It’s All Fenugreek to Me

By Herb Gardner - According to a recent Time magazine issue, 41% of American two-year olds’ daily vegetable calories come from French fries. Clearly, too many families have abandoned the produce aisle for the drive through line. Enter author and mother Pragna Parmita to restore discipline and sanity to meal planning for youngsters. Vegebaby as the title implies advocates a vegetarian diet for a healthy body, bright mind,...

A Daughter’s Kitchen Memories

By Anna Dantoni - Trying to manage her emotions as her beloved mother slips farther away into dementia, Lee Clayton Roper decided to collaborate on a book of recipes called A Well-Seasoned Kitchen along with mom, Sally Clayton, who died just as this book was in its final pre-publication phase. Consequently, this  beautifully photographed hard cover book is more than the sum of its culinary ingredients. It’s a memoir and an...

Gluten-Free Cooking Goes Global

By Marsha Fottler - May is National Celiac Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about this autoimmune disease and the gluten-free food revolution. There are some three million people in the United States who have celiac sprue. They require a gluten-free diet. Until recently dining out was a nightmare for these people since gluten-free meals hardly existed and chefs weren’t knowledgeable about adaptive techniques....

Celestial Summer Shortcake

By Susan G. Purdy - Everyone loves tender buttery shortcakes, including this baker. Quick and easy to put together, you can serve them warm with coffee for breakfast. Add 1/2 cup of currants or a cup of berries to the batter and call them scones (to whom they’re related), or split and fill them with your favorite seasonal berries and whipped cream to create a celebratory dessert. Another reason you will love this...

April Holidays – Happy Raisin Day

By Anna Dantoni - In the food world there is a month, week and a day that celebrates every food you can think of and April is no different. Besides Passover, Easter, Earth Day and Arbor Day, there are many more daily excuses to cook and enjoy specific foods on “their” special day. You probably never heard of most of them, except for serious religious holidays. Specific foods have become associated with these days as part...

Veggie Nation

By Marsha Fottler - There are about eight million vegetarians in America and all of them are hungry. And that’s not counting flexitarians, who limit their meat intake to only once a or twice week or dieters who avoid meat meals because of high calorie count and seek out tasty vegetarian meals that are less fattening. People who say the are “vegetarian-inclined eaters” make up another 22 million. That’s a lot of mouths...