Jennifer Woods

Good Food Finder: Good Food Allies Create a Database of Local Producers

Even the most encyclopedic members of the local-food movement are likely to have some holes in their knowledge of all things food and Arizona. Enter, the Good Food Finder. Created by Natalie Morris and Jennifer Woods, the co-founders of Good Food Allies, the online directory identifies and locat ... More >>

Food Day 2012 is Today: Why You Should Care and What's Happening in Metro Phoenix

Hooray for food! Yes, we love food. We talk about it all day every day here on Chow Bella, but what exactly is Food Day? In short, Food Day is about supporting clean, fair food through community-driven events and reenergizing the conversation on the same day, every year. The Center for Science in ... More >>

Glacier Lettuce, Explained

Kale? Please, that is so last week. And don't even get us started on arugula. There's a new vegetable on the block: glacier lettuce. And believe it or not, it grows well right here in the desert.

Foolproof Mother's Day Breakfast: French Toast in Bed

For Mother's Day, we wanted to give the doting partners a foolproof plan for what to prepare (with the help of the kids, of course) on Mother's Day morning while you're letting her sleep in. Just remember, it's the thought that counts and if you remember only one thing: You must let her sleep in. Y ... More >>

Get Smart About the Food Bill, Read All About it in Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill

We know the federal farm bill is up for renewal this year. We also know that the farm bill is a mucked-up sludgy mess of a bill that doesn't properly serve the food producers or eaters. Want to know exactly what the whole fuss is over and what's really going on? We have the answer. We recently r ... More >>

Boiled Beets with Parm and Pine Nuts

Lately, in this In Season series, we're taking a look at what I take home from Crooked Sky Farms each week and see what I've done with my CSA share, or part share. This week I'm using beets. My default cooking method for root vegetables is roasting. Lately, though, I've been having the darndest ... More >>

Queen Creek Olive Mill's New Bacon Olive Oil is Vegan. Wanna Know How it Tastes?

We heard about the Bacon Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Queen Creek Olive Mill last month and decided we need to get our hands on a bottle and give it a little look-see and taste. Even though Queen Creek is within the Phoenix Metro Area, we still had to pay $15 for shipping to Phoenix, in addition to ... More >>

Vegan and Dog Friendly, Wy~Knot Cafe Serves Standout Made-to-Order Breakfasts and Familiar Coffee

In an effort to make Mom proud, Chow Bella's taking a good, hard look at the most important meal of the day in the form of Scrambled, a mashup of breakfast recipes, news, and reviews of local restaurants serving the a.m. crowd. We recently got a chance to swing by the Wy~Knot Cafe on 7th St., named ... More >>

Stacked Cheese and I'itoi Enchiladas with Homemade Sauce

Lately, in this In Season series, we're taking a look at what I take home from Crooked Sky Farms each week and see what I've done with my CSA share, or part share. This week I'm using dried chiles and i'itoi onions.

Three Things to Eat, Drink and Make this Weekend

​This weekend is going to be a busy one! Arizona Beer Week starts tomorrow; Cocktail Week starts Sunday; Jennifer Woods is teachin' class at the Public Market; Kitchen 56 is celebrating their first anniversary. It's all good stuff but a girl only has so much time and her liver can only take so muc ... More >>

Chow Bella's Jennifer Woods to Host Winter Chef Series This Saturday at Downtown Phoenix Market

Jennifer Woods​ This Saturday is the last class in the Downtown Phoenix Public Market's Winter Chef Series and the host just happens to be our very own Chow Bella contributor, Jennifer Woods.  You may know Jennifer from our Chow Bella book club or from her weekly online column In ... More >>

Tracy Dempsey's Caneles, the French Treat We Just Had to Try for Ourselves

Caneles were one of our picks as a food trends in 2012. Naturally, we've been wanting to try one. Taking one for the team (ha ha), we followed Tracy Dempsey on Monday afternoon into the commissary kitchen of Arcadia Farms in Old Town Scottsdale, where she makes her many Tracy Dempsey Originals confe ... More >>

Thoughts and Predictions for the 2012 Food Scene

Thoughts and Predictions for the Local & National Food Scene in 2012

Hey, it's a new year and you've already got a ton of things going on -- we get that. That's why we've put our top thoughts and food predictions posts for the national and local food scene in 2012 all into one convenient format. Here's an excerpt on what could happen to the Valley's food scene this ... More >>

Comfort Me with Apples: Chow Bella Book Club Meeting, Now In Session

Jennifer Woods​ Come grab a seat, you've just arrived at the third meeting of the Chow Bella Book Club! We've gathered to discuss Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl. As you probably already know, apples don't really make much of an appearance in this book. It's really more of a feeling Reich ... More >>

New Year's 2011 in Metro Phoenix: One-Stop Guide to Where to Dine, What to Drink and Year-End Musings

