Watermelon and Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese

When I drove to Bommer Canyon in Irvine last Saturday to interview Chef Ryan Adams of Sorrento Grille, prior to the Slow Foods 2nd Annual Bommer Canyon BBQ, I did it because the Slow Food principles mesh perfectly with what I advocate on this website.  My mission is to promote cooking at home and sharing meals with family and friends to connect in an increasingly hectic world and to share cultural traditions and recipes with people like me who consider good eating one of the important pleasures in life. Pretty simple, right? Well, I had no idea what an exhilarating evening of fine food, marvelous music, and wonderful people I would encounter in this pastoral oasis in the midst of bustling Orange County.

If you actively participate in, agree with, or try to do any of the following actions, then you’re a Slow Foodie, too!

• Eat locally and sustainably
• Eat fresh, seasonal foods
• Shop at farmers’ markets
• Enjoy food with your family and friends
• Eat together at home

Chef Ryan generously donated his time and expertise to create a bright, fresh menu inspired by old-fashioned fair food, beginning with the summery Watermelon and Cucumber Salad above. Sponsors included Whole Foods, Mary’s Free-Range Chickens, and local suppliers that source Sorrento Grille in Laguna Beach. The wine for the evening was generously provided by Quivira Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma County and guest speaker was none other than food activist, Jill Richardson, author of Recipe for America.

Grilled Corn and Fava Bean Succotash

BBQ'd Mary's Chicken with Warm Heirloom Potato Salad

Irvine Strawberries with Grilled Lemon Biscuit

Our everyday lives can be enriched by taking time to slow down and enjoy life with family and friends. Living the slow life with food as the focus is as rewarding as it is easy, and it can be done daily by each one of us. Here are just a few pleasures you can enjoy:

• Visit a local farmers’ market
• Start a kitchen garden
• Make pasta from scratch one night
• Invite a friend over to share a meal
• Squeeze your own lemonade from the fresh fruit
• Create a new food memory for a child! Bake with your child or teach them to plant seeds for a meal.
• Trace your food sources
• Linger over a glass of wine and a slice of cheeseJoin a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in your area
• Decide to eat lunch sitting down instead of standing up (or while driving)
• Visit a farm in your area
• Learn your local food history! Prepare an authentic regional dish or discover a food that is celebrated by your culture.

Slow Food Orange County is a local chapter of Slow Food U.S.A. which works to carry out the Slow Food mission on a local level. The Orange County convivium is a member-supported organization made up of a diverse group of food enthusiasts. Members include home and professional chefs, growers, wine connoisseurs, and lots of ordinary people who enjoy cooking and eating good quality food and wines.

Attended the Slow Food Orange County fundraiser in Bommer Canyon today. I’ve never been to Bommer Canyon and was totally awestruck at the beauty of this oasis in the midst of urban sprawl. The principles of this world-wide organization are gaining momentum in the U.S. and I’ll be writing more about them this coming week. Meanwhile, I couldn’t wait to share this refreshing respite from the crowded streets.

Nominating all Military Moms

“This is not about a single mom, but the body of moms who are Military Moms. This is a group of women, braver and more proudly patriotic than any in the USA. They give their child up to service to their country to serve and defend in some cases others who have neither respect nor pride in what they do for them, and YES, some moms actually sign to allow their under 18 child to enter the service. They listen to all the pros and cons that everyone gladly heap upon them when they find out that their child has entered the service. No matter what the moms own opinion about the military and war is, they will defend to the death their childs choice. They send cheer filled notes and packages filled with goodies, the whole time their heart is breaking that their child is so far away, and in danger. They find creative ways of sending Thanksgiving dinner to their child living in a time zone 12 hours away. Turkey jerky, Craisins, crustless pumpkin pie sealed in a canning jar and sweet potato candy. Boxes sent with Birthday cake in jars, b-day hats and noise makers, goofy packages with squirt guns, silly putty, disposable cameras, anything to lighten the mood and give them some fun and a chance to be the kids that most of them are. The joy of their return turns to the silent heartbreak when months later, it’s “Mom, I’m going again.” These same moms are the ones that send cards and packages to strangers, because they would have none left out. These are the same moms that support and lift up in prayer the other mothers who are having a hard time, because we all have our bad moments. These are the unsung heros of this war, the moms who birthed the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coasties, but also the civillians who are away serving their country in their own way. Hug these mothers, watch out for them, lift them up in prayer and listen.”

