• 21May

    A One-On-One Labeling Lesson From Andrea Donsky

    label lessonsIf you’re like me, you learn better when the person teaching you is passionate about the subject matter. My experience in speaking with Andrea Donsky was no exception. Andrea is a charming and intelligent individual, who is extremely passionate about healthy living. In the forty five minutes I spoke with her, I walked away with an encyclopedia of new knowledge, and a belief that I could incorporate her strategies into bettering my own lifestyle.

    Andrea’s story reminds me not only of my own, but of many others who are now living gluten-free lifestyles. She was experiencing symptoms for which doctors could find no explanation or cure. So she took control of her own health and well-being. She read everything she could get her hands on and began experimenting with controlling her diet. Over time she noticed that by following a strict gluten free and dairy free lifestyle, she was feeling like a new person.

    This is where Andrea sets herself apart by setting the bar higher. Where most of us would have settled for being happy because we were feeling better, Andrea decided that still was not enough for her. She had grown to feel passionate about the healthy lifestyle she was living so she felt she needed to share all that she had learned with other people who were still suffering. She finally quit her job and went to study formally at a Holistic Nutrition school.

    donsky

    Andrea Donsky.

    She didn’t quit there though, her commitment and desire to share her knowledge inspired her to begin The Healthy Shopper Inc., a coupon book that offers discounts on healthy food options, and NaturallySavvy.com, a website dedicated to educating people on the benefits of living a natural and organic lifestyle. Both of these outlets fulfill her purpose of using her knowledge to educate the public about eating healthier.

    It was an honor to speak with Andrea recently and have her share information from her latest book Label Lessons: Your Guide to a Healthy Shopping Cart, as well as revisiting topics from her previous book Unjunk Your Junk Food.

    Enjoy these highlights from our interview.

    So Andrea, you’ve mentioned that you help clients stay away from Fad diets, do you include more rigid adherence to not eating processed foods like the Paleo diet in that category?

    I don’t really consider Paleo a diet, it’s more of a lifestyle choice. I’ve tried every diet out there at one point or another: Atkins, Food for Life, Zone, Blood Type, etc. What I’ve learned is that every person is different, and you need to choose the eating style that fits your style. Right now I follow a gluten and dairy free lifestyle and it works wonders for me. I still have a sweet tooth so I indulge occasionally, as evidenced by my first book “Unjunk the Junk Food.” However, when I do, I make sure to read the ingredients and understand what I’m putting into my body. I believe that reading labels is the key to healthy living.

    What are some of the most common mistakes people make when trying to grocery shop for healthy foods?

    Many people focus on the fat and calories instead of actually reading the ingredients. We live in a culture that has taught us to look for lower fat or caloric content. However, to get that lower fat or caloric content food companies are adding all kinds of dangerous ingredients and chemicals to still give us that desired flavor. During the two years it took us to write Unjunk Your Junk Food, we came across a group of seven harmful ingredients that appeared in most of the “bad” choice products we came across so we called them: The Seven Scary. They are: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Trans Fat (Partially Hydrogenated oils), Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Artificial Flavors, Artificial Colors, Artificial Sweeteners, and [certain] Preservatives. If a product contains any of The Scary Seven ingredients, we urge people to put them back on the shelf. The problem doesn’t start with the fat or calories in a product, but rather the harmful ingredients they can contain and the damage those chemicals can do to our bodies. Many companies also try and trick you with misleading labeling and marketing terms. People need to learn to focus on looking at the ingredients label rather than the front of the package.

    What advice do you give families trying to get their kids to eat healthier?

    Educate the kids and get them involved starting at a young age. Explain the difference between organic and non- organic to them. Watch movies. My nine year old watched Supersize Me at a friend’s house and now he avoids McDonald’s. I believe in teaching our kids how to properly read labels. If you get them involved in their own food choices it helps to minimize their susceptibility to ads and peer pressure. They are still kids, so I am realistic with my expectations, but every little bit counts.          

