Cooking Tip from Bridget

Hi! I just wanted to give you a special secret to the BEST mashed potatoes in the world!
When my mom makes mashed potatoes she puts in yogurt as well as butter.
That makes it extra CREAMY!

Bridget

Cecilia's Stuffed Crust Mini Pizza

Here's an easy recipe for a mini stuffed-crust pizza.

You will need:

- 2 Flour Tortillas
- Tomato Sauce
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Tomatoes
- Any extra toppings you like

Instructions:

Make a quesadilla with the tortillas and cheese, using your favorite quesadilla recipe, but be sure to use both tortillas (DO NOT FOLD).

Next, spread the tomato sauce on the top tortilla. Place some tomatoes on top. Smother it in cheese, and sprinkle all of your favorite toppings. Next, with a parent's permission, put it in the toaster oven until the cheese is completely melted. Let cool for a minute or two, and enjoy!

Tip: If you like, you can just make an uncooked quesadilla and put it in the toaster for a little bit longer. You do not have to make stuffed crust.

Enjoy!

Cecilia

Livvy Picks the Scholastic Winner

Livvy, assisted by Natalie in the background, pulls numbered balls to pick the Scholastic Cookbook Contest Winner. The lottery selection was made while Liv and Belle were doing a booksigning and holiday cooking demo at the Signature Room at the top of the John Hancock Building.

The numbers were checked against the list of entries. Each entrant was assigned a number by the tabulating program as they logged in. The names were sent to Scholastic and the folks there will be getting in touch with the lucky people soon.

By the way, the folks at the Signature Room donated a meal with a view of the Magnificent Mile to the Grand Prize winner. So exciting!

Jessica's Very Veggie Wrap

If you like this, this is a recipe that i made up and if you liked it maybe you could put it on your website. It is called Jessica's Very Veggie Wrap.

You need:

1 flour tortilla
1 large lettuce leaf (or lots of small little ones)
3 [shredded] carrots
1 tablespoon of ranch salad dressing. and walla.

Here are the procedures:

1: Place the tortilla on a cutting board. Spread the tortilla evenly with a knife. Place the lettuce leaf on top and press it down gently.

2: Place carrots in the grater and grate them over the lettuce

3: To roll up the tortilla, begin at 1 side and roll up the
tortilla tightly.

Enjoy! Makes 1 wrap

Helpful Hint:

If you would like to pack a wrap for your lunch for your school lunch,
roll it tightly in a peace of plastic wrap, then tick it into an insulated
lunch bag to keep it cold.

Please ad it to your website.

I love your website,
Jessica

P.S. I made up the recipe

Bridget's Rainbow Salad

I have a cool recipe for rainbow salad!

heres what you need: one bowl, 1 cup carrot pieces,
1 cup apple chunks, and about three leaves each
of red and green lettuce
put the lettuces in the bowl
and sprinkle the apples and carrots on
put on your favorite dressing and EAT!

Bridgit

Double Chocolate Shake from Peter

Not only do i have a commented recipie, i have a recipie that i make every night (well almost.)

i call it doublede chocolate. first, you add ice into a blender, and then and at least two squezes of chocolate sauce. then add a half a cup of milk. add five to seven scoops of chocolate ice cream, and one scoop of vanilla ice cream. wheat germ is optional. blend for about two to five minutes. if you want to serve to a lot of people make sure to double this recipie. and there you have it, doublede chocolate.

Peter

P.S i love the recipie personal pretzel i'll try it! thank you so much for letting me contact you!

Grasshopper Pie from Shay, Lauree and Stephan

Grasshopper Pie, it is deliciois and I think it would be perfect for your kind of book!

What your going to need is, one gramcracker pie crust, two jello pistachio boxes, a wisk, and a bowl too. What you do is, get a bowl put two jello pistachio boxes in it, mix it with a wisk, put it in a gramcrack pie crust, put the pie in the refrigorater for five or ten min. and then you share and eat it with your friends and family.

