All posts filed under: Worldwide

Why I’m terrified of telling you about my memoir

My dear friend Becky and I had been chatting over drinks for more than an hour when I suddenly mumbled “I’m terrified of telling my readers about my memoir.” The admission took me by surprise, as did the tears that spilled down my cheeks. I added, almost self consciously, “I don’t know how to tell them … isn’t that crazy?” I darted my eyes around R Bar expecting to lock eyes with frowning onlookers, but the only other patrons were engrossed with each other, the flush of new romance in their eyes. Truth is, I’ve been scared to tell you about my memoir for a long time. Sure: I’ve told you about the book casually – in a billboard announcement sort of way (clipped, chirpy, and relatively benign). But I haven’t told you in a pour my soul out through the keyboard sort of way. And – for better or worse – that’s the kind of announcement this book seems to require. My friend took in my tears, then said: “Tell them the truth: that you’re scared; that you cried at a bar …

10 New Year’s Food Traditions from around the World

Before the confetti and the fireworks glitter through our skies, our global neighbors teach that we must first take a little time to dream. You see, if we imagine our futures as bright and as shiny and as real as the stars above us, we come that much closer to realizing our dreams. It’s called positive thinking. And all around the world, people accomplish this through a brilliant collection of New Year’s food traditions. These food traditions aren’t just another nice meal with a game attached; they’re a way to represent everything we want for ourselves and our loved ones. When we eat symbolic meals, it’s the best kind of positive thinking (hello, happy tummies and hearts). Here are my favorite New Year’s food traditions from around the world, with recipes pulled from our archives. Try one this year to make your very own Global New Year. 1. “RING” in the New Year Rings are a symbol both of continuous love and of “coming full circle.” Any food made in a ring shape is a great choice to celebrate …

5 Jaw-dropping books for international food lovers

Every once in a while I browse through my scattered but immense cookbook collection, thumbing for ideas like a hungry hitchhiker: Take me somewhere different. Take me somewhere new. These five books represent a selection of my favorite go-to cookbooks as well as several incredible coffee table books that make excellent gifts for loved ones with an international food obsession. 1. Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater The best cookbooks are like old friends, chatty and not afraid to share their dreams. Nigel Slater’s food descriptions are particularly delectable, especially when paired with honest photography and none of the fussy measurements that make cooking feel like a chore. A glug of this, a dash of that is often all we need, and Nigel knows this. Each volume is organized by ingredient (Tender is all about vegetables and has mostly savory recipes, while Ripe is all about fruit and has mostly sweet ones). These books transport me to Nigel’s British garden, every inch of which contains some food producing plant – a veritable Eden where nothing …

How cold is too cold for recess? 24 parents across the globe weigh in.

As a family we’ve always been big on eating and playing outside – even when the weather dips below freezing. Ava’s school is remarkably progressive in this regard – they’ll go out in snow, even if its just for a few minutes. But most schools in Oklahoma keep the kids indoors during recess for one simple reason – we’re more used to heat waves than snow storms. Our closets prove it: I don’t buy Ava a snow suit or snow boots unless a big storm threatens(otherwise it may never get used before her next growth spurt). I remember being all bundled up as a kid during bitter-cold weather in Boston and wanted to know if there was a geographic difference in how kids spend their lunch breaks during “inclement weather.” Apparently some babies nap outside in freezing weather. So, yup. Turns out there is. 24 Parents answer my question: How cold is too cold for lunchtime recess? “I live in NE Ohio & if the wind chill is 20°F / -6°C or lower the kids can’t go out for recess” Laura P. “I …

10 Global Takes on Classic Thanksgiving Dishes

Sure, Thanksgiving is an American holiday but most of us can trace our ancestry back to some other part of the world. Which is why every year I like to bring you a selection of globally-inspired dishes for your Thanksgiving feast. Case in point? While mashed potatoes are classic components of the Thanksgiving table, there’s no reason you can’t add a bit of global flare to your recipe… and you’ll get a couple of ideas how to do so below! Here are 10 global takes on classic Thanksgiving dishes. Try one out and add a touch of adventure to your Thanksgiving feast. You’ll be glad you did! 1. Sweet & Spicy Korean Braised Turkey 2. Zimbabwe’s Peanut Butter & Butternut Mash (Nhopi) 3. Zimbabwe’s Corn and Cheddar Stuffed Squash 4. Mealie Bread (Corn Bread) – Southern Africa 5. Sweet Potato Biscuits (Mbatata) – Malawi 6. Mashed Potatoes with Veggies | Irio – Tanzania 7. Caribbean Pumpkin & Coconut Cream Bisque 8. Pumpkin Olad’yi – Russia 9. Maple Glazed Rutabaga – Finland 10. Honey & Pistachio Stuffed Quince – Uzbekistan And if all that goodness whets your appetite, check out more Thanksgiving roundups …

The World’s Largest Family Reunion Needs YOUR Food Story

You might be cousins with Gandhi. Jeffrey Dahmer. Mother Teresa. Imagine. You build your family tree. I build my family tree. If there’s a common relative our trees are linked and our family doubles in size. Magnify this by millions (billions!) of people. The result is the biggest family tree in the world – one that will eventually represent the entire human race and prove that we are all cousins! Several sites like MyHeritage, WikiTree, and Family Search are working around the clock to make this dream a reality. While you’ll be able to see what celebrities you’re related to and how close the ties bind, this isn’t just some fluff project – knowing how the human race is linked will be critical as scientists work to understand genetic diseases such as Alzheimers. A cause for celebration Creating an enormous family tree requires an enormous family reunion – a Global Family Reunion, if you will. NY Times Bestselling author A.J. Jacobs will deliver the biggest, baddest family reunion the world has ever seen on June 6, 2015 in New York City. Thousands will attend. Celebrities will abound. Morgan …

