Meet Rebekah Denn, the author of Chomp, the new food-focused newsletter that debuted last month from Seattle's child.
In the first issue, she talked about local restaurants and bakeries, packing kids' lunches, getting dinner on the table and what inspired the new look of those little boxes of animal crackers. It's all fun, chatty and full of links to what you want to read more about.
Now, here's a bit more about the author:
She lives in Seattle with her husband and three busy vegetarian kids.
She is a regular contributor to The Seattle Times, but you may also have seen her byline in The Washington Post and book reviews in The Christian Science Monitor. Her work has been in Sunset magazine and on allrecipes.com, and she curated "Edible City," a Seattle food exhibit at Seattle's MOHAI (and wrote the accompanying book). She has won two prestigious James Beard awards for her writing.
She also talks about food on TV, on the radio and at conferences around the country.
In other words, she knows her stuff.
But she also knows this: Your family has to eat. And it's not always going to be a locally sourced, food from every color of the rainbow, gourmet meal enjoyed around the table. Sometimes it'll be a sandwich eaten in the car on the way to soccer practice — or in her family's case, Ultimate Frisbee.
She won't claim to have all the answers, but she might be better equipped than some of us to research the questions. And she'll do it with an open mind and a sense of humor.
In addition to food, her loves include backpacking, reading (not just cookbooks!) and social media.
A few more tidbits from a recent chat with Rebekah:
What's your fave? Eating in or eating out? "Eating in and eating out! I love to cook, but I like eating out for foods that I can't make at home, or foods that are just too much hassle to make at home. I also like going out for something inexpensive like pho on days where everyone's schedule is overloaded."
I was tempted to call her "My (and your) new foodie BFF," but … "I guess I am a foodie, but I really hate the word. It's like when I was a 'Star Trek' fan in high school and didn't want to be called a Trekkie." Fair point.
Share a family food memory or funny story? "I love that my oldest son learned to read in part from Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. She's best known for "The Moosewood Cookbook," but we made a lot of recipes from her children's cookbooks, "Pretend Soup" and "Honest Pretzels," which have simple drawings and written directions. I highly recommend the popovers (they're so easy!) We still make them."
So check out Chomp. Go here to get on our mailing list, if you're not already.
