Interested in a free cookbook that just might get your picky child to eat healthier? Or eat anything at all?

My colleague Andrea Weigl, who writes about food and is the author of the Mouthful blog, is giving away a FREE copy of "Good Food to Go" by Brenda Bradshaw and Cheryl Mutch, M.D.

The book contains more than 120 recipes for "healthy lunches your kids will love and actually eat."

Click here to enter.

Here's your friendly reminder: You only have until noon Friday to win a free pint of Starbucks ice cream.

I've got two coupons for free pints and so does my colleague Andrea Weigl, who writes our food blog, Mouthful, so you've got four chances to win.

Will Hall, 34
Training chef at the Food Shuttle in Raleigh
 

Q: When did you start cooking?
A: I started cooking for my family when I was 11.  There were three boys, my mom and step-dad. I made mostly soul-food then…fried chicken, collards, baked chicken mac-and-cheese, etc.  I baked cakes and cookies by the box and some from scratch.  I could do most of what my mom did and I learned more by the time I was 12 so it became my chore after football and baseball practice to have dinner ready.

Q: How many years have you been a chef?
A: I've been in the business 15-16 years but eight years as chef.

Q: How many years have you been a vegan?
A: Eight years.  In the beginning it was all about whether I could do it.  I wanted to be disciplined and I liked the health benefits.  Now, it is about the cool lifestyle and it's more ethical.

Q: Where are you from?
A: I'm from New York but I moved here a couple of years ago to be close to my mom and grandma.

Q: What interests or excites you about food?
A: Food gives me a way to express how I really feel about someone through colors, textures and taste.  Food connects people on all levels.

Q: What style of food do you like to prepare?
A: Simple foods.  I like certain flavors like the taste of broccoli, carrots, hummus, oatmeal and peanut butter.

Q: Do you have any favorite cookbooks?
A: "The Babbo Cookbook" by Mario Batali and "Charlie Trotters Vegetables"

Q: What are you reading right now?
A: "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory."  It just takes me back to childhood pleasures and actually when I first became enchanted with food and cooking at age 11.

Q: What do you like about your work at the Food Shuttle?
A: It gives me the opportunity to give back in a way that makes what I do substantial.  I like to glean food from all of our sources and find ways to present that to people in need and teach others food preparation, food safety and the basics of any cuisine.  It's nice to give back to people and help them tap into their skills. Instead of just handing out food, we teach them a valuable skill.  

Q: What is your favorite food memory?
A:  My best food memory was being able to make an omelette…a real one by the time I was 12.  I really felt "empowered."

I am not necessarily a marshmallow lover, but my three-year-old daughter craves the rare treat so I sprung for them this morning at the Raleigh Whole Foods.  $5.99!  Wow.  OK, I did promise a "secret" treat during school drop-off this morning and these would fit the bill.    They are made in New York by vegan company sweet & sara in many different flavors: vanilla, strawberry, toasted coconut and cinnamon pecan.  I picked up the toasted organic coconut and I have to say they were delightful. They have the pillowy texture of what I remember the non-vegan marshmallows to have (admittedly, it has been about 20 years) and the same flavor, but better.   My daughter loved them as well.  They can also be ordered online through sweet & sara as well as many other guilty indulgences including macaroons, biscotti, smores, rocky road bark and rice crispy treats.

I found myself with an overload of strawberries this week. Could this ever be possible? Between the huge bucket of luscious berries that my neighbor dropped off on Sunday, last year's jam in my pantry and the prospect of picking more this weekend – I was starting to get berry bored. So I decided to make cupcakes. 

They were a huge hit with the kids, and best of all, no artificial flavor or color. Just berry goodness. Here's the recipe.

This lovely children's book landed in our book bin today and I had to pick it up.  It ties simple recipes into classic children's literature that are so imaginative and inviting. There are excerpts from each story which relate to the recipe.  Some of my favorites include the Huckleberry Corn Raft from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and Cinnamon Moons based on the traditional Chinese fairy tale, "The Cinnamon Tree in the Moon."  What a great way to introduce your child to the kitchen!

Charleston chef Sean Brock won the nation's highest culinary honor, a James Beard Foundation award, Monday night in New York City. 

Brock of McCrady's beat out Chapel Hill chefs Bill Smith and Andrea Reusing of Crook's Corner and Lantern respectively for best chef in the Southeast.

Upon taking the stage and receiving the award, Brock said, "Holy shit. I didn't prepare a speech because the other nominees are much better cooks than I am. I look up to them."
Brock added: "Things I love: the South, my wife, family, food, bourbon and life."

This was Smith's second nomination, and Reusing's first nomination.

- From Andrea, who is currently attending the awards

Raleigh native Rachel Wharton won a James Beard award Sunday night for food-related columns, a first for an Edible magazine.

Wharton won a James Beard award for her Back of the House columns that appear in Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan. Wharton is deputy editor of the publications.

Click HERE for an earlier post about Wharton.

It never fails.  Anytime I am feeling down, my wonderful buddy, Tim, comes to the rescue with one of my favorites.  He has brought food remedies in the form of falafel sandwiches from as far away as Chicago (yes, really) and vegan strombolis as close as Lilly's.  Today he calls out-of-the-blue while in line at Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn in Wilmington and demands that I make an order...or he will order for me.  Awesome!

I am happy to report that I am dining on a "babyleg" burrito from Amy's at the moment.  I have chosen the Chipotle BBQ and it is divine.  My spirits are on the rise...

An interesting newish book crossed my desk this morning called "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer."  The book is a memoir by Novella Carpenter, a young woman who moved to a house in inner-city Oakland and decided to start farming on an abandoned lot next door.  I am immensely inspired by the forward thinkers among us who work to utilize our unused urban spaces and get closer to the self-reliance that was once common among our ancestors.

Also, check out Carpenter's musings on her blog.