Skinny Bitch_ Ultimate Everyday Cookbook - Kim Barnouin [26]
MODERN-DAY POTLUCK: Instead of a hodgepodge of random dishes, a New-Age potluck is a sit-down dinner party focused on a single-style cuisine. This is not a cheesy awards banquet—no buffet tables allowed. First off, choose a cuisine style. Send each guest a recipe for a course that falls under the desired cuisine (scanned versions via e-mail are quick and eco-friendly), and tell them how many people to prepare for.
I hope your friends are not shy. Each guest will be asked to prepare the finishing touches and serve their dish to the table when it’s their turn in the lineup. While they are at it, ask them to give a speech about the first time you both met, how pretty you looked, and why they love you so much. Hey, it’s your party!
Eco Party Planning Tips
When planning a dinner party or small cocktail affair, keep in mind that you are a green-bitch-in-training. Anna Getty, a top-notch green living lifestyle educator and best-selling author of Anna Getty’s Easy Green Organic, offers up a few tips on throwing an eco-chic home affair. Give that green thumb a manicure. It’s your party and the planet is invited.
BRING IN DECORATIONS FROM THE OUTDOORS. Decorate the table with branches, stones, and field flowers. Afterwards throw them into your composter or your yard for mulch.
GIFT POTTED HERBS. Give parting gifts that grow, like potted herbs (they can double as table decor at the party), packets of vegetables, or flower seeds.
THINK SEASONAL WITH THE MENU. When deciding on the menu, think local, seasonal, and organic. Skip the ingredients with large carbon footprints. That means no dishes with strawberries or asparagus in December. Head to your farmers’ market instead of the supermarket. Connect with the growers of your food.
MAKE IT A FAMILY AFFAIR
Your kids are on the couch watching cartoons. Your other half is camping out in front of the computer screen. The dog is snoring in the corner. And, there you are, in the kitchen cooking a healthy three-course meal for the family to enjoy. Now, aren’t you just a spitting image of Mrs. Cleaver? I’ll bet you have a white picket fence and monogrammed bathroom towels, too.
Wake up, woman. This is a new millennium. Why are you waiting on your family hand-and-foot, like the goddamn Brady Bunch? Who do they think you are—their bitch? Please.
Get the whole gang involved! Cooking with your family is a great way to hear about everyone’s day, encourage healthy interaction, coordinate schedules and plans, and most of all, laugh. With how busy our lives have gotten, this is sometimes the only time that all family members are gathered in one place. Research has shown that families who engage in shared activities like, say, cooking, have been shown to be less likely to have conflict five years down the road. That’s a good enough reason for me.
Getting the Kids Involved
I could talk for days about why cooking is so beneficial for kids. But I’ll spare you. In a nutshell, they are more likely to eat what they cook, it boosts their self-esteem, teaches them to work as a team, and stimulates their imagination and creativity. The best part is they don’t even know they are learning life skills that are important to their health and future. Child obesity is not something we should be proud of.
The earlier you bring your children into the kitchen with you, the more it will feel like home to them. The last two months of my pregnancy, I was cooking up a storm for my husband and me, while Jack kicked in my stomach. Deep inside, I knew that I was doing something right. In his first few months out of the womb, I placed him in the Baby-Björn so he faced the kitchen while I washed lettuce for a salad. At the mere ages of one and two, my little sous chef was licking the chocolate frosting off of the electric beaters, and pouring the