As most of us know, juggling parenthood and work is not always easy. People often ask me how I ended up working in food, and honestly, it still makes me laugh—because it wasn’t a traditional path at all. I originally delved into cooking as a stay-at-home mom, and so much of what I do today is still deeply connected to that chapter of my life.
Lately, I’ve been working on eliminating more and more processed foods from our home, and naturally that journey has started to spill into my work. It’s been an interesting (and very deep!) rabbit hole, and I am definitely the perfect storm of a person to get pulled into it. First it was sourdough at home—now we’re developing our own starter at work and getting excited to bake with it soon. Then it was homemade granola bars—now they’ve made it onto the café menu too.
All of this has had me thinking about how complicated choosing what we eat can be. There are always so many opinions, so many “rules,” and so many ways to look at food. For me, it comes back to balance, modeling that no foods are off limits, and helping kids—and adults!—listen to their bodies and notice how food makes them feel.
With that in mind, we’re launching a Kids Cooking Class on Wednesdays starting in January. It will focus on fun experimenting in the kitchen and learning what’s actually in the foods we eat. We’re so excited to work with the kids and help spark curiosity. They always say that getting kids involved in cooking is one of the biggest keys to getting them to try new things.
We’re also starting a Healthy Eating Club for Kids in the café! We’ll have a list of healthy snack options available, and when kids choose from that list, they’ll earn a little reward—something fun and encouraging. Our hope is to empower kids to make healthy choices on their own in a way that feels exciting, not restrictive.
In that same spirit, last Sunday—during the busy JCC Holiday Market—my youngest, Miriam, came to work with me. It brought me so much joy to have her there. We made granola bars for the café together and created a fun sufganiyot soda. She even helped design the label. Moments like that remind me why I started cooking in the first place and how connected this whole journey is to parenthood, creativity, and community.
