More S'Mores!

On Wednesday I went to a s'mores book party for our friend Erin Bried (that's her in photo). We celebrated the publishing of her book, called "How to Build a Fire: And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew." She also wrote, "How to Sew a Button" about the things grandma will teach you.

In the new book you can learn how to make beef jerky, drive a nail, mow a lawn, change a flat tire, catch a fish and lot of other stuff. She has her own youtube channel to go with the books. To go there and watch her click here.

Erin's book party was at a bar called Camp. They set up little burners to make s'mores. They are like marshmallow, chocolate sandwiches.

Here are the steps to make a s'more.

1. Get a marshmallow, a stick/skewer etc., a bar of chocolate, and two graham crackers.
2. Get everything set up: Put the chocolate on the graham cracker and then on the side get another graham cracker ready.
3. Put marshmallow on stick.
4. Then roast the marshmallow above fire, but not in it. Slowly turn the stick.
5. When it browns take out. Don't let it catch on fire, blacken or burn.
6. Put the toasted marshmallow on the graham cracker and chocolate.
7. Put the other graham cracker on top like a sandwich.
8. Eat it all up!!!!
9. Do it all again and stuff yourself until you have a total sugar high!

Hope you enjoy.

Click here: to get more info on Erin's book.

New Orleans, Southern food capitol of America!

Last weekend I went to New Orleans!!!! We ate so much and I tried everything. We went because we wanted to see my mom's client's play/ puppet show. The director is Arthur Mintz, and his wife Theresa helped sew the puppets. It was so fun, It was about Fantastic Mr. Fox. We had to climb through tunnels for each scene in the play. I got to see Mr. Fox doing all the stuff he did. I loved it and I recommend it. Here's the trailer -- see for yourself!!!!

HI-YAH! / Fantastic Mister Fox from The Canary Collective on Vimeo.

We ate many different things while we were there. I took a survey to see what was the best.

#1 Is the Gumbo, it was like heaven. It had shrimp, crawfish, and the soup mixture. Here's a picture of a crawfish, which is like a small lobster:

#2 Is the candy. They had the best candy I have ever had in my 11 years of age. I had a candy that was nuts, then white chocolate, last taffy. It was so so so good!! I also had a marshmallow log on a stick, dipped in chocolate.

#3 Was the Beignets. They are pretty much a french zeppelin. We got them at a cafe in the French Quarter called Cafe du Monde. It had so much powdered sugar on it. It was yummy.

#4 Was the Po Boys. They are sandwiches with all these good things like pork or chicken. They are traditional to there.

#5 After seeing "Fantastic Mr. Fox", we went to dinner with Arthur and Theresa at a restaurant called Boucherie. I had a really good yellow tail sashimi. It had tariaki sauce in it. I also had a lemon lime expensive drink. It had mint in it, and Theresa and Arthur's had cucumber. It was one of the best drinks I have had in my life.

That was all the foods I ate in New Orleans. I love New Orleans!!!!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

my plate

my sister, my aunt's friend (Lois), my aunt, and my step mom

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving!!!!!! I went to my Aunt Lise's house with my grandma, my sister, my stepmom, Heepa, and my mom. We always go there, and it is really fun. My aunt invited some her friends and Heepa had some people stop by, too.

Earlier in the day, Auntie Lise, Heepa and Kali ran the Turkey Trot. It is a race around Prospect Park. My mom and I always bike around the park to cheer them on. This

time we went two times.

So I was very hungry for dinner. Each family member makes a dish: My sister and I made cranberry sauce, my grandma made rolls and collard greens, my aunt made Brussels sprouts and pie, Linda made the turkey and Heepa made the dressing.

I ate 5 servings of stuffing, 3 servings of turkey, 4 rolls, 2 servings of Brussels, and 2 servings of greens. I ate like a pig. I combined turkey with stuffing then turkey with cranberry sauce.

We also had dessert. Aunt Lise made both apple and pumpkin pies. They were both really really really good. I had some whipped cream with mine and ice cream. It was amazing!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR

the pumpkin pie

Butter, Sugar and Lots of Love

Tonight my grandma and sister made butter cookies. They used a recipe from my great great Aunt Lumpsy. (She got that nickname because she was sweet as a sugar lump.) She was a maid in Chicago in the 1940s, and used to cook for the rich families. She had a lot of recipes with special ingredients. Her secret in butter cookies was hard boiled egg yolks.

