Nothing signals spring like asparagus. Spring was in the air last weekend. We planned a menu with one of the treats of the season. Sometimes we make asparagus with crumbles of hard-boiled egg, with diced red onion, mellowed in red wine vinegar. We like to dress asparagus in some extra virgin olive oil and a dash…
Author: aliceknisleymatthias
Alice Knisley Matthias writes about food, family, garden and education. Her work appears in The New York Times for Kids, Washington Post Kids, Food Network, Allrecipes, Taste of Home, Delish, The Kitchn, Eating Well and Parade. Her book, "Tasty Snacks in a Snap!" is published by Scholastic for young readers. She is a regular contributor for Parade covering food trends, product roundups, recipes, profiles and celebrity chef interviews. Her work for Boys' Life and Kids Discover has covered subjects like a Master Chef Junior finalist, music and theatre kids at work, how to make food from kitchen scraps and the science of yeast. Other credits include an America's Test Kitchen cookbook, Highlights for Children, Redbook, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, Meatless Mondays and regional parenting publications.
thyme for tomato soup
Soup’s on. The calendar says the spring season is three weeks away. Yet, winter is dumping some last-minute snow on us in the next few days. And it has been cold and windy. Maybe it was the chill in the air. The guys wanted tomato soup and “special cream.” It is a cold-weather favorite for them. The…
happy valentine’s day and hamburger hearts
“Are we going out for dinner tonight?” the guys asked. No way. Valentine’s Day is a time for some extra love for my boys. But, not at inflated prices. The same dinner, and the same flowers, are half the price the next day. We experimented with hamburger hearts for a Valentine’s dinner last year and…
the incredible, edible egg from a few blocks away
Sunny-side up. Does anything sound happier for breakfast? My guys know, if there is something like a big test in class that day, it calls for a really good breakfast. They usually order eggs and bacon. They are convinced this is the breakfast that helps ace a test. We are lucky our friends have chickens. I think at…
baby, it’s cold outside!
The temperature took a tumble this week! We also had the first snow of the season. It was a great reason to whip up a hot cocoa mix that pleases my guys. I saw this original recipe from Debbie Koenig, when she wrote a guest blog post for Monica Bhide’s blog, http://debbiekoenig.com/2012/12/05/guest-post-monica-bhides-a-life-of-spice/, A Life of Spice. You can…
book of mormon potatoes
What do a Tony-award-winning musical and dinner have in common? Potatoes. The oven that shorted out on me at the beginning of the cold weather season has been replaced. I asked my guys what should be the first thing we make in the new oven. “Something good,” my little guy said. His brother indulged me with a…
almond joy
I’m hooked. My new favorite ingredient is almond flour. A little spin around the internet turned up recipes using almond flour. There are suggestions for using it in low-carb recipes. And gluten-free recipes. I found recipes for everything from cookies, to using almond flour as a coating, for cutlets of meat. Some recipes call for substituting some…
mommy’s turn
There was an incident some weeks ago with some bacon grease and the coils in the oven. It was one of those school nights when I was trying to do homework and make a nice dinner at the same time. It seemed the very moment I realized the bacon slices were not in the right pan…
you say potato
“The star is crooked,” said my little guy. With all the holiday wonder I was trying to create, this is what he focused on? The star on the tree, slightly leaning to the left? School was out and we were getting the house finished for the holiday. I turned to one of my reliable potato dishes….
saturday night fever
Our record of staying well was broken this week. Last Friday afternoon, my son’s first grade class was a little crazy before the holiday break. They were bouncing off the walls from eating candy and singing songs. Now, they were ready for the weekend. And of course, Santa and his reindeer. Except my first grader woke up with a…
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