Knife Advice for Claire

Dear Spatulatta,

can you suggest a good chopping knife for carrots? i am almost 11. my grandma won't let me use her knife because she says it's too dangerous!

Claire



Dear Claire,

Your grandmother is being cautious because she doesn't want you losing any of your fingers. Grandma has probably cut herself a few times and she want to spare you the pain. Ask her about it.

Carrots are tough. Anytime you have to cut carrots you have to use a sharp knife or a mandoline. But even a mandoline has a very sharp blade.

t's not the knife but how you use it. A lot of this has to do with what's called "fine motor skills" or how well you can coordinate your hands, your eyes and your thoughts. And that develops as you get older.

You need to learn how to hold the knife and position the vegetable so that your fingers are never in the line of cut. And actually a sharp knife is better than a dull one because it cuts cleanly and won't slip.

Is there a cooking school near you that gives knife skills lessons? It might be something to research. Try asking grandma if she would feel comfortable letting you use her knife if you had knife lessons. It might be something you'll have to save up for.

Once you learn the correct technique you'll prove to grandma that she needn't worry about you cutting carrots without cutting you fingers anymore.

Keep Cooking!

Long Day for Spatulatta

There will be pictures coming but in the meantime we'd like to thank our friends at Permabound for hosting a lovely breakfast to introduce the Spatulatta Cookbook to 50 Chicago Public School librarians. The librarians were great and had plenty of ideas on how to use the cookbook that we'll be sharing with you as we progress.

Liv and Belle demonstrated how to make James and the Giant Peach Sorbet, part of last year's Cook By The Book episode. You can find the recipe in our Recipe Box. Scroll down to Cook by The Book.

After breakfast, we all got back in the van and headed up to the Chicago Botanic Garden for a cooking demo. Livvy made Bunny Salad and Isabella made Root Vegetable Bake. Both recipes are found in the Spatulatta Cookbook.

The audience was a mix of people of all ages from 18 months to grandparents. Everyone got a taste of the veggies and lots of people went home with signed cookbooks. In fact, the CBG sold out! But they will be getting more for their gift store, if you are in the neighborhood.

If not, you can order the book on-line from us or visit you local bookstore.

Cherry Soda Ribs

Here's an interesting recipe from our friend Cassidy. Try it for one of those late, late summer barbecues.

You'll need:

At least 2 racks of Pork ribs
Cherry soda, like cherry coke or Wild Cherry Pepsi
What you do:

1. Put the ribs and soda in a pot and marinate for at least 1 1/2-2 hours.
2. If you're too young too use the grill outside, have mom or dad help you with it. But anyhow, have mom or dad help or supervise when you cook the ribs. Remember, if you're using pork ribs, you need to cook them completely! Now, when they're done, EAT!

Erin's Creamy Garlic Fruit Salad

Erin wrote to us, "I made up these recipes myself." This sounds like such a wild combination, we'll have to try it. We are all big garlic fans here at Spatulatta but we've never tried it on fruit.

Creamy Garlic Fruit Salad

What you ll need:

1 apple (any kind)
steak knife
7-8 medium-sized strawberries
1 banana
some paper towels
cutting board
two salad bowls
two forks
salad tosser
½ cup of Larosa a Creamy Garlic Dressing
½ a bag pre-made salad mix
¼ of cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Rinse the strawberries and the apple. Dry them off with paper towels. Then peel the banana. Place all the fruit on the cutting board. Chop them with the steak knife into bite sized pieces.

2. Divide the pre-made salad mix into the bowls. Then throw equal amounts of each fruit into the bowls.

3. Now divide the creamy garlic dressing over the bowls. Use the salad tosser to mix it all up. Make sure the fruit and salad mix are evenly covered with the dressing.

4. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the salads.

5. Dip a fork in each one and enjoy the sweet and savory goodness. Serves two.

Tips:
1. You could add strips of chicken breast into the salad. They would be even better if they were marinated in lemon juice.

