About Cooking for Madison

A little over two years ago, my brother and I started living together again – mostly because as a single dad he was in dire need of help, (read: sleep).  Thankfully, I am blessed with a niece with an extremely adventurous palate.  She ate brussel sprouts (which we nicknamed “baby cabbage”) until one night my brother slipped up and asked me to “pass the brussel sprouts”.  Madison literally threw up in her mouth and exclaimed, “is that what I’ve been eating?!?”  Other than that though, she has eaten arugula, asparagus, quinoa, mushrooms, figs, goat cheese and passion fruit – just to name a few ingredients.

Almost two years ago I convinced the “family” to eat (mostly) local and seasonal food.  Luckily, the area where I live is pretty much the Garden of Eden – everything grows here!  Citrus, avocados, figs, potatoes, lettuce, peppers, melons, persimmons, apples, flowers – everything!  Basically, this means that we’re not stuck eating root vegetables from November though January, but we do get a little tired of citrus and strawberries by April.

I am a regular at our local farmers markets and over the past few years have gotten to know many of the growers.  Sometimes, this has resulted in free bounty (i.e. 30lbs of figs) that I feel completely free to experiment with.  (The figs turned into three different types of fig bars.)  You’ll find lots of posts dedicated to my favorite market – the Vista Farmers Market where I draw inspiration from the fresh local ingredients available to me year-round.

Which brings me to the main purpose of this blog: I am passionate about local food, sustainability issues and wholesome natural cooking.  I think it’s important to know where our food comes from, so I hope to introduce you to different ingredients and options for preparation – all kid tested and brother approved!  I make as many things from scratch as my ability, schedule and pantry allow so this is also a spot where I will share recipes, disasters, personal experiences, political issues surrounding food, friend’s stories and thoughts on food in general.

Thanks for joining me and Happy Eating!

Heather