I’ve always been a foodie, but food seems to impinge even more upon my consciousness now that I’m a mother. I suspect it’s the same for many of you.

The new food-review site Zeer intrigued me, therefore, when I read about it at TechCrunch. Zeer is “a grocery product community that helps you ‘believe in what you buy.’” You can view nutritional information for over 114,000 food products there, and rate and review each one, according to TechCrunch. So far, there seem like a lot of gaps in what’s been rated, but that’s to be expected of a new site.

TechCrunch says Zeer is targeting women between the ages of 20 and 32. This seems young, given that moms must be a potential audience, and lots of us are now waiting until we’re older to have kids. Maybe they’d better rethink that range. Read more »

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29, is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s. Yep, that’s right. Free cones at any B & J’s participating Scoop Shops. No purchase necessary. (Though if you come home with an extra pint or two, don’t blame me.)

What’s your favorite B & J flavor? I have a perverse love for Chubby Hubby, given that my spouse is neither chubby nor male. I’m also partial to Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey.

I have to say, though, that most of our ice cream purchases of late have been from a nearby dairy that uses hormone-free milk from their own cows. Not that I don’t love the guys from Vermont (who also use hormone-free milk), but I like supporting smaller, local businesses, too, and my son likes to see the cows when we go pick it up.

(Thanks, Parent Hacks.)

Here’s a little mealtime trick I thought I’d pass along. (If you use Irish oats, you can consider this a St. Patrick’s Day post.)

My son loves oatmeal, but doesn’t like waiting for it to cool down after I make it. If I add cold milk when it’s done, it ends up too soupy. My solution is to make it with only 2/3 or so of the recommended amount of water. This is sufficient to cook it, but leaves it dense enough that I can then add extra milk to bring it quickly down to the right temperature and consistency.

The trick above should work for either instant or regular oats, through I’m partial to the latter. It really takes about the same amount of time to cook in a microwave as the instant stuff. This also lets me control the flavorings and amount of sweetener. I’m partial to a dash of cinnamon, some chopped apple and/or dried cranberries, and a touch of maple syrup.

What are your favorite oatmeal add-ons? And where is the worst place your child ever got it stuck (hair, ceiling, family pet)?

For my third contribution to Robin Reagler’s blog carnival, here’s Some/thing Borrowed: a recipe for Valentine’s Day.

What better for Valentine’s Day than something chocolate? What better for parents on Valentine’s Day than an easy chocolate project to whip up with the kids? When I saw these Chocolate Pretzel Buttons, I knew they were winners. A hint of salt, a burst of sweet . . . and with Hershey’s now making Kisses in dark chocolate, what’s not to love? (I’m of the strong opinion that white chocolate is an oxymoron.)

(Via CRAFT.)

The good thing about Valentine’s Day, which can at times seem like nothing more than a chocolate-fueled celebration of heterosexuality, is that the ubiquitous Sweethearts Conversation Hearts are at least pretty inclusive. Oh, you have to throw out some gender-specific ones that don’t apply, but you can always give the “Lover Boy” ones to your gay male neighbors.

Still, for those wanting more personalized messages, Evil Mad Scientist has simple instructions for how to stamp your own sayings on the hearts, using a return-address stamp from an office-supply store and a food writing pen. (I’m guessing bottles of food coloring and a thin paintbrush would also work.)

This could be a good outreach project for a Gay-Straight Alliance or other local organization. They could hand out bags of candy with sayings like “2 MOMS ROCK,” “GAY DADS,” and “GAY IS OK.”

On a less political note, this could just be a fun project for kids. I’m thinking my son would love some that said “PIZZA NOW” or “LEGOS RULE.” Of course, you could always customize some for your sweetie, too: “HOT DYKE” or “FAVE MAMA” might mean your Valentine’s Day continues after the kiddies go to bed.

(Thanks to MAKE for the link.)

Iron Chef Cat Cora appears in this month’s Parents magazine (and on their Web site), talking about cooking for her two young sons. Her youngest, at eight months, gets jarred organic food, and her four-year-old gets whatever everyone else is having. “I attribute his good eating habits, at least in part, to the fact that I hardly ever make a special meal for him.” Her other trick is to get her eldest involved in food preparation. I’ll confirm that both tips worked well with my son (and I’ll cut Cat some slack for not wanting to make her own baby food after spending all day in a kitchen). Here are my own ideas for how kids can help in the kitchen.

Cat’s partner Jennifer is shown in the background of one photo (in print, not on Parents.com, though Celebrity Baby News has a scan). Jennifer isn’t mentioned in the article, however, so unless you know it’s her, you might think she was Cat’s sister. Not that there needed to be a lot about her—the article was about Cat and food—but a mention in the caption would have been nice. Another sign of ambivalence towards lesbian moms by Parents.com, which got rid of the only lesbian mom blogger in their stable, Harlyn Aizley, after only six months? (Harlyn now has her own home on the Web.)

I’m technically Jewish, since my parents are, but we were never a very observant family and my own beliefs today tend toward the agnostic. I am, however, what I’ve heard called a “culinary Jew,” which means I have a fondness (and occasional mad cravings) for certain foods of my heritage. I whipped up a bunch of latkes today when my brother and his wife came over to exchange holiday presents, and finding myself unexpectedly out of the traditional applesauce accompaniment, grabbed a bowl of the orange-ginger cranberry sauce I’d made for Thanksgiving. (The stuff keeps for weeks.)

