Two sisters fighting cancer with cupcakes and a mother/daughter chef team are the subjects of recent USA Network Character Approved Blog posts.
We just spent four amazing days in New York City, eating, drinking, seeing tons of art, hanging out with friends and walking, walking, walking. Totally fun, totally exhausting. So despite my best intentions of having a recipe based on those experiences to share now, I just couldn’t get it together. Instead, I’m going to catch up with a couple of posts I’ve written recently for USA Network’s Character Approved Blog. I promise to have a recipe again next week.
Eating cupcakes is always a good thing. And when you can say you’re fighting cancer by doing it, so much the better. Cupcakes for Courage is a Chicago-based food truck that donates a portion of its proceeds to support cancer research and Ride Janie Ride, a foundation that helps individuals struggling with the financial burden of cancer treatment.
Cupcakes for Courage is the brainchild of Laura and Kathryn Pekarik, sisters who love to bake. Kathryn was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins T-cell Lymphoma two years ago. The idea for the truck grew out of Laura baking more than 10 dozen cupcakes for a fundraiser to help cover Kathryn’s medical expenses. Now Laura and the truck are a delicious fixture on the Chicago food truck circuit. And there is talk of a bricks-and-mortar shop someday. To find out more about the truck, the inventive cupcake flavors and how Kathryn is doing, check out my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.
Mother/daughter chef team shows the power of family
When the USA Network team asked for a Mother’s Day post, I wanted to do something beyond the usual gift guide or best place for brunch story. So I started looking around for mothers and daughters who share a professional kitchen. I thought that might demonstrate the real meaning of Mother’s Day somehow. When I learned of chef Longteine de Monteiro and her daughter, executive chef Nasda de Monteiro, I found even more than I had hoped for.
The two share the kitchens of The Elephant Walk, their Boston-based chainlet of upscale Cambodian/French restaurants. More than that, they share family struggles and triumphs, fleeing the brutal Khmer Rouge, opening a restaurant in the south of France to support the family and eventually making their way to America. Even with Mother’s Day now behind us, the story of this family pulling together and the stunning success of The Elephant Walk is an inspiring one. You can read about it here, on the USA Character Approved Blog.
Thanks for the links! NYC, although exhilarating, can also be exhausting! We worked in the area for about a decade, and loved it. And that first picture is great — very NY, and having a Martini followed by oysters and then a burger sounds like a pretty good meal! Alas, I no longer have the capacity to indulge to that extent, but I’ve got memories!
Kitchenriffs, that’s the window of a restaurant on Lexington and 75th on the Upper East Side where we stayed. It covers three of the four major food groups (the fourth being pie).
glad you had a good time, Terry. I know the feeling of being distracted. Makes sense…it’s summer!