Food and Cooking

Brunch is a popular option for celebrating Mother’s Day. Here are a few unique options that are family friendly:

• Peacock Gap County Club in San Rafael will being having their 37th Annual Mother's Day Champagne Brunch Buffet on Sunday from 10 am to 2:30 pm. We go there for Easter brunch and it's very child friendly. They will be having omelets, a waffle station, a chef's carving station, and a large dessert and pastry selection. Adults are $29.95, seniors $27.95 and children (under 12) are $18.95. Early reservations suggested at (415) 453-3111. Peacock Gap Golf and Spa is located at 333 Biscayne Drive.

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Here's another fun and easy recipe to make with your kids from What's Cooking's Michelle Stern. She's recently launched What's Cooking Weekly, a subscription service that offers five healthy meals ideas for your family every week, including easy recipes, shopping lists, nutrition information, and tips on how to get children involved in the kitchen. Every Friday morning, you will receive an e-mail with a summary of the menus for the week along with a link to the website. It's easy and all your meals are planned out for you for the entire week. Print out the grocery list to buy all the items you need for all your meals.

We're also giving away one 6-month subscription to What's Cooking Weekly to a Marin Mommies reader, courtesy of Michelle Stern and What's Cooking. To enter the drawing, send an email to contests@marinmommies.com with "What's Cooking" in the subject line. One lucky winner will be selected on Thursday, May 1. Congratulations to Tracey W. winner of the What's Cooking giveaway.

Pine Point Cooking School offers cooking classes for kids ages 9–17 in Mediterranean Cuisine—Italian, French and Greek—with an emphasis on local organic produce, seafood and poultry. “Your dish will never be better than its worst quality ingredient,” and “Never eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food” are two of the favorite maxims of Adrianna, the Italian-Greek instructor. She mixes cooking sessions with blind tastings (“Guess which is the farmer’s market peach?”), field trips (to the Marin Farmer’s Market, to local farms, and artisanal food producers) with instruction in kitchen safety, equipment, table setting, meal planning and organizational tips.

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, March 17, and as we all know, you don't have to be Irish to celebrate. Although many of the St. Patrick's Day activities in the US involve drinking heavily, there are still quite a few things you do with the kids. Parent's Magazine sent a few tips for St. Patrick's Day family fun, including:

Friday, February 22

Bring the kids (ages 2–5) to Fantastic Fridays: Birds, Birds Everywhere this Friday from 10 am to noon. In this program, you and your toddler will explore the beautiful bird habitat that is Crissy Field Marsh. Take a bird watching hike and learn ways that we can keep the marsh healthy for years to come. Drop-ins accepted on a space-available basis. To register call (415) 561-7752, or download the form at www.parksconservancy.org. The cost is $10 per child, accompanied by a parent or caregiver.

When you're just too fried to cook dinner but don't want to deal with the whole restaurant experience, that old standby, the rotisserie roasted chicken, is often a great choice, especially since its something that everyone in our family will eat. While most of the supermarket versions are, to put it mildly, unappealing, there are at least two great places in Marin that specialize in tasty roasted birds.

Like many families these days, we find ourselves grabbing lunch or dinner on the go probably more than we should. Since restaurant meals are often loaded with excess fat, calories, and sodium, we try to find places to eat that offer healthy food, or something close to it. Fortunately, two of the places we like to go to offer either free or reduced-price dining for small children, which is great for the wallet!

Cooking with your children is a great way to spend quality family time, and, above all, it's fun! Here's a healthy and light, but warm and cozy, recipe for those cold winter evenings, courtesy of Michelle Stern, owner of What's Cooking. What's Cooking is a Marin-based business that offers cooking workshops in home or school for kids aged 2-1/2 through 19.

Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Bean Soup)
 
2 Tbs (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil  
2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left intact  
1 (4 to 6-inch) sprig thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact  
1 large fresh bay leaf or 2 dried bay leaves  
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