Basil Is Growing Up!The Cupcake Kids mascot and our favorite herb, "Basil" the basil plant has quadrupled in size this summer so we had to come up with more basil recipes to keep up!  Salads are a great way to use basil and still keep that bright green color. One of our favorite ways to eat basil in the summer is in a fruit salad.  Adding basil to warm dishes releases the herb's flavor and scent, but be careful because it blackens fast.

Strawberry Basil Salad
1 Qt Strawberries
2 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar
5 Basil leaves
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

We like using strawberries but you can use any fruit.  Cut the strawberries into quarters and toss with balsamic vinegar, sugar and a handful of torn basil and you have a refreshing summer salad! 

Fun Fact: Basil is part of the mint family and goes great as a substitute in recipes that call for fresh mint leaves.

Our New Kitchen Studio After months of hard work it's finally here... we recently celebrated the official launch of our new kitchen studio on the corner of 27th Street and 6th Avenue in the historic "Flour" District. Our intimate new location is the first kitchen studio in Manhattan designed and built exclusively for kids and it has allowed us to expand our cooking class schedule to include weekly cooking classes, summer camps and semester classes. The studio offers a fully equipped state of the art commercial kitchen that encourages budding chefs of all ages to participate in hands-on cooking activities in a safe and encouraging environment. The brightly colored space is complete with a retail store full of your budding chefs favorite cooking accessories.

During the Summer months, we'll be hosting an Open House every Tuesday afternoon from 3:30-5:00 for you to stop by and see our new kitchen. As a thank you for visiting, we'll be making my Dad's famous Oatmeal Pancake Mixes for you to take home and share with family and friends. Call us at 212-242-2248 to reserve a spot at an upcoming Open House. We look forward to seeing you soon.

P.S. Check out pictures from the kitchen construction process from start to finish on our Facebook Fan Page.
 

Organic Baby FoodIt's no mystery that home-made baby food is fresher, better tasting, cheaper and less wasteful than ready-made commercial baby food, but for those of you out there still wondering "whats so bad about the jarred stuff, anyway?", heres a few more reasons to dust off that food processor in your kitchen cabinet and get steaming, boiling and pureeing!

In order to make jarred baby food shelf-stable (it's designed to last for two years past the date of purchase), manufacturers heat the puree to extremely high temperatures and then cool it, eliminating a lot of the nutrients and much of the flavor in the original food. Many brands also add thickeners and stabilizers. Its certainly not poison, but if its all your baby is eating, its training him/her to prefer bland, empty calories. Have you tasted a jar of "beef, carrots and corn country dinner" lately? Not exactly an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

Children are also much less likely to become fussy eaters if they are exposed to a good selection of fresh foods, tastes and textures from an early age. More often than not, the picky eaters tend to be the ones brought up on jars of bland commercial purees, and babies given fresh foods from the beginning easily make the transition to joining in with family meals.

There's a health crisis plaguing Americas children today childhood obesity, diabetes, the list goes on and on and food is by far the main contributing factor. Do your children a favor and, from the start, let them recognize a variety of simply prepared whole foods, foods as close to their natural state as possible, as the familiar tastes that trigger "home" in their minds and bodies. Feed them what you eat, and make what you eat good enough to feed your baby!

Making baby food is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Join us at one of our upcoming Organic Baby Food 101 classes to help you on your journey to fresh, delicious, home-made baby food or check out one of our favorite books- Superfoods: For Babies and Children & Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel; Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron; and Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair.

Family Fun Day: Saturday, September 12thIn honor of Cupcake Kids! second birthday and the start the school year, we're throwing a party and it's FREE for all. Bring the whole family for hands-on cooking fun, crafts, and lots of giveaways! Chefs-to-be will have the chance to make their own delicious pancakes for breakfast and tasty and healthy fruit yogurt parfaits. Parents can enjoy free coffee and tea while mingling with other budding chefs and families. Attendees can enter to win multiple prizes, including a free CK class and even STAND Burger freebies! Did we mention that admission to CK's birthday bash is free?! So bring the family to get skilled in the kitchen, eat tasty snacks, and learn more about the events that Cupcake Kids! offers. The first 25 families to arrive will receive goody bags!

When? Sat, September 12th, 10:00-12:00
Where? STAND, 24 East 12th Street
Why? Cooking fun for the whole family!

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