Belle & Liv - 2008 James Beard Award Nominees!

There's an exciting buzz going on in the Spatulatta office. We were just nominated for the 2008 James Beard Awards! This is our third straight year to receive recognition for the excellent work we do. In 2006, we won the James Beard Award for best webcast and it gives us all a great deal of satisfaction to know that we're still one of the three nominees, in spite of the fact the competition gets tougher every year.

Congratulations goes to the whole Spatulatta team!
Liv and Belle Gerasole - Hosts
Gaylon Emerzian and Heidi Umbhau - Producers
John Scott - Editor
Jamey B, David B and Cat at Your Plan B Webdesign
Marcus Farne - Marketing

Also, a HUGE thank you to all the guest chefs who have appeared on Spatulatta or have emailed us their favorite recipes. We appreciate all that you've contributed!

Click on the links to read news articles about Spatulatta and other nominees:

Chicago Sun Times: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/859098,CST-FTR-beard25.article

Chicago Tribune: http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2008/03/achatz-melman-t.html

Megan & Sarah = Dynamic Duo

We love your cookbook. Today we made 3 recipes out of it for supper. We had lots of fun. Mom and Dad took lots of pictures of us while we were cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Thank you for making such a great book.

Your number one fans,

Megan (8 years old) and Sarah (7 years old)

*Click photo to enlarge

Spatulatta Shout Out :)

The Spatulatta girls wanna give you a Spatulatta Shout Out! To be greeted by Liv & Belle on an upcoming episode, email us the following:

1. First Name
2. Last Initial
3. Age
4. Home State, or Country (if you live outside the U.S.)

For example:
1. David
2. Z.
3. 10
4. Alaska

The Spatulatta Shout Out may sound something like this:
"We'd like to give a Spatulatta Shout Out to 10 year-old David Z. who watches us all the way from the state of Alaska. Hey David, thanks for tuning in!"

Or it could sound like this:
"8 year-old Nikhal S. from India requested a Spatulatta Shout Out. Nikhal, we love Indian food and just learned how to make chapatis!"

Pretty cool, huh?

With your parents permission, email us at info@spatulatta.com

Spatulatta Cookbook Sweepstakes Winners!!!

Everyone has been waiting to find out the winners for the Spatulatta Sweepstakes. We finally received the results from Scholastic! Check out our winners below:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
Brandon R.
South Carolina
Favorite Ingredient: Chicken

RUNNERS-UP:
Michael H.
Tennessee
Favorite Ingredient: Cheese

Ashley H.
Michigan
Favorite Ingredient: Chocolate

Isabella H.
Indiana
Favorite Ingredient: Cheese

Alexandra M.
Virginia
Favorite Ingredient: Cheese

Liam G.
Oregon
Favorite Ingredient: Cheese

As a Grand Prize Winner, Brandon won 2 round-trip airfare tickets to Chicago, IL to be featured in an upcoming Spatulatta webcast. 2 nights accomodations at the Hotel Orington, ground transportation, a signed copy of the Spatulatta Cookbook, and a Spatulatta apron are included in his prize!

Each Runner Up will receive a signed copy of the Spatulatta Cookbook, and a Spatulatta apron. These kids will surely be cookin up a storm!

Congratulations to all of our winners!

From Rain, in China

I am from China. My mom taught me to cook dumplings. It's not the simple dumplings. It's our traditional food. We have this in May every year. We use lotus leaves and wrap meat, mungbean, ect.

Erin's Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Erin from West Virginia wrote:

My best recipe is taking two Hershey chocolate bars and put them in microwave for 45 seconds or until they are completely melted.

Then get out 10-15 strawberries.

Place strawberries on bamboo skewers and roll them in the chocolate.  Let them harden for 1 hour.

Take them out and enjoy!

My grandma taught me this recipe last year and I make them alot!!

Our Trip to Kitchen Heaven

Yesterday we all went to the International Home & Housewares show, and it was great fun! We were at McCormick Place in Chicago. Right at the entrance way there was a gigantic spatulatta.... oops, we mean spatula (hehe) and rolling pin. Livvy sat on the rolling pin for a photo. It'll be displayed on our Remote Reporter page soon.

Can you imagine 13 miles of booths full of bright colored kitchenware?! It was like going to cooking heaven. Everything that you'd ever want to stock your kitchen was there. We saw a tiny pink rolling pin and these cool things called "Head Chefs," which were utensils that looked like little people, but had measuring cups and whisks for heads.

Companies are making more and more things for kids in the kitchen.

Cecilia's Warm Oatmeal Drink

I got this recipe from my nanny. This drink is perfect for a cold
day when you feel like having something warm! If you refrigerate it, it's
perfect for a hot day when you need something cold.

It's very soothing, warm, and yummy!

Warm Oatmeal Drink

4 Cups of Milk
1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
4 tbsp of Oats
1 1/2 tbsp of Sugar
1/2 Cup of Water

1. Put the oats, sugar, and water in a blender or food processor and
blend; Set aside.

2. In a small pot, heat the milk and cinnamon till just at the boiling
point; stir occasionally.

3. Add the oat mixture and stir. Let simmer for about 7 minutes.

4. Pour drink into a thermos. Pour yourself a glass and enjoy!

(Note: Drink will be VERY hot and I suggest putting a few cubes of ice in
your cup. You can let the drink cool in the open or in a fridge if you
like. It's good hot AND cold.)