2. Try the different kinds of pre-made salads for this recipe.

3. It would be even more delicious delicious if there was more fruit in the salad.

Serving Suggestion:

You could take a pineapple and cut off the head. And then you could scoop out all the fruit inside (include it in the salad) then serve the salad in those little pineapple bowls you just made. Perfect for Hawaiian themed parties.

Grape Leave Dolmah from Gaby

Here's a note from our friend Gaby:

i wanted to give you the grape leaf recipe that has been in my family forever.

first you need grape leaves, you cut them in half, leave them open. then make a mix of raw meat together with rice. put them in the middle of your grape leaf, fold it nicely and you put it in a pot with whatever vegetable you want and water until the rice and meat are well cooked.

you can eat this with any yogurt.

gaby

p.s. i hope you like it.

Edible Playdough

Here's some fun from our friend Brooke

Edible playdough

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup karo syrup
3 cups powder sugar
3 1/2 cups flour

Mix all together @ enjoy

Thanks for the fun recipe Brooke!

Spatulatta Cookbook Making News!

Check out today's Chicago Sun-Times for an article about the Spatulatta Cookbook.

Liv and Belle also did an interview about the cookbook for Newsweek. That article will appear on September 10th.

The cookbook tour will begin on September 15 with a signing at Anderson's Bookshop, 5112 Main in Downers Grove

Allie's Baked Chicken Crust

Here's an easy recipe for crispy chicken from our friend Allie:

Buy chicken legs, wings, etc.

Prepare for oven.

Separate 2eggs in a bowl and stir until the yolk is as smooth as the white.

Pour in 1 cup of corn flakes and mix evenly.

Use a wooden spoon to spread over the chicken and bake.


My mother taught me how to make them!

Livvy's Ode to an Apple

An apple is red
and juicy too.
It's so good, the taste
goes from my head to my shoe.

An apple is green,
just like a pea.
And everyone knows
that they come from a tree.

An apple is yellow
and very round.
And when I bite it,
it makes a crunchy sound.

- Olivia Gerasole

Livvy invites you to send us your fruit poems.

Mustard Festival in Mt. Horeb, WI

Belle and Liv took a trip to celebrate National Mustard Day in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. Here they are with the Duchess of Mustard in all her golden finery. There they found out that mustard is the condiment of kings and the King of Condiments.

National Mustard Day has wacky fun for every taste. There was accordian music and a rock band, plus games like Fishing for Mustard and Mustard Bowling. Artists could try their hand at painting with mustard.

Three thousand hot dogs were sold (with mustard of course) for the benefit of charity. And the Spatulatta girls learned how to make mustard pasta from Chef Peter Robertson. No, the mustard wasn't on the pasta, the mustard was in the pasta dough.

The Festival is put on every year by the World Famous Mustard Museum. The museum has the world's largest collection of mustards - 4,800 in all. You can sample many of them in the museum's gift shop: Cranberry Mustard, Champagne Mustard and even Chocolate Mustard.

And if you can't make it to the Mustard Museum, the museum will ship to you. Because friends don't let friends eat k*#@*%!

Strawberry S'mores

This recipe is from our friend Janie in Lexington, Kentucky. Janie is the creator of Berry Dip-and-Roll. The recipe is in our new Spatulatta cookbook.

Ingredients:

5 large strawberries
4 graham crackers - crushed
1 jar of marshmallow fluff
1 cup of chocolate chips

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Check them often because they can go from melted to burned in an eyeblink.

Take a strawberry and cut out the stem. Dip in chocolate and let it harden.

Then cover it in marshmallow fluff.

Next roll it in graham cracker crumbs until completely covered.

Enjoy!

Grandma Claire's Almond Dip

Thanks to Ang for this cool recipe. Just what we need for the hot days ahead!

1 box off INSTANT vanilla pudding mix
1/2 tbsp of almond extract
1 regular size tub of Cool Whip
fresh berries

1. prepare the instant pudding
2. stir in the whip cream into the pudding
3. add the almond extract (you can adjust the amount to your liking)
4. Dip the berries into your dip and enjoy!

