Note from Citybook's Editors: "We first wrote about Hope Farms extensively in this beautiful photo essay and article in our September 2017 issue, just before Hurricane Harvey laid the then brand-new nonprofit agricultural project low. The farm, an initiative of philanthropist Gracie Cavnar's Recipe for Success, bounced right back, though, and CityBook went on to proudly sponsor several of the nonprofit's marketing endeavors -- and even, in January 2019, made a coverboy out of one of the organization's (hunky) former-military farmhands. We're not surprised at all to learn that, even through the current crisis, Hope Farms continues growing its organic fair, delivering food shares. The weekly package -- containing about a dozen varieties of veggies, fruits and herbs -- is delivered to customers on Tuesdays. "With this small gesture, we continue to celebrate the power of a shared meal to build memories," says Cavnar, "and empower parents to feed our children healthy food." Read Article Here
]]>Erin O'Leary Stewart, Director of DEFINE foods shares a healthy recipe and ways to get your kids to eat their veggies...HERE
Chef Antoine Ware is putting an emphasis on quality Texas and Houston-produced ingredients and products at Luby's. Starting with some new vegetable dishes starting on March 1st....HERE
Greg Martin, Chef & Proprietor of Bistro Menil, shares a dish that incorporates multiple vegetables for the challenge....HERE
]]>Have you been looking for ways to get involved with Recipe for Success? Spring and summer offers many opportunities, whether it is helping at events, joining us for summer camp, or general office help. Our team relies on the assistance of volunteers to prepare and deliver programs that are making an impact in the community.
Here's a highlight of the opportunities for spring and summer. Our sign up process is quick and easy!
Taste of the District, Sunday, April 28, 2019
Help represent Recipe for Success at the River Oaks Taste of the District. We will need help with setup, engaging with attendees, arts and crafts with children, and tear down. Attendees will stroll the shops and vendor booths. We have two shifts available. Join us and spend a day at the River Oaks District.
Delicious Alchemy: The Banquet, Monday, May 6, 2019
Please join us for the fourth annual Banquet, to benefit Recipe for Success Foundation's programming. This exquisite seated dinner for 100 guests raises 20% of the Foundation's annual budget while celebrating the community of a shared meal. The event will take place at a private residence in River Oaks. We're recruiting now for all aspects of event logistics including pre-event setup, check in, serving, and break down. We have several shifts available to meet your schedule so sign up today!
Summer Camps, June and July
This summer, Recipe for Success will host 4 summer camps for kids ages 8-12. We will be at the farm June 3-7 and then at the office June 17-21, June 24-28, and July 8-12. We have a variety of dates and times open to volunteers. Sign up, come out and help us introduce the joys of gardening and cooking to kids.
Chefs in the Field, Monday, June 17, 2019
Our tribute to the tomato dinner on the farm will feature three Houston chefs. The dinner is outdoors in the barn and consists of three courses. Volunteers will help with set up logistics, check in, and serving. Enjoy your evening in a beautiful setting at Hope Farms. Sign up for a spot!
Office Angels, Open Dates
Assistance is ALWAYS needed at our office. Volunteers help with data input, organizing supplies, and general office duties. Check your calendars and sign up for a day at our office.
Pictured Above from left to right: Brendan Fradkin, Eden Bass, Erika Kwee, Dan Morley, Mai Le, Isabel Protomartir
We are excited to announce Erika Kwee as our September volunteer of the month! This past spring, Erika reached out to Recipe for Success with an offer to rally a group of friends to help clean up our RecipeHouse gardens that were in desperate need of some TLC. This past summer, Erika and her group of five, Brendan, Eden, Dan, Mai, and Isabel, braved the smothering Houston heat, removing thickly overgrown weeds and preparing the beds for early fall vegetable planting. The Recipe team couldn't be happier with their work as the result was a complete transformation!
About Erika, our Group Leader:
A volunteer since 2013, Erika has a passion for food and cooking, which was the original attraction to Recipe for Success. She describes volunteering as both "fun and rewarding" adding, "I really believe in the Recipe for Success mission and love to support the organization whenever I can!" While Erika keeps busy with a career in tech, she also does freelance writing for Houston Press and runs her own personal food blog, thepancakeprincess.com, a data-based baking blog where she analyzes the best baking recipes on the internet.
Out of all of her volunteer experiences with the organization, she would name the RecipeHouse garden clean up project as her favorite. "Even though we weren't sure how much we would be able to accomplish in a few hours, it was a great feeling to see where we started and where we finished."
Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Erika, on behalf of her team, enthusiastically reached out upon project completion to offer their help in next steps to re-growing the RecipeHouse garden. We look forward to working with this amazing group in the near future and helping you make more memories. Thank you, Erika!
