Spatulatta Girls featured on PBS's "Biz Kids" Show

Belle and Liz were interviewed by Biz Kids, the Public Broadcasting series where kids teach kids about money and business. They'll talk about their publishing experiences with the Spatulatta Cookbook. The focus of the episode is and how if kids make enough money, they have to pay taxes.

Ask your local PBS Station when Biz Kids episode #401 with the Spatulatta Girls will be airing. WTTW in the Chicago area will premiere the program on Sunday, June 26 at 11 AM or you can watch their segment now at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/bizkidJ9?feature=mhum#p/u/16/OL25oueWtJ4

Pasta e Formaggio AKA Italian Mac and Cheese

Belle and Liv make Pasta e Formaggio, Mac and Cheese with an Italian twist.

Liv and Belle learned to cook Italian food from their dad, restaurant critic and food aficionado Vince Gerasole. "We love everything Italian," says Liv. "You might say marinara is in our blood," quips Belle.

So we rounded up all the flavors found in a Pizza Margherita and adapted them for 30 Day 30 Way Mac and Cheese.

Pasta e Fromaggio - Italian Mac and Cheese

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) farfalle pasta, cooked and drained

2 cups of heavy cream

1/3 cup all purpose flour

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Wisconsin Mozzarella Cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 medium onion, grated

1/2 cup grated Wisconsin Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to directions on the box. While the pasta is boiling prepare your mise en place.

Chop the onion.

Seed and dice the tomatoes. Set them aside.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Start the white sauce. Pour the cream into a one-quart saucepan. Simmer over low heat.

Whisk in the flour until it disappears.

Add the butter and stir, until melted.

Add the Mozzarella.

Keep stirring so the cheese sauce thickens but doesn't burn. It will get a wonderful, stretchy consistency.

Whisk in the spices.

Put the pasta into a large bowl. Add the onions and pour in cheese sauce. Mix well.

Now add the tomatoes and onions. Fold in gently.

Pour the pasta mix into a buttered casserole dish. Use a spatula to pat the pasta into the casserole.

Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes or until the top starts to get golden brown patches.

Remove from oven and serve with a green salad.

Our whole family loves this Italian version of Mac and Cheese. Find dozens of other yummy macaroni and cheese recipes at the 30 Days 30 Ways Mac and Cheese.

Support Wisconsin's farm families by buying Wisconsin cheese.

Promo Video for Spatulatta at Kenmore Live Studio

Join us for a super holiday event. On December 20, 2010 at 5 - 7 PM at the Kenmore Live Studio, The Spatulatta Girls will be cooking up the Ultimate Christmas Morning Breakfast.

See the promo video!

Belle and Liv will be cooking up baked oatmeal, crispy bacon, a pomegranate and grapefruit salad and a non-alcoholic Mimosa. We'll be serving samples and generally having a blast.

You can reserve your spot until Friday, December 17, 2010.

If you can't make this event, don't worry!

We'll be back at the Kenmore Live Studio in March for a fabulous Mardi Gras Party. The Spatulatta Girls will be cooking up Yumbo Gumbo, Bread Pudding and Curly Creole Salad. We'll end the evening with a Mardi Gras costume parade.

Sign up now for the Spatulatta mailing list so you will get an invitation. Just scroll down on the lower left of our home page and enter your e-mail address.

Extended the deadline for Amazing Kids! Healthy Kids Recipe Contest

Amazing Kids! invites all the Spatulatta fans, ages 6-17, to take part in their Healthy Kids Recipe Contest, 2010!

The extended the deadline for entries is January 31, 2011!

Are you an amazing kid who enjoys whipping up delicious food in the kitchen?

Enter your recipe in our Amazing Kids! Healthy Kids Recipe Contest for the chance to be published in the Amazing Kids! Healthy Kids e-Cookbook, by and for kids!

Check out the rules

Want to change up your dinner time routine?

Just got out of the live discussion about family dinners on the motherhood.com. The host was Laurie David, who recently released "The Family Dinner." Fantastic conversation. Check out the site for highlights. I'm inspired to keep on keeping on...

Couple of highlights I got from the chat: Use your crockpot to make baked spuds! Also, you have to read about Laurie's "treasure bowl" idea--it's in the conversation. There was some chat about getting kids involved with dinner prep--which as you know we are ALL ABOUT at Spatulatta--and trying to keep the conversation flowing. Good stuff, as most of us will be sitting down to at least one family dinner next week!

Spatulatta Mama has a hot tip for you!

At Spatulatta, we are constantly looking for, finding and cooking fabulous healthy meals for you and your family. Our great hope is that the kids are involved or maybe even leading the preparation of the meals. What would all that hard work come to if the family isn't there to EAT IT?

I'm going to be co-hosting a talk in the Motherhood on Monday November 15, from 1pm to 1:30pm ET, on themotherhood.com site. Leading the discussion is the incredibly accomplished Laurie David, who just published an awesome book called "The Family Dinner." Look her up online people.

If you were looking for proof of why family dinners should happen at your house, this is it! You can try out fabulous recipes, and the book has conversation starters, games and all kinds of wisdom on how to bring your family together at mealtimes. Hope you'll be there. Just sign on to themotherhood.com and join in.

We've heard a lot about the importance of family dinners and at our house, we try to make them happen as often as humanly possible. Having the Spatulatta girls as daughters sure helps, because they sometimes assist in preparation of the meals, but the real treat is sitting down as a family and reconnecting after a crazy busy day.

Papa's work makes it tough for us to sit down before 7:30pm, so we pretend we're in Europe and try to hold off until he arrives. I actually save fun information for the family meal because I know it'll spark conversation and lead to other good things. Think of the huge number of things your family can talk about. In our house these days it could be who you ran into by chance today, who Pop interviewed (as part of his job as a reporter), school, practice for Romeo and Juliette, the HUGE science test coming up, piano, basketball, Science Olympiad, the dog, who called, letters we got in the mail, voice lessons, Girl Scouts, volunteer work etc. and there are only four of us un=der this roof.

If you've got a great tip for fab family dinners, join the circle on Monday and add your recipe for success.
Heidi

See Belle and Liv at Dr. Oz Health Expo in Chicago on November 6

The Dr. Oz Health Expo is this Saturday in Chicago's Millenium Park, and one of the challenges Dr. Oz posed to local chefs was to prepare a delicious, affordable meal that is less than 500 calories per serving.

The Spatulatta Girls, Olivia and Isabella Gerasole, the youngest ever winners of a James Beard Award, joined us to share their favorites. This family-oriented event is free to the public.

For more information: www.spatulatta.com

repost from Fox News Chicago
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/health/dr_oz/spatulatta-girls-tuscan-bean-dip-berry-roll-olivia-isabella-gerasole-dr-oz-health-expo-20101102