I have been busy as a bee leading the Winter session of Season’s Eatings and creating goodies for the Skill It newsletter these past few weeks. (Not signed up? Click here to be on the list!)

The spirit of this day is a celebration of love and is typically associated with hearts and flowers, chocolate and candy. While I enjoy chocolate as much as the next gal, I wanted to honor this day in a different way.

Since food is always on my mind, Valentine’s Day has been making me think about all the pretty pink fruits and veggies I enjoy eating. So I rounded up my favorite photos of pretty, pink food and am sharing them here in a short & sweet way.

From beans to borscht, my favorite pink soup, these photos remind us that every color of the rainbow can be found in nature…and usually in an edible form!

Pink Beans & Radicchio

Pink Grapefruit & Borscht (Beet Soup)

Rainbow Chard Stems

I hope you have a beautiful, delicious, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

My good friend has a blog called exhale. return to center.

I think this is amazing advice for life, and especially life in the kitchen.

Fancy-pants restaurant food is results-oriented.  It’s fast-paced and there is a lot of ego.  Tensions run high, food critics are tough, and employees all over the restaurant find themselves burning out in their “real lives” while they give over their heart and souls to the constant churn of the nightly service.

Sometimes I catch myself approaching dinner at home with this same energy.  This can be fantastic when I put a healthy meal on the table in under 20 minutes.

My ego is very proud of my ability to think fast, work efficiently, and deliver delicious results.

But this is not what I want my life to look like!

I am really okay with getting dinner on the table in under 20 minutes.  But I do not want that frantic, restaurant energy in my home. Can you imagine a 5-year old learning to cook in a New York City kitchen? I can only picture upset and tears.

I truly believe that our kitchen is the heart of the home.  It feeds and nourishes us in every way.

I prefer to cultivate a simple, mindful energy in our kitchen.  One that is light-hearted and listens to music while grating the carrots and toasting the tortillas.

When I get to the table to enjoy our simple supper, I want to be relaxed, smiling, and joyful.  In this state of being, I can absorb the food gracefully.

This same energy of relaxation, smiles and joy sets the stage for a beautiful, soul-filling learning environment.

Our homes, our kitchens, our classrooms are the places where we teach children how to take care of themselves.

At heart, this is what motivates everything in the Skill It kitchen. We teach children to prepare food so they can care for themselves.

Even more than this, we hope to guide them towards taking care of their most basic needs. We hope to equip them with the skills and confidence to nourish their bodies, minds, and their spirits.

We have to show our children how to be with our example. We can create a peaceful, encouraging, and patient kitchen so that they can be comfortable trying, experimenting, and exploring.

And this gets created in the moment. 

One breath, one exhale at a time.

This week it’s all about the food.  We are eating melons, plums, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant in the Skill It kitchen.  We are soaking up the sun in the final weeks of summer.

It’s a busy time of year as we scramble to find the time to relax.  We prepare for vacations, pack up the kids, drive for hours and hours (sometimes through heavy traffic) in the hopes that we will unwind.

I heard a comedian recently say something like:

“going in vacation is just eating in a place we’ve never been before.” 

This is true, if for no other reason than our need to eat about 3 times a day, everyday.

For me, this is an invitation to explore what’s fresh, unique, and local wherever you find yourself.  Let your taste buds guide you through your vacation and stop at the roadside farm you pass by on the highway.

Incorporate a summer picnic into your vacation…there are fewer finer pleasures than eating in the fresh air and sunshine.

What about you?

Where are you going this summer?

And most importantly, what are you eating?