To increase your family’s intake of fruit and veggies in school or at work, here’s a simple trick… Cut an apple or orange and place a rubber band around it. Then place it in a baggy or container. It keeps the fruit fresh and juicy on the inside, yet it’s easy to eat. Enjoy! –Mama Lisa

If it’s snowing near you, put a container outside to collect some clean snow to make ice cream! Once you’ve gotten enough snow, add vanilla and either sweetened condensed milk or a little milk with sugar.  Stir and adjust to taste.  Eat right away! Results of My Snow Ice Cream Experiment: In the photo...

Laba is a Chinese festival that has traditionally started off the Chinese New Year preparations. It’s on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Agnes wrote about it from China: "We eat Laba Rice Porridge and Laba Garlic for the Laba Festival. Laba Porridge is made of mixed grains and corns, like peanuts, chestnuts, dates...

A Johnny-cake is a small flat cake (akin to a little pancake) made out of cornmeal, water and salt. They were widely eaten in the U.S. in the 19th century.  Johnny-cakes are called hoecakes in the South. The folk tale "Johnny-cake" is almost the same story as "The Gingerbread Man" except that a Johnny-cake is the...

A hoecake is a flat cake similar to a little pancake that’s made with cornmeal. The name comes from the fact that American farmers cooked them right on the end of their hoes over a fire. This type of food originally comes from the Native Americans. Hoecakes were originally made by farmers with just cornmeal, salt...

These Sugar Cookies are Gluten-free and made with icing that has no food dye in it! When making gluten-free recipes, make sure beforehand that all your ingredients are gluten-free. Recipe for Gluten-free Sugar Cookies Ingredients 1 1/2 c. White Rice Flour 1 1/2 c. Oatmeal Flour ...

This is the best cranberry bread I’ve ever had!  My family loves it too.  It just happens to be gluten-free. If you’re on a gluten-free diet, please read the labels of your ingredients to make sure they’re all gluten-free. Recipe for Gluten-free Cranberry Bread Ingredients 1 cup White Rice Flour 1 cup Oat Flour...

Linda Nataprawira wrote from Indonesia: Mother’s day = "onde" day December 22nd is Mother’s Day in Indonesia.  In indo-chinese tradition, we always make "onde" on that day too. They’re made of glutinous flour and filled with peanuts & sugar inside. The taste is sweet. Onde is also called onde-onde.  Sometimes it’s served in...

Gingerbread Houses are made at Christmastime in Germany, the US and other countries around the world. Gingerbread Houses are intricately linked to the Grimm fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel.  In the story, two children, Hansel and Gretel get lost in the woods.  They come upon a house made of gingerbread covered in frosting and candy. ...

Maryann Serra was kind enough to contribute her recipe for Anise Cookies… Anise cookies are a popular tradition for Italians and other families around the world, especially during the holidays. This light fluffy cookie tastes much like licorice cake, so people who like the flavor licorice especially enjoy them. Making Italian anise cookies is fun and...

  French "fruits déguisés" (fancy fruit) is eaten at Christmastime in France.  It’s dried fruit, mainly dates, prunes or figs, stuffed with almond paste or a sweetened crumbled cookie mixture.  The filling is usually made in different pastel colors.  Almond paste is actually sold in different colors in France.  The normal colors you find at...

The other day I was making Juice Gumdrops for the kids in my family, and I thought, "What if I made gumdrops with liquor for the adults?"  That’s what led me to making this Anisette version of gumdrops.  All of the adults I’ve given it to so far have given it the thumbs up! ...

Gumdrop candy is associated with Christmas in many countries.  Gumdrops are used to decorate gingerbread houses.They’re also part of The Nutcracker, a popular ballet that’s performed at Christmastime.  In the ballet, sugarplum fairies and gumdrops dance.  Visions of dancing candy got me to thinking of making gumdrops for Christmas this year. Most of the gumdrop candy...

It’s so nice to give homemade gifts! This year I decided to make homemade vanilla extract to give to my friends and family.  It’s easy!  Here’s the recipe… Recipe for Homemade Vanilla Ingredients: 2 to 2 1/2 Vanilla Beans (I used organic vanilla beans) 1/2 cup Vodka (or Brandy) 1. Slice the vanilla bean pods down the side leaving about...

Barmbrack is an Irish fruit bread that’s served for Halloween and for Samhain, a similar holiday celebrated on November 1st. Barmbrack has traditionally been cooked with objects inside that are used for “fortune-telling”.  Below are some objects used.  Whoever receives the slice with that object is supposed to have the corresponding fortune in the upcoming...

The site Allsorts has an article about the importance of potatoes in Irish cuisine: “A discussion of Irish childhood food memories has to be somewhat coloured by potatoes… Every single meal I remember had potatoes in one disguise or other… If it didn’t have potatoes, it wasn’t a proper meal; more like a snack.” They even...

The Burlap Bag posted this quick video about how to de-seed a pomegranate in under a minute.  All you do is cut it in half, loosen it up a bit with your hands and pound on it with a spoon over a dish.  Then watch the bounty fill up your bowl! ...

Remember this… Boy times have changed!

Today I cooked homemade stewed apples and pears.  It’s really easy to make, and much healthier than store-bought canned fruit.  It’s delish! You can make this recipe with just apples, just pears or a mixture of both.  I used both in my recipe. Recipe for Homemade Stewed Apples and...