Raspberry and Strawberry Smoothie

Here's a great summer cooler from Hayden!

You'll need:

About 10 pieces of ice
A handful of raspberries
4-6 strawberries
A Yoplait strawberry yogurt
About 2 cups of orange juice
A spoonful of sugar
A blender

1) Put the ice in the blender
2) Put the raspberries and strawberries in the blender on top of the ice
3) Put the yogurt on the fruit
4) Put about 2 cups of orange juice in
5) Blend
6) If the smoothie isn't thick enough then add about 4 more ice cubes. If the
smoothie won't blend, try adding more orange juice and shaking the blender. (Make
sure you have the top on securely!!!!) Add a spoonful of sugar (and no more, or the
smoothie is WAY too sweet!)
7) Blend

This will serve probably 3 people. If you double it, make it twice or the blender
might overflow!

I learned this recipe from my older sister and I added some stuff.

-Hayden

Fourth of July Fruit Salad

Mary Kate sent us this yummy recipe. Check the red, white and blue theme.

1 cup watermelon (chopped into bite sized pieces)
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
2 tsp orange juice
2 tsp pomegranate-blueberry juice
1 tbsp cool whip

Mix everything together put cool whip on top!!

ENJOY

Kobbys cool K-treats > Sunshine smoothie

Aloha! Were back with a new great recipe!

http://kobbyscook4kidz-com.hobbies.homepagenow.com/homepage.shtml

This is a recipe that we made up.

5 strawberrys, rinsed and top cut off
3 small slices of mango
1 apple, core and seeds cut out
1/2 rhubarb, optinal
1 orange, peeled
1/3 cup lemonade
2 cups ice


You will need an adults help with this one.
Put all fruit and lemonade in a blender, blend untill smooth. Then add ice slowly. If it is not that thick, add more ice. If to thick, add more lemonade.


Don't forget to visit us! We have lots more recipes! :)

See you all soon,
Katie and Bailey @ Kobbys.

The Winner of the Mother's Day Contest

The winner of the Barilla "Why My Mom's the Best" Essay Contest is
12-year old Krupa from Illinois.

Here is the winning essay:

My Mom is everything. She's

A doctor. She'll help when I'm sick.
A teacher. When homework's tough, she's there.
A cook. Her food is amazing!
A fashion designer. She makes ugly clothes stunning.
A friend. I can talk to her about anything.
A sister. We're very close.
My mom.

Honorable Mention goes to the following essays:

Today my mom cooked me spaghetti. It wasn't the best but I still said, "Thanks." The next day mom went to the mall with me. She picked out some shoes for me. They didn't look so well, but I still said, "Thanks." Mom deserves a "Thank You" for everything.

Honeyah, 9


Da Best Mom Ever

My Mom is the best because she is always there for me. When I have trouble with a friend she helps me with the problem. My mom is the best because she is more then a mom to me she is a friend. And we will always stay that way.

Annabelle, 9 1/2


MOM SHOULD BE ON A COOKING SHOW BECAUSE SHE COOKS SO WELL. HER FACE IS AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN. SHE IS SMART AND A TEACHER. MOM IS CUTE LIKE A PUPPY! I LOVE WHEN SHE PLAYS BALL WITH ME, BUT SHE CAN'T CATCH A BASEBALL. MOM TRIES HER BEST.

Brandon, 8


As a newborn, I had major surgery and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis like my sister. My Mom has been there for us through thick and thin. Kind of like pasta. She stands straight caring for us, curves a bit when tired and lays flat when exhausted! My Mom's the best!

Jeff, 14


I could smell the tasty angel hair with tomato sauce my mom cooks while I'm upstairs reading a book. The smell of delicious food spreads all over the house. That's because my mom is the most wonderful cook. Everything she cooks makes everybody beg for the food like dogs.

