December 2013 Archives

This month a group of our friends at H-E-B visited a Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ cooking class at Rodriguez Elementary, one of our most veteran programs.  

Led by Chef Susie, fourth-grade students prepared a 1-2-3 Salad with seasonal veggies and ingredients representing each of the five food groups.  H-E-B team members Rita, Lacey, Annie and Joe jumped right in to ask students questions and assist students as they chopped, measured, whisked and tossed. 

What did we think of the 1-2-3 Salad?

Thumbs up all around!

Thanks for visiting our classroom, H-E-B. We look forward to vegging out with you in the New Year!

See more photos of H-E-B's classroom visit here.

Executive chef Joseph Stayshich and sous chef Daniel Nossa of Benjy's at Rice Village graced RecipeHouse with their presence this month, fashioning a wonderful evening for guests.

Dishes were reminiscent of the playful use of local seasonal ingredients and fusion of flavors for which Benjy's is known. 

Vadouvan-spiced local squash agnolotti, grilled apples, Texas pecan dukkah, sumac yogurt.

Sorghum-glazed Black Hills Ranch pork belly with coffee-roasted carrots, creamed carrot tops and cranberries.

We learned that our Chef Surpríse dinner would be the duo's last meal to prepare in the same kitchen, as Chef Daniel has been tapped to take the reigns in launching the group's new location of Local Foods at Kirby and Westheimer.

Guests also received a special treat: Terroir Selections donated a range of their wine offerings to pair with the meal. Southeastern Regional Sales Director Natalie Vaclavik joined us to provide background on each pairing selection.

View more photos of the evening here.

The Chef Surpríse series is held the first Monday of every month at RecipeHouse and features a rotation of Houston's hottest chefs. Learn more and reserve seats for upcoming dinners here.

This holiday season, show that special   someone how much they mean with a gift that truly DAZZLES.  Shop Deville Fine Jewelry throughout December and 10% of proceeds will benefit Recipe for Success!  

Use the code RFS13 in store and onlineat checkout to have your purchase to help us empower local kids to make healthy eating decisions for life.

Recipe for Success encourages students in its Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ programs to celebrate their family culinary traditions.  At every turn, we incorporate key skills, such as writing and storytelling, into our curriculum, which is why students every fall write about their favorite holiday foods to share with their classes.

First-grade S2P students at Pine Shadows Elementary wrote essays about their favorite holiday dishes and decorate paper frames to display their writing.

Each year, fourth graders in our programs throughout Houston submit entries for the My Favorite Holiday Food Story Writing Contest, and one talented student is selected by poet laureate TK as our winner.  This year's winner was Ivan Marquez of Matthys Elementary, who wrote about his family's Thanksgiving tradition of having a special turkey that pays homage to his family's culture - it's stuffed with tamales!  

"The smell is just irresistable! If you take only a sniff, it can put you in a food trance," says Ivan of his mom's dish. "It will make your taste buds not, but FLOOD!"  Pretty enticing review if you ask us.

Ivan, his family and two Matthys educators attended our annual awards luncheon, where he joined other honorees on stage to accept his award from Chef Neal Cox, with whom Ivan will spend some one-on-one time as Chef for a Day, preparing delicious recipes in Olivette kitchen at The Houstonian.

What are YOUR favorite holiday foods traditions?

Chef Neal Cox, Ivan Marquez and City Councilman Steve Costello at the 2013 Blue Plate Special Cafe: A Harvest Market & Awards Luncheon.

Planning a meeting, lunch, party or other special event this holiday season? Tired of the same old, drab catering offerings?

With corporate catering from RELISH Fine Foods, you'll not only savor the occasion, you'll be helping children lead healthier lives. For the month of December, RELISH is donating 15 percent of corporate catering proceeds to Recipe for Success.

Learn more and view RELISH's Corporate Catering menus here.

I am happy to announce Will Isbell as our volunteer of the month! Will Isbell has been volunteering with Recipe for Success for many years.  He has helped with numerous activities such as garden builds, student presentations, Eat This! Summer Camp sessions, and staff training.  Will currently served as our moderator for our More Than Honey screening and panel discussion in celebration of Food Day.  Will was the perfect candidate to lead our discussion due to his diverse background and experience with entomology and art.  While he has taken many entomology classes at Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension, Will owes most of his knowledge to his grandparents.  As a child, Will loved to play and explore in his grandparents' farm. His love for entomology and horticulture is shown when he volunteers with our Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education^TM classes.  He speaks so passionately that he is able to get many young students excited about insects such as stag beetles!  When he is not in one of our classrooms, you can find Will in the studio as he is finishing up his Bachelor's of Fine Art in Studio Art.  Will will always see himself heavily engaged in two of his passions: art and volunteerism.  Though he does not like to pick sides, he says that RFS is one of his favorite organizations because he sees the impact we have on our students, parents, and communities long after our program is completed.  We thank Will for being a great volunteer to Recipe for Success and he hope to have him for a lifetime!