(anonymous nomination, received December 15, 2009)

TopMomBlog would like to feature a gallery of military moms for January, 2010. Please click on the email button in the sidebar to send a photo of a military mom that you love who has had to live with the anguish of having their son, daughter, husband, or wife so far from home and facing constant danger. Only first name and last initial and place of residence will be published. OR Become a Fan of TopMomBlog on Facebook and share the photo on the fan page.

Photo from http://wesupportallourtroops.org

If you do any grocery shopping you know that $30.00 does not buy much these days. Through an organization called Treasure Box you can buy a box of food containing 2-3 meats, 2-3 vegetables and/or fruits, and 2-3 side dishes or desserts for only $30. All the food is frozen and the contents of each box is worth $65 to $100. With so many people struggling to keep their homes, buy presents for their children, and put food on the table, you can help by donating $30.00 for a box of food that will provide a week of lunch and dinners for a family of four or a about a month of meals for a senior.

Good Source Solutions, a Carlsbad food distribution company, started Treasure Box a year ago in response to rising food prices in the midst of the worst recession this country has seen in decades. The company works with over 500 food manufacturers across the country to provide top quality, nutritious food and distributes the boxes through faith based and community action organizations. Click here to read their mission statement and find out more about Treasure Box.

There are about 50 participating Orange County churches and food banks where boxes are dropped off and available for pickup.  The deadline for boxes to be delivered in December was December 6th, but orders are being taken until January 17, 2010 for boxes to be delivered in January. Boxes for January contain gourmet meatballs, chicken breasts, chicken tenders, ground beef., bacon, cheese ravioli, corn dogs, chicken eggrolls, chicken fried rice, broccoli, corn, peaches, potato wedges, pinto beans, and dessert.  To purchase a box and view the monthly menu, menu options, date for pickup and pickup locations, click here.

There were so many NPOs present at the Women’s Conference

in Long Beach, CA; all with worthy causes. water is life   really hit home 

because water is something that we truly take for granted here in the U.S.

Their message is clear:  ”This year 1.8 million people will die due to waterborne disease – the majority are children” – striking at your emotional core because water is basic to survival.


Cases of bottled sewer-looking water immediately catches your eye as you approach their booth.


The solution they offer is simple and concrete:  a water straw which is a small, portable filtration straw that hands around a child’s neck that guarantees them clean drinking water for a year, wherever they are.  The purification straw has been proven effective against waterborne diseases and acts as a filtration tool that cleanses impure water, no matter how unsanitary it may be.

water is life makes it easy to help too:  you can donate a water straw ($10) from your mobile phone:


text to number:  27138 and type as follows:  7167 (space) (amount you wish to donate)
example:  7167 10


Give the gift of life to a child today.

Really. The Institute of Medicine released a report today recommending that school lunches be brought in line with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Dietary Reference Intakes.

If you have children in school you are well aware of what a school lunch menu offers in the way of nutritional and tasty food: such things as hot dogs, corn dogs, chicken fingers, and chicken Os – items that, because of their largely chemical composition, will likely age better than you do.




Sample school lunch menu:

It’s not really your school district’s fault that lunch menus are such an abomination.  Instead, blame it on the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program whose guidelines must be followed if your school offers free lunch and breakfast for needy kids – which nearly all public schools and many private schools do. Current school menus are based on nutritional guidelines from 1995 Dietary Guidelines and 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances – information that is 14 and 20 years old!  


I had to throw in this video about that other favorite food group of American children –  McDonalds:

I think that most of you are intelligent people who read, so you know that fostering healthy eating habits in your children and consuming school lunches don’t go hand in hand.  School lunches are tasteless at best; and full of high fat, high sodium, low fiber, mystery-meat contributors to heart disease and diabetes at worst.    


