Pumpkin Ginger Soup ~ Super Easy Recipe

by Melody Kettle

In the recent series of appearances of Team Hot From The Kettle at Williams Sonoma we learned really quickly that having something to prepare that would be ready shortly after we arrived was a critical to having a successful event. This simple soup has five ingredients, and other than a wee bit of mincing and squeezing requires very little effort.

Sometimes our desire to share all the flavours of the season with the family results in some belt loosening before the first spill of turkey gravy. This year consider a new tradition : "soup shooters." Instead of a full bowl of soup offer this treat in espresso cups as an appetizer. Send the rest of the soup home with guests in containers or serve for lunch on Shop Local Saturday.

Read More

Video: Fried Chicken at Indigo Kitchen & Recipe for Whipped Sweet Potatoes

by Melody Kettle

I had a hankering for fried chicken and decided to see if Lance Knowling, executive chef and owner of Indigo Kitchen in Montclair, could help me out.

Sure enough, he did! Lance cooked up a batch of Indigo's signature, Company Fried Chicken, just the way his mother did when company came over! 

Read More

Caring For Your Bird: Turkey Brine Recipe

by Melody Kettle

Photo Credit: iloveitspicy.comThis Thanksgiving, unlike last year - when I shunned turkey and roasted a sixty pound Berkshire pig in a Caja China(video) - I promise to embrace my bird.

I ordered my fresh, organic twenty-two pound turkey from a local butcher, and on the advice of food enthusiasts and chefs, I will brine the bird in the recipe below. I will proceed to baste it, make gravy from the pan drippings, and generally treat it with tender love and care.  I will even refrain from comparing it to the luscious goodness that is pork. 

If you're debating whether or not to brine your bird, read Chef Johnny J's article and recipe submitted last year to HFTK:

Read More

Meatless Monday at A Tasteful Experience

by Dianne Wenz in

Last Monday I attended A Tasteful Experience at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange. The event was a fundraiser for Clara Maass’s Child Life Program, which helps children and their families cope with illness and hospitalization. The area’s finest restaurants, caterers and purveyors of spirits donated their time, talents and food to the cause.

I attended A Tasteful Experience to report on it from a vegan perspective. Since this was my first time attending the event, I wasn’t sure what to expect and I didn’t know if there would be anything vegan at all.

Read More

Planned Parenthood Hosts A Taste of The Good Life at BMW of Bloomfield

by Melody Kettle

On Thursday night, Planned Parenthood hosted A Taste of The Good Life, an inaugural event showcasing the Family Life Institute and the innovative Teen L.I.N.K.S. program.

The event was hosted at  BMW of Bloomfield, a refreshing, contemporary, urban-chic setting for the event.

Read More

Shegan Rubin, of Montclair's Hunger Construction, Tragically Killed

by Melody Kettle

Shegan Rubin (far left)We are very sad to share the news, according to The Star Ledger, that Shegan Rubin, 32, of Montclair, was killed on Saturday evening by a car fleeing a State Trooper.

I met Shegan through his work on the Hunger Construction food truck. We shot a video with the crew in early November, and Shegan was his enthusiastic, magnetic self.  His tragic end seems so surreal.

Our condolences to his family, friends and co-workers at Hunger Construction.