Bedford Balabusta

Two Weeks in Italy with Two Tweens and a Toddler

We’re recently back from our two week trip to Italy over winter break, still full from daily doses of pasta, pizza and gelato it was the longest trip we’ve been away together as a family of five, and one of our most favorite adventures. I always have a hard time finding solid recommendations when we’re…

Why Friendsgiving might be my favorite new tradition

Friendsgiving might just be one of my favorite traditions of the year. We’ve gathered for the past few years with a few of our closest friends – together our three families have ten children ranging in age from 3-12 way outnumbering the adults. I was a little hesitant to host everyone this year as its…

This New Year – Remembering we are all refugees

Welcome the stranger. Protect the refugee. Our family like so many others has survived because of these words and because of the work of an organization called HIAS that has assisted refugees globally for over a century. This holiday season, as we prepare to celebrate the Jewish New Year and reflect on all that we…

Summer in a Bowl of Salad

It’s been a strange summer so far, it’s felt hard to measure time – somehow it’s the middle of July but I feel like I’m still waiting for summer to start. Not sure if it’s the weather – the heat, the rainstorms, the flooding but my vegetable garden has been the one thing that has…

A Tale of Two Briskets

I made my first brisket 20 years ago when I hosted my first Rosh Hashanah dinner as a graduate student in Boston. My mom had kept a recipe card in her recipe box titled, “Mom’s Brisket.” Pictured below, it reads: Season with salt + pepper (Lawry seasoning), 1 can whole cranberries, liptons dried onion soup,…

Barcelona with two Tweens and a Toddler

After forgoing any major international travel for the past couple of years because of Covid (and the coinciding arrival of a third child) we finally felt ready for some adventure with the kids. Having left Brooklyn for the country during the pandemic we were craving the energy, food and adventure of a city. We agreed…

The Best Ever Banana Cake – made even better!

My littlest one just turned two which provided a needed excuse to bake a birthday cake. I was in a bit of a baking rut, my KitchenAid needed to be sent in for a repair and I’ve been relying on a hand mixer which can surprisingly conquer most baking needs in the kitchen. I didn’t…

Little Radishes Go a Long Way With These Recipes

The radish may be the most underrated vegetable in my garden right now. I almost missed the fact that they were ready to be pulled had my daughter not spotted their little heads poking out out of the dirt this week. I still feel that sense of wonder when a fully grown vegetable gets pulled…

What’s Cooking from my Garden: Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon and Fresh Herbs

Spring felt so delayed this year, as did everything coming up from my garden. But after a few heavy rainfalls and warmer temperatures things are now looking lush and green. My planters are filled with herbs like basil, mint, dill, fennel and different kinds of lettuces. The peas in my garden beds are starting to…

Becoming a Mom while Losing a Mom

My mom’s favorite thing to say to me was that I was the best Mother’s Day gift she could ever imagine. It was 41 years ago that my mom became a mom on Mother’s Day, forever intertwining my birthday with the holiday. Losing my mom to cancer ten years ago while becoming a mom myself…

Birthday, Valentine’s Day, Any Celebration Brownies

Reposting the recipe for my most favorite brownies courtesy of my dear friend Brenda. They’ve come to be known in our family as daddy’s birthday brownies because my husband loves anything baked with extra chocolate (this one calls for an entire bag of chocolate chips) and the recipe is so simple that my daughters can…

Three Cheers for Ice Cream, Candy and Jen Vellano

I’ve been busy working on some exciting new ventures which I’m looking forward to sharing in 2022. One of them is a new collective of local women entrepreneurs, business owners, founders, philanthropists and investors gathering to support each other, share resources, and mentor the next generation. For now we’re calling the group Westchester Women Making…

Composition of a perfect Thanksgiving salad

Thanks to vaccines and boosters we are resuming our longstanding tradition of traveling to Chicago to be with my family for Thanksgiving this week. For the past several years we’ve gathered at my dad and stepmom’s home where our blended family each gets assigned a dish to be responsible for. Surprising to none, I’ve been…

The case for homemade granola

I admittedly have a weakness for granola. Maybe it’s the combination of savory and sweet, or that it feels like I’m making a “healthyish” choice for breakfast but I find it incredibly addictive and absolutely delicious! After years of trying different brands there is not one that I’ve found that I like more than my…

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash soup is one of my all-time favorites especially this time of year. I love how healthy yet filling this soup is, served with bread its the perfect fall lunch or accompaniment to dinner. I’ve toggled between different recipes and have finally landed on one that I keep coming back to because of its…