With all the information that has been researched, written, reiterated, and otherwise made widely available about the American diet and its contribution to childhood obesity, it is unbelievable that our children, “our future“, have been subjected for so long to poor nutritional standards in the system that is supposed to educate them. Well, on second thought, maybe not…


For those of us whose children do not rely on the free breakfast or free lunch program to meet their nutritional needs, I hope that your kids are bringing a lunch from home – a Peanut butter  & Jelly sandwich is healthier for god’s sake, or an apple and string cheese.  Lots of households have worked out a system where the kids make their own sandwiches or choose from a selection of easily-packed, healthier foods. I know we’re busy working people and mornings are hectic but don’t cha think they’re worth the effort? 

With record unemployment of nearly 10%, even affluent Orange County has seen a rise in homelessness during the past year.  The good news, as reported by the Orange County Register, is that the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in September from 9.8% in August.  As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, organizations such as Orange County Rescue Mission and Second Harvest Food Bank that provide food and meals for the homeless will be stepping up their pleas for donations and to increase awareness of the record number of disenfranchised persons who have no place to call home for the first time in their lives.

We can all do our part to help these families by giving canned goods or a small donation when you receive that envelope in the mail.  Then there are those who desire to go a step further and just seem to have generosity and caring at the core of their being.  I’m privileged to know one such person:  Marcie Taylor, who I recently met when I attended a Blog Crush event to meet some other Orange County blogging mammas.  

Marcie Taylor Photography, along with Melting Pot Moms of North/Central O.C. organized a “Fall Picnic Extravaganza” at Lake Park in Huntington Beach to benefit Orange County Rescue Mission.  Besides food and drinks, there were raffle prizes, crafts, photo opportunities. People were asked to bring can good or make a minimum donation of $5/family. 

Among those in attendance were,
Shera, a therapy dog who volunteers at CHOC and many other hospitals in O.C., Jamie from The Little Gym, and Anne Bauerlein, a certified master hypnotist.  Children were dressed in costumes and enjoyed a parachute activity led by Jamie of The Little Gym. It was just another beautiful day in Huntington Beach and my dog, Tank, and I enjoyed getting out and making some new acquaintances.

Through Blog Crush, an organization of Orange County bloggers, I’ve been getting to know so many talented, smart, funny, and enterprising women (men too).  One of them is Marcie Taylor, a mother of two sons, who has lived in Huntington Beach for only two years.  She came to Orange County via New Jersey and the Philippines. Her entire family still resides in the Philippines and she has been working tirelessly to gather donated goods and raise money for the victims of typhoon Ondoy which hit on September 26th.  As we know from Katrina, it takes a long time for a city/country to recover from such devastation and often the urgency  and aid is lost once network news stations drop coverage to go to the next big story. Please visit her site and watch the video and help in some way if you can. http://suburbanmamas.wordpress.com/

This morning we headed out to the Orange County Fairgrounds for the Cruisin For A Cure Car Show benefiting prostate cancer.  This is a one day event to raise awareness of prostate cancer and encourage early detection.  Free PSA tests are available and ALL the money raised goes to prostate cancer research.  It is the #2 killer of men, surpassed only by heart disease.  My husband is a prostate cancer survivor on top of heart disease which resulted in his undergoing a quadruple bypass in 2001 and, two years later, receiving an implanted cardiac defibrillator.  

Besides about 3,000 cool cars from every era, there is food, live entertainment, and great people watching.  
                                Winner:  Best Hair (left)        Winner:  Survivor (right)

BTW, Blue is the color of prostate cancer; I found out this week when Marcy at The Glamourous Life Association was raging about everything pink, which, I think we all know, is the color of breast cancer.  Makes sense… continue the ingrained societal stereotypes.

Back to the car show… A unique thing about this show is that owners actually drive their cars on a route through the show so you get the benefit of some rumbling and revving sound effects and the smell of high octane exhaust!

In the air-conditioned buildings were the primo show cars.  Here are a few: