Take the Kohlrabi Challenge

I'll be on location this Friday night at Expressly Local, a downtown Lancaster destination food store for folks who want an extensive selection of delicious, wholesome, locally produced fresh and prepared foods. Previously, I had mentioned my interest to the store owners in sharing recipe ideas for unfamiliar ingredients.

Karran and Cheryl, the store proprietors, took me up on my offer a few days ago when I received my cooking orders. Would I take the Kohlrabi Challenge?

I've used kohlrabi. It's part of the cabbage family and just like a turnip. Let's face it. My family is never exactly begging for turnips and they're definitely not urging me to pile the kohlrabi on their plates. (Me: "Need anything from the store?" Them: "Oh, yeah, we're clean out of kohlrabi." Huh?!)

The more I thought about it, it hit me once again how food is the metaphor for life. It's not about the kohlrabi, it's about getting out of our comfort zone, opening up our minds to exploring what's around us and finding the "yum" in what instinctively may make us feel "yuck."

I can't wait to share just two (practicing self-control is a part of the deal) of the kohlrabi preparations I came up with for this Friday. Ground breaking? Not really. Easy and delicious? If you have to ask the question ...

Call It What You Want

A free, quarterly kids' cooking magazine, "Chop Chop," was launched this week, on the premise that teaching kids how to cook is the best tool to fight childhood obesity.

Jamie Oliver's reality show, where he takes on a West Virginia town to actually cook the food they eat, launched last Friday night and was second in ratings only to the NCAA Tournament.

Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign was pivotal behind the president's proposal submitted to Congress to spend a record $10 billion more on child nutrition programs over 10 years, including school food. While a Senate committee has already slashed the request by half, the bill's $4.5 billion increase would still be a historic improvement.

And the list goes on. And we're saying, "Hallelujah." "Finally." and "We are here teach you how to do it."

Essen's goal from day one has been to get communities excited about the multitude of benefits of scratch cooking. We teach all of you, kids, adults and families, how to leave the intimidation factor at the door and enjoy the process as much as the outcome. Cooking fresh ingredients is not hard, and it definitely gets easier and faster with practice (to paraphrase our dear Julia Child) and planning.

Questions? Shoot it to us. Schedule too hectic? Set up a private session. Battling your kids to try new foods? Reserve a spot at Camp.

We're not the first to say it, but we live it every day at Essen. F-U-N. Food is serious stuff AND it is unbelievably fun. Why would you leave it out?

Kitchen Hardware

Essen Classes are based on the premise the freshest ingredients, combined with the best one knife and pan you can afford and solid cooking techniques, will put a quick and delicious meal on your table day after day.

Winter is definitely our major "pots and pan" season, when I receive the most questions about how to select cookware. Every pot and pan in your kitchen should do at least three things:

• Conduct heat evenly without hot or cold spots. Pans made of copper, aluminum and cast iron, at least 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick are the best heat conductors. If the heat conducting metal is sandwiched between other materials, the conductor needs to come up the sides of the pan, not be just a disc on the bottom.
• Protect your food from discoloring or developing off tastes. Stainless steel, enamel and tin work best here.
• Go from stove to oven thanks to heatproof handles. This is key to minimizing the number of pans you need to use and speeds cleanup. I also prefer those pans whose handles stay cool on the stovetop. Major convenience and fewer burns.

Yes, there's an overwhelming selection out there. Best thing is to shop live and actually touch and feel the cookware. This is a major investment, meant to last decades. Get out and handle some pots this week. You won't be sorry.

Happy Birthdays

Confession: I'm the mom of a 12 year old - for one day.

This isn't going to be one of those sappy entries about how time flies (which it does), it seems like only yesterday he was sleeping on our chest (it does and he still would), and how we have to make each day count (we should and we try). This is about cake.

Confession: I love food. I don't care much for cake.

Birthdays in our family are special days, but dessert was either grocery store cake or dessert at a restaurant. I reasoned that at a young age kids didn't know the difference and wouldn't value a really. good. cake. It helped that cake doesn't do much for me. "Why invest the time if the outcome won't be valued?" I reasoned without guilt. But this year I was about to have a 12 year old. Who really likes cake. And not that much else. It's never too late to begin a new tradition.

From this birthday forward, I'll ask my kids to choose their homemade birthday cake. They already pick their dinner, why not the cake? (For my daughter, this will be broadened to dessert as she's like me when it comes to cake.) It's one more piece to the traditions and history we've been creating since long before they were born.