    I saw on your Twitter recently that you were asking your readers if the expense of following an organic diet was limiting. What are your thoughts on the matter and what advice would you offer people a limited food budget?

    Do the best you can with the budget you have. If you can start by eliminating any of The Scary Seven ingredients, that is a huge step in the right direction. One of the things I did to work within my budget is to eat less meat. I try and make vegetables the main source of our meals. Coupons can also help you save money. The Healthy Shopper Coupon Book (www.thehealthyshopper.ca) has great e-coupons on its site or you can also find the coupon books at health food stores across Canada.

    You offer so much wonderful information with scientific evidence to back it up. How do you break down and sum up your overall message for people to remember? Do you have a mantra?

    If you don’t understand what you’re reading, put it back on the shelf. And start with one thing, it’s all about baby steps. If you eat a lot of eggs or milk, switch to organic versions. You don’t have to go gang busters with trying to incorporate all of these changes at once. Just one thing can make a difference and then continue incorporating other small changes slowly.

    Check out Andrea’s latest book Label Lessons: Your Guide to a Healthy Shopping Cart for more information about healthy changes you can make to improve your lifestyle. You can download the E-book for free through June 26th. Also check out her website http://www.naturallysavvy.com/ for more interesting articles.

    -JPM (Joyana)

     

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  • 12Mar

    Passover Dining in DC!

    Lisa Shapiro has written a great article on this year’s Passover options. I’m considering another trip to DGS now. She also talks about Todd and Ellen KassofF Gray’s new cookbook, The New Jewish Table. Thanks Lisa!

    -JAY

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  • 02Apr

    Words To Eat By Is Delicious

    Picture of the dust jacket for Words To Eat ByAfter reading Words To Eat By, authored by Ina Lipkowitz, I immediately felt the urge to make one of the many dishes featured in the book.  In her book, Lipkowitz takes 5 regular food words and transforms them through her exploration and explanation of their languages of origin.  She chose apple, leek, milk, bread, and meat as the focus of the book.  Five ordinary foods that few of us think twice about in the grocery store (other than which variety) are revealed as vital links to our American culinary culture.

    The concept of our words for cooking terminology and foodstuffs stemming from French and Italian was one of the many revelations in the text.    Another was Lipkowitz’s demonstration via explanation and language charts how the word apple was used to indicate any type of fruit.  Leeks are given their due, as are milk, bread, and meat.  Reading through the chapters was incredibly eye-opening because Lipkowitz is pulling back the curtain on the history of the food words we know and love to eat.  I had the opportunity to ask the author a few burning questions:

    TKW:  What was the weirdest thing you discovered during the writing of this book?  Did any of the information shock you?

    IK:  “That’s an interesting question, because the more you read about what people have eaten over the centuries, the more you realize that “weird” is in the eye of the beholder. People have eaten things we’d call “weird”—like peacock tongues and shepherds’ buttocks—but they thought were normal (or at least decadently delicious). By the same token, they might think some of the things we eat are a little weird—the ammonia gas treated beef trimmings we affectionately call “pink slime,” for instance, or the insoluble gluten marketed as seitan. If those aren’t weird, I don’t know what is.”

    TKW:  Did you travel to any exotic locations for research?  

    IK:  “Although I’ve spent time and eaten many wonderful meals in England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy, I have to admit that most of the research I did for Words to Eat By was in books rather than exotic locations. Even if I had had unlimited funds and could have traveled anywhere, I still wouldn’t have been able to eat with the ancient Romans, the Angles and Saxons, or the Normans, so I had to content myself with reading whatever I could—whether cookery manuals, literature, or agricultural treatises. One day they’ll perfect a time-traveling machine and then I’ll really be in business.“

    TKW:  Out of the five foods/words you wrote about, which have you begun to incorporate in your meals at home more often?