Kevin, 9


The Best Mom

My mom is the best mom ever. She is so much fun. We go places and we go on runs and bike rides together. She is athletic, honest and understanding. She helps me grow by making me go to swim team and making healthy foods to eat.

Sumter, 9


My mother is very special. She helps me with everything. When I am sick my mom takes care of me. When I am sad she makes me feel better. When I am happy she takes part in my happiness. When I make mistakes, she corrects me. I love my mother.

Rithvik, 6


Where would I be without that one special person that directs all the traffics of life? The person that no matter how much trouble I get into, will always love me. This person is my mother. Good times or bad, my mom is always there for me, this makes her the best.

Matheu


She gives me hugs. She kisses me. She loves me and she loves it when I listen. She makes me nice lunch.

John, 5




The contest was judged by:

Judy Monroe, a teacher with 35 years experience in inner-city schools,
Lisa Reitman, another teacher with 18 years experience in the suburban schools teaching math and reading,
Chris King, the editor of the Chicago Tribune's on-line edition,
Emily Goodwin, a mother-of-five,
Kim Moldofsky, author of "Scrambled Cake" blog that appears in from Chicago Parent magazine,
Min King, who has made a guest appearance on Spatulatta,
Liv and Belle Gerasole.

The judges were very impressed with the spelling and puncuation of the authors! The essays are reproduced as written.

The James Beard Awards

So we didn't win but we had a great time anyway! Here we are Team Spatulatta: Belle, Gaylon, Heidi and Liv, all decked out in our best black and white.

The Media Award ceremony was held at the Hudson Theater at Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York. The reception started in the lobby of the theater with waiters weaving through the crowd carrying trays of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Check this menu: Sesame and Coral-Crusted Shrimp, New Zealand Mussels in Sweet Thai Chile Sauce, Barbecued Oysters with Savory Corn Cakes and Szechaun Pepper-Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Shiitake-Peanut Salad were just a few of the offerings.

Besides the four of us, there was Liv and Belle's dad, Vince Gerasole, who was also nominated for a Media Award in the category of Television Food Segment, National or Local for his work on CBS - Channel 2 Chicago. Their grandpa "Pie" and grandma Patty left Girasole Restaurant in good hands and flew in from Pittsburgh to share the excitement. Thank you Uncle Vito, Uncle Gino, and Aunt Jennifer for taking up the slack.

We went into the theater. Instead of rows of seats there were tables set with tons of glasses for various courses of wine. Then we found out that the wine had been stolen! The hotel was kind enough make up the loss.

Miss Gaylon was joined at her table by her hubbie, Roger Brown, and her co-producer and host of the documentary "Living on the Wedge: Wisconsin's Artisan Cheesemakers," Mari Coyne and Mari's husband, Ed Blucher. Suzy and Hawk Pingree, long-time supporters of "Wedge" were also there to see if the doc would take an award for Best Food Special.

The food was fabulous of course. Cooked up by some amazing chefs.

Sara Moulton, chef of the Gourmet Executive Dining Room served up Baby Arugula Salad with Aged Gouda, Savory Praline and Whole Grain Mustard Dressing.

Tom Douglas of the Dahlia Lounge offered Wild Seattle Salmon Fillet with Rice Cakes, Cucumber Pickles and Shiitake Chips.

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich with Fortunato Nicotra of Felidia presented Braised Flat Iron Wagyu Beef with Spring Vegetable Ravioli.

And dessert was Mocha Panna Cotta with Fleur de Sel Caramel by our pal, Gale Gand of Tru and Expresso-Halvah Sundae with Raspberry Suzette Sauce by Wayne Harley Brachman of Porter House New York.

You can't imagine the tension as they read the names of the winners. Three possible awards! We held hands and looked expectantly at the stage.

Well...

We may have come home empty-handed but our tummies were filled to bursting!

We heartily applauded all the winners. Some people work hard all their lives and never get a Beard Award. Seeing the winners beaming faces as they trotted down the aisle to get their awards, it finally hit home. What a thrill it was just to be nominated! So we're extra, extra proud of those medals from 2006.