I took his order the weekend before the big day - chocolate layer cake. With ice cream. I had been paging through a new cookbook from a fabulous bakery in San Francisco, Tartine and stumbled upon a recipe for Devil's Food Cake. Fast forward past baking the cakes, making the caramel twice as I burned it the first time, the ganache with so much left over I'm making truffles tomorrow and the toasted crumbs, a to-die-for new trick up my sleeve, and let's just say we've got a new tradition underway that will not fall by the way side. Yes, I invested some real time this week pulling it off. Yes, I may have been frustrated when I burned the caramel very late at night and hadn't a clue when I'd be able to make another batch. But the look on my son's face and the peaceful, happy silence filling the kitchen when everyone's devouring "the best cake they've ever had" makes it all worth every bite.

"3R's" Gift Giving Guide

We're all trying to be more deliberate, more green, more local in our gift giving. At the end of the day, there are so many choices wherever you look, it's just overwhelming.

For the past few years, my family has extended the "3R's" (reduce, reuse, recycle) into our gift giving choices. Here's how we're applying it this year:

• Reduce hunger: We've identified organizations that are working to eradicate hunger. We've picked one operating in our community, The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and one working globally, Mazon, and will donate at least one or two nights of money that would have purchased Chanukah gifts to those causes. I also make donations in lieu of hostess gifts and present the host with a note informing them of the honor.

• Reuse prepared food: One-third (that's not a typo) of the food we purchase goes to waste. Make tonight's leftovers tomorrow's lunch in style with bento boxes. Laptop Lunch has a great selection.

• Recycle your stuff: All the etiquette mavens claim regifting is so okay as long as you let the recipient know, "Sarah, I received this beautiful, skunk-scented candle and already have one too many. I know how much you adore stinky candles and instantly thought of you. Please enjoy it." Consider hosting a post-holiday "junk or treasure?" party. Everyone will go home happy.

Finally, ditch the pretty paper. As one who's incredibly fond of a "ta-da" presentation for all things in life, it's unfathomable the amount of landfill created each December with wrapping paper. Reuse one of the those pretty gift bags you stashed away.

Happy holidays to you and yours. Whatever you do, make it delicious!

Thanksgiving Feast Class - Hear All About It

Haven't found time to experience an Essen Class? Read about Janice Henry and her sister, Jeanne Nokes, first-hand experience at our annual blow-out Thanksgiving Feast. Thank you, Janice and Jeanne!

Since my one-and-only sister, Jeannie, lives in England, we don't have the opportunity to get together very often. But when we do, we try to plan something special for just the two of us -- and we really scored a winner this time! The Essen Classic Thanksgiving Feast class sounded like the perfect opportunity to spend four hours of quality time together while learning new recipes and tasting delicious dishes. And we weren't disappointed. Betsey's style of presentation and instruction was informal yet informative, and provided an atmosphere where learning is fun. The recipes were well presented, easy to follow, and yet just different enough to add a special twist to some time-honored favorites. Turkey with garlic pine nut paste? Who would'a thought?? But it was absolutely delicious! Our only disappointment was that Jeannie's husband Roger, the one who does all of their cooking, was at home in England missing out on all the fun.

Can't wait for my next email from Essen to see what course I can take next!
Cheers,
Janice Olsen Henry

What are you waiting for? Sign up for Holiday Classes and order your holiday gifts today. Check out our NEW! Monthly Clubs. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving.

Party's Over. Now what?

Yesterday was my daughter's birthday party. Standard invite-the-school-class-to-go-bowling type of party. Lots of fun with minimal stress.

Families were encouraged to stay and join the fun. As one who often likes to complement my snack chips and pizza with fresh produce, I served store bought fruit and veggie trays. Totally a big hit - with adults and kids.

Of course, I had way too many leftovers of fine-not-fabulous veggies (let's not talk about the fruit that needed to be tossed). What's a frugalista to do?

I came up with four different uses and saved myself from throw away peril:
• Grape tomatoes and celery sticks became crudite for pre-dinner munching. I made a quick dip with leftover pesto vinaigrette mixed with some mayo.
• Bell peppers (red, yellow and green) were added to onion saute for Turkey Chilaquiles. Email for recipe - great post Turkey Day leftover idea!
• Broccoli and carrots were tossed with ground cumin, honey, olive salt and coarse salt and roasted at 400F for 20 minutes. Great companion to our Turkey Chilaquiles.
• Cauliflower and cucumbers were magicly transformed into Cauliflower Pickles. Can't wait to devour them tonight while making dinner.

What have you done with your leftover veggie or fruit trays?