Nov 15, 2005

The Well-Intentioned Cook

I try to use fresh local ingredients whenever possible and don't eat or serve processed food, for the most part. I make my own bread, with a bread machine. Jack and Will's teachers comment on how good the bread looks! No single-serving packaged food in our house, no juice boxes. We aim for optimal health,living lightly on this earth, and good taste. Which reminds me that I need to make dinner. I haven't thought too much about it all day. But we have tomatoes, cheese, pasta, green peppers, garlic, olive oil, and so I think I'll manage come up with something.

Please check out Simply in Season, Cathy Hockman-Wert's food blog named after the cookbook she co-edited with Mary Beth Lind, published by Herald Press. The proceeds from the cookbook go to Mennonite Central Committee, an organization that helps the world. I tested one recipe in the book (Grilled Vegetable Salad) and my sister in law tested ten. Cathy has known my husband John for years. Besides being nonprofit, the book is lovely on its own. It's not a trendy foodie cookbook, no famous chefs involved. It is truly friendly to the home cook who is willing to be patient with her or his methods and foods, and who cares about healthful eating.

That said, I confess I have a bunch of greens, an eggplant, and a crowd of squashes in the downstairs fridge that are past the point of no return and sorely need to be evicted and composted. I keep vainly hoping for a resurrection.

3 comments:

Scrivener said...

Looks cool, thanks for the link! I used to be pretty good about eating fresh and healthy--when the kids were born and spouse and I started working full-time, that got much harder. Dang it.

Unknown said...

You mean you don't eat Trader Joe's canned vegetarian organic chilli? It's fabulous. You are missing out.

Cathleen said...

Whaddaya mean, "no famous chefs involved"? I'd be remiss not to credit the Simply in Season foreword author, Graham Kerr: the well-known television personality and cookbook author once known as the "Galloping Gourmet."

Graham and his wife, Treena, have quite the inspiring story and now focus most of their energies on promoting what they call "outdulgence" (as opposed to unhealthy indulgence). They frequently speak on behalf of Mennonite Economic Development Associates.

Thanks for sharing the news about Simply in Season!

Cathleen Hockman-Wert
Simply in Season co-author