Mombian Cooks: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Frosting
‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin, so I doubled down with these sweet treats of pumpkin-y goodness.
Kitchen and Food
Mombian Cooks: Pita Bread on the Grill
Imagine a soft and chewy pita bread that will put store-bought versions to shame and is darn simple to make. I’ve been having a great deal of fun baking these on a pizza stone on our grill this summer. The only downside is that the boughten kind will never taste as good again.
Mombian Cooks: Terraria Birthday Cake
My son’s latest video game obsession is Terraria, which combines building, adventure, and mining — sort of like Minecraft in 2D, with more role-playing game thrown in. One of the bad guys (“bosses”) in the game is a giant bloody eyeball. For his birthday, therefore, I decided to give him what only an 11-year-old video gamer would want: a giant bloody eyeball birthday cake. It wasn’t as gross as it sounds; read on for details and my secret to making spheres with sweets.
Wisconsin Spice Company Celebrates Marriage Equality
Wisconsin-based spice company Penzeys is celebrating the state’s marriage equality win by sharing the stories of four of the plaintiff couples (several of whom have children), including “their lives, their cooking and their love.” Lest you think they’re just jumping on the bandwagon, they also reposted an article about gay dads Pat and Dennis and their four kids that ran in their newsletter way back in 2005. It lost them customers at the time — but they stuck with their beliefs.
Talk with Iron Chef Cat Cora on Wednesday
Cat Cora, chef, entrepreneur, and lesbian mom, will be on Residence Inn’s Family Travel Talk Forum this Wednesday evening to talk travel, cooking, and more. Everyone’s invited to join in and ask questions!
Breastfeeding: One Lesbian Mom’s Experience
Whether you’ve breast fed, bottle fed, or adopted kids after they were weaned, you should go read “Failing at Feeding” over at Brain, Child. In it, writer Paige Schilt offers some excellent thoughts on maternal stereotypes and expectations, being the lone lesbian in a mothers’ support group, and the physical and emotional toll of having difficulties with breastfeeding.
Betty Crocker Celebrates ALL Families
A treat for your weekend viewing: In honor of yesterday’s National Coming Out Day, Betty Crocker posted a wonderful video of LGBT families at the New York City and Twin Cities Pride events this year.
Barilla Pasta Chair: “I absolutely don’t respect adoptions in gay families”
Pasta is a parent’s lifesaver. It’s quick and easy to prepare, and even the pickiest kids usually like some version of it. I was disheartened, then, to learn that Guido Barilla, the chair of Barilla Pasta — my go-to brand — told a radio interviewer Wednesday that, “I absolutely don’t respect adoptions in gay families, because that concerns a person who is not the people who decide.” Guess what? We LGBT parents, like most parents, buy lots of pasta for our families. I daresay it won’t be Barilla now.
Betty Crocker Bakes Cakes for Minnesota Same-Sex Weddings
Betty Crocker sits right up there with television’s June Cleaver as one of the icons of homemaking. How delightful, then, that General Mills, which owns the Betty Crocker brand, will be donating cakes to the first three same-sex couples to marry in Minnesota when it becomes legal to do so this Thursday — and that the brand is taking other steps to include same-sex couples in its marketing.
Cat Cora’s Banana Yogurt Split with Berries and Coconut
Here’s the last of three recipes that Iron Chef and lesbian mom Cat Cora has created for Residence Inn by Marriott (as I explained Tuesday)—a dessert, appropriately: Banana Yogurt Split with Berries and Coconut.