Teacher’s Stash
How many times have you left home without breakfast or lunch and longingly eyed the kids’ snacks during the day? You never have to go hungry again if you follow these tips for creating a mini-pantry in a desk drawer or filing cabinet.
Two Quick Takes on Cake
Cakes don’t have to be saved for birthday parties or other milestone occasions. Nor do they have to be elaborate or expensive to bring their special touch to a meal. Joy Rotondi provides recipes for two quick, comfort-food cakes.
Enough With the Green Salad Already!
Tasty, exotic alternatives to the everyday side salad are as easy to create as opening a bag of pre-washed greens and make use of winter produce such as avocados, citrus fruits, root vegetables like carrots and jicama; and fennel (finocchio).
"Dear Joy, I Burn Everything I Cook"
Tired of everything you start cooking on top of the stove burning before it gets to the table? To rest the smoke alarm, Joy Rotondi suggests upgrading the frying pan, trying different cooking oil, turning down the heat, and scrutinizing the recipe.
The Confessional -- Dinners I Have Served
Even a prolific and experienced cook needs a day off once in a while from creating masterpieces in the kitchen. Joy Rotondi bares her culinary soul as she describes some of the shelve-scrounged meals she has prepared and eaten.
Teacher’s Pet: The Frozen Pie Crust
“I’m embarrassed to admit that I have a favorite. This is the one I call on the most often. The one who gets more praise than the others. The one I count on for the right answer. Yep, it’s the trusty frozen pie crust.”
Pantry 102: Let’s Restock
A strategically-stocked pantry can provide you with almost all the ingredients for a complete meal. Joy Rotondi’s list includes some typical items such as olive oil and hot sauce, as well as nuts, dried fruit, and asparagus spears.
It’s Time for a Fresh Start
Everyone has food in cabinets, shelves, and the refrigerator that is beyond usefulness or even beyond recognition. To get ready for a new wave of essentials, Joy Rotondi offers pantry-purging tips.
Welcome to a New Approach to Cooking
Tired of pizza, take-out Chinese food, and the cupboard is bare? Relax. You may only think it is bare. Sixth-grade teacher and foodie Joy Rotondi outlines how she plans to show readers how to create quick, tasty meals with what is on hand.
About the Author
Joy Rotondi recently returned to the classroom and teaches sixth-grade language arts near Boston, Massachusetts. She was raised in an Italian-American family happily obsessed with good food. Her prowess in the kitchen was first noted when she whipped lime Jello to a mousse at age 7. By age 12 she'd advanced to the salmon mousse in aspic featured on the cover of Gourmet.
On Thanksgiving Day 1996, with the help of friend and culinary cohort Cindy Blandino, she launched Foodies.com, a playful site dedicated to serious American cooking.
Foodies.com has been featured on CNN, Better Homes and Gardens , and in The Wall Street Journal, among other places. Her bread and butter for the last 11 years has been designing and maintaining Web sites for the culinary world, including restaurants, culinarians, and food marketers. Rotondi lives on Boston 's North Shore with her 12-year-old, a Shetland sheepdog, and four hens.