To Be Continued

Peanut Butter Cookies ala Kaitlyn

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven 350. Mix all the ingredients together until well blendid. Roll
pieces of dough into balls. Put dough on a cookie sheet and bake 12 to 15
minutes. Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Kobbys cool K-treats The Best Banna Bread

http://kobbyscook4kidz-com.hobbies.homepagenow.com/homepage.shtml

I got this recipe from my mom. It's very Delicious and satisfying.

1/2c butter melted
3/4c sugar
2 eggs
2c flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt (optional)
3 large ripe bananas
1tsp vanilla
Adults help!



1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES, GREASE 9 BY 5 BY 3 BREAD PAN.
2. CREAM TOGETHER BUTTER & SUGAR UNTIL FLUFFY. ADD ONE EGG AT A TIME, BEAT AFTER EACH ONE.
3. SIFT FLOUR, BAKING POWDER AND SALT TOGETHER. ADD TO MIXTURE.
4. FOLD IN BANANAS(ALREADY SQUISHED) AND VANILLA.
5. POUR MIXTURES INTO PAN. BAKE 50 TO 60 MINUTES. COOL ON A COOLING RACK FOR TEN MINUTES. SERVE WITH BUTTER.

See everyone later,
Katie & Bailey <><

Berry Whip from Dakota

what you will need:
tablespoon of raspberrys, strawberrys, and black berry
4 tablespoons of whipcream
kecthup cup
spoon
one graham cracker

what to do:
put berrys and whip cream in the ketchup holder and mix it until it smooth and
settle.then spread it on the the graham cracker.

i made this recipe!!!!!!!!

dakota

My Mom's The BEST! Essay Contest

Tell us in 50 words or less why your mom is the BEST! and win this great Barilla Abbondanza Basket.

It's filled with Barilla Plus whole grain pasta and other Barilla favorites: Farfalle, Linguine, Three-Cheese Tortellini, Spinach and Cheese Tortellini and yummy Barilla Pasta Sauce packed with red ripe tomatoes. Plus you'll get a Barilla apron, a pasta server and an adorable pasta timer with a cute bow pasta on top.

Let us know why your mom is so special. Tell us about her personality, how she helps you to be the best person you can be, or why she makes you giggle.

HURRY! Contest ends May 31, 2007!

Contest Rules and Entry Form

Garlic Fried Rice from Cecilia

My mom taught me this delicious recipe. You will need:

3 or 4 cloves of garlic
3 cups pre-made white rice
1 tsp. of black pepper
1 tsp. of cilantro
1 tblsp. of fish sauce
(or)
a pinch of salt

Tools:

Large sauce pan
Spatula
Oven mit

Instructions:

On medium heat, saute the garlic. Spoon in the pre-cooked white rice and stir for
about 4 minutes. Gradually stir in the salt or fish sauce and keep stirring the
rice. Fold in the pepper and cilantro. Stir constantly for 3-5 minutes. Let cool for
1 minute, and serve. Enjoy!

Makes 6-7 servings

Snack Attack

We have a new page up. It's called "Snack Attack." You can access it through the Recipe Box page.

It's organized by what you might have in the refrigerator. Got eggs? Got cheese?

So if you're hungry after school, you can find a recipe for an easy snack.

We'll be adding new snack features in the next few weeks. So if you have a favorite snack, send us the recipe. Please include your first name and your state.

Golden Freeze Smoothie

Here's a recipe sent to us by Cassidy.

You'll need:

1-6 oz (3/4 cup) frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk
2-3 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8-10 ice cubes

1. Place the first 4 ingredients and half of the ice cubes into a blender
container. Cover and process on medium high until you no longer hear the
ice hitting the blades.
2. Continue processing on medium high speed. Remove center cup opening;
drop the other half of the ice cubes through center opening remaining ice
one at a time until you no longer hear the ice hitting the blades.