My grandma learned to bake the cookies from Aunt Lumpsy when she was a little girl. Then my mom remembered when my grandma baked them when she came home from school. Today, my grandma taught my sister and how how to make them, so we'd learn to make cookies from scratch.

Butter Cookie Recipe

They're called butter cookies because they have 2 sticks of butter--clogged arteries!

Blend:

2 sticks soft butter

1 cup of sugar

Add:

1 egg

2 hard boiled egg yolks put through a sieve

Add:

2 and 1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and chill in wax paper for at least an hour.

Make balls with a pinch in the middle; sprinkl with sparkles.

Bake at 325 on lightly greased cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes.

When they are ready take them out and start munching. They were so Good. I now know what my mom means.

No Tricks All Treat

On Halloween I was Michael Jackson for the second time. Three years ago I was also Michael, but as little boy. This year I was him again, in the Beat It stage. I wore reflector sunglasses, a black tux jacket, a white shirt under, penny loafers, white socks, black jeans, and a black hat. I felt like a star.

I got a lot of candy for being a celebrity. I went trick or treating with three of my friends around Park Slope. I got half of my bag full. Yum. My top ten favorite kinds of candy are....

10.Nestle Crunch

9. Butter Fingers
8 .Almond Joy
7 .Three Musketeers
6. Jolly Ranchers
5. Laffy Taffy
4. Snickers
3. M and M's
2. Twix

1. Candy Corn

I like Candy Corn the best because it is pure sugar. I also like Twix because it is like a mix

of carmel, cookie and chocolate. It is so creamy in my mouth. I love candy so much. I wish Halloween were every day!!!!!!!!

Sweet, Sticky, and Fun

I know they look a little messy but they tasted great!!!!

Last weekend I went apple picking upstate with my family and my aunts ands cousins. We went to Apple Hill Farm, an apple picking place. We all got a huge bag of every kind of apple like Fuji, Red Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith and more.

I decided to make carmel apples, and my sister Kali made apple crumble. I bought a mix to use; the brand is: Concord Foods. Here's how to make them:

1. Put the carmel mix stuff in a small pot with milk.

2. Then add sugar and stir constantly.

3. Turn down the fire and keep stirring.

4. When it gets thickish, let it cool for 10 minutes.

5. Shove the stick into the apples then dip.

6. Put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet in the fridge to cool.

7. Eat them!

We had a dinner party and the kids ate the apples, while the grown-ups had my sister's crumble. I ate one and a half carmel apples. Mine were so good I could live off that.

First-Class Cooking Class!

Each week I go to an all-vegetarian after school class at Brooklyn Prospect Charter, where I go. It's run by a company called Butter Beans. We make cool things like pizza and three-bean salads. Last week we made pizza with chopped tomato and cheese. We also put a little basil to make it good. We got our own dough already made. It was a mix of whole wheat flour and white flour. This is the order we did it in:

1. We learned about tomatoes.
2. We cut the tops off of the tomatoes and put them in hot water for 2 minutes to peel off the skin easier.
3. After, we put them in cold water to cool them.
4. Then we peeled them and chopped them small.
5. We chopped up lots of mozzarella cheese and put it aside.
6. We kneaded the dough for a few minutes; we pushed it with our palm to flatten it. We placed it on a cookie sheet.
7. We added the tomatoes and cheese sprinkled cheese on!
8. Finally it was time to put the pizzas in the oven.
9. And then........

***

9. We ate it all up. It was so good I could explode of happiness. I really like home-made pizza and I also like cheese.

The class was really fun and I think we are making pudding this week.

When in Roma...

My mom and sister at the Roman Coliseum!!!!!

My sister, Kali, in front of Da Vittorio, one of the best pizza shops in Rome!!!

yes

Yesterday for dinner I went out to CAMPO de FIORI. The restaurant is a new Italian pizza place in Park Slope. We wanted to try it out because my mom and sister went to Rome this summer and they wanted to compare real Italian pizza with the American kind. The restaurant was decorated with imported artwork from Rome and great lamps on the ceilings. The walls were all red.

