Eating Across Kansas

The latest trend in American cuisine is to eat everything - all sorts of vegetables, previously unpopular fishes and cuts of meat, and "offal" - organ meats, pig trotters, ears, snouts - everything. I commend this outlook, and I've drastically expanded the foods that are in regular rotation in my diet since high school. Just since moving to Kansas I've added turnips, brussels sprouts, and raw milk. However, every foodie/food nerd/chowhound/whatever-you-want-to-call-someone-obsessed-with-food has some dislikes, and a couple of closet "likes" that you know are culinarily taboo. Things you are supposed to like, but just can't stomach, or foods (usually overprocessed memories of childhood) that "real foodies" would scoff at. These are my confessions: Dislikes: Beets - taste like dirt, can't eat them in anything despite trying many varieties and prearations Radishes - see above, but can handle them if chopped fine and mixed in something Orga...

Passions don't magically appear. They are learned over time. My love of food and cooking started early. I've actively nurtured these loves for many years, at some times more actively than others. My earliest memory of cooking is from age 3 or 4. On weekends my dad would cook breakfast for Mom and me. I remember him letting me beat eggs with a fork to make scrambled eggs. He would pull a kitchen chair up next to the stove so I could "help" him flip pancakes. My earliest memory of the holidays is making peanut butter fudge and decorating sugar cookies with my mother, sometime around age 4 or 5. Around the same time I remember a Thanksgiving dinner with my aunt and uncle in Georgia. I don't remember anything except a big turkey leg and my uncle showing my how to blow up surgical gloves like balloons. At age 10, I would watch Martha Stewart on Saturday mornings. She came on at 10:00 and my horseback riding lessons were at 11. I would watch Martha while Mom & Dad ...

Last week two Hutchinson restaurants rolled out new menu items. Summer's coming, vegetables are fresh, and people are looking for lighter fare. Both Jillian's and The W have added new, seasonal items to their menu that will satisfy your craving for something fresh and different. Change has been underfoot at Jillian's for a while. After months of planning, their outdoor patio will open tonight. I've heard the owners and staff talking about upcoming menu and wine list changes, which I've been greatly anticipating. Last Thursday, I stopped in for dinner, and to my delight, they happened to be rolling out their new menu items! As far as I can remember, Jillian's has added 1 appetizer and 3 entrees to their menu. During the first Taste of Hutchinson event last fall, Jillian's concocted a 4-cheese stuffed toasted ravioli . The dish went over so well it earned a spot on the appetizer list. The new entrees are very diverse. Eggplant Parmesan is the newest in the p...

Pig? Not today. Today is the first day of the 2010 season of the Reno County Farmer's Market. I got there shortly after the 7:30 opening. I woke up at 5:45 from a strange dream and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd get my butt out of bed and head to the Farmer's Market for breakfast, produce and whatever other goodies I could find. There were quite a few booths for the first day, and a lot of good-looking produce for so early in the season. There were lettuces, spinach, asparagus, strawberries, green onions and radishes. Several farmers were selling vegetable and herb plants. There seemed to be many more baked goods tables than last year. I was planning on selling baked goods a few times this year - might be more difficult than I thought with all the competition! One of my first stops was at the Red Fence Farm booth to visit my friends Tracy and Kate. They make rain barrels, rain barrel stands, and rotating compost bins. They also sell fresh eggs from their ...

So, eating is great - it can be an adventure, a way to bond with friends and share memories. However, as I've come to learn, if the focus is always food, especially high-fat, high sugar and processed food, eating can be an unhealthy habit. A good way to deal with the negative effects of unhealthy eating is to eat healthier. However, diet alone does not good health bring. I'm learning more and more how essential physical activity is for both mental and physical health. It can be a pain to get started on an exercise program - the key is finding an activity that you find enjoyable that doesn't put too much stress on unused muscles too soon . For most of us, if a workout is too boring or if we're too sore the day after, we won't keep doing it. If you live in the Hutchinson, Kansas area and you want to try some different ways to get fit, this Sunday, April 18 is the perfect opportunity for you to try different fitness lessons. The Don Michael Field Community Workout wi...

Each year for Easter, my mom sends me 2 types of candy: Peeps and Cadbury Crème Eggs. Over the years, I have grown to be fond of stale peeps. However, a recent discovery has changed my outlook on Peep consumption. I can’t remember which website I got the idea from, but somewhere on the interwebs, there was a posting that detailed how to have a Peep War. 1. Place two Peeps approximately 2 inches apart on a microwave safe plate. 2. Have each person choose a Peep and place a toothpick in a sword-like position approximately where the Peep’s “arm” would be. 3. Place plate in microwave on High for about 2 minutes. If you have a microwave with a rotating table, be sure to mark which Peep is which, because when they’re spinning, it can be hard to remember which Peep is which. 4. Watch carefully as the Peeps swell. The first Peep to stab the other “wins.” If the Peeps get much bigger than an orange, turn the microwave off. I’m not sure how big a Peep will get before it explodes, but no...

Everyone knows one, everyone wants to be one, but only some people get treated like one – VIP. You don’t necessarily have to be a high-roller to be one, but it does help. I was never too concerned with being a restaurant VIP until I moved to Kansas. In Hutchinson and most other places I’ve visited in central Kansas good service is hard to find. I grew up in the south, where “Southern Comfort” was not just bourbon and “Southern Hospitality” wasn’t a cliché but a way of life. Couple that with 4 years at college in a southern tourist town, and I was spoiled. I rarely saw a glass less than half full, I never had to ask for silverware, and I never, EVER started a meal without knowing my server’s name. Once I moved to Hutch, I learned that there are places where the service industry is less of an industry and more of a state of limbo for people who are waiting for a better job. I knew my fair share of people in college who were waiting tables just to get by, but almost everyone was always “...