Yield-approximately 5 cups

Sound great, Cassidy! Thanks for the recipe.

Chocolate Egg Tree

I saw your video on the egg tree. Well, I wanted to share a neat thing that you can
do like that to make chocolate eggs. You drill only one hole but make it a little
bit bigger than the one shown on your egg tree. Then you get all of the egg out. You
also need to make sure that you wash it to get all the germs out! (Wash it
realllllllly well!)

Then you melt some chocolate chips. You then use a funnel to let
the melted chocolate get into the egg. Then you put it in the fridge and let it
harden.

When completely hardened you can crack the egg and a delicious chocolate egg is in store!! Another thing you can do is do layers with white chocolate, nuts, and
caramel, and dark chocolate!

Sincerely,
Mace

COOKING CONTEST for KIDS sponsored by Food and Wine Magazine

Food & Wine magazine, knows that kids are America's newest foodies. In their August issue, they will profile some of the most talented young cooks in the U.S.

If you're the parent of a child age 6-16 who's a whiz in the kitchen and whose fondest dream is to become the next Emeril Lagasse or Giada De Laurentiis, they want to know about him or her! So tell them about your kid cook and send us his or her favorite recipe: It might be an original dish, a family recipe or a recipe from TV, a cookbook or another source.

Entrants (parents of the kid cooks) must be legal U.S. residents 18 years or older. Contest rules and entry form.

Two Grand Prize Winners will each receive a selection of cooking tools worth about $170. Two runners-up each get a $50 American Express Gift Card. For complete official rules, visit foodandwine.com/kids after March 30, 2007. Void where prohibited.

CHECK THIS OUT! The date is coming up fast!

All mailed entries must be postmarked by April 14, 2007 and received by April 20, 2007. All faxed entries must be received by April 14, 2007.

Turkey Sandwich from Keely

Keely send us this recipe for a grilled turkey sandwich:

Take 2 slices of bread, some turkey, 1 teaspoon of honey mustard, 1 teaspoon of mayo, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, a hunk of butter.

Spread mustard and mayo on bread. Put turkey on bread. Add parmesan. Put butter in a pan on medium heat.

After butter melts put sandwich in. Let cook for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Great recipe Keely. Thanks!

What we're reading at Spatulatta

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Edward maybe a toy rabbit but he has a lot to tell us about the nature of love and how we learn to love.

I found it on the "Independent Readers" shelf of the children's section in our local bookstore. The front cover drew me in and the story fulfilled the promise. It's an incredibly intelligent book and it will delight readers of all ages.

I don't want to tell you too much about it because I want it to unfold as naturally for you as it did for me.

Gaylon

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bites

Start with Chewy chocolate peanut butter granola bars... and put them in a ziplock
baggy... then smash it with a rolling pin... then mix peanut butter with it and then
take in out and roll it into a ball...put it into the freezer for 4 hours...take out
for 1 hour to thaw and enjoy!!!!!!

Samantha

Gaby sends us a recipe for Macaroons

I just found the best recipe "COCONUT COOKIES"
(MY MOM JUST DID IT YESTERDAY*)

HOW TO DO IT,
PUT IN A BOWL,
3EGG WHITES
1/4 TSPN VANILLA
1 1/4 CUP CONFECCIONARRY SUGAR.
BEAT VERY WELL THEN,
ADD ABOUT 12 OUNCES OF COCO FLAKES, MIX AND GIVE IT ANY SHAPE YOU WANT.
PUT OVEN TO *350 AND TAKE OUT UNTIL GOLDEN



gaby*******

Liv and Belle in "Relish" Magazine

There's a full page story about Spatulatta with the girls making Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day. Relish magazine is the Sunday supplement in many newspapers across the US.

If you get Relish along with your Sunday paper, check it out!

Chocolate "Moose" - recipe sent in by Kate

Chocolate Moose

1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for about a 1:30.

You'll need a mixer. Blend the cream for about 2:00 then add chocolate while still blending cream.

