Genie Gratto

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  1. Jamie Oliver Talks About Food Revolution Day and Why You Should Participate!

    5/17/12 2:33pm by Genie Gratto
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    Food Revolution Day is May 19

    On Saturday, May 19, people all over the world will celebrate the first Food Revolution Day, a day of action designed to help everyone think about where their food comes from, consider making healthier, less-processed choices about what they put in their bodies, and gather together to share those ideas and meals as a community of cooks and eaters committed to eating well. Celebrity chef and food activist Jamie Oliver, who has been working in the United Kingdom and in the United States since 2004 to improve school meals for kids throughout both countries, is using the day to expand awareness about ways to eat well, and why it's so important to do so. I had the opportunity to ask Jamie about his work and about Food Revolution Day—read on to learn more about the bigger picture into which this important day fits, as well as small ways that everyone can take part.  Read more >

  2. Make Mother's Day Delicious for a Homebound Senior Mom

    5/7/12 11:27am by Genie Gratto
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    Meals for Moms

    For the third year in a row, the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is celebrating Mother's Day with the Meals for Moms campaign, an effort to make sure no senior women go hungry on Mother's Day—or any time of year. According to MOWAA, 60 percent of seniors facing hunger are women, and that gender gap is growing each year. The Meals for Moms campaign aims to reverse that trend by providing an opportunity to honor the women who raised each of us by helping feed hungry senior women around the country.  Read more >

  3. USDA Declares Beef Supply Safe, Despite BSE Diagnosis

    4/25/12 5:00am by Genie Gratto
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    Cows

    The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed yesterday that the nation's fourth case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), which is also known as Mad Cow Disease, was detected in a central California dairy cow.  Read more >

  4. Spaghetti with Kale and Tomato Sauce from bell'alimento

    4/2/12 7:53am by Genie Gratto
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    Spaghetti with Kale and Tomato Sauce

    I've been eating more kale than ever before this year—mostly in raw salads, which have been hitting the spot for me lately. But even as kale season is winding down, I'm always on the hunt for other interesting ways to use this nutritional powerhouse in my cooking. That's why I love this recipe for Spaghetti with Kale and Tomato Sauce from bell'alimento: It has very few ingredients (most of which I almost always have in my pantry), but packs a vitamin and mineral punch while also staying low in calories. It's also versatile—no kale at your local market? Just substitute arugula for a more peppery flavor but an equally healthy Meatless Monday option.  Read more >

  5. Learning To Keep Cooking Fun With The Naptime Chef

    3/12/12 2:00pm by Genie Gratto
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    Kelsey Banfield

    If you're a mother who loves to cook but struggles with how to fit time in the kitchen on your daily agenda, you might want to get to know Kelsey Banfield a little better. Banfield, who blogs at The Naptime Chef has a just-released cookbook on the shelves that focuses on techniques like batch cooking, staged preparation, and creative reuse of leftovers to ease the process of not just cooking, but cooking well. The Naptime Chef: Fitting Great Food Into Family Life is a solid resource for those facing the time-to-cook challenge. I caught up with Banfield this week about food, motherhood, and the importance of finding a rhythm in the kitchen.  Read more >

  6. Getting Smart About Your Family's Food Budget With Rosalyn Hoffman

    3/6/12 12:00pm by Genie Gratto
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    Rosalyn Hoffman

    In her just-released book, Smart Mama, Smart Money: Raising Happy, Healthy Kids Without Breaking the Bank, Rosalyn Hoffman attempts to help Moms (or Moms-to-be) sort through a variety of questions about keeping spending in check while making sure your family is living a good life. She devotes an entire section to the issue of how families purchase food, prepare it, and eat it, asking parents to rethink how they approach the whole process to make it more affordable...and healthier.  Read more >

  7. Best Picture Dinners: Hugo

    2/24/12 8:00am by Genie Gratto
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    Hugo

    The final movie we'll examine in the Best Picture Dinners series is Hugo, Martin Scorcese's homage to the early days of the cinema and the complicated act of unpuzzling relationships between parents and children. It is a stunningly gorgeous film, particularly when viewed in 3D, bringing alive Paris' central train station in the early 1930s.  Read more >

  8. Best Picture Dinners: The Artist

    2/22/12 2:00pm by Genie Gratto
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    The Artist

    I hadn't heard much about The Artist before the awards season got underway—a couple of friends mentioned it in passing after attending a screening, and they remarked that it was not only worth seeing, but that they were amazed at how captivated they were by an essentially silent movie. The movie captivated me, too, with its expressive elements and its examination of a time when the movie industry was engaged in radical change. It's a sweet and touching story with a heartwarming finale, but goes back to another age of storytelling to reach today's audiences. It's the next feature in our Best Picture Dinners series.  Read more >

  9. Best Picture Dinners: War Horse

    2/20/12 7:09am by Genie Gratto
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    War Horse

    The next movie in the Best Picture Dinners series is War Horse, which follows the relationship between young Albert and his horse during World War I. It features a glimpse into England's working rural poor around that time in history, and also that examines a time when war was on the cusp of changing, with both new and more traditional ways of fighting intersecting in a brutal fashion.  Read more >

  10. Best Picture Dinners: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

    2/16/12 7:00am by Genie Gratto
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    Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is not a movie that lends itself to thoughts of a meal. It is a film infused with the images and emotional reminders of what was, for so many, and for the boy at the heart of the film, The Worst Day. But here's the thing of it: when there's emotional upheaval, food can provide comfort. And that's how I decided to design this meal: comfort, inspired mostly by the film, but also by the lives lost that day.  Read more >

Genie Gratto

Full Name
Genie Gratto
Member Since
May 2006
About Me: 

My name is Genie. I was born in Washington D.C. While there are plenty of people in the D.C. area with a penchant for gardening, I was not one of those people. I either over-watered or under-watered, and next thing I knew, whatever green thing I tried to coax along into healthy existence had withered and died.

In September 2005, I moved to Iowa City. In April 2006, I decided to overcome my black thumb heritage and plant some herbs in a couple of pots. Next thing I knew, I had a garden.

In May 2008, I said goodbye to my Iowa City garden plot and headed even further West: to Oakland, California, where the farmer’s markets run year-round. Urban gardening is the next challenge in my list of garden experiences.

Let's just say this: apparently, I'll do anything for a good tomato.

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