Women’s Independent Press

Kooking For Katie

Well this December, Katie is turning 25 years old. Where did the time go? So for this  month’s column, it brought me back to when I first stated “kooking” for Katie.

 WhenKatie  first started eating “real” food, I would buy oatmeal and later those crackers that she could munch on and oh yes, those Honey Nut Cheerios.  But being a Buffalo girl that was a no brainer.  Yes, Cheerios are made in Buffalo.

But for fruits and veggies, it was much easier to  cook them, freeze them in small quantities and then heat them up when it was time for lunch or dinner.  To me this was easier, because I liked to cook and I liked to know what was going into Katie. It is  best to feed your child one specific food for a week to make sure they have no allergies or adverse reaction.

Baby Food*

Vegetables - Pick a vegetable….. peas, carrots, potatoes.  Veggies that are more mild

Fruits - apples, peaches, plums, bananas,  or pears

Wash the veggies or fruits, peel them, cut them in smaller pieces, steam them until they are soft and can be pureed in a food processor or blender.

 Place the pureed vegetables or fruit in ice cube trays.  Then place in freezer.

When meal time rolls around, pop out one or two veggie or fruit cubes.

Heat in the microwave or on the stove top.

Feed your child one veggie or fruit for a week. Then the next week try something different. When you know  that your child tolerates the fruit or veggies, you can mix different combinations  to make a new  taste.. Peas/Carrots,  Apples/Plums; Apples/Bananas.  Bananas tend to brown when frozen but they still taste good.

If you want to introduce your baby to meats  you can use the same procedure. Cook the meat, puree it in the food processor or blender, store and freeze in ice cube tray.  When meal time approaches, cook one of two cubes. 

Twenty five years later, I am still “Kooking for Katie” but proud to say that Katie has become a great cook too. This  past Thanksgiving, my husband and I were able to spend time with here at her homein Northern Virginia…. and the apple pie was delicious

Well, the time has come to harvest the summer jewels!

Basil Pesto

 2 cups of fresh basil leaves (discard stems)           

 ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese

 ¾ cup of walnuts ( or 3/4 cup of pinenuts)

 2 garlic cloves

  1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil

Mix  the  first four ingredients together in food processor until combined evenly. Then slowly add extra virgin olive oil. (Will use about 1/3 of a cup).

This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.

Variations: Mix 1/3 to 1/4 cup of light whipping cream to make a creamy pesto sauce

                 Add cherry tomatoes that are halved into pesto.

Freezes well.  After I harvest my basil, I spend a morning making the pesto and freezing for later use.  In the midst of winter, nothing tastes better than a pita pizza with pesto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella or  pesto over noodles and chicken.

Well the time has come to harvest the summer’s jewels!