FUN FACT: Did you know that roman pizza is more fluffy because the crust has 30% flour and 70% water. That's what Yaribeth, Campo de Fiori's co-owner, told us. Also, Roman is square, not round. It is also served "alla pala" on a square piece of wood.

I had the Matriciana. It was cheese, bacon and tomato sauce. It was so good I could eat it for the rest of my life. It was a little spicy but in a good way. My mom and sister split a Buratta. It is like a salad on bread. It was also really good. All the ingredients were very fresh. My mom and sister said that this was the second best pizza. The kind they had in Rome was better by a little bit.

The chef and co-owner is from Rome, specifically an area called Campo de Fiori. So he named the restaurant after his home. I'd like to go and see where he grew up.

After we went dinner to Uncle Luigi's and got Italian ices to complete our European experience. They were so good. Over all it was a ***** five star dinner.

Here is the info about Campo de Fiori: 187 5th avenue Park Slope-Brooklyn 11217 telephone: 1-347-763-0933

email: info@pizzcampodefiori.com

no

yes

Cool-inary School

Emily

This past week I have been going to Creative Cooks Culinary Center in Brooklyn. It's a cooking camp for kids like me to learn to cook and try new recipes. There are two counselors, Emily and Michelle. There are about 12 kids, from 5 years old to

11 (me). The teachers are really nice and great cooks.

Over the week, we made lots of different foods. Each week the camp chooses a different theme; ours was summer foods. We tried a new recipe each day. On Monday, we made fried chicken. We dunked it in buttermilk, rolled it in cornbread then fried it in a restaurant fryer. We also made potato salad to go with it. It had celery, onions, mayo, salt, pepper, and a little paprika. It was so good I came back for seconds.

The next day we made chicken again, but orange chicken packets. It is a piece of chicken with a slice of orange and garlic, butter, fresh mushrooms, and beans. It is a camping meal. I really liked it; it had the right amount of seasonings.

Thursday we made pasta salad and deviled eggs. For the deviled eggs we took all the shell off the egg, pulled out the yolk and mixed it with mayo, salt and pepper. Then squeezed the mixture back into the white of the egg. It was the best deviled egg I have had in my life.

I love cooking, so I had a great time at this camp. I wanted to learn and improve, and I did. I can't wait for next year. You can get more information about the camp: click here

A "Shellicious" Meal

Last weekend I went to Blue Ribbon on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope near our house with my mom Linda and my mom Jana. I felt like having oysters on the half shell, so we chose that restaurant. When we got there we had to wait a little bit because everyone likes it.

We ordered two kinds of oysters, one from the East Coast, the other from the West Coast. We got three of each kind, since they were $3.50, which is kind of expensive. The first was malpeque that came from Prince Edward Island in Canada. They were sweeter and creamier than the Blue Point oysters. Those were bigger and rougher and came fro

m the Long Island Sound. Most of my friends don't like raw oysters but I do, and these were good.

Oysters wasn't enough to food, so I ordered from the kids menu. Not all restaurants have a kids menu but they did and this one was special. It has a choice of a meat a starch and a vegetable, they had a dessert with it. I had steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. For dessert I ordered a banana split. All that cost about $12, a really good deal.

To see Blue Ribbon's website, click here

A Pork Surprise

Today I went to CHAR No. 4 with my mom and I. We went to it because I came back from my tutor and we were very hungry. My mom said it was a great restaurant. The restaurant was famous for their bourbon. I thought the décor matched the room. It had lamps hanging from the ceiling and a bar. There is another room that has booths.

Well I have to say what we had, so this is what we had:

I had pulled pork sand with baked beans on the side. The pork sandwich was so good!!!!!!!! It was very messy and juicy but it was so good I licked it off my fingers. The baked beans were excellent. They were a tad spicy but in a good way. my mom had lamb pastram

i with two slices of grilled and drizzled with olive oil bread. We had little balls of fried cheese. It was like cheese and crackers but fried.

