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Kitchen, Garden & More... |
"The serious effort at combating childhood obesity took on a glamorous note at River Oaks Country Club when Recipe for Success held its annual Blue Plate Special Cafe awards luncheon. As 300 influential Houstonians poured into the ballroom, it was quickly apparent that Recipe for Success founder Gracie Cavnar had gotten the attention of individuals who make a difference in H-Town..."
Read the full story by CultureMap's Shelby Hodge here.
"With special guest Mayor Annise Parker, mistress of ceremonies Deborah Duncan, Honi and Glen Bdoudreaux were honored along with Chef Ryan Pera as Chef of the Year; Olga Abundis, Teacher of the Year and Brook Candelaria and Suzanne Williams as Volunteers of the Year..."
See a slideshow and the full story in Houston Chronicle's Society Diaries here.
What did first-graders in Berry Elementary's Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ program think after tasting the white radishes that they planted, tended and harvested this fall in their Recipe Garden?
DELICIOUS!
Learn how to bring Recipe for Success Foundation's proven nutrition education curriculum and hands-on cooking and gardening classes to your school here.
In an effort to connect our partners and fans with current research, strategies, successful programs and trends focused on combattng obesity, healthy eating and food access issues, we have assembled this weeks news stories from around the world. . . .
A New York Times story on November 13, showcases a group of Head Start kids in East Harlem who benefit from the collaboration of the Children's Museum of Manhattan and the National Institute of Health. Eat Play Grow is designed expressly for kids under five and offers interactive displays, art, storytime and music complemented by parent nutrition classes. Amenities at the Museum like plastic fruit, letter tiles featuring food and interactive games have been replicated in the community center that hosts this weekly class. Read the entire story here. In 2010 when we learned that obesity numbers were on the rise in 5 year olds, Recipe for Success designed programs for pre-school children as young as 3. We also started neo-natal classes for moms and parent-child classes for families. We agree that it is never too early to build healthy habits.
Guidelines for obesity counseling and care were released this week by a group of medical associations that include the American College of Cardiology, the Obesity Society and the American Heart Association. Read the AP story here. We say, "It's about time!" Physicians are often the first place a family turns for advice and support to deal with their overweight child, but historically the family doctor or pediatrician is the least prepared to provide it. In 2012, with the guidance of board member Dr. Melanie Mencer Parks, Recipe for Success Foundation launched a Healthcare Provider Committee tasked with creating educational tools and programs for Houston's medical community. In 2012, we began teaching Baylor Medical Students how to cook and the Committee has plenty of other ideas and plans up their sleeves. Now, our initiative seems to have the support and validation of the entire medical profession.
"It's pretty special to be offered a juicy morsel of slow-cooked pork right from the chef's hand. As dinner guests took a breather after the third course of a seven-course dinner last Monday night, a peach wood-smoked pork belly appeared on the chopping board, ready to be portioned and plated. Gently stroking the perfectly roasted meat, Ronnie Killen of Killen's Steakhouse and Killen's BBQ showed pride in his craft and an eagerness to share and please. He gently began to pick bite-sized pieces..."
Get the full scoop by wonderful RecipeHouse volunteer and writer-photographer Dragana Harris on MyTable's SideDish here.
A recent study by Johns Hopkins compared grocery and food access across the spectrum to test popular thinking that healthy choices improved as families worked thier way up the economic ladder. The findings might surprise you. We already knew that poor, racially segregated black neighborhoods lack supermarkets and the study reconfirmed that. But the small grocery stores they do have offer very few healthy products, instead favoring high fat, salt and sugary foods on their shelves. Though segregated Hispanic neighborhoods also have fewer supermarkets, their small gracers tend to stock healthier items. Even more shocking are stats reflect that even wealthier black neighborhoods have far fewer super markets and healthy grocery options than poor white neighborhoods. You can read more about the study in a recent LA Times story or in the Preventive Medicine journal.
As we prioritize efforts to provide healthier options for all our neighbors, perhaps we need to consider more than affluence and the fact that you can't simlply provide healthier options, people need to buy them. By identifying cultural favorites that are poor nutritional choices and working to educate folks on how to prepare them in a healthier way, we can influence the market. This is one of the things we do at Recipe for Success Foundation in our work with kids and their families. We rely on ideas like our friend Lindsey Williams suggested in his book Neo Soul: Taking Soul Food to a Whole 'Nutha Level. No one said you can't ever have red beans and rice again, just consider making it with smoked turkey sausage and maybe serving it with a green salad.
"School mornings are busy enough without fretting over what to give your child for school lunches. Preparing food ahead of time ensures that your child will have something good and healthy to eat at school."