​Looks like we made it. 2012 is just about here.If you're a last-minute planner, you're in luck. Here's Shannon Armour's guide to New Year's Eve dining (we're sure there are still reservations available somewhere) and Benjamin Leatherman's comprehensive list of where to party. Erica O'Neil fo ... More >>

Laurie Notaro's Chicken Pot Pie, Pot-Infused Vodka and 8 More Favorite Recipes of 2011

​Boy, are we full. 2011 was a year of great new restaurants, delicious morsels -- and many new recipes to try. Here are a few of the favorites Chow Bella shared with you this last year.  10. Laurie Notaro's Chicken Pot Pie Not only was our favorite funny lady kind enough ... More >>

Mark Tarbell, Tracy Dempsey, and Matt Taylor Help Kick Off Winter Chef Series at Phoenix Public Market

Welcoming in the winter season, a new line-up of Valley chefs and taste makers has been set to host Phoenix Public Market's Winter Chef Series, two-hour demonstrations and cooking classes featuring a variety of memorable meals and culinary personalities. Mark Tarbell, chef and owner of Tarbell's, t ... More >>

Amy S.'s The Holidays Really Take Their Toll (House) Cookies

Cookie dough porn. ​Our latest Chow Bella showdown: a traditional holiday cookie exchange. Today: our final entry, Amy Silverman's "The Holidays Really Take Their Toll (House) Cookies."   Let's face it: You've made it this far in the holiday season and all you really want right now is ... More >>

Amy M.'s Snickerdoodles and Spritz Cookies

Our latest Chow Bella showdown: a traditional holiday cookie exchange. From now through Christmas, we present Chow Bella's 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. Today we bring you two recipes: Amy Morris' Snickerdoodles and Spritz cookies. Snickerdoodles! Fun to say, and delicious. These are my husband's fa ... More >>

Nicole's Mini Pans

Our latest Chow Bella showdown: a traditional holiday cookie exchange. From now through Christmas, we present Chow Bella's 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. Today: Nicole Smith's Mini Pans. Tedd Roundy Nicole's serving 'em up.​Some people say, "I'm turning into my mother" like it's a bad thin ... More >>

Claire's Chocolate Chip, Fool Proof, and Better Than They Look (Really) Cookies

​Our latest Chow Bella showdown: a traditional holiday cookie exchange. From now through Christmas, we present Chow Bella's 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. Today, we bring you Claire's Chocolate Chip, Better Than They Look (Really) Cookies. I am not a baker -- a tough fact I thought I could hide un ... More >>

Dominique's Mini Dark Chocolate Pear Tarts

If you look forward to the holidays because they provide an excuse to spend all day baking something extra special for your holiday cookie tray, you can't go wrong with these rich Mini Dark Chocolate Pear Tarts.

Ando's Totally Ethnic Ginger Chocolate Cookies

Tedd Roundy​I've never been a fan of Christmas cookies. In my experience they tend to be bland sugar cookies pressed into vaguely holiday-ish shapes and buried beneath a mountain of colored sugars. My cooking companion is Hindu and freely admits that her Christmas repertoire is fairly limited as w ... More >>

Lauren's Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles

Tedd Roundy ​For the past two years, my friend and I have made cookies for that long list of friends and acquaintances that don't quite make the gift list, but could never just be left out in the cold. On college student budgets, giving treats is a great way to spread holiday cheer without h ... More >>

Jen's Aunt Bonnie's Sour Cream Cookies

Tedd Roundy​It just doesn't taste like Christmas to me without a few of my Aunt Bonnie's Sour Cream Cookies. I mentioned them last year in the Chow Bella "Jennifer Woods, What Are You Baking?" post. These cookies are really all about the frosting but the soft cookie makes that whole eating e ... More >>

10 Gifts for the Home Gardener

The number of home gardeners/homesteaders is growing by the second and you might even count yourself among them. Here are some pretty and pretty useful food-focused gifts for the gardener or those who aspire to be one. Jennifer Woods​

Chow Bella Book Club Review and Online Discussion: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

Jennifer Woods ​ Welcome to the second meeting of the Chow Bella Book Club! How nice to have you here. I told you I was going to make orangettes for our visit tonight. I made good on my promise. I have them right here (I would have posted a pic but they don't look nearly as delightfu ... More >>

Most Honey in the U.S. Isn't Honey at All, Food Safety News Reports

​ You'd think that honey would be the last food item to be tampered with in this era of food supply manipulation and control. It seems so pure, it never spoils (there's even safe-to-eat black honey found in Egyptian tombs), it's sweet and it's what Winnie the Pooh lives for -- but it appears that ... More >>

Roasted Vegetable and Bean Tostada with a Fried Egg

Jennifer Woods​Lately, in this In Season series, we're taking a look at what I take home from Crooked Sky Farms each week and see what I've done with my CSA share, or part share. This week I'm using butternut squash and green beans.

