Yikes! There are kids in My Kitchen...is the name of my first cookbook set to be released this fall (2009). Yes...it certainly describes this mother of three and her experience of cooking with kids and/or just plain having them hanging around the kitchen. Sometimes it's smooth sailing, sometimes its a "grin and bare it" type experience and other times my kitchen is just filled with chaos with everyone passing through grabbing this, grabbing that and all wanting something different to fill up on. None the less, our kitchen has been filled with great times and moments to be treasured.

The kitchen has become one of the hubs of our household on many levels. I never quite realized how important the time I spent in the kitchen cooking with and for my children was until the past couple of years. It's funny, when I have the kids in the car and ask them about their day I often get the simple word answeres like "nothing happened," "nothing new," "I don't know!" Just a few minutes later with snacks or meal prep in the kitchen and suddenly those short answers spill over into the long winded discussions of what happened at school, what homework is due, who did what in class, who likes who and so on and so forth.

Our time in the kitchen, no matter how crazy at times, has created not a comfort food, but a "comfort zone!"