    IK:  “Well, like most people, I’ve almost always got apples, milk, meat, and bread in my kitchen (in fact, I live in fear of running out of milk for cereal and coffee, so I make sure there are two or three extra gallons in my basement refrigerator at all times). Leeks, though, are something I’m much more likely to cook now than I used to. In fact, I’ve made it my personal crusade to reverse the trend that Jane Grigson, one of my favorite food writers, referred to as “the social decline of this ancient vegetable.” I’ve made a conscious decision to use leeks where I used to use onions as my default allium—in soups, tarts, pies, and even in scrambled eggs. I make an amazingly good leek and goat cheese tart, and one of my son’s favorite pasta dishes is with leeks, peas, and smoked ham. It’s really good.”

    TKW:  Did you try all of the recipes in book?  Which did you like the most?  The least?

    IK:  “One thing I discovered while writing this book is that there’s no accounting for taste. I’m pretty game about eating almost anything, but somehow “Maryland Potted Marsh Rabbit” (which is Euell Gibbons’ euphemistic way of referring to muskrat) doesn’t get my gastric juices flowing—nor does Fergus Henderson’s “Crispy Pig Tails,” which have to be shaved with a throwaway Bic razor before being seared and finished in a hot oven. It’s not just meaty dishes that give me pause; I have to admit that I’ve never tried Hannah Glasse’s “Artifical Asses Milk” either: it calls for hartshorn shavings, eringo root, china root, snails bruised in their shells, and balsam of tolu. Even if I could find such ingredients, when was the last time I had a yen for artificial ass’s milk anyway?

    “On the other hand, Celtic leek soups are absolutely terrific and the 14th-century recipe called Paynfoundew was a big hit when I served it for dessert at a dinner party last winter: it’s basically a fancy French toast where you soak the bread in red wine and serve it with honey, sweet spices, and coriander seeds.”

    TKW:  What was your favorite part about writing the book?

    IK:  “I loved that so many of my interests came together in this book: food, languages, history, and literature. Where else could I write about cheese and the Bible in the same paragraph?

    “But even more than being able to indulge my own passions, I loved finding out how many other people share my fascination with food and words because for so long I’d thought I was the only one who got stuck on why we call things what we do—the only one who wondered what Häagen-Dazs means or why we buy them when they’re called “dried plums” but not when they’re called prunes. It’s been so gratifying to learn that there are a whole lot of people out there who are just as intrigued by the power of food words as I am.”

    The sheer amount of research that Lipkowitz has done — both culinary and library — is impressive.  As mentioned above, the author includes recipes from the Middle Ages, in the language and dialect of origin.  A handy translation is provided for each, though it’s a nerdy pleasure to see the Middle English in all its glory.  I highly recommend this book if you enjoy history, cooking, languages, or medieval recipes.

    -TKW

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  • 19Mar

    Things To Eat Before You Die!

    I attended the Travel & Adventure Show in DC last weekend, and had the opportunity to meet the author of 1000 Places To See Before You Die, Patricia Schultz. She also is the Producer of a Travel Channel show of the same name. Below is my interview with Patricia:

    JAY: What foods you bring with you when you travel abroad (and why)?

    Patricia: I bring power bars for in-between meals and anything bite-size sweet for night time so I don’t attack the hotel minibar.

    JAY: What foods do you bring as gifts when you travel?

    Patricia: If I am bringing a gift, I go to Li-Lac Chocolates in NYC for their chocolate NYC icons such as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.

    JAY: What foods do you want to try before you die? (These are foods you have not tried.) It could be food of a place you haven’t been yet or just something you haven’t tried.

    Patricia: There is much of the Nordic cuisine movement sweeping through Scandinavia that I haven’t yet sampled.

    JAY: What foods do you think everyone should try before they die?

    Patricia: Bistecca alla Toscana in Florence or environs, Moroccan food in the ancient Casbah in Marrakesh or Fez, Chinese in a hole-in-the-wall family-run eatery in the Hutongs or back alleyways of Beijing, or a bbq under the stars with South African wines after a full day of safari in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The setting should be as delicious as the food.

