I’ve brined my turkey for the past 9 years and will never go back.  It truly makes a difference!  True - getting a 14 pound bird into the bag sloshing it around for 24 hours is a little nuts…but it’s worth it.  This is the recipe I’ve been using that I clipped out of a magazine all those years ago, modified a bit to suit our taste.  Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours! 

Brine:
8 cups apple cider (or juice, just be sure it is unsweetened) 
2/3 cup kosher salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed  
1 tablespoon whole allspice, crushed
6-8 (1/8-inch-thick) slices peeled fresh ginger
10 whole cloves
2 bay leaves

2 cups ice cold water

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the sugar and salt completely dissolve.  Remove from the heat - add the 2 cups ice cold water and let brine cool COMPLETELY. 
Brine should be cold before using!  This is the basic brine solution…This recipe takes you through all the steps to complete the brine process and roast the bird. 

I love this recipe for espresso ribs, via Michael Chiarello.  Have a great long weekend Foodie Families!  Enjoy. 

Our latest trip to Orcas Island included a repeat dinner at Allium Restaurant.  It was another triumph of taste, artistry and yummy.  Plus we learned that our daughter loves scallops!  Please share your vacation food experiences too! 

Well tomorrow is the last day of Kindergarten for my dear daughter.  That means it’s been one full year of packing school lunches and I have to give myself an A-.  I limited the pre-packaged stuff (mostly cheese sticks and apple sauce) and always tried to mostly use fresh fruits, meat and veggies as the main meal.  I think I over did it on cured meat/nasty nitrates but overall the kid ate well.  Can I help it if she loves really good salami?  You know you do, too. 
Toward the end of the year she did ask to buy lunch.  I let her - but I have to admit it was tough when the menu items included “chicken rings” and nachos.  I adore Jamie Oliver.  I am a full-on member of the food revolution.  But when my kid wants to buy the Mac & Cheese lunch with her friends on one particular day, I’m not going to

Give this a whirl - WOW!  Amazing. 

OK - not just gardening… but Pacific Northwest Native Plant gardening?  Well you are in luck.  My husband recently started blogging about our new adventures living in the woods.  Even if this specific type of gardening isn’t your ‘thang’...his writing is both funny and informative.  I’m pretty darn proud of him!  Plus our family gets to do fun things like plant salal and Oregon Grape seeds together (see photo). 
I myself am still on the steering committee for our local Community Garden (P-Patch) that should be fully operating by next year.  It’s an exciting project that I love being a part of.  Are you growing anything fun in your yard or veggie beds this year?  I’d love to hear about it! 

This is an old debate that I’ve just never really understood.  I get having a children’s menu for smaller portion sizes and price…but why this obsession with separating who eats what?  I’ll admit we are very lucky to have a child with an adventurous palate…but we have worked hard to make that happen! 
Last weekend our family had dinner at Lark - a lovely Seattle restaurant dedicated to the best in local Northwest cuisine.  We had one of those Living Social vouchers that was going to expire soon and decided to forgo date night and instead make it a Sunday supper.  I was very pleased to see other families with well behaved children there.  What did surprise me were the parents who lugged out several Tupperware containers of plain pasta, yogurt and milk for their twin girls who looked to be about 4-5 years old.  The wait staff was very accommodating and the parents did order a nice variety of dishes.  Perhaps the girls had allergies?  This clearly was the best option for their family it’s not up to me to tell others what works.  They looked like they were all having a great time together.  I just wanted to throw this scenario out there to see what others think.
I don’t force our child to eat anything but I do have expectations that she at least try.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on dining out at a ‘higher end’ restaurant.  Do you do it with kids?  How do you handle it? 

YES.  REALLY.  Time to start thinking about Summer camps and getting the kiddos signed up.  Several camps we are interested in have wait lists already!  Please feel free to recommend any camps you are excited about - in the Seattle area or beyond.  Warmer weather will eventually be here! 

...just got a little easier!  Thanks to Google’s new search tool.  Cool huh?  I thought so.  Anything that makes life a little easier.  Thanks Google! 