Let me tell you, latkes and cranberry sauce should have met each other long ago. Oh, traditionalists might scoff, but I say give it a try—or go halfway by adding a chopped apple to your cranberry sauce recipe. The sweet-tart cranberry sauce complements the savory, rich latke just as applesauce does, perhaps even better. Here in New England, it seems particularly appropriate.

There are latke recipes aplenty online, so I won’t add my own here, which is an amalgamation of several. I will advise you, however, to wring out the grated potatoes and onion thoroughly in a towel before mixing in the other ingredients, or you’ll end up with a sodden, splattery mess.

(For those wanting a bit more about Jewish food and humor, make sure you read up on The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate. (Wikipedia also covers it.) Oy.)

There’s a bit of a food obsession going around the world of LGBT women at the moment. Since parenting and food seem to go together like peanut (or soy) butter and jelly, I thought I’d do a quick roundup.

• After Ellen has a lengthy feature piece on Iron Chef and lesbian mom Cat Cora.
• Author, performer, lecturer, and bisexual mom Susie Bright, best known for her writings about sex and politics, has launched a new blog, Little Susie Homebreaker, “Good Cooking, Fine Sewing, and the Leisure Hours.” Although her focus is somewhat different in the new venue, she brings as much passion and edginess to food as to sex—and anyone who suggests adding diced fennel bulb to Thanksgiving stuffing or starts her recipe for The Best Spaghetti You Ever Had with homemade roasted tomatoes and peppers (”roasting like fallen angels”), is clearly no novice in the kitchen. Lots of fun.
• Out lesbian and former Top Chef contestants Josie Smith-Malave and Sandee Birdsong, as well as bisexual Tiffani Faison will be appearing on Bravo’s Top Chef Holiday Special, Thursday, December 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Another Sapphic chef, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake in San Francisco, will be one of the judges. (On a more somber note, police arrested two women just before Thanksgiving for a September anti-gay attack on Smith-Malave.)
• Maybe it’s this culinary vibe that made me buy my new mixer last week. (It works great on this recipe for Raisin-Pecan Bread by King Arthur Flour—though in a seasonal spirit I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, and just used more rye flour instead of pumpernickel. It also makes whipped cream in about three seconds flat. Yee hah.)
• Several of you have also been active in the kitchen, as evidenced by your contributions to my Holiday Recipe Exchange: Riding the Gus Bus makes turkey with fresh herbs and pancetta; Jero at House of Jero does a traditional green-bean casserole as well as bacon-wrapped green bean bundles; and Jen at Addition Problems whips up simple, savory sweet potatoes. I did variations on cranberry sauce in my original post, so it looks like we’re well on our way to a complete holiday meal. Anyone care to share some pie recipes for dessert? Or holiday cookies?

I just bought myself the mixer of my dreams: the Kitchenaid 600, a 6-quart, 575-watt beauty. I’d been eying it for some time, since I’ve gotten into bread making in a big way since staying home with my son. I thought about the smaller and cheaper 5-quart model, but decided to hold out. Yesterday, however, in browsing Amazon, I noticed the 600 on sale for $269, a price comparable to that of its smaller sibling. Only two colors came at that price: licorice and meringue, but as most people would call them black and white, I didn’t mind. If it had been some weird olive or orange that clashed with my kitchen, I might have had qualms. It also qualified for free shipping. Not only that, but Amazon offered me a free trial of Amazon Prime that included free two-day shipping, so my whirling, light-dimming monstrosity should be here on Tuesday.

I promise Mombian won’t turn into a food blog, much as I have aspirations in that direction, but I beg your indulgence if I put up a recipe or two. Feel free to add your own as part of the Lesbian Mom Holiday Recipe Exchange.

I checked Amazon today, and it looks like the price is up to $299 for the same two colors. It’s still a great deal, though, since other colors are $368-399. If you have dreams of being the next Cat Cora, you might want to check it out, or send the link to your sweetie with a promise to bake her cookies.

Amazon is also having a big sale the Friday after Thanksgiving. I can’t promise they’ll be the best deals around, but if my mixer is anything to go by, there should be at least a few real bargains. As always, purchases at Amazon made by clicking a link from this site (even if you purchase different products from the ones I mention) generate a referral fee to me to help keep Mombian going. Thanks for your support!

I think I’ll ask Helen to buy me the flame detail kit for the holidays. There’s something very lesbian about decorating a mixer like a Harley.

Reader Debbie let me know that Iron Chef Cat Cora and her partner and kids “were featured in this week’s People Magazine talking about their Thanksgiving traditions, and giving tips.” The full article isn’t online, but her grandmother’s mustard recipe is, along with Cat’s recipe for a Pomegranate Balsamic Reduction you can blend in to make a turkey glaze. There’s also a darn cute photo of her and her kids.

(If you want more of Cat’s cooking, try her Cooking From the Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals.)

Have recipes of your own to share? Take part in our Holiday Recipe Exchange.