    JAY: What drinks do you think everyone should try before they die?

    Patricia: I am not much of a wine connoisseur but I enjoy sampling the wines from whatever country I go to. And the same when I am traveling in the US. They say each of the 50 states has some degree of wine production, be it ever so humble. Who knew Texas had wine? The Hill Country outside Austin does some nice stuff.

    JAY:  What desserts do you think everyone should try before they die?

    Pavlova from New Zealand, the artistic creations you see in Vienna’s pastry shops, really good, dense, honey saturated baklava from Greece, and tiny, wild strawberries in season drizzled with Balsamic vinegar like only the Italians can get away with.

    JAY:  What are places you visited where you were surprised at how much you enjoyed the food?

    Patricia:  Lima, Peru.

    JAY: Best Airplane meal you have had?

    Patricia:  Is this a trick question? I’ve never had a good meal on an airplane.

    JAY:  You live in NYC. Which restaurants would you recommend as “must try”?  I met you in DC and my site is based in DC, so please answer the same question for DC.

    Patricia NYC: for a splash-out memorable (and expensive) evening out, Le Bernardin; for Woodie Allen fun the mile-high pastrami sandwiches at Carnegie Deli; for a little bit of Italy the tiny Salumeria Rosi on the Upper West Side north of Lincoln Center.

    D.C. The pop-up restaurant of America Eats by Jose Andres before it disappears July 4th and the wonderful talents of Michel Richard in the casual environs of Central.

    JAY:  You’re going to die (eventually). What would you like your last meal to be? You can combine items from different countries/locations, or not.

    Patricia: I lived for 5 years in Tuscany. I would like a very simple, very authentic Tuscan dinner made with fresh ingredients from those rolling hills – enhanced with local olive oil and a super Toscano red as the sun sets over one of Italy’s most beautiful corners.

    Patricia is working on the food version of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. I’m looking forward to reading it when it hits the shelves.

    -JAY

    ————————–

    Check out my friend’s Costa Rica Tours and don’t forget to use the code “TOUCAN” to save money. He has some group tours that you can join.

    -JAY

     

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  • 15Feb

    How Not to Bake Like A Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey: Macarons

    Chocolate Macarons

    When I first started writing for dcfüd, I mentioned that I’d be writing about my successes and my failures.  And much like the title screen for (500) Days of Summer did, I have to warn you up front:  this is not a success story.

    A while back, I tried making macarons, those small, French sandwich cookies made with almond flour, egg whites, and a lot of luck.  They didn’t work out for me – the batter ran out of my piping bag like water, the cookies ended up much bigger than I’ve ever seen commercially, and though they tasted okay, they just didn’t look very good.  I’ve been told that I’m a bit of a perfectionist professionally, and sometimes that bleeds over into my cooking.  But it’s for good reason – most professional chefs that I’ve read offer some variation on the cliché that we “eat with our eyes first” – so presentation really does matter.

    Go on: take a look at the photos of the “macarons” entry at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macarons).  I’ll wait.  Notice the beautiful pastel colors (though those are created by artificial food dyes), the symmetrical cookie halves, and the slight “foot” created during the bake?  Those are the hallmarks of a professionally made and well-executed macaron.  I wanted to try them out again this week.  (And I’m still competing with my coworkers over desserts, so this would be a coup if I could pull it off!)

    Step one:  sources and methods.  One of my go-to references for baking and desserts is the Baking Bites blog (http://bakingbites.com/), run by a Los Angeles-based author named Nicole Weston.  She posted her recipe for chocolate macarons with vanilla buttercream filling recently (http://bakingbites.com/2012/01/chocolate-macarons-with-vanilla-buttercream-filling/), and once I saw it, I put almond flour on my grocery list.  Fair warning:  one pound of that ran more than $10 at my local supermarket.  There’s not a whole lot of almond flour in one batch, so you can certainly try again, but don’t bother trying to chop your own almonds into flour in your food processor – you’ll end up with chunks rather than the fine powder you need.

