THE DIRT CUPS WERE a process. For Phoebe’s second birthday I set out to create a garden party in Villa Ada, Rome’s largest park. And the star of the show, other than the birthday girl’s pretty fabulous tutu, was the “dirt cups”, aka, brownies and pudding mixed together in tiny terra cotta pots with worms,…
turkey & cheese roll-ups, an easy lunch or snack idea
PHOEBE IS A MEAT LOVER. I’m not sure why but she even gets excited about saying the word, “meat!” Anyway, I’m using this to my advantage these days–and enjoying easy lunches. Here’s today’s idea: Roll a slice of fresh turkey from the deli around a little rectangle of cheese. Try to use organic and…
Slow food lunch: Chickpeas like I’ve never seen (or tasted)
THESE WERE, WELL delicious. On a tip from our trusty Italian guidebook Gambero Rosso, we stopped for lunch at Taverna 58 on our way to Mattinata. The restaurant is associated with the Slow Food movement, which supports restaurants fitting three criteria, as per the website:
How to get kids to try new vegetables: lemon
IF YOUR KIDS ARE LEMON-LOVERS like Phoebe, this method is brilliant. During a recent lunch in Puglia, we were presented with the “vegetable of the day” which turned out to be grilled zucchini. Unfortunately zucchini is a food that’s usually spit out. But not today.
how to get toddlers to try seafood
THIS POST COULD’VE been called “how to get a toddler to try seafood” except I have no idea how to do that. Here’s how it worked for us (hint: it involves flavors she already likes.) We’re in Puglia right now (the southern coast of Italy; the heel of the boot) and in this region of…
Foodlets in the press: Organic Breakfast Ideas for Kids
WHAT A TREAT to be interviewed by writer and friend Haley Krischer on behalf of Organic Authority. My first piece of “press” is very fun, especially considering that I used to be press myself. Anyway, if you need a few new breakfast ideas for kids…enjoy!
Grilling: The long, slow road to dinner
I DIDN’T THINK I LIKED GRILLING going into tonight’s dinner and now it’s confirmed. I hate it. What’s appealing about spending two hours in front of a smokey mess, poking, coaxing, begging the coals to just light already? Wondering when/if the whole thing will ever, ever be hot enough to cook meat without giving…
Let them help cook…and snack along the way
HOW TO GET YOUR TODDLER TO EAT MORE VEGGIES: pull up a chair, stool or other propping device and let her help you prepare dinner. Phoebe particularly likes “organizing” her ingredients so I give her a little bowl and a wooden spoon. Things go in the bowl, things go out of the bowl, things fall…
Barefoot Contessa Makeover: Lemon chicken with pesto potato salad
WE’VE HAD A BREAKTHROUGH in the potato department. Never a fan of them, Phoebe actually said, “I ont aunt tatoes” when I was trying to play up tonight’s dinner—a tough task considering that we were swimming (aka, the most fun activity ever) just before the potato conversation. But potatoes it was. Only I added…
Raisins: the constipation solution for toddlers
IT AIN’T PRETTY BUT TODAY’S TOPIC is constipation, or rather, how to fix it. As part of my husband Paul’s job with the United Nations here in Rome, we have access to the commissary and one of our staples is, as mentioned above, raisins. At first it was the little red paper box that intrigued…