Here is there website: click here

Fish and Fun-- Asian Fusion in Times Square

Today I had a half day at school. We decided to go shopping in Times Square at Toys R Us. My mom wanted to find a restaurant that was kid-friendly. We went to Ruby Foo's. It's Asian fusion which is a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai.

Our waiter's name was Will. He was a college student who had just started at the restaurant. He was really nice. We looked around as we waited for our food. The decor was a mix of all, very fancy. It was like a Chinese or Japanese palace with lanterns and gold statues. It wasn't too too crowded. I noticed that a lot of the people there were people on business meetings.

We started with the Florida gulf shrimp dumplings. We chose that because we knew there wasn't going to be a lot of gulf shrimp because of the (OIL SPILL). We ordered sushi. I had a special rainbow roll with yellow tail, salmon, and tuna. Crunchy Florida Avocado Crab and Shrimp roll. They have a great dessert menu. I had the giant chocolat

e chip cookie. It was warm and came in a bag. My mom doesn't like chocolate, but she even had a bite.

That was the best sushi restaurant I have ever been to. The food was so good. Will told us that the ginger was fresh. The best sushi restaurants use fresh ginger, not pink and pickled from a jar. In every bite I could taste the fish, rice, and avocado. I love Ruby Foo's!!!!!!

Here is the website: CLICK HERE

Everything Pickle

Last weekend I went to Dr. Pickle. It's a pickle stand that we go to on Sundays at the Green Market on Fifth Ave. and Second Street near MS. 51. I begged my mom to go. So we stopped to get pickled mushrooms and a lightly pickled pickle. We went because we needed appetizers for a thing we call Sunday dinner and I LOVE pickles!

The second we bought them I ripped the bag open and ate like a pig. He had dill, half sweet and some others that I did not know. We also bought pickled mushrooms that tasted salty and pickley. They were very tart and juicy.

As you can tell, I really really really like Dr. Pickle.

Dr. Pickle also has a website. CLICK HERE!!!!

Pie on a Stick

Over the weekend I went to Steve's Key Lime Pie Shop with my mom Vickie and my friend's family. We rode our bikes to Red Hook and then after had dessert at Steve's on the East River.

The bike ride was like two miles, so we were hungry when we got there. My friend Jonah and I had a key lime pie frozen and dipped in dark chocolate on a stick. It's like a Popsicle that's called a Swingle. It's sour and sweet all at the same time. I had had it before, and really liked it for the second time. Jonah loves sweets like me. By the time he finished, he had chocolate all over his mouth.

His sister Maya had a lime slushy and my sister had a mini key lime pie. They also loved Steve's. The parents took bites of the pies like parents do.

Momma Bread

Today is Mother's Day and my sister planned to make breakfast for our moms. Surprisingly, her soccer team came early to pick her up, so I took over. I made a spinach salad, Irish soda bread, banana pudding with vanilla wafers, and eggs and bacon. This is what you need to make Irish soda bread:

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

knife

1 c. raisins or currants, rinsed in hot water and patted dry

baking sheets

2 c. buttermilk

1 tbsp. double-acting baking powder

mixing bowls

wooden skewers

1 tbsp. caraway seed

wire racks

4 c. bread flour

Wooden Skewers

Baking Sheets

Knife

Mixing Bowls

Wire Racks

Knife

Baking sheets

Mixing bowls

1 tbsp. double-acting baking powder

1 c. raisins or currants, rinsed in hot water and patted dry

1 tbsp. caraway seeds

3/4 tsp. baking soda

2 c. buttermilk

4 c. bread flour

1 tsp. salt

here are the steps:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step

2

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.

Step

3

Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.

Step

4

Add buttermilk and stir mixture until it forms a dough.

Step

5

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead 1 minute.

Step

6

Divide the dough in half. With floured hands, shape each half into a round loaf.

Step

7

Place loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Step

8

Cut an "X" 1/4-inch deep across the top of each loaf with a sharp knife.

Step

9

Bake the loaves for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. They should be crusty.

Step

10

Transfer loaves to a wire rack and let cool.

Now back to me. The meal was the best meal I have ever made. I loved all the seasonings in the eggs, and the soda bread was moist inside. My descriptions probably make your mouth water. Well the dish was really good and I am proud of myself.

