The Abundance of Food: Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe

Tuesday, October 21, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra

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We have designated Tuesday as a day where we will have different women share “Moments & Memories” in their lives.

We plan to feature women from all walks of lives – it may be in the form of an interview or as a guest writer. The column on Tuesday will be centered around our word of the month. We’d love to feature you as a guest writer. Qualifications: No experience necessary…just be willing to share a great moment or memory with other women. Send us an email and we’ll schedule a date. Our guest writers do not necessarily have to have a website or a blog as we want iLashGirls to be a place where every woman has a voice!

A big welcome to Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe. Leigh Anne and Melanie have struck up a virtual friendship through their mutual love of food and they both take great pictures of the food they love. Unlike Sherra who just loves to eat great food and rarely takes a picture of it before eating it.

We asked Melanie to introduce herself so you can get to know her…

I am an outnumbered, 30-something female living in a house with a patient husband and three funny and active little boys (ages 4, 3 and 16 months) with another boy due mid-January. Hence, my motto is: “Girls’ night outs welcomed ANYtime!” In my past life, I had a degree in Public Health and worked for many years in that field but now I am a stay-at-home mom and loving (most) every minute of it. I have been married for six years and have moved four times since, which brings us to our current residence in northern Utah after relocating from Wisconsin last year. (My husband works for a cheese company so where there are farmlands and dairies – we go!) During “me” time, I love to read, cook/bake, blog, and sometimes just sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing!

Favorite color:
Yellow

Favorite food you associate with Fall:
Apples

Pet Peeve?
Rude people – mostly rude people who don’t care that they are rude.

What is something that no one knows about you? (that you want to tell the whole internet world)
I keep a stash of Dove Dark Chocolates hidden in the depths of my kitchen cupboards that seriously no one in my family knows about and it is not unheard of for me to single-handedly finish off the bag by myself more often than I am willing to confess. It is balm to my harried mother-soul!

One word that describes you:
Can I have two words? Busy and happy.

What’s your motto or mantra:
Fall into bed each night with no regrets (even if that means whispering “sorry” to my sleeping children for all the times I messed up during the day!).

What are the top things you that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?
Family is everything to me; and my three and a half boys and husband are hands down my most important priorities. In second place would definitely be my passion for cooking and baking!

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Abundance

Being that I am at home with my three young children all day who manage to eat constantly, and the fact that I am pregnant, it is no wonder that my life revolves around food. From the time I wake up in the morning until bedtime, I am constantly thinking about what will grace my palate next. Now before you think I am a food snob, think again! Living on a strict food budget and feeding toddlers, the meals and snacks that grace my home are anything but fancy. Regardless, food is plentiful in my home – from the garden produce we are still garnering from our backyard plot to the massive amounts of milk, bread, and other goodies purchased from weekly trips to the grocery store. It is no wonder then that when I hear the word “abundance” I think of food, especially in the fall season when the images of filled cornucopias abound and many of us (please tell me I’m not the only one!) are thinking ahead to fun-filled holiday dinners with more food than should be legal.

I am not naïve enough, however, to believe that everyone is as fortunate as I am when it comes to having a plentiful amount of food. On the wake of coastal hurricanes, economic instability, and national and worldwide poverty, I realize the need to be grateful for the abundance…no, the over abundance that I have.

Like most other moms, I try to emphasize to my children that they need to be grateful for the food they eat. You know the whole “there are children starving in Africa” line when they don’t want to finish (or even start) eating their dinner. But am I saying that offhand or am I truly grateful for the food that I have? Several years ago, I was backpacking through Korea with my younger brother. It was an adventurous, exciting trip and we experienced many great things. However, we also saw much poverty. Homeless, ragged children begging on the streets for money to buy food. Stooped women working 16-hour days in the rice fields for mere pittance to support their families. It was a humbling experience. Until then, I don’t know if I realized how truly blessed I was. I wanted to break open my wallet and rescue each one of the hungry, swollen-bellied children that I saw. The memory has stayed with me and I have tried to allow it to sway me in directions to help those who are hungry and struggling.

As I approach the fall season and subsequent holidays, I have started to think about what I can do in my community to help those who have an under-abundance of food. Perhaps that is what being grateful for abundance is all about – passing some of what has made us full and happy on to others. My husband and I have decided to set some personal and family goals to help others who are hungry and in need of food. While it won’t be much, hopefully it will help, even if it is just one person. Perhaps we can all examine ways we can share our own abundance (be it food or other means) with others.

In honor of abundant food and beautiful fall weather, I’d love to pass on two of my favorite fall recipes. Enjoy…and maybe even share with a neighbor or two!

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Fall’s most quintessential flavor: pumpkin! These muffins are the perfect combination of warm pumpkin and fresh apple flavors. I could eat the entire batch! An old friend from high school sent me this recipe months and months ago (thanks Melissa!). I finally tried it out last week and oh my. Oh my. These are by far some of the best muffins that have ever graced my home. The tart granny smith apple (be sure to finely chop the apple!) adds great texture to the smooth spice of the pumpkin. These are fabulous.

Yield: 2 dozen

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs, and add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

*My tip: if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together and voila! – you have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (and it is much cheaper than buying it premade).

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Nothing shouts fall like a warm bowl of hearty soup. This wholesome and filling soup is by far one of my favorites and makes an appearance at our dinner table often during the fall!

Click here for the soup recipe on my site.

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Yum! Thanks Melanie. You can be sure we are both going to be making your recipes!

We love Melanie’s approach regarding abundance and food. We can all reach out and help in both big and small ways in our community. Sometimes all we need is a gentle reminder…

Please leave a comment below for Melanie and/or share a simple idea that you have done or are planning to do to help someone who might have an under-abundance of food this season.