Food and Cooking

The other day while shopping I ran across something that I hadn't seen for years: ice pop (AKA Popsicle) molds. I'm sure they've been around all the while; it's just that they hadn't exactly been on my radar until I had kids. Anyhow, I picked up a set and we've been experimenting with making different kinds of healthy and tasty frozen treats. We've tried the obvious fruit juice, as well as various flavors of yogurt.

Coincidentally, I found some recipes for frozen fruit ice pops on the Food Network's website. The recipes--for strawberry and blueberry fruit pops--involve whirring fresh fruit and various other ingredients together in the blender and then freezing in the molds. They sound pretty good, so we're going to give them a try.

August is when you begin to see people stopped by the side of the road, poking around in the bushes. No, they're not doing anything strange or unseemly; they're picking wild blackberries! Late summer is definitely blackberry season in Northern California. And what's best is that these sweet little fruits can be had for free just about anywhere, if you're willing to risk stained clothing from all that blackberry juice, as well as the occasional wound from the blackberry's thorns.

I think most parents of young children will agree with me when I say that sleep is a precious commodity. In fact, I think much of the sleep that I think I've had in the past few years was in fact not sleep at all, but "liquid naps" in the guise of coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Yes, coffee and tea in all their forms keep many of us moving through the day.

Often, it's impractical to drag the kids into a coffee place, or perhaps you want to pick up a latté when they're asleep in their car seats. This is where the amazing phenomenon that is drive-through coffee comes into place. There really aren't too many drive-through coffee joints in Marin, perhaps because we're less into the whole suburban drive-to-Wal-Mart culture, but they can be found at convenient locations throughout the county.

Happy 4th of July! Here's a another great kid-friendly recipe from What's Cooking's Michelle Stern, perfect for your Independence Day barbecue or any other day, for that matter. What's Cooking offers cooking classes, parties, and gifts for children and families. Visit What's Cooking at www.whatscooking.info.

BBQ Drumsticks with Brown-Sugar Sauce

My husband is my best critic in the kitchen - he loves bold flavors and raved about this sauce. We used Trader Joe's organic ketchup which doesn't include any high fructose corn syrup--I think it made all the difference.

1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs cider vinegar
3 pounds chicken legs
salt and pepper to taste

As any regular reader knows, we're always on the prowl for reasonably priced and, above all, good family-friendly restaurants in Marin. One thing that's nearly impossible to find in the North Bay is real barbeque. By "real" I mean genuine Southern-style slow cooked smoke barbeque (AKA "Q"), not (and no offense meant) grilled food, of which there's plenty to be found in the Bay Area. That's grilling, not barbeque. We used to be big fans of the now-defunct Rob's Rib Shack in Sonoma, so when we heard that Frank's Bar-B-Que was going to open in Novato, we got pretty excited.

Here's another fun and easy recipe to make with your kids from What's Cooking's Michelle Stern. This recipe for Corn Bread Pizza is from What's Cooking Weekly, a subscription service that offers five healthy meals ideas for your family every week, including easy recipes, shopping lists, nutrition information, and tips on how to get children involved in the kitchen. Every Friday morning, you will receive an e-mail with a summary of the menus for the week along with a link to the website. It's easy and all your meals are planned out for you for the entire week. Print out the grocery list to buy all the items you need for all your meals.

BBQ Chicken BLT

Cooking with your children is a great way to spend quality family time, and, above all, it's fun! Here's a delicious BBQ idea, courtesy of Michelle Stern, owner of What's Cooking. What's Cooking is a Marin-based business that offers cooking workshops in home or school for kids aged 2-1/2 through 19.
   
Mmmmm...BLT's in the summer, when the tomatoes are at their best! The barbeque adds great flavor to the chicken and the bread, but beware: your neighbors might come over to see what you are making for dinner! Make extra chicken to add to a salad or for lunch the next day. Serve with baked chips and pickles.

8 slices of soft country bread  
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A new play space and café for kids and their parents has opened in downtown San Anselmo! Playdate Café is a kid-friendly café with a play area where kids can play in while their parents or caregivers get a well-deserved break. The 1,300-square-foot fenced play area is suitable for kids ages 0–6 years, and features a two-story ship, a medieval castle with kitchen and puppet theatre, and a climbing mountain with a slide. They also have a soft play area for infants and crawlers. There will be a variety of weekly classes and special events for the entire family.

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