5 Things Liz & Lisa didn't know about Jessica Seinfeld

As we've mentioned before, Liz has a hard time being Top Chef of her own kitchen.  Or at least she did until she picked up Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld one day in a desperate attempt to get her kids to eat something other than pasta with butter.   And no one was more surprised than her when the kids not only ate the recipes she made from there but actually asked for more! And they had no idea that Liz had pureed veggies into each recipe.  So when Jessica's new recipe book, Double Delicious, came out-Liz had to have it!  And once again, Jessica came through with kid-friendly recipes with pureed veggies hidden in every bite! And today we're excited to have Jessica share 5 things we didn't know about her.  And guess what?  We've got THREE copies OF DOUBLE DELICIOUS to give away!  You know the drill-just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  We'll announce the winners Sunday November 27th after 6pm EST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: 5 THINGS LIZ & LISA DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT JESSICA SEINFELD

1. My favorite appliance in the kitchen is the food processor- because you can make soups and purees and I think it’s one of those things if you don’t’ have time to chop you can quickly do it in a food processor. You can make great pasta sauce or pesto which is a great meal to always keep in your fridge for veggies or pasta.

My 5 favorite kitchen gadgets I can’t live without:

• A meat thermometer

• A zester

• A kitchen timer

• A cutting board

• And a great knife that feels good in my hand

2. I teamed up with Target for a new baby clothes line that benefits charity. The clothing line, designed by Petit Trésor for Target, is the second in a series of three that I'm debuting through a one-year, charitable-focused partnership with Target. In addition to affordable prices, 10% of each sale goes to support my non-profit Baby Buggy, a New York City-based organization I founded in 2001 that provides clothing and gear to families in need.

Over the years, I have been approached to take the Baby Buggy Brand into product but I didn’t want to do it unless it was helpful or meaningful in some way. Target is the master at making things feel and look like luxury but keeps them affordable. The new line is the most luxurious feeling cotton – sleepers and bibs and basic stuff – a really gift-able collection palette with price point between $2.99 and $16.99. I love it!

3. My family and Jerry’s are all eating together this year so I’m cooking for about 30 people. Traditionally my mom will help and we’ll serve my Grandma’s turnips, made every year and not eaten by one person, but we have to do it though. There will be kids screaming, someone will be fighting and the kids will be running all around. We’ll have turkey, apple pie (I love that) and pumpkin pie. I’m doing a whole thing on my website about Thanksgiving – how to make the simplest Thanksgiving. (Here’s the video to make the Turkey and Gravy, including recipe and tips and the video to show you how: http://www.doitdelicious.com/recipes/make_it/roast_turkey_and_gravy)

4. We love Italy. We also love Colorado and going skiing. My daughter broke her leg skiing three  years ago, so now I live in terror. We love to travel though and would love to travel around and see the world with our kids when they are older.

5. My favorite mom moment? All the times where parents have sent me an email or stopped me at school and mentioned to me something nice my kids have done for their children.  Recently a mom stopped me at school and said, “Your daughter was so nice to my daughter when it was her first day of school and welcomed her warmly.” I love that.

Thanks Jessica! xo, L&L

To read more about Jessica, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook.

Mommy Monday: Deceptively Delicious? by Liz

I've always believed that, like wild animals, small children can smell fear from a mile away. And I'm not talking about the fear of flying or clowns or being terrified that I'll have a muffin top when I wear my favorite jeans.  I'm talking about the fear that the kids won't eat what I make for dinner.

And the more I fear, the less they eat.  It's like they can smell my desperation, my insane desire for them to enjoy whatever I've been slaving over in the kitchen.  That they'll say "Yummy Mommy!" rather than "Eww, this tastes like poo poo!"

I never questioned my cooking skills before I inadvertently became a contestant on Top Chef: Mommy Edition.  In fact, the Italian in me could be quite cocky when it came my abilities in the kitchen.  But when my kids turned three and became mini food critics, I began to wonder if I had what it takes to please their picky palettes.

That's why, in a moment of desperation, I purchased Deceptively Delicious by  Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife) last week.  Lured in by the promise of happy mealtimes, I bought into the theory that pureeing veggies and hiding them in a bowl of pasta or grilled cheese was the way to go.  That if I forced encouraged my five-year-old to help prepare the meals she might be more likely to eat them.

And, being the Type A'er I am, I threw myself into Project "Eat your damn food!" with abandon.  Jessica was kind enough to let me know all of the kitchen items I was missing and gently scolded me in her book for not using whole wheat flour and breadcrumbs.  And after a very expensive trip to Whole Foods, I too was ready to grind every vegetable in the house into oblivion. It was so easy! she declared.  She and Jerry puree very Sunday evening after they put their perfect children to bed while watching Seinfeld reruns! Okay, maybe not the last part.

But after spending THREE hours in the kitchen pureeing my ass off, I started to think Jessica had misled me a bit.  That maybe she didn't realize that I'd be working in a small galley kitchen with a old cuisinart rather than a ginormous space filled with Viking appliances, sub-zero refrigeration and a Magic Bullet.  Or that I'd actually be the one doing it. (C'mon, does this beyotch really want me to believe she doesn't have even a part-time chef?)

But I was determined.  And after bagging and marking and dating each and every bag, I was ready to conquer my kid's eating habits.  Because if Jessica Seinfeld could get her kids to eat tofu nuggets with broccoli puree secretly hidden in it, then DAMNIT, so could I!

But as tasty as those tofu nuggets sounded(not!), I decided to start with the tortilla cigars.  Because anything with cream cheese and cheddar cheese in a tortilla couldn't be that bad, right?  Even WITH the yellow squash and carrot puree hidden deep within.

I was giddy with anticipation (or maybe just delirious from working in a hot kitchen for three hours) when I took the cigars out of the oven.  I  had tasted them and they were damn good- you would never know that there was secret nutritional value lurking inside. And after initially turning their noses up at something new like they usually do, I was able to threaten them with time out lovingly convince them to take a bite.

And guess what?  I didn't hear the word "disgusting" uttered the entire meal.  Although my five-year-old did declare halfway through that she didn't like them as much as she originally thought. But I didn't care.  I decided then and there that it had all been worth it.  That it really didn't matter if Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld had never pureed a sweet potato in their life or if they had a housekeeper that cleaned up the ridiculous mess that pureeing made.  Because my children ate something new and liked it.

And I believe that my daughter was more willing to try it because she had helped in the kitchen.  Like she finally knew what it felt like to work your ass off only to have your children do their best Gordan Ramsey impersonation.

So one small victory for mom.  I'm moving on to butter noodles with yellow squash and chicken soup with cauliflower next.  From now on, instead of smelling fear, my little animals with breathe in my deceptively delicious creations. And whether Jessica sits on the couch reading US Weekly while her housekeeper slaves away or if she has a date each Sunday night with her Magic Bullet, it doesn't really matter.  Because for one night, I was Top Chef of my own kitchen again.

xoxo, Liz