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From Our Blog Archives

Walking around downtown Denver a bit early for an appointment, I saw a store I’d driven by many times: Spice Boys of the Rockies. I walked in and was immediately swept up in what many of us are missing in our cooking--creativity, excitement, love--through the exotic sweet smell. The guys who run this place are mixing their own spicy concoctions (5280 Pepper Grind for our Mile-High City that includes four Peppercorns, Coriander, Rosemary, Onion, Mustard Seed, Fennel, Orange & Lemon Peel, Tarragon, Garlic, Chili Peppers and Sesame Seeds, hand blended Chimchurri, Apple Pie spice, and many, many more). They are a testament to trying new things, to doing what you love and to enjoying life. Check them out online at http://www.spiceboysrock.com or look for spicy spots in your own neighborhoods.

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I love spice shops and must add to Shannon’s blog!

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My friend Christine asked me to come over this week to advise her on planting a vegetable and herb garden. We stomped around her backyard, talking about what would grow well where, what’s fun for kids to help with and what to do about watering and choosing seeds over plants. After a long winter, it reminded me why Cooking With Friends felt familiar from the start to me.

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Shannon strikes a familiar chord in her latest blog entry “Community Gardens.” I whole heartedly agree that there is nothing more fulfilling than giving what we grow in our gardens to friends. In fact, sharing a garden’s surplus is something that most everyone can afford to do, even in a tight economy.

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If you want to get your kids to eat something, let them make it themselves. The creativity, work and pride of ownership put into a dish makes it taste even better.

Yesterday afternoon, we gathered about 10 kids for a make-your-own pizza party. The little friends stood on chairs around flour-dusted tables, diligently rolling out homemade dough, carefully spreading tomato sauce and artfully adding toppings--cheese, olives, pineapples, pepperoni. After a brief play-break while the pizzas cooked, we all sat down to a yummy meal. My 2-year-old made a Olive-Mandarin Orange pizza and then (ok she also ate the toppings off twice before putting in the oven) gobbled it up with glee. If we make cooking fun, it will be.

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Anytime I see something in a recipe that I’ve never made before - a method of cooking, an unusual ingredient or even an exotic spice – I’m invigorated by the challenge.  Awestruck like a child in a candy store, I can’t wait to explore all that a new food has to offer.  But first, I try to find a friend who isn’t a newbie and let them lead the way. This time, it was grits!  It’s hard to believe that despite having grown up in Maryland, which is somewhat Southern (and is next to Virginia, which is entirely Southern), before today, I had never had the pleasure of cooking that tasty bit of mush.

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After meeting every Thursday morning for two years, my toddler playgroup is evolving. Suzy, having consistently gushed over the sweet buttery flavor of scones served fresh for playgroup snacks, never thought that she could make them herself. In fact, she declared one morning that scones were something she could NEVER make—the “from scratch” dough and perfect little triangles intimidated her. “Never say never” is a Cooking With Friends motto, so we put her to the challenge. 

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When you open your kitchen and start cooking with others, some serendipitous connections happen you might not expect. My friend Amy, who’s been part of our Denver cooking group, told me her dad liked what we were doing. Amy’s dad knows food--he grew up in the baking business and even created his own wedding cake. He offered to teach a class to our group on cake decorating and making icing. We’re thrilled! Our kids will be there too, three generations of cooks.

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Being neighbors with a West Indian family has some definite advantages, especially when the husband and wife both love to cook. Huguens and Carol are always concocting some Caribbean dish with various island spices and tropical ingredients.  As the foodie next door, I often get a sampling of their creativity. One recent Saturday, we were lucky enough to be out on our front porch when Huguens stopped by with some hot-out-of-the-oven curry spiced chicken wings. My oldest son was with me at the time of delivery and gobbled them up as fast as he could.  I hardly got to taste them myself but I’ve been dying to make them ever since!

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Some people who read this blog might think Cooking With Friends is mostly for women, and even more specifically, for moms. That’s what it is for us--Because Alison and I are moms of young kids, we make it fit our lifestyle--playgroups, solutions for hectic evenings, food fit for kids and adults. But a single friend said to me the idea is great for her because she has a hard time with creative cooking for one. She loves the idea of getting together with a friend over the weekend and making a few delicious, healthy meals to come home to after work. An older friend with grown kids told me he likes inviting over one or two friends, making a great dinner and enjoying it together that evening. We’d love to hear how you cook with your friends.

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My friend Jackie and I got together the other day to make coconut macaroons for the Passover holiday. Having eaten (and enjoyed) the kind from the can for most of our lives, Jackie and I decided two years ago to make them together from scratch. And, I have to tell you, there’s nothing like ending a meal with a sweet morsel of moist coconut dipped in chocolate.

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Evelyn suggested Kathy and I each bring over our own big stock pot to her house, we’d put the three on the stovetop and make a huge batch of Basil-Marinara sauce over the course of a two-hour playdate. 

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It’s Spring Break this week and for various reasons, my family stayed home. All of my primary cooking friends, however, are on vacation, a plane ride away. It’s a strange feeling not having a friend to cook with—no friend to make a big batch of sauce or a week’s worth of granola. 

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On Monday, I became a soccer mom. In addition to music class for my 5-year-old, playgroup for my 2-year-old, a cooking date or two and a few other things, like most families, we have a lot going on this week. It’s very easy to become the kind of family who cooks together but eats separately, the kids earlier, the adults on the run, or one kid in the car and mom...forgets to eat.

We’re trying in our family--and it won’t work every night of course--to sit down the four of us at the same table every night. It’s a simple and small way to reconnect.

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Despite the five day weather forecast, with lots of drizzle and limited sunshine, my cooking forecast for the week couldn’t be sunnier. I have plenty of scheduled cooking dates, a variety of different foods to make, an empty refrigerator just waiting to be filled and lots of friends back from Spring break. That’s plenty of sunshine in my life!

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I’m sure you’ve noticed the news about escalating food prices and how it is taking its toll on our wallets and our lives. This disquieting topic has made headlines in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and even Good Morning America. So, how real is this unsettling trend? 

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