    Step two:  prep.  I set up two roasting pans, but I only have one SilPat, so I lined the other one with parchment paper.  One equipment note here – every macaron recipe I’ve ever seen has specified measuring ingredients by weight rather than by volume.  This is a great tip for baking generally, and I’m told that most professional chefs use scales in their pastry work.  After weighing out the dry ingredients, I whisked them together in a mixing bowl and started separating my eggs.  Once the sugar syrup went onto the heat, the recipe started moving quickly, and it might be then that it got away from me.

    Step three:  failure.  Maybe macarons are my personal unicorn, but I just couldn’t get them right this time, either.  The almond dough came together fairly easily, but the Italian meringue that the Baking Bites recipe suggests either wasn’t whipped enough or not folded gently enough into the batter.  Not to blame the recipe, of course – those would be my fault!  After piping and baking (and my pastry bag skills leave something to be desired…), I found some flat macarons with cracked shells when I opened the oven.  Several of them stuck to the pans despite my best efforts with silicone and parchment paper, but I’m told that’s not unusual.  And worst of all, my frosting went wrong, looking grainy and brown rather than nicely whipped.  I tend to use a bit more vanilla in my desserts than recipes call for, and I think my vanilla extract might have done a bit more coloring than I wanted it to here.  Mea culpa!

    But all was not lost – I pulled a container of dark chocolate frosting out of the pantry and started sandwiching the cookies together with a dollop each.  They’re not the most visually appealing macarons I’ve ever seen by a long shot, but my beautiful wife (God bless her!) assured me that they’re quite good.  We’ll see what my co-workers say.

    This dessert is a real challenge, so I’d love to hear about your experience with it or with other macaron recipes.  Let me know in the comments if you’ve managed to conquer the French.  Enjoy!

    Chocolate Macarons with Vanilla Buttercream Filling

    Recipe courtesy Baking Bites

    180 g almond flour/almond meal

    200 g confectioner’s sugar

    30 g cocoa powder

    4 large room-temperature egg whites, divided

    180 g sugar (granulated)

    ¼ cup water

    For vanilla buttercream: 

    1/3 cup room-temperature butter

    1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

    1 tbsp milk

    2 cups confectioner’s sugar

    Prep two roasting pans with non-stick surfaces, either SilPats or parchment paper.

    Sift together almond meal, confectioner’s sugar, and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.  Using the paddle attachment, mix with two of the egg whites until a thick dough comes together.  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure all of the dry ingredients are mixed.  Once the dough is together, set aside and wash out your mixing bowl.

    In a saucepan, heat granulated sugar and water to a rolling boil, whisking to ensure sugar dissolves.  Boil for at least 30 seconds.

    Back in the stand mixer, beat the other two egg whites until soft peaks form.  Then slowly add the syrup into the egg whites while continuing to beat on medium.  Be careful here, as the syrup is hot and the mixer will send it everywhere unless you’re cautious.  Once the syrup has been fully incorporated, beat until you have a thick, fluffy meringue, set aside and wash out the mixing bowl again (unless you’re lucky enough to own extras!)

    Stir about 1/3 of the meringue into the chocolate dough, then fold in the remaining meringue in a couple more additions.  Using a pastry bag or a zip-top plastic bag with a snipped corner, pipe the resulting batter out onto the pans in tablespoon-sized portions with about an inch between them.

    Let the piped batter sit for 20 minutes or so while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for about 12 minutes, then cool on the sheet or a cooling rack before frosting and sandwiching.

    Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

    Beat the butter until soft, then add the vanilla extract, milk, and confectioner’s sugar.  Beat until light and creamy, then spoon or pipe between your cookie shells.  And if nothing else, keep a backup frosting in the pantry!