The 7 Creepiest Kitchens in the World

The kitchen should be the heart of every home, filled with happy memories… but these kitchens are chilling reminders of historical disasters, spine-chilling authors, and the cruelest politicians who ever lived. Edgar Allan Poe (USA) This kitchen might seem quaint, but this iron stove fed the creativity of one of the world’s best mystery writers – Edgar Allan Poe. He lived in this cottage during the last few years of his life in the late 19th century, along with his wife, mother-in-law, cat, and birds: … Poe’s mother-in-law Maria Clemm prepared the family’s meals. Mary Gove Nichols recounted of this room, “The floor of the kitchen was white as wheaten flour. A table, a chair, and a little stove that it contained, seemed to furnish it perfectly.” Poe Museum. If you don’t remember the man, perhaps you’ll remember the famous opening to his poem The Raven: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently …

17 Halloween Costumes Made from the World’s Most Iconic Foods

This Halloween go international: spin the globe and dress up as an iconic food from whatever country strikes your fancy! To get you started, here are 16 adorable costumes representing famous foods from all over the world. Escargot (FRANCE) Oohh la la! A bit of newsprint and foam balls and you’ve got the most adorable snail costume. Learn how to make the costume at Oh Happy Day. On snails: While the French are best known for their love of snails, the snail has a long (and slimy) history. Archaeologists have found snail shells from prehistoric times. The Roman Philosopher Pliny the Elder considered escargot an elite food for the Romans. There is also a recipe for snails in the oldest surviving cookbook written by Marcus Gavius Apicius, a Roman ‘foodie’ from the 1st century. Sushi & Sashimi (JAPAN) This little sashimi eating sushi is way too cute. Find the costume on The Wishing Elephant, then try making our Futomaki recipe (a.k.a. Veggie Sushi) – it’s super fun! On Sushi: Sushi is a Japanese dish originally developed as a fermentation process for …

Where in the world are all the vegetarians?

This post started innocently enough – I was curious where all the vegetarians were around the world. But once I went down the rabbit hole, I was lost for good. Of the ten countries I was able to analyze, India takes the lead by a long, long shot. 31% vegetarian is amazing! And I wasn’t particularly surprised with the low results of Portugal and Spain (so many meat-heavy dishes there!). I thought Brazil’s would have been similar but it ranked quite high at 8%. Digging ever deeper, I found that the Brazilian city called Fortaleza is 13% vegetarian. 3 things to understand about vegetarian populations: Individual cities within a country will skew more or less vegetarian, depending on the culture The types of food a country loves will skew the results Some people who identify as vegan also identify as vegetarian. Depending on how accurate the survey is, there’s a risk they might have been counted twice. The huge frustration in my research. I may have been able to cook food from every African country, but no thanks to …

The REAL reason why people put butter in their coffee

We just celebrated International Coffee Day on September 29 (though every day might as well be coffee day around here)! In honor of the holiday, I did a little digging into the origins of butter in coffee… a hot trend in the United States. At the end of this post, follow the link to try your own Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. In Kate Bratskeir’s article entitled “Why People are Putting Butter in their Coffee” a company by the name of Bulletproof is “credited for popularizing the concoction” (meaning butter in coffee). The article goes on to state the health benefits of adding butter to coffee – particularly how it stabilizes the caffeine hit for improved mental clarity and how it helps encourage weight loss. I’m no scientist. And I don’t particularly want to weigh in on the debate of whether or not butter can help you lose weight. I would, however, like to back up a moment and explore the idea of butter in coffee and who came up with the concept. I assure you it is not a …

Around the world with Apples ~ Celebrating the first day of Autumn

When the air bites. When my cheeks turn pink. These moments sing autumn. But now that I live in Oklahoma the first day of fall – September 23 – is almost always balmy. Sometimes it’s actually hot. Which means Ava can do this: The only surefire way I know it’s autumn is to watch the apples. There’s nothing like the crisp taste of a freshly plucked apple enjoyed while still standing in the orchard. The fruit is almost chalky on the tongue, the skin tight, the flesh sweet. When apples spring to life like this… well, that’s how I know it is autumn. As you fill your fruit basket with the season’s bounty, I invite you to play around with these apple recipes. They’re plucked from three continents and will make a great addition to your next around the world party or international night! In fact, I’ll be making one or two of them this week myself! Join me on Instagram so we can share our adventures! APPLE RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD 1. Fig and Honey Apple Polenta Cake | Bustrengo (San Marino) …

Official World Peace Day Recipe

Look up recipes for world peace and you’ll find one of two things – a moral diatribe or Dori Greenspan’s chocolate chip cookies. While the former is on point, and the latter is undeniably incredible, I’m looking for something a little more… grounded… in the holiday. So I went back to the source for inspiration. Turns out the United Nations came up with “International Day of Peace” in 1981 and the first celebration occurred in 1982. Lots of people – myself included – simply call the September 21st holiday “World Peace Day.” What’s World Peace Day all about? World Peace Day is about having one day. One day without weapons. One day without killing. One day of treating each other with compassion, kindness and humanity. I get turkey fatigue on Thanksgiving and go chocolate bezerk on Valentine’s Day, but World Peace Day is one holiday I wish could last forever. OFFICIAL WORLD PEACE DAY RECIPE Serves 7.25 Billion Ingredients: 1 large heart 1 recipe from a country in conflict 7.25 billion friends Method: STEP 1 Imagine how mealtime would change in a …