It’s been five years since we brought Noemi home now, and I feel like I’m starting to make progress. But there’s so much gray in parenting that I often wonder. I’ve never been an overprotective mom, but in the early days, that stemmed more from the fact that I just figured Noemi had to be as safe, if not safer, with her dear daycare provider or the mom of a friend (especially if said mom had multiple kids) than with me. I felt so woefully incompetent. I’ve been on a gradual ascent out of that place over the past few years, but this spring finally popped me out of the pit.

Christopher and I have watched Noemi suck up any kind of teaching–intended or unwitting–all her life. When we first visited her in Guatemala at age 3-1/2 months, you could see the frown lines on her forehead as she tried to copy her Daddy’s OK sign (which she succeeded in doing) and she’d practice her razz so ardently that her lips would go numb. Now, Noemi reads anything put in front of her (she literally cried yesterday when I said the book she was working her way through the first page of was for Gammy and not her … it was Ann Patchett’s new novel). She’s always thirsted to learn and tends to challenge herself. It’s who she is. And as Christopher and I observed that trajectory, we started to feel she’d be more suited to first grade than kindergarten next year, but we had no idea what to do about it.

I asked for help. I asked for opinions. And I got both.

At first my “well I’m sure you know better than I do” mind chatter kicked in. But I started to realize that just because someone had an opinion didn’t by default mean they knew what was best for my child. I learned to take what others were saying and rub it up against my own experience with my daughter. Experience, it dawned on me, that no one else had. Experience that only comes from being the mother of your child.

When we were presented with the option to move Noemi out of preschool and into Kindergarten for the last trimester, I literally wept with relief. I knew at my core it was the right thing to do, and we’ve seen that played out by Noemi stepping confidently into her new shoes.

A few people have pushed me–hard–on the decision, and in the beginning I would analyze everything to try and divine whether we’d royally screwed up Noemi’s life. She cried once when I left the playground and I thought … OMG, she must have a latent attachment disorder and we’ve RUINED her by throwing her into a new setting–she’ll never be able to have a healthy relationship. She threw a fit about picking up her room and I thought … we’re pushing her too hard, she’s going to grow up resenting us!

Enough already. Sure, we need to keep an eye out for red flags and, if need be, adjust. But second guessing everything just eats at you; none of us can predict the ultimate path of our child’s life.

Knowing what I do of my daughter–before and after this transition–I’m confident we’ve made the right choice. And as gut wrenching as this all was to go through, there’s something else I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt. I AM Noemi’s Mom.

1 cup thinly sliced leeks (tender white parts only)
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
12 ounces fettuccine (preferably whole grain)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 lemon (Meyer lemon is great), zested and juiced
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
Flake sea salt
1/4 cup snipped chives

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Pour 1/4 cup water into a large skillet over medium heat and add leeks and cauliflower. Cover and cook for 4 minutes, until cauliflower is just becoming tender. Start cooking pasta. Drizzle olive oil into the pan with the cauliflower and toss with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until cauliflower and leek start to color a bit and cauliflower becomes fork tender, about 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta and reserve 1/4 cup water. Pour the pasta water into the pan with the cauliflower and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and swirl in the butter, lemon zest and juice. Pour pasta back into the pot and scrape cauliflower mixture over it. Mix very well using tongs and a stiff spatula. Add cheese and toss again.

Divide the pasta mixture among four plates and top with flake sea salt, chives and additional cheese if desired.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups diced leek
3 cups diced carrot
2 cups diced celery
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds split peas
1 whole ham bone with meat attached
4 quarts Awesome Veggie Broth

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté leek, carrot and celery for 10-12 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Add split peas, ham bone and veggie broth, raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, skim any foam and fat from the surface, and simmer for 60-90 minutes (peas should be tender and soft, but not completely disintegrated). Remove ham bone and let cool enough to handle. Pull off meat in chunks as large as you want and stir into soup. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Makes 3-4 quarts of soup

* This soup freezes very well. Bring to room temperature, then ladle into freezer safe zip top bags and lay flat in the freezer.

8 whole cloves
2 small onions, peel left on and halved (or 1 large onion cut into quarters)
12 cups various veggies, roughly chopped (I like a mix of aromatics like leeks and fennel fronds, leafy greens like kale and chard and lettuce, umami-enriching mushroom stems, and standards that are full of flavor like carrot and celery)
6 quarts cold water
1 bay leaf
12 black peppercorns
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Poke 2 cloves into the cut side of each onion half. Place onion halves cut side down in a large pot over medium heat and sear for 5 minutes, until well-charred. Add the remaining veggies to the pot. Pour in water, add bay leaf, peppercorns and salt, raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain and season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Makes roughly 4 quarts stock

I’m coming back from a week in New York (my old stomping ground) with some exciting news. I won the International Association of Culinary Professionals award for Entrepreneur/Business Person of the Year!

One of the things that excites me most about winning this award is that it’s not just about business, it’s about being a voice of integrity and encouragement to others within industry, which are goals I’ve aspired to my whole career.

Authenticity is my utmost core value, and I thought about it a lot over the course of the conference. I am so grateful to be surrounded by colleagues who bring an authentic voice and vision to their work. People like Cheryl Sternman Rule, who unabashedly writes for the pleasure of writing and enriches all of our lives as a result. People like Maria Speck, who brought her passion to life in a way that inspires me to stick unswervingly to my own call.