    -HML

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  • 02Nov

    Wizards in the Kitchen, the Cookbook

    I attended the launch/Halloween party for Wizards in the Kitchen and scored myself a signed copy of the book. The authors (Brandon and Laura Millett) were fun to talk to and can be seen cooking on this Channel 9 video. The book looks like a Dungeons & Dragons manual.

    The book is broken into 13 sections that include recipes and lists of ingredients that can help you achieve a specific quality. Some of these chapters include Romance, Vigor, Purity, Peace, Success, Protection, Wealth, and Fertility. Some of the ingredients such as garlic and chili are featured in the ingredient lists at the beginning of various chapters.

    As an example, the recipes in the chapter “Peace, a feast for finding harmony” include:

    • Passionate shrimp cocktail
    • Purple peace soup
    • Beans and Rice with vervaine dressing
    • Pork with spicy passion fruit sauce
    • Candied flowers
    • Lavender chocolate bark

    In general, the recipes in the book look good, and the stories at the beginning of the chapters are entertaining. Having an interest in herbs and remedies, I did expect the ingredients and their beneficial properties to be explained. I see this book as entertainment (and a possible gift) for someone who is into the world of fantasy (Harry Potter, AD&D, King Arthur, etc.) and also dabbles in the kitchen.

    -JAY

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  • 28Oct

    Wizards of the Kichen Cookbook

    If you are looking to attend a Halloween party tonight, a copy of Wizards of the Kitchen is included with the cover at L2‘s party:

    “Join us Friday night, October 28th at a Halloween party to be remembered as we launch the brand new magical recipe book Wizards in the Kitchen.  Learn how to Inspire Romance, Obtain Wealth, Achieve Longevity and much more with dozens of magical recipes in this spectacularly designed, engagingly written cookbook.  Your copy FREE with the price of admission!  The recipes are delicious.  The magic is real.  And the party is to die for.”

    Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, but the book retails for $26.

    -JAY

     

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  • 15Jul

    Now Eat This!

    Like so many others in the DC area, I’m always looking for ways to eat good food and yet remain healthy. With that thought in mind, I stumbled upon a new cookbook, “Now Eat This!”  written by Chef Rocco Dispirito.  The premise of the cookbook is that Rocco takes everyday favorites and “healifies” them to be under 350 calories. Needless to say I was intrigued.  I became more intrigued as I saw these recipes  featured on Good Morning America and Oprah.

    As such, I decided to try out three different recipes. My menu for the night was:

    • Grilled Chicken Parmigiano
    • Penne Alla Vodka
    • Rocco’s Low-Cal Brownies

    The meal started off wonderfully. The grilled chicken Parmigiano was amazing. Honestly, I liked it better than normal chicken parm. The main difference here besides using low fat ingredients is that the entire chicken breast is not breaded; instead the breading is just on top of the cheese.  This reversal makes for a lovely crunchy texture, whereas the breading usually gets soggy from the marinara sauce.

    Paired with the chicken parm was the penne alla vodka. I will admit that I’ve never had real penne alla vodka, but what drew me to trying this recipe was the substitution of Greek yogurt for the heavy cream and vodka. This was incredibly fresh. The Greek yogurt added just enough tartness and that was intermingled with the spiciness of cayenne.  The biggest downfall here came when I tried to reheat it; the sauce just wasn’t liquid enough to keep the noodles from sticking. This is a big problem in my world, because I often I make dinner and then eat it for lunch the next day.

    I was most excited to try the brownies. I had heard about these before I even know about the recipe. The thought of using black beans in brownies just tickled me. However, I was sadly disappointed. The brownies, if they can even be called that, were definitely chocolaty. The main problems I had were that they didn’t even resemble a cake-like consistency and the bitter after taste from the artificial sweetener.  These I also fed to a group of my friends and and about 50% of the people liked them.  To save these you may have to alter the main recipe. I could see eating a hot fudge brownie Sunday with these brownies, but I think that would alter the healthiness of the brownie.

