My Other Life

Carolyn Tillie Sushi Ring made from Gachapon toys

Matthew Carden – Cauliflower Farmers

Cara Brown Watercolor

Victoria Mimiaga Broccoli in Plastic

Many of my readers may not know about my other life.  For years my husband, photographer Matthew Carden and I dreamed of having some kind of food related art business. We weren’t sure how it would take shape but two years ago in April it was suddenly born as Super Fresh Art Gallery. It only made sense, I’m a chef and cookbook author and he’s a fine art food photographer. Just by chance we stumbled upon a fantastic light open space on the Main Street in Old Town Novato,  just four blocks from our house. We weren’t quite ready,  but are you ever really ready for a new adventure?

Carolyn Tillie Broccoli Earrings

We rented the space and  took off from there. We opened the world’s first all Food Art Gallery, all our art has some relationship to food. It’s funny, people walk by and I can hear them saying “food art, that’s weird” or they get all excited and love what we are doing! At first we opened as an appointment only showroom for my husband’s art work but in the last year and a half we find ourselves moving in to being a full blown gallery. Dividing  my time between the gallery,  my cookbook and food styling have been a challenge.

We started selling on the new Amazon Art site when it launched this summer and that has been really fun!I do love running the gallery and I love when my clients get so excited about the art. Recently we have a very nice article written about our crazy life, focusing on the gallery. It was wonderful for us because it brought so many new food artists out of the woodwork and to our attention. Since the article I have acquired four new artists and two more on the way. I am really excited that we can represent artists who document our culture through food and some who just find it the subject they love to work with. Thank you to all my readers for the support and positive energy you always seem to throw my way.

Click to read article

Check out our other artists too:

Jim Bachor – Humorous mosaics

Caren Alpert – Amazing Magnification photography

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Happy 2014!!

Hoping 2014 will bring everything you wish for

Bullseye Pops

THE KIDS are ALL Right

Photo Matthew Carden

Another share from Edible Marin Wine Country, I couldn’t pass up sharing this recipe!

When I sat down to write this issue’s Stone’s Soup Corner, I thought I had it all worked out. Melon soup was on the agenda. Perfect for summer— cool, refreshing and easy.

I usually clear my ideas with my 9-year-old daughter before I discuss them with my editor, but this time I never got around to asking her what she thought about this soup idea. Her reaction when she heard: “Mom, no kid is going to eat that!”

And she was right. I had lost sight of whom I was writing for. So, together, we brainstormed for a summer melon-y idea and came up with these creamy pops.

Food is at the center of so much of our lives and too often it becomes simply a chore. We shoo the kids away so we can get the cooking done, clean up and get on to the next task. But food should be fun, not stressful or humorless. That is why I like cooking for kids and silly grown-ups.

Sometimes on a hot day sharing a moment with a sloppy, drippy homemade pop is simply the right thing to do. Forget all the to-do lists and the dirty laundry, just for a moment. These Bull’s Eye Honeydew Pops highlight the ripest melons of the season. They are creamy, refreshing and dairy free!

Make an extra batch to keep in your freezer—it’s nice to have homemade pops ready for a playdate or family dessert on a hot summer night.

Bullseye Honeydew Pops

Yield: 6 regular-size pops or 24 ice-cube-size pops

3⁄4 cup full-fat coconut milk
1⁄2 cup sugar
6 large mint leaves (Mint grows wild, so go check your garden before

you buy it at the market.)
3 cups very ripe Honeydew melon flesh (about 1⁄2 a melon 24 fresh or frozen cherries
Decorative straws (cut to size) or Popsicle sticks

Extra Tools

Straws or wooden Popsicle sticks

Small pop molds (Note: pop molds look great, but an ice cube tray will work just fine.)

Add coconut milk, sugar and mint leaves to a small saucepan and warm slowly over medium heat, scraping the sides constantly with a rubber spatula. When the sugar is dissolved, remove pan from heat and cool mixture to room temperature.

Dice the melon flesh into small pieces and place in a blender. Drain the mint from the cooled syrup, then add syrup to the blender. Blend until smooth and frothy.

Place four cherries into each pop mold—or, if you are using ice cube trays to make your pops, place a stick or straw into each cherry and place 1 in each cube reservoir.

Pour the coconut-melon mixture around the cherries in each mold, then place a straw or Popsicle stick into the center. If you are using ice cube trays, carefully pour the mixture around each cherry in the tray.

Freeze for 4 hours or until firm.

edible marin & wine country summer 2013 | 53

The Toddler Café Tips and Tricks Contest

How many times have parents worked hard to make a new dish for their toddler only to have them throw it on the ground or refuse to eat it? Every mom has been there, and they all want to know how to get their kids to develop into healthy eaters that actually enjoy their time at the table. While there is no easy answer to this question, author Jennifer Carden and her photographer husband Matthew have created a cookbook to get parents started in the right direction. They learned with their own daughter that creativity, involvement, and fun are the keys to keeping kids curious about food.

The Toddler Café
By Jennifer Carden :: Photography by Matthew Carden

Check out the Toddler Café video to learn more about
their philosophy for feeding toddlers.
http://www.bookvideos.tv/2008/02/toddler-cafe.html

So now, we’re asking parents:

What are your favorite tips or tricks to get your toddler to eat?

Some tips Jennifer and Matthew Carden suggest are:
Putting the food in creative containers, like brown paper bags, an ice cream cone, or a teacup
Create creative dish names and stories when introducing new ingredients. For example, pasta with a creamy pea sauce is now Monster Mash and your little ‘monster’ can gobble it right up to get monster strength!

THE CONTEST

Chronicle Books and Boon, Inc. are sponsoring a CONTEST to find the best ideas for getting kids to eat. Whether it’s trying new foods or just getting them to sit still at the table, what works for you?

WHO WINS?: From your entries, author Jennifer Carden will choose the top TEN entries, who will all receive a signed copy of the book and a Boon Inc. feeding utensil for their child. Plus, will post all TEN winning tips here so everyone benefits from their brilliant tips.

Of the TEN, a GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a full line of the Boon Inc feeding utensils and dishes and the super-popular Animal Bag, along with several best-selling parenting books from Chronicle and the signed copy of The Toddler Café.

TO ENTER: Send an email to author Jennifer Carden at toddlercafe@gmail.com

WHEN: The contest lasts from April 1 until April 30! Winners will be announced on Mother’s Day!!! How appropriate!

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