Stephanie Izard's Girl in the Kitchen Cookbook Review and Interview

Jennifer Woods​Girl in the Kitchen: How a Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats and Drinks by Stephanie Izard and her friend Heather Shouse, published by Chronicle Books, has the look and feel of many of the celebrity cookbooks you've seen before. Colorful and engaging graphic design, photo of ... More >>

Chow Bella Book Club Review and Online Discussion: Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

​ We hope you were able to read along with us the first Chow Bella Book Club selection for the month of October - Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. Today is the day for our first online book club "meeting" to discuss our thoughts and feelings on this book in particular. So, h ... More >>

Top 5 Favorite Cookbooks

​We wanted to remind you that we've started our Chow Bella Book Club in partnership with Changing Hands Bookstore. This month (October) we're reading the new book by Kathleen Flinn called Kitchen Counter Cooking School. If you still need a copy, you can get a discounted one from Changing Hands, ju ... More >>

In Season: Yardlong Beans

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce.This week's harvest: Yardlong Beans http://jimlongsgarden.blogspot.com/​You might have seen these crazy long "green" or purple beans at ... More >>

Homemade Harvey Squeezable Fruit Pouches Launches in Arizona

​This week marked the Arizona launch of Homemade Harvey. It's an organic, preservative-free, crushed fruit snack pouch made in Orange California. I got to meet one of the three owners at the Paradise Valley Whole Foods who really eyed me as as I (a mom with two small kids) walked near -- I'm ... More >>

In Season: Purslane

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Purslane/Verdolagas Jennifer WoodsPurslane in the dirt​ Purslane is the fancy schmancy succulent weed that you see at ... More >>

In Season: Sweet Onions

Kelly Saxer Sweet Onion from Desert Roots Farm ​Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Sweet Onions They are sweet enough to be eaten like an apple - ... More >>

In Season: Okra

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Okra http://www.cookthink.com/​ Hey, y'all. Are you hungry for some okra? Okra is one of those vegetables that you e ... More >>

In Season: Melons

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Melons Jennifer Woods"Honey Yellow" melon​ It's time to enjoy the fruity floral spheroids. There are quite a few var ... More >>

In Season: Tomatoes

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Tomatoes Jennifer Woods​They're heeeeerrrrrrrre! Well, they've been here for a few weeks depending on your backyard an ... More >>

Phoenix Farmers Who Tweet

This week in our Follow Friday feature, we're highlighting a few of the Phoenix farmers who tweet all about the blood sweat tears of food production in the desert. http://www.causematters.com/wp-content/uploads/CoverArt_Farmers.jpg​Superstition Farm (@superfarm) The Mesa-based dairy farm tweets ... More >>

In Season: Peaches

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Peaches Jennifer Woods​ The last two weeks of May, you can hear our collective groans over the tender sweet ... More >>

In Season: Fennel

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce.This week's harvest: Fennel Jennifer Woods​When you pick up a fennel bulb at the market and give it a good once over, you nose might get ... More >>

Slideluck Pot Show and Royal Cupcakes in Today's Eater's Digest

Made With Pink ​ Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Slideluck Pot What? What the hell is a Slideluck Potshow? We were wondering the exact same thing till our buddies over at Jackalope Ranch and our own Jennifer Woods filled us in. Turns out Slide ... More >>

In Season: Beets

Whether you're a CSA devotee, a farmers' market weekender or consider ketchup aveg, we'll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week's harvest: Beets Jennifer Woods​Beets are very sensual. They are sweet, earthy, dirty, hard when raw, tender when cooked and j ... More >>

Cindy Gentry's Perfect Food Day

Cindy Gentry is a soft-spoken powerhouse in the Arizona world of food. She opened the Downtown Phoenix Public Market in February 2005 and is working on a Farm to Cafeteria program for Arizona. She loves Celtic music and got twin grandchildren just over a year ago. Lucky lady. Jennifer Woods​ ... More >>

Trefoil Cookie Showdown: And the Winner Is . . .

​As one of her final acts as New Times' food critic, Michele Laudig weighed in with her choice in our Trefoil Cookie Showdown. We tried to one-up ourselves at Chow Bella when Girl Scout Cookie season kicked in this year. A year ago, we experimented with Thin Mints and came up with some ... More >>

Home Composting in Metro Phoenix: A City by City Guide and How to DIY

Jennifer WoodsMy kitchen scraps​Chow Bella asked that I write a special post about composting since many of us (myself included) are hurriedly taking advantage of the spectacular weather we've had lately and starting backyard (or frontyard) vegetable gardens, including beginning to compost at home ... More >>

10 Ways to Get Your Kid to Eat His Freaking Vegetables

Jennifer Woods ​Just when we think we're going to have an easy dinner filled with interesting preschooler conversation about sandboxes and spiders, it ends up like this: ... Stop talking and eat your food. Stop playing and eat your food. Sit down and eat your food. Don't just pick ou ... More >>

This Week In Chow Bella

Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let's have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Jennifer Woods, What Are You Baking? 5 Pre-Order Holiday Meals for Procrastina ... More >>