    Overall, I love the idea of this cookbook and I will definitely make some of the other recipes for dinners and lunches. However, I think the brownies have turned me off to making any of the other desserts.  In the end, I do not think the reduction of brownies from 1500 calories to 53 is worthwhile. But the other two recipes are definitely staying, especially the chicken parm, which was reduced from 1090 calories to 332. The pasta which was reduced from 320 calories from 618,  is also worthwhile.

    -Guest Writer Caitlin Di Santo

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  • 13Jun

    Attention Home Cooks, Bloggers, & Chefs: Only 2 Weeks Left To Get Your Recipe In A Cookbook For A Good Cause!

    This is a repost:

    I’ve been helping my friends at the Arlington YMCA about this for a month or so, and they are now ready to accept recipe submissions for this fund-raising project. The recipes should be healthy but do not have to be vegetarian, vegan, or organic, but let them know if they happen to be. Feel free to distribute this to chefs restaurants, food bloggers and other foodies. They would also like some restaurants (that have appropriate mobile equipment) to demo their recipe submissions but it is not a necessity. The cookbook is not Arlington specific, so submissions are open to the DC Metropolitan area.

    This is a good change to get your name, blog or restaurant mentioned in a cookbook.  Portfolio builder?

    Thanks.

    -JAY
    ———————————————-

    Press Release (March 4, 2011):

    Arlington, VA – As the New Year begins, so do those New Year’s resolutions. Thousands of Americans will have a fresh new start as they challenge themselves to live a healthier lifestyle. To help make this New Year a total success, the YMCA of Arlington is coming out with a healthy eating and lifestyle cookbook. It’s an effort to help the metropolitan area as they commit to exercising, eating healthier and living better lives.

    Our New Year’s resolution at the Y is to help the metropolitan area keep theirs. “We take great responsibility in helping kids, families and individuals in our communities lead healthy and wholesome lives. A New Year’s resolution is always a good start, but the Y is here to help people maintain their commitment, not just through the year but for the rest of their lives.”

    I am calling all Metropolitan Washington Area restaurants, food bloggers and foodies to participate in the YMCA Arlington Cookbook by donating a recipe or recipes. We are accepting healthy recipes, including (but not limited to) organic, vegetarian, vegan and ethnic foods. This book will be published and sold within the branch to help with our annual campaign Building Bridges. Last year alone, we provided more than $2 million in scholarships and financial assistance to nearly 12,000 children, families, and seniors. With your help, we can continue to provide essential child care, camp, counseling, social services, and health and wellness programs. You can help us make sure no one is turned away.

    Cookbook Recipe deadline:

    Please email recipes Bianca.Patterson@ymcadc.org by June 30th, 2011.

    Bianca Patterson
    YMCA Arlington
    3422 13th St. N
    Arlington, VA, 22201
    (703) 525-5420

    For more information, call (703) 525-5420 or log on to www.ymcadc.org and find the YMCA Arlington branch for details.

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  • 11Apr

    Andres, Mendelsohn, And Egger Help Under-Served KIDS With A Book Project.

    In my inbox (and rephrased a bit).

    -JAY

    ————————–

    Lifting Voices is a nonprofit organization that reaches 200 under-served young people in DC. They’ve got a food-related project going on now, Counter Culture, a big, beautiful coffee-table book that shares 10 of its kids’ food histories in words and images.

    • Culinary masters José Andrés, Robert Egger, and Spike Mendelsohn are contributors.
    • The idea behind the book is that food brings people together. We hope this will be a gathering place for readers and the kids we serve.
    • The book will be launched at a 300-person warehouse party.
    • There’s a kick-ass video here.

    Your Help? Essential.

    We need $5,000 by April 29 to publish Counter Culture through a creative consortium.
    If we raise even one dollar less,
    the project will not be funded.
    We need your help.
    Please make a tax-deductible donation.
    $25 gets a free burger; $50 gets a free book!
    And please spread the word by
    sending this email to friends and family.
    Honestly: we can’t do this without you!

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