View all 12 lunch ideas, including a recipe by Recipe for Success Foundation, at SheKnows.com here.
In the midst of its second year, Chef Surpríse is no longer a best kept secret, tucked away on a residential street in its happy lil' RecipeHouse home in the Museum District. After many rounds of guests, who become loyal fans and invite their friends, and wonderful media folks, who dine with us and help spill the beans, our fun and casual monthly dinner series are finally out of the bag.
Clear evidence can be found in Exhibit A: Before we even promoted it, Chef Ronnie Killen's dinner sold out. It pays to check the RecipeHouse website now and then, as Killen's Steakhouse (and Killen's BBQ) regulars shared their thrill in stumbling upon the event listing on our calendar.
Ronnie, ever the competitive soul, did not disappoint. His five-course menu (with a bonus amuse bouche of crispy pint-sized wonton tacos stuffed with tuna tartare) included showstoppers, from start (smoked pork and black-eyed pea gumbo) to finish (pumpkin bread pudding with burnt caramel and tres leches drizzle). Yet even more so than the pleasure delivered by each dish, guests relished the opportunity to get up close and personal with a favorite chef.
Patrons strolled up to the bar counter to chat with Ronnie (who doled out samples to anyone in arm's reach) about everything, from the meat he sources and preparation methods, to what it's like hosting Texans players in your restaurant on a regular basis. Clearly, though, Ronnie is a celebrity in his own right, and we're glad to have had him donate his time, talent and insight with us at RecipeHouse.
View more photos of the evening here.
The Chef Surpríse series is held the first Monday of every month at RecipeHouse and features a rotation of Houston's hottest chefs. Learn more and reserve seats for upcoming dinners here.
"In pursuit of its main mission, teaching kids how to eat healthier foods and resist the billions spent on marketing to convince them otherwise, the nonprofit known as Recipe for Success invites Houston area chefs to teach cooking classes and, on the first Monday of each month, serve up dinner with wine to raise money. It's an under-the-radar thing mostly; but thanks to the quality of chefs like Killen, the rightness of the cause and the intimacy of the dining room, these Chef Surprise dinners sell out often as not..."
Read the full review by food writer John DeMers at Delicious Mischief here.
NPD Group, a market reaseach firm, recently released data showing that Americans are eating more fruit and drinking fewer carbonated beverages at home. Of the five types of foods they measure--sandwiches, carbonated soft drinks, fruits, vegetables and milk, fruit climbed from #5 to #2 over the last ten years. Veggie consumption remains stuck at #3. And we know that for Americans, that vegetable is typically french fries.
Harry Balzer, an NPD spokesman, suggestd that since fruit requires little or no preparation and is self contained, it's easier to eat--just like a sandwich, the number one food. "[The sandwich] is the number one food eaten at lunch; the number one main dish at dinner (hamburgers and hot dogs are included), and it's the fastest-growing breakfast food," Balzer says.
Although people care about their health, according to Balzer it's not the number one factor influencing their food choices. People are creatures of habit and their current eating habits have the greatest influence over their meals. After that, "it's really a tossup between cost and convenience -- both are important," he says. "We like to try new versions of products we already know."
So, veggie sandwiches anyone?
We are happy to announce Chef Ruffy Sulaiman as November's volunteer of the month! As a kid, Chef Ruffy wanted to be an engineer like his father, but while attending the University of Houston, he also worked full time as a chef. For the last 21 years, Ruffy has been working as an executive chef spending the last ten years at the Hilton Americas-Houston. He prides himself on being a front-runner in Southwestern cuisine and uses his French training to create the perfect fusion. Chef Ruffy has had a few crazy and bizarre moments while working as an executive chef. One of his busiest days, at the Hilton, in 2004, he served over 10,000 meals in a 24-hour period for a Super Bowl event. The 'wildest' meal he has ever created was a combination plate of pan seared filet of mountain lion tenderloin and chipotle glazed rattlesnake cake for a Safari themed wine tasting event while working for the Adam's Mark Hotel! Chef Ruffy, obviously, has a love creating unique yet delectable menus for his clients. His joy is translated into our Seed-to-Plate Nutrition EducationTM classrooms. He loves that he is able to have an impact on so many students' lives and see them grow into young chefs. One of his favorite moments as chef was this past summer as he volunteered with our Eat This! Summer Camp. The campers truly enjoyed his take on corn flake crusted chicken nuggets and homemade ketchup. We applaud Chef Ruffy's hardwork as he helps to make our programs shine.
Learn more about our Chefs in SchoolsTM program here.
