Don’t ya just love cake. Think about it gang, of all the diverse foods, flavors, cooking styles, spices, herbs, and seasonings in every culture in the world past or present, there is at least one food all cultures share, CAKE ! Everyone can probably say they have an aunt, grandmother, mom, friend or someone whom when thinking of them instantly brings a memory of a great, best ever cake. Cake is royalty and muffins and cupcakes are the little princes and princesses. You find it ornately decorated and at the center of every important celebration, b-days, weddings, graduations, anniversaries,...

My family’s favorite bakery has the most amazing cookies, cakes, tarts and cheesecakes and our favorite treat to get there is the classic black and white cookie. It is a moist, cakey, not-too sweet sugar cookie as big as your hand with yummy icing. They can be pricey though, at $1 each. One year I made the mistake of letting one of my kids bring these cookies in for their class birthday treat and without thinking, I agreed. Well, $50 later, I vowed never again. For a fraction of the cost, I made black and white cookies a few...

On the website of the People’s Garden NYC, New York’s stately City Hall building is depicted with a brightly colored vegetable garden in front of it being worked by happy school children. When I first saw the picture, I thought it was real. It turns out the “photo” is an artist’s rendering, and the garden is only a fantasy, but it’s a dream that could become a reality, like the now famous organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn. If enough people sign the petition on the People’s Garden website asking Mayor Bloomberg to put in...

Ok, so I have a tough decision to make and I need your help! A few weeks ago I brought Baloo in for an out of the box fundraiser. As a fundraiser for Animal Haven, one of my favorite shelters in downtown Manhattan, uber talented Pet photographer, or “petographer” as she calls herself, Ixiana Hernandez, donated her time and expertise to photograph dogs in a makeshift studio at the shelter. The cost was only $30 for this pro photo session, and the photos turned out AMAZING, problem is now I want to pick 1 photo out of all the ones...

A friend asked me for a pizzelle recipe recently, so I went digging through my arsenal of recipes(30+ years worth), to find I actually had 6 recipes that I had made notes on like yummy, extra yummy, good fast and easy, etc. It’s been a while since I’ve made pizzelles so I decided to refresh my memory and skill before I passed on a recommendation. All pizzelle recipes are basically the same, eggs, flour, sugar, butter, baking soda, and flavoring, but I think there is a real significant improvement in the taste when 3 eggs are used instead of 2....

Dear Rachael, Hello. I watch your shows all the time. I am in need of your help: I want to be able to cook good recipes for my family. I love your 30 minute meals, however, i am in need of some recipe ideas for my family. I have three children. Do you have any ideas for someone like me, that won’t take long to cook, but good for kids as well? I am afraid my family is getting bored with the stuff i have been cooking. I appreciate your advice. Thanks, Lisa W Dear Lisa: Meal ideas for families is one of Rachael’s specialties, especially...

Our three kids are all less than two years apart and we have been raising them with a gang mentality. They go to the same school, typically do the same activities (soccer, swimming, piano), and have the same bedtime. I have been big on a pretty strict schedule from the get go, especially when it comes to bedtime. Our friends use to marvel at the ease of our bedtime routine - or lack thereof.  We never did the whole bath, three books, make up a story, one-hour bedtime routine for the kids, which actually sounds delightful but I never started it...

If you’ve got kids, chances are the nights of champagne-filled romantic meals at a fancy restaurant in honor of Valentine’s Day are probably over. If not, lucky you - keep the romance going. Even if you do get a chance to duck out for an adults-only Valentine’s Day with your sweetie, don’t forget to do something special with your kids. Kids get excited about every holiday (my son is even trying to institute a celebration of half-birthdays - oh my) and I have found that the smallest gestures are where family traditions are born. Typically it’s the little things that your kids will...

It seems like my dinner prep and cook time is getting more and more compressed. My two daughters have swim team twice a week and we don’t get home until after six, along with piano another day, swimming for my son another day, speech therapy……..the list goes on. So even though I am pretty organized - I plan my meals each week and shop once a week for the week’s groceries, I am still short on actual cooking time. I need to get dinner on the table in a hurry - the kids are ravenous when we get home and are...