Regular readers have heard about the sad situation with food blogger Jennifer Perillo, whose husband Mikey died suddenly two weeks ago. Following the outpouring of support with the #apieforMikey project, several of her close friends have set up a fund for donations for Jennie and her daughters. To contribute, please visit Bloggers Without Borders, a new nonprofit created by the food blogging community. BWB is focusing its initial efforts on #afundforjennie. In addition, several friends of Jennie are auctioning off services or items that are dear to their hearts. This is an incredible effort on the part of an incredible community – please support as generously as you are able.
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A Fund For Jennie
Monday, August 22nd, 2011A Pie for Mikey
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
The food world is pretty small. Sure, there are thousands of food enthusiasts, writers, and bloggers out there – but when you get down to it, it’s a pretty tight-knit bunch. Earlier this week when food blogger Jennifer Perrillo of In Jennie’s Kitchen lost her husband, Mikey, suddenly and unexpectedly to a heart attack, the tragic news spread quickly. There was an outpouring of sympathy from friends spread far and wide, along with the universal question, “How can we help?” Jennie’s answer: Make pie.
In Jennie’s words: “As I spend Friday reflecting on the love and life that was gone in an instant, I’d like to invite all of you to celebrate his life too. Mikey loved peanut butter cream pie. I haven’t made it in a while, and I’ve had it on my to-do list for a while now. I kept telling myself I would make it for him tomorrow. Time has suddenly stood still, though, and I’m waiting to wake up and learn to live a new kind of normal. For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there’s no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on.”
And then the pies started coming…and kept coming…and coming. The front page of Tastespotting was completely filled with peanut butter pies, and the hashtag #apieformikey was trending quickly. Soon CNN even had a story.
In the Jolly Tomato kitchen, it’s been a happy and busy week filled with family visiting from the East Coast. I am so grateful to have all of them around me, especially my husband Dave, who has been a rock of support for me since the day we met. After reading Jennie’s story, and trying to imagine what life would be like without that rock of support, I was inspired to make pie. And the best part about having so many people around is that it became a group effort.
The kids crushed the graham crackers for the crust. Joe took a bunch of pictures and gave advice on the whipped cream. Sara ran out to the store when I realized we needed sweetened condensed milk. And everyone – all 12 of us who were at dinner – enjoyed every morsel of it
We dedicate this pie to Jennie and Mikey, and to a life filled with food, family, and love. Cherish those around you and rejoice in each day you have together.
Fun Food: Watermelon Carving
Monday, August 1st, 2011Of all the Fun Food posts we’ve written in the past 18 months, the story with the most enduring popularity continues to be the one about watermelon carving. Why watermelon carving? Perhaps, as we said last year, it’s because watermelon is such a fun, carve-able fruit. There’s something about that blank canvas that just cries out for creativity.
To get you started, the National Watermelon Promotion Board has some great carving tips and ideas (love that shark jumping out of the table baring its big white teeth!) to get your creative juices flowing. Hint: You don’t have to limit yourself to traditional watermelon-shaped objects. There’s a fish in there, and a robot, and even a snowman.
For this year’s watermelon carving issue, we’re featuring this cool party creation, courtesy of Chef Joe of Friday Night Out Catering in Berwyn, PA. This pirate ship is rigged together with a complex arrangement of dowels and string. The crow’s nest is made from a carved yellow squash.
As a companion to the main ship, he made two little fishing boats. The hull of the boats are from hollowed-out cucumbers; the sails are from watermelon rind with the white part removed so they are just a thin layer of green skin. He completes the picture with ornately carved carrots for the fishing nets.
If you’re not feeling architecturally inclined, but you have mad carving skills, don’t forget that you can still dress up your watermelon with some engraved artwork. Chef Joe used carving techniques to etch out this watermelon Mona Lisa. To do this delicate carving work, use a channel knife, which is often found at the top of a vegetable peeler. And even if your art is not quite up to snuff, you can still carve out words or messages in your watermelon (see the Watermelon Board’s page for this creation with the word “Celebrate” written on the side).
Inspired? Ready for a party? Time to pull out the knives and the melon ballers and get creative!
Summer fun food: Because food should be fun.
Questions about how to make the pirate ship or the Mona Lisa? You can reach Chef Joe at fnocatering [at] comcast.net
