Ah, the DC State Fair. I’ve always loved the passion and local talent behind this annual Washington event. For the ninth annual fair, I published an article about it on DCist. This is my first piece with the newly-resurrected publication.
Yesterday’s event was rainy but vibrant. I hope my piece enticed one or two people to come out despite the drizzle. Check out the article:
Put Your Recipes To The Test At The DC State Fair This Weekend
A slide from Jewish Women International introduces the program at the July workshop.
Last week, I attended a workshop called A Jewish Communal Response to #MeToo. I came in my role as vice chair of the board for Hillel at Gallaudet. Kudos go to the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington for hosting and inviting organization leaders to the table. Still, an invitation is just the beginning. I was curious to see what the conversation and approach would look like. The workshop, held over breakfast at the Federation’s HQ in Rockville, Md., followed a simple and proactive agenda.
First, Federation CEO Gil Preuss greeted us. “Many times,” Preuss said, “Change happens when moments arise.” In this case, he added, “We can’t let this moment pass.”
The main program kicked off with the particulars and immediacy of “this moment,” courtesy of Lori Weinstein from Jewish Women International. Weinstein is the CEO of JWI and, she noted, bears no relation to the notorious Hollywood figure who triggered today’s #MeToo movement. She started by outlining the types of harassment, then shared the picture painted by data from the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The statistics point to outstanding challenges for nonprofits, especially in fundraising. Those who give to organizations can take actions and make assumptions that constitute sexual harassment. Continue reading
Filed under Blog, Events, Jewish community, Women
A woman stands in Judiciary Square at the endpoint of the Justice for All March in Washington, DC.
Police-involved shooting.
That’s the term I see often now. It attempts an objective tone, a tone I tried to evoke with my classes following our first discussions of Ferguson and my recent post. I wanted to shine a light on this issue dwelling in our minds.
As I light the Hanukkah candles this week, I’m reminded how every light casts shadows. I have opinions and bias. And more observations. I want to follow up on those now.
Talking in class
In the week following the grand jury decision not to indict then-police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Ferguson resident Michael Brown, I talked to my students and tried to listen. I was impressed with their knowledge of the case. They had been following the news, not just Facebook rantings or snippets on CNN. Continue reading
Filed under Blog, DC, Events, