A Mother’s Day Challenge: Brunch and Beyond

by Krista O'Malley

A Mother’s Day Challenge: Brunch and Beyond

Go ahead and let the laundry pile up as the dishes lay in the sink.
The lawn is not mowed. The grocery list is long. The new shirt you just put on has strawberry drippings from two seconds ago and your gray hairs are showing up like bright pink neon. The kids are all dressed up for brunch and playing in the mud. It is Mother’s Day. Regardless of all of items on the to-do list, it is time for all of those who are called Mom to be celebrated. 

I could write about the history of Mother’s Day (that it was only declared a national holiday in 1914 by then president Woodrow Wilson.) Or speculate on how Mother’s Day brunch became synonymous with...

Free of Gluten, Full of Flavor

by Rachel Grace

It’s 2007, and my mother has just entered the local pizza shop for the first time in a while. Her doctors have just told her she must avoid gluten, and her inquiries about gluten-free options on the menu are met with confusion. “What do you mean ‘Google free?’” the young woman behind the counter asks. Frustrated, my mom ends up with a boring and bland iceberg salad.

Yes, it was just a few short years ago that many of us had never even heard of gluten, the protein found in certain grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Think of it as the glue that keeps cookies from crumbling. Unfortunately, some folks have an adverse reaction to gluten, which can cause a host of health problems, the...

What a Trowel Can Do

by Summer Miller

A trowel doesn’t mean much to most people. A rather ordinary garden tool, it’s used to dig a small hole in already tended soil. It’s the final resource needed for growing to begin, with a quick stab of the soil and downward pull of dirt particles from their neighboring companions, in goes the plant – tomato, broccoli, melon. For many a trowel is a tool used for growing food, but for people like Eric Williams and Kurt Goetzinger, it’s for growing communities.

Four years ago Williams stood up in a Green Omaha Coalition meeting and said, “I live in Dundee, is anyone else interested in starting a garden.” At the time he was an apartment dweller in the area and wanted an opportunity to grow...

Sgt. Peffer’s Cafe Italiano an Omaha Staple

by John Horvatinovich

Over the years, pizza shops have pushed the limits of what a pizza can hold; from savory to sweet, the imagination for pizza toppings is seemingly endless.  There are those of us who are traditionalists and require few items on a pizza to make us happy.  A good crust, basic sauce and properly seasoned ingredients are all you need sometimes; and just because it has loads of cheese on top, does not necessarily make it a better pizza.

Sgt. Peffer’s Café Italiano in particular, has stood the test of time, and continues to convert loyal pizza enthusiasts to fans, year after year. Sgt Peffer’s has a long, rich history in the community and so I decided I wanted to know more about the early...

Visiting Nurse Association Art and Soup

by John Horvatinovich

The year was 1995, and quite possibly the quintessential culinary phrase of the ‘90s, came from actor Larry Thomas, who played the infamous Soup Nazi on “Seinfeld.” 

“No soup for you!”  If you saw the episode, you have probably uttered this phrase at least a few dozen times since.  Heck, even Jerry Seinfeld and Larry Thomas, dawned the character roles in a recent Acura commercial, during the Super Bowl this year.  Luckily, the soup is on, at the 15th Annual VNA Art and Soup event on February 26.

The Art and Soup, Omaha’s tastiest event, will return to the Embassy Suites La Vista Hotel and Conference Center. The event features art from 58 area artists, an incredible silent auction and...

Edible Seduction

by Summer Miller

The coating of a truffle is just a diversion, a way to camouflage the simplicity of its creation and the core of its existence — the versatile seductress ganache. The decadent, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate creation is in many ways the playgirl of culinary confections, it looks expensive and complicated, but beneath its illustrious sheen it’s pretty easy.

“Truffles are one of those things that have this stigma about them. People think they are difficult to make but they don’t have to be,” said Melissa Hartman, owner of The Cordial Cherry, an artisan chocolate shop located just south of 180th and Pacific streets.

Hartman offers classes for the novice once per month on the art of making...