Even a “failed” garden can produce a delicious meal

When we bought our place in Bedford, one of the things I was most excited for was having a real vegetable garden. We were lucky, I inherited a space that had raised beds already built into an enclosed space, protected from critters in a sunny patch of lawn. I approached the spring with lots of…

Skillet Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Next my series “What to Cook with my CSA” is a delicious chocolate chip zucchini bread made in a skillet. It’s the perfect way to use up vegetables in your fridge and makes a perfect dessert, snack or breakfast. Try spreading a slice with peanut butter while it’s still warm out of the oven. The…

“What to Cook with my CSA” Series

It’s Thursday which in the summer means pick up from my local CSA at John Boy’s Outpost in Bedford. I look forward to my haul of the season’s freshest fruit, veggies and eggs each week but also get a bit overwhelmed as I unpack my bag realizing I now have six zucchinis to use up….

Squash and squash blossom frittata straight from my garden

I completely forgot that I had planted rows of zucchini squash in my garden until their beautiful oranges blossoms began to bloom this week. As a first time vegetable gardener I’ve never cooked with blossoms straight from my garden before. I remember seeing a recipe using them in Susan Spungen’s cookbook Open Kitchen whose recipes…

Summer Strawberry Salad

One of the silver linings of covid and a move from Brooklyn to the country is that for the first time I experienced the joy of planting a vegetable garden from seed to harvest in my own backyard. Watching pea pods grow taller than my three children, seeing them gather fresh strawberries and bowls full…

Dressed up rice

I helped create this vibrant and flavorful rice dish for Equal Parts featuring turmeric, coconut and Thai chilies. The key is cooking the rice in coconut water instead of plain tap water, a method that could be adapted to even simple jasmine rice. The coconut water adds a subtle sweetness and I love the added…

A summer recipe that easily transitions to fall

The transition from summer to fall is one of my favorite seasons and these past few days have been glorious. We’ve been making use of our backyard garden by trying to incorporate as many tomatoes, banana peppers and beets into fresh pasta, tarts and even making our own pickled peppers. I’ve fallen a bit behind…

Cooking with an abundance of fresh mint and chives

Spring is slowly creeping into summer and temperatures are thankfully starting to rise. Our little herb garden is already overgrown with fresh chives and mint and I’ve been trying to think of ways to start incorporating these herbs into recipes. Peas are a spring vegetables that pair perfectly with mint and I love this simple…

Grilled Caesar Salad

Warning, once you’ve tried grilling your romaine hearts you may never go back. Below is a simple recipe for homemade Caesar Salad, no raw egg and the option to make it entirely vegan. Try mixing up your greens to include radicchio, the bright purple will add a nice pop of color. If you don’t have…

Moqueca – An adaptable and delicious Brazilian Fish Stew

Thanks to a recent delivery from Sitka Salmon Shares our freezer was stocked with an entire box of wild Alaskan cod. For those in search of excellent seafood from local Alaskan fishermen, consider joining this fish share. It’s the second season we’re doing it, I love not having to worry about where our fish is…

It’s lunchtime again? Try Shakshuka!

One of the few silver linings of the past two months isolated at home with our family is getting to eat three family meals a day together. Rarely would we all get to sit down for family dinners during the week and lunch/brunch was saved for just weekends. These days, thanks to coronaviurs, mealtime has…

On Mother’s Day

As I’ve written before, Mother’s Day will always be a bittersweet holiday having lost my mom 8 years ago to cancer. I’ve been thinking a lot about the approaching day and how many of us will be celebrating without moms and grandmothers this year because of coronavirus. Like so many other holidays, carrying on old…

Tips and recipes to make the most of produce

I miss the luxury of being able to make daily runs to the store for specific ingredients and now must make food, especially fresh produce last for a week and sometimes more. It’s incredible how quickly our fridge empties after cooking three meals a day for four plus keeping up with my kids’ endless snacking…

A build your own grain bowl to get you to spring

I’m just back from a week vacation in Southern California and while I really appreciated a week of eating out and the break from cooking, I’m very happy to be back in my own kitchen. Unseasonably warm temperatures in Brooklyn the past couple of days have felt like a spring tease and have me craving…

A Super Bowl spread without the guilt

For many, the end of January signifies relief as we’ve made it through a month dedicated to resolutions, self improvement, goal setting, or quitting one vice or another. Hopefully our efforts have spurred new habits and genuine commitment to an overall healthier lifestyle. Yet just as soon as January passes, February comes along and throws…