I’ve met so many wonderful folks who care deeply about food and kids in the past year.  There are awesome bloggers and chefs out there cultivating their own communities of food loving families.  Yes…this lil’ website has been up and running for an entire year now!  I still don’t have an official business or final direction on where things are going - but I’m so grateful for the relationships I’m building.  Fun things are coming, I promise!  It’s an honor to be a small part of such a big, important mission.
In the past year our family moved out to a suburb near Seattle.  The people we’ve met through our neighborhood school and activities are incredibly involved in the community - we are so lucky to be a part of it!  I’m often asked by other parents about how I ‘get’ my child to try new things or like vegetables.  Of course we foodie patooties know it’s a lot more than that.  My number one piece of advice for parents is still:  Don’t dumb down your kids’ food.  Bring the flavor and variety!  Try serving all kinds of world cuisines and flavors.  Cook with the kids in your life.  Processed, fatty foods may actually dumb down your kids anyway, so avoid it early.  We never go to McDonald’s so my daughter doesn’t ever ask for it.  Celeb-Chef Anthony Bourdain takes the stand against the “evil empire” to another level in his latest read. 
Now I’m no food snob - our family made a beeline for the famous giant corn dogs at Disneyland last year.  I’m all about the sometimes food theory. 
None is this is new news - but it’s what has worked for our family.  Do you have a unique family-favorite recipe to share?  Please share on our Facebook page!  Thanks so much for being a part of the Foodie Patootie community ~ Isn’t life delicious? 

A very Merry Christmas to those celebrating today.  Hope your holiday menus are delicious and your time spent with family and friends filled with love.  All my best!
~Corene

This is the giant, light-up Santa head we put in the window every year.  My husband’s mother won it at an office Christmas party over 50 years ago.  We are in a new house this year but giant Santa head is still going strong and we found a new window for him to glow in. 
I’ll still be making those Grasshopper Squares people clamor for every year (seriously, make them.  They are fantastic!) 
What are your must-makes?  You know, the dish you MUST make during the holidays or your friends and relatives will TP your house.  I’ve started a Facebook discussion - come join us!
I wish you and your families the very best this holiday season and always.  Thanks so much for being part of the Foodie Patootie community! 

Fall is my favorite time to eat!  The harvest is peaking…pumpkins and insane variety squash are everywhere…and it’s time to braise.  All those good cooking smells have really helped make our new house feel like home.  What is your favorite thing to cook this time of year?
We have already been to several pumpkin patches but the best is yet to come.  This weekend it’s a trip to Washington State’s beautiful Skagit Valley.  If you haven’t been it’s truly a foodie family paradise. 
We love our pumpkins of course…but have also come to love the funky varieties of squash that seem to be everywhere.  This photo is of a Galeux d’Eysines squash.  The strange texture is perfectly spooky and sneakily disguised as a science lesson.  The funky warts that form on the outside are caused by a buildup of sugars under the skin.  Trust me:  One of these on your porch or centerpiece is certain to spark a conversation.
We haven’t tried carving one…which is surprising because my husband is very fond of cutting into any vegetable for the sake of art.  He was the one who came up with the ‘spook-ini’ - a giant zucchini with a face lit up by a tea light. 
Has anyone tried carving one of these warty wonders?  I’d love to post photos of your squash-o-lanterns! 

I’m so proud and excited - my family was featured this week on the fantastic website, Cascadia Kids!  Orcas Island is such a special place and I love sharing our adventures there.  Have you been to the San Juan islands in Washington State?  Do you travel hours via car, ferry or airplane to return to that perfect loaf of hearth bread too?  Please share your foodie family vacation finds!  I’ve posted some photos too.  Looking forward to hearing about your adventures, as always. 

Are you on twitter?  I wasn’t until the launch of this website.  What have I learned through my 6 months or so of tweeting?  It’s fun!  I’ve met all kinds of like-minded people who care (and are very knowledgeable about) kids, food, nutrition, gardening, cooking…the list goes on and on.  I tweet a lot more than I tend to post blog updates and the conversations are always fun.  Facebook has proven to be a nice way for Foodie Patootie peeps to chat, too.  Hope to see you in the twitterverse!  Find me @foodiepatootie