5 stars for food's powers of connection: cookbook links history, culture, adventure and cooking

Eat It! Food Adventures with Marco Polo

I've finally posted a short review on GoodReads. It's for a book written by Gracie Cavnar, founder of the Recipe for Success Foundation in support of its mission to help change the way our children eat. 

Having read this marvelous book, I'm already hungry for more. Eat It! artfully weaves together history, sociology, cookery and an intriguing story of adventure. Those who appreciate excellent illustration will love paging through the colorful plates.

Grown-ups and younger people can learn together over this series while reconnecting in the kitchen, and the go-to nature of these time-tested recipes will make this a treasured piece of one's personal book collection. I hope this can also become part of school curricula. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this series inspired more than a few young folks to dedicate their lives to the art of sourcing, preparing and eating real food.

Recipe for Success Foundation is changing the way children eat by changing how they understand, appreciate and eat their food, and by educating and mobilizing the community to provide healthier diets for children.

Gracie Cavnar in the White House garden

 

I encourage you to order your copy online today, gift it to your favorite young person and enjoy it together now, for holiday family cooking and well into the future. 100% of the proceeds go to RFS programming.

Pin It Now!

The world in your backyard: Menil Collection turns 25

Anyone who found themselves on the grounds of the Menil Collection in Houston last Saturday met with good fortune in the form of a truly enjoyable celebration of the collection's 25th birthday. 

The catalyst for this astonishing, world-class and masterfully curated art collection actually occurred back in 1931 in France, with the marriage of John de Menil to Dominique Schlumberger. 

France's loss of these residents during WWII was Houston's gain, as the de Menils quickly steeped themselves in Houston's then-nascent art and architecture scene. The landmark building housing the main part of the family's collection was built by Dominique after her husband's passing. 

To me, and probably many thousands of others, this building is not only inspirational from the exterior in its harmoniously rooted connection with its park-like surrounding, but also the interior with daring proportions and almost startling white space and acoustics show reverence for (and deference to) the art and artifacts it houses. 

On this particular day in a series of events celebrating the collection's 25th birthday, we loved the family-friendly setting...

...the exciting live jazz musicians...

...the dancers sweltering in the heat...

 ...and time with my honey!    

Thanks to ongoing generosity of corporations and individuals, the Menil Collection is free, the event was free, and no passport is required to access amazing culture from around the globe. 

How much do we love living in Houston? 


 

Pin It Now!

Wanna Get on Santa's Nice List?

Good Afternoon

I'm Corey from Learning Patience! 

Brooke and Greg asked if I wanted to guest blog and I thought it would be the perfect moment to spread the word about something near and dear to my heart.

Clean Drinking Water

Read on and then hopefully, you can pop on over to my blog  - it's a little bit of everything from my day to day in Trinidad, workout tips, delicious recipes, travel adventures and lots of great sunset pictures...

I'm sure by the time you read this blog, you've drank at least 1 glass of clean water.

Maybe two.

I bet you didn't have to walk 4 hours to get it.

You didn't have to put your cup into a dirty hole in the ground to fill it up.

It didn't make you so sick, you almost died.

Isn't funny how we take such a simple thing, like clean drinking water, for granted?

Today there are over 1 billion people in the world who don't have access to clean and safe water.  They face water-bourne illness and death from dehydration.

Well Done 2011 is a project organized by Lauren from Aspiring Kennedy and and Keely from luxe + lillies to organize bloggers to donate to Charity : Water.  

Watch the video.

Take 5 minutes.

Listen.

Open your heart.

 I promise you will be moved.

Ready to get on Santa's Nice List?

It's easy.

For as little as 5 bucks (or more) - you can help build a clean water well in Ethiopia.

 Click Here to Donate.

Then go Blog about it.

Spread the word on Facebook & Twitter.

It feels good.  I promise.

Skip the Starbucks, the extra glass of vino or the appetizer at dinner this weekend and help someone far away enjoy something so simple as CLEAN DRINKING water.
 

I hope to meet y'all soon...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pin It Now!