Sparkle Stories Blog

As frequent “Sparkle Kitchen” readers will know, I'm a big proponent of sitting down to a meal as a way to bring people together and help solve differences. And what better kind of meal to have than a delicious Mediterranean cook-out.

A clever junkyard animal—or regular mom or dad—can make basic breakfast pancakes into beautiful spring flowers, worthy of a first day of spring breakfast.

I can't blame Martin and Sylvia for wanting to take too many ramps. After a long winter of starches and stews, even the tiniest bits of green food look and sound amazing. But if, like Martin and Sylvia, you're craving fresh pesto, you needn't rob your local leek trove. You can make a very tasty pesto using the leftover tops of spring carrots.

Since we're talking about Australia and being friendly, this would be a perfect time to make up a batch of sausage rolls. Similar to American “pigs in a blanket” sausage rolls are often served up as an appetizer or easy picnic food when Aussies are welcoming a big group of friends.

Follow this easy, kid-friedly recipe from the Sparkle Kitchen for making your own Smokey Mountain Chicken Sandwiches. This entry is inspired by the Willowbee Tree story, “The Clay Pot”, in the Willow tree takes Piper to the Smoky Mountains to hear an old Buzzard's story, and she learns the importance of listening to one's elders.

While these are commonly thought of as camping food, there's no reason you need an open fire to enjoy them. Plus, with just a few, commonly on-hand ingredients, they can be pulled out when cabin fever sets in, without too much advance planning.

One of my favorite places to use math with kids is in the kitchen. “Bring me two eggs, please.” Boom—we're counting! “I need ½ a cup of sugar.” Yay—fractions! “Pizza dough is two parts flour to one part liquid.” Ratios, galore!

On a chilly, damp spring day, there's nothing that makes me want to say “thanks” more than a pipping hot bowl of oatmeal. And if you make it like the Scots do, there's no need to limit it to breakfast time. “Skirlie”, or savory Scottish oatmeal, makes a stick-to-your-ribs meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

In our part of the world, it's strawberry season, so here are three different ways you could serve strawberries to a team. Feel free to extrapolate these to include other fruit as the seasons change where you live.

Meryl, our Sparkle Kitchen chef, and Lisabeth, our CEO, have been creating wonderful recipes to go along with David's stories and today we are sharing 9 of the healthiest ones with you.