Big kudos to all y’all, because following your dream doesn’t just happen. It takes guts and close-your-eyes-and-make-the-leap kind of faith. Grant Achatz, the famed chef from Alinea in Chicago, reminded me of that at what I thought was one of the best sessions of the conference.

Grant is celebrated for pushing the envelope, but when he talked about bringing cellists into the dining room for a certain course to bring the element of music to bear on a certain dish, I had to wonder, “does he ever worry people are going to laugh at him, or critics are going to slam him, or his customers are going to think he’s crazy?” So I asked him.

He basically said he has that “you’re going to fail” voice beside him every day in the form of one of the restaurant’s leaders. His general manager—who is now his director of operations—always tells Grant his wild ideas can’t be done or are a bad idea. Grant said it’s become a sort of joke; that the ideas his colleague deems terrible are the ones that will inevitably succeed.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. In having the devil’s advocate at his side, it forces Grant to constantly define and defend his own beliefs in an external conversation instead of internal. The gem in that tale is that not only does Grant tolerate this person; he reveres him. To me, that in and of itself is courageous.

Those are the things I’ve been thinking about … and now I want to ask you what you’re thinking. If you’re new to Nourish Network, what’s standing out and making you go “a ha!” and what’s leaving you feeling flat? If you’ve been a long-time follower, what are some ways that Nourish Network has impacted your life? Is there anything you’re disappointed with? I’d really like to know. In going forward, I want to continue stepping out in my own authentic voice, while at the same time giving you tools and information that are going to help empower you not just in your kitchen, but in your lives.

Thank you, all my colleagues at IACP—and all you here on Nourish Network–for the way you encourage, inspire and challenge me. And thank you for this validation that following your passion and being true to what you believe in is something worth celebrating.

8 chicken thighs, skinned
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
¼ cup dry red wine
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup honey
1 bay leaf

Season chicken with salt and pepper, and heat olive oil in a wide, deep-sided pan over medium-high heat. Sear chicken thoroughly on all sides until it is a deep, golden color, about 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Add shallots and thyme to the pot and sauté 3-4 minutes, until soft and golden. Pour wine into pan, and scrape up any bits left from the chicken. Cook 1-2 minutes, until nearly all liquid has evaporated.

Add vinegar, broth, honey, bay leaf, and chicken to the pot, and bring to a simmer. Cover tightly reduce heat to low. Cook 20 minutes, turning once, until chicken is cooked through.

Transfer chicken to a plate. Remove bay leaf, and skim off and discard any fat floating on the surface of the sauce. Cook sauce uncovered on a burner over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes to reduce liquid by half, until the consistency of syrup. Reduce heat to medium-low, add chicken back to pan, spoon sauce over top, and cook for 2 minutes to reheat. Serve hot.

Serves 4

1 cinnamon stick
10 cloves
10 juniper berries
10 allspice berries
2 bay leaves
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1-inch piece of ginger, smashed
12 ounce bottle amber beer
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup kosher salt (if you can find red salt–like Hawaiian red salt–substitute at least some for the kosher salt and your corned beef will take on the familiar reddish hue)
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 cups water
3-1/2 to 4 pound beef brisket, trimmed of major excess fat (don’t trim is all off though)
2 pounds red new potatoes

Put cinnamon stick, cloves, juniper and allspice berries, bay leaves, onion, garlic, ginger, beer, vinegar, salt, sugar and water in the pressure cooker. Stir to combine and submerge brisket in liquid. Seal cover and bring up to high pressure (two rings). Adjust heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 70 minutes.

Release pressure naturally, remove cover, and add potatoes to the liquid with the meat. Cover again, bring heat back up to high pressure and cook an additional 15 minutes.

Remove meat and potatoes to a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice meat across the grain and arrange on a serving platter with potatoes.

Serve with creamy horseradish sauce (I like to mix a couple tablespoons raw horseradish with 1/4 cup sour cream) and Warm Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Bacon and Juniper Berries.

Serves 8

Let me simplify your life.

When to Use Nonstick and Non Nonstick Pans

First of all, nonstick pans and non nonstick pans are like apples and oranges. The uses of each are almost mutually exclusive. If you wanted to fry an egg or sear a delicate fish, you’d use a nonstick pan. If you want to saute vegetables or whip up a quick stir-fry, you’d use stainless. Why? Because nonstick pans are all about preventing any sort of stick at all. Stainless steel pans–used properly–are all about getting a flavorful crust on the food and just enough to stick to the bottom (that stuff is called a fond) to create a base for easy pan sauces and such.

How to Use Nonstick and Non Nonstick Pans

For any of you who have been scared of stainless, I hope this helps! And if you haven’t yet branched out into the non nonstick realm, check out some of our favorite pans in our Nourish Network Market.

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch wedges
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon hot paprika

Heat oven to 475 F. In a large bowl, toss together sweet potatoes and olive oil to coat.

In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add spice mix to sweet potatoes and toss again to coat evenly. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook for 20-25 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes and twice thereafter, until tender all the way through and slightly crisped on the outside.

Serves 4-6

2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon chile flakes
1 tablespoon sesame oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound baby bok choy

Trim bottoms off of bok choy and cut leaves crosswise into 3/4-inch slices. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Swish the bok choy around in the bowl to remove any grit, then transfer the bok choy to a salad spinner and spin dry.

Wipe the bowl out and whisk together garlic, chile flakes, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Toss bok choy with dressing.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Saute bok choy for 10 minutes, tossing fairly frequently with tongs, until tender. Transfer back to bowl and toss with any remaining dressing.

Serves 4