own legacy in your kitchen, and literally enjoy the benefits long after you’re gone.

The Joys of Birthdays

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Birthdays are something special.  Let’s be honest, most of us don’t cook for birthdays.  We go out to eat, right?  But these are some of the best chances for memories!  The singing, the candles, the presents… it’s something else.  So how can you put a little cooking into the birthday tradition?

Everyone has a favorite meal, some special dish that they love.  My Gran loves spaghetti with meatballs, my Dad loves surf and turf, my son loves mac and cheese; it goes on and on.  Why not make a tradition of cooking this favorite dish?

Make it a little better each year, try some new things, and just enjoy the celebration!

Hot Cocoa Contest!

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The Hot Cocoa Contest is here!

Do you want $25?

So what is it?  The Hot Cocoa Contest is a chance for you to win a $25 Starbucks gift card.  How?  Simple!

There will be a video drawing December 26th for anyone that enters.  To enter, simply post a story, recipe, or picture here or on our Facebook page.  Want to up your chances?

1.  Share this contest on Facebook
2.  Tweet the contest
3.  Like our page on Facebook

So post below, and enjoy!