An Italian Dinner!!!

Today I made a things in the house easy meal dinner. My grandma comes over every Thursday so we cook. I like cooking and she likes cooking too. We made pasta with pasta sauce, broccoli, and Italian turkey sausage.

1. I cooked the sausage first. We browned it on all sides were brown with a little bit of olive oil. We then added and sauteed teaspoon of fresh Thyme, a 1/2 of a chopped onion, and 1 large clove of mashed garlic.
2. Then we added the sauce and cooked it for 10 min. We used three different kinds of sauce that we had in the fridge, onion garlic, marinara, and sockarooni.
3. Then we made the pasta. We used 8 ounces of pasta covered in water until just right.
4. We put it in a big pan and then we added that cooked for 10 minutes. Then we added the sausage. We also made broccoli. We then boiled the broccoli with 1/2 cup of water and added salt and pepper and cooked for 5 to 6 min. We also made.
5. Then we served it. We added ptarmigan cheese to top it off.
6. There is a lesson. You don't have to buy food if you can make a dinner with the food you have.

So Super Saraghina!!!!

Not long ago I went to Saraghina. It is in Bed Stuyvesant. I was going to visit my mom's friend Allison on our bikes. She lives in Bed Stuyvesant. My mom, Allison and I went to Saraghina because we wanted something to eat and Allison said it had great pizza. We went in and saw that it was small but it does have a outside area. The inside had lamps on the ceiling and a fire place to cook the food. The walls were wood and there was a sign that had numbers on it. the inside was like a maze weaving in and out. We got seated and I looked at the menu. It had: Marinara, Margarita, Ortolana, Capocollo, Prosciutto & Funghi, and more. I had the Margarita, the crust was so soft and I ate every last bit. My mom and Allison had the market salad that came with an egg and toast. They both loved it. I really want to go back sometime.

Here is the the website: click here

Texas Fish Taste Reel Good

Today I made an adventurous Peruvian dish called ceviche. The first time I made it was in Maine and with my dad when I was six. Ceviche is made with fish, lemon juice, lime juice, and a lot of other stuff.

But before I made the dish I had to catch the fish. I am staying in Texas with my Aunt Kathy, my Uncle Robert and my cousin Arielle. Robert set up a fishing day for my mom and I on lake Texoma. We went with a really nice guide named Mike. We caught 19 striped bass and the limit of fish is 20, 10 per person. The fish were a little big and hard to reel in but I held up.

Now that we had the fish it was time to make the ceviche. Here is the recipe:

One pound of fresh white fish

One half cup of fresh lemon and lime juice mixed

One half a red onion chopped

One cup of chopped tomato

2 teaspoons of salt

A dash of hot sauce.

Mix it all up in a bowl and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. The lemon and lime juice "cooks" the fish.

It was delicious! Arielle had some friends over and they all tried it and also liked it. A three year old girl, Zoe, loved it too. The dish was a success.

Bake On!

Last Thursday my grandma and I went to a rally at City Hall in Manhattan. Parents and students held a "bake-in" to protest the law that bans the sale of homemade food during school fundraisers. The Department of Education

said that home-made baked goods encourage of obesity in kids.

Something like 100 kids and parents came to the rally. People had set

up tables. One had a sign that said "banned," and it was filled with homemade baked goods. The other table had a sign on it that said "bake sale," and it had chips and pop tarts on it.

Alot of people had signs,

like "Food from our kitchens not from a factory," and "Junk food has no business in our schools." Many of the speakers were angry at Joe Klein and the DOE. They really wanted to bake for their kids' schools. A teenage boy said

, "I know how to bake brownies but I don't know how to bake Doritos

." Everybody cheeered.

I also met a woman who h

ad

a good idea. She was handing out her healthy cake mix. It's called Naturally Nora. It has all natural ingredients in it. It has zero trans fat, no hydrogenated oils and nothing artificial. It's made with wheat flour and even has bits of spinach. I made cupcakes with the mix, and they were good. They tasted better than other cupcakes I've made from mixes--and they're definitely healthier.

This is the website for Naturally Nora: click here