Refrigerate for three hours.

It's soooooo good!

Kate

Where the Name "Spatulatta" Came From

I am an adult teacher of English who came across your website while
teaching a class on how to summarize newspaper articles. I, and a number of my
students, are curious about how you came up with the name "Spatulatta." We know
what a spatula is, but what gives the word its unique ending? Thank you!

Robb Davis
Escuela Internacional Sampedrana
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
5th Grade Language Arts

Dear Robb,

Great question! We were trying to come up with names for the site and testing them with kids in focus groups. The kids really liked names like "Cooking for Kids" and "Kids in the Kitchen." But in the time it took to do the focus groups those names were snapped up. So we ran more groups but nothing seemed to have that "Aha!" moment.

Liv, Belle, their mom Heidi, their dad Vince, my husband Roger and I would have these conversations where we would just sling ideas back and forth. We probably tried a thousand names!

I must have been drinking too many lattés or something when the name Spatulatta popped into my head. The image it evoked was a smaller, slightly feminine spatula. Since the hosts of the website were girls it seemed to fit. It also had a slightly exotic feel, sort of Spanish maybe Italian sound.

It sort of rolls off one's tongue - Spatulatta. We liked it and it stuck!

Thanks for your question,

Gaylon

Whole Foods Cooking Demo

We'd like to say "Hi!" all the kids who came to cook with us at Whole Foods in Evanston, IL last Saturday. It really was fun meeting you all and the food turned out great!

We made our "Undersea Adventure" recipes: Mermaid Pockets (fish baked in parchment paper), Sailboat Salad, Tater Turtles and Tropical Trifle. The fish was a huge hit. Seconds and thirds were eaten with gusto!

If you'd like the recipes, go to the top of the page here and click on the Recipe Box icon. Then scroll down to "Undersea Adventure."

A big thanks goes out to Ms. Christine Doyle from the Community Relations Department at Whole Foods for inviting us and for getting all the ingredients together. You are a peach!

Here's a recipe we got from our friend Cassidy

Groovy Smoothie

2 small ripe bananas
1 cup frozen unsweetened whole strawberries
1-8 oz. vanilla low fat yogurt
3/4 cup milk
6-8 ice cubes

1. Remove peel from bananas. Cut banana into chunks.
2. Put banana chunks, frozen strawberries, yogurt, milk and half of the
ice cubes into blender.
3. Cover blender and blend on medium high speed about 1 minute or until
mixture is smooth.
4. Continue processing, but remove center cup from cover. Drop the
remaining ice cubes into blender one at a time. Process until you no
longer hear the ice hitting the blades.
Yeild- about 4 servings

Thanks Cassidy!

Send your recipes to info@spatulatta.com

What's up in the Spatulatta Kitchen?

We just had a meeting this morning to talk about Liv and Belle's appearance at the Whole Foods in Evanston, Illinois. They'll be there this Saturday, February 25 at 1 PM.

They'll be making some very cool, blue recipes from our Undersea Adventure: Mermaid Pockets - fish in parchment, a Deep Blue Sea Trifle, Sea Turtle Taters and Sailboat Salad.

We were also just gushing about the article in American Girl Magazine. Belle and Liv are stylin'.

Update!

Just got a call from Belle and Livvy. They're stranded in New York City and will have to stay over night because of the snowstorm. They're making the best of it though. Mom and Dad are taking them to see "Spamalot." If you wind up with lemons, make lemonade!

Presidential Press Conference Bumps Liv and Belle

"The View" will air them tomorrow!

Hello!

I just got a call from Liv and Belle in New York City. President Bush's press conference is reempting today's episode of "The View." But we're assured that they will run the Spatulatta girls' segment tomorrow.

If you were waiting to see the show to get an idea for a special Valentine's dinner, don't dispair. You can still see the girls make a fabulous 3-course meal on the Spatulatta website.

Thanks for your understanding,

Gaylon Emerzian
Creator, Spatulatta.com