]]>Now private chef and culinary instructor, Chef Ellen has shared her passion for cooking with a variety of ages and skill levels in the Houston area for over 15 years. She's previously taught in professional kitchens at Central Market and Rice Epicurean and currently spends summers teaching cooking techniques and recipes to children at venues such as Wharton Kids' College, St. Luke's Methodist Church in Houston, and Kid's Connect at West University's After School Program.
Ellen first connected with Recipe for Success as a volunteer chef within the Seed to Plate Nutrition Education™ classroom, a program reminiscent of her personal childhood experience. She enjoyed watching the students' comfort level increase as they utilized the different cooking tools, developed new vocabulary, and learned about healthy eating habits. The organization has been grateful for the support Ellen provides at our fundraising events, particularly our largest annual Delicious Alchemy The Banquet. "I love to see the chefs create their creative dishes and love working behind the scenes" muses Ellen, adding that working with "a worthwhile cause" she supports motivates her return each year.
We look forward to many more years partnering with Ellen and are appreciative of her many years of service to the foundation and its mission. Thank you, Ellen!
Learn more about Ellen or book a cooking class HERE!
]]>Students from our showcase schools--Rodriguez Elementary and MacGregor Elementary--recently visited Hope Farms, and had the opportunity to participate in a full farm to table experience.
Working closely with RFS farmer Justin Meyers and guest chef Kevin Naderi, students were split into three groups, and tasked with tackling the various components of a true farm to table experience.
During the their time with farmer Meyers, our first group of students helped weed and ensure that that all the raised beds were getting enough water (this was especially important as our as our days are getting hotter and hotter), while our second group worked to harvest the healthy, delicious ingredients that comprised our farm lunch, and our third group fed the Hope Farms chickens and plants various aromatics in the children's garden.
Their farm work done, our 4th graders moved towards composing their lunch for the day. Working closely with Chef Kevin Naderi, each group of students got a chance to put their own mark on the meal. Our first group sautéed beautiful farm fresh yellow squash, with onions and garlic for a fragrant pasta salad, while our second group composed a green salad with freshly picked cucumbers, and our third helped Chef Kevin prepare a tasty vinaigrette.
As part of their experience, students also received their own aprons, which they immediately took to personalizing. Inspired by their hard (but fun!) day's work, students decorated their aprons with flowers, trees, and the various names of plants they learned about throughout the day.
When it was all said and done, all the students and their teachers and members of the RFS team took the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor with an idyllic picnic--some of us choosing to sit out beneath the shade of beautiful, leafy trees, and others choosing the table overlooking the farm's blooming sunflowers. Bon Appetit!
]]>The Recipe for Success team is grateful for the amount of time Cheryl has dedicated to Hope Farms. Thank you, Cheryl!
]]>In honor of National Garden Month, National Poetry Month, and Earth Day, Recipe For Success Foundation invites you to participate in our annual Garden Haiku Contest. All ages are welcome to join! Students with a budding interest in poetry, or adults whose passion is in full bloom are invited to enter this online contest. Categories are:
SEEDS: Ages 5-11
SPROUTS: Ages 12-17
BLOOMS: Ages 18 and over
Winners will be chosen from each category by local poetry experts here in Houston and announced at our Earth Day Festival at Hope Farms on April 21, 2018.
More than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2018. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. Attend a local Earth Day event or join us at Hope Farms Saturday, April 21, 2018 for a FREE family festival! Together we will Mobilize the Earth™ on April 22 and demand change.
]]>So What? Journey for Girl Scouts
Monday through Friday, June 4-8, 2018
9 a.m. to noon at Hope Farms
$165
For more information and to register, please contact: summercamp@recipe4success.org
]]>Classes are divided into teams to compete for four honorable categories: Best Plate Presentation, Cleanest workers, Best teamwork, and, the big prize winner, Best Dish Overall. Instructors present students with a dish they must craft blindly without the guidance of a recipe under time restrictions and other given limitations. Our past challenges have not only been fun for our students but have been an excellent opportunity to show the community and supporters how much the students have learned.
To spice things up, at the start of the competition, each team receives a different basket of ingredients. The teams are asked a round of questions from the year's curriculum to earn "first dibs" on the basket of their desire. As a result, the challenge produces dishes that are a unique combination of the differing ingredients and the team's individual tastes and skills.
While the students excitedly huddle, strategize, and prepare their dishes, guest judges stand by, closely observing and taking notes on the teams. At the conclusion of the challenge, the teams present their dishes to the judges. Students then wait with bated breath to hear the recipients of each category and to receive the certificates their team has been awarded. It is an exciting day for all!
]]>Marco Polo - Discover tastes & culture from Polo's journey along the Silk Road.
Eat This! - Create wacky store ready food product & compete to get it on the shelf.
Super Foods - Super Food Heroes come to life through recipes and comic strips.
Monday - Friday: 9am - 3pm, $395/week.
Classes are taught by a chef educator who is certified in Seed to Plate Nutrition Education™ instruction, and camp fees include daily lunch and snacks, all supplies and materials, and walking fields trips to a community garden.
]]>Hope Farms Work Day, Friday, April 6, flexible shifts starting at 8:30 a.m.
Help us prepare our farm for Earth Day weekend. There is much to do from helping to build our Children's Garden, to grounds clean up, to painting! Sign Up within our Hope Farms work day opportunity!
Earth Day Festival, Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This year marks our first annual Earth Day Festival at Hope Farms. The festival is a a free community event offering family friendly activities including farm tours, art & crafts, upcycle stations, and goodies from local Houston vendors. Thank you for your interest in helping to make our Earth Day Festival a success - sign up HERE!
Chefs in the Field, Sunday, April 22, 5:30 p.m.
This is the ground-breaking dinner within our new quarterly Chefs in the Field event series to take place at Hope Farms. The dinners will host 50 guests who will dine on a 3-course meal crafted by 3 local Houston chefs. Volunteers will help with set up logistics and event check in. Sign up!
Delicious Alchemy: The Banquet, Monday, May 7, 2018
Please join us for the third annual Banquet, to benefit Recipe for Success Foundation's programming. This exquisite seated dinner for 100 fortunate guests raises 20% of the Foundation's annual budget while celebrating the community of a shared meal. It will be the most extraordinary dinner party that you have ever attended, featuring 10 splendid courses, each prepared by a different celebrity chef and matched with award-winning wines--the meal of a lifetime. We're recruiting now for all aspects of event logistics including pre-event set up, check in, break down, and more. Spaces are limited so sign up today!
]]>We are happy to feature Robin Rawles as our March Volunteer of the Month who has devoted her time in the classroom as a Seed to Plate Nutrition Education ™ SWAT Member for two years. The program appealed to Robin, who, outside of her volunteer service, works with older students in various subjects. To Robin, the foundation's educational program is the "embodiment of [the] mission statement". She enjoys working with Seed to Plate Nutrition Education ™ instructors, Will Isbel and Lynsey Beat, boasting that they "are two of the most knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and committed educators I have ever encountered. It is a joy to learn from them and to see the children learning." One of Robin's favorite memories created while volunteering in the classroom is of a conversation with a first-grader who paused his playtime during recess to ask about the work she was doing in the school garden. For Robin, this child's curiosity proves how impactful the program is for all children, event those who are not directly involved.
The Recipe for Success team is thankful of the impact Robin has in helping us change "the way our children understand, appreciate, and eat their food." Thank you, Robin!
]]>After graduating from the University of Houston with a BS in Human Nutrition and Foods and working in various healthcare positions, Mereen began graduate school at Texas Woman's University. Her Masters in Nutrition courses motivated her to look for opportunities to volunteer in nutrition related fields. This search led her to Recipe for Success and upon learning more about our mission, she was "astonished and proud of the success generated by the dedicated people of this organization." Initially, Mereen's busy school and work schedule prevented her from immediately jumping into open volunteer opportunities, but she stayed abreast of the organization's current events. Once her schedule allowed for it, she jumped in feet first.
Currently on the job hunt, Mereen fills her free time with volunteer work not only at Recipe for Success but also within the nutrition department at Houston Methodist Hospital where she helps with ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery), a research study to determine if certain forms of nutrition or nutritional supplementation could improve patients' post-surgical recovery time. She is active at her church, St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, serving as a Sunday school teacher and each year she serves as the Team Captain of Team Footsteps of Faith for The Leukemia and Lymphomas Society's Light the Night Walk in memory of her father who passed after a battle with Multiple Myeloma.
Mereen's love for working with children and cooking keep her connected to Recipe for Success. Her favorite memory is volunteering as a Recipe House Ambassador for Girl Scouts and seeing the scouts learn about food and teamwork in a positive environment.
When asked what kept her volunteering with the foundation, Mereen answered, "Honestly? It's the children we are able to positively impact. During my final exit course for graduate school, I completed my research paper over the topic of childhood obesity and nutrition education. The question I presented was 'Does incorporating an interventional nutrition education program in schools for children provide improvements in eating habits and decrease risk of chronic diseases in adulthood?'. Basically, I was attempting to find evidence that what we do within our community through Recipe for Success, is beneficial for children in the present and future. Guess what the data said? It is beneficial. Truthfully though, I didn't need a bunch of data to prove that. I can see it in these children - in their smiles when they learn to chop an onion, in their eyes when [they] glimmer after tasting an eggplant taco and in their responses when they're eager to learn more about new cuisines! I keep volunteering because I love assisting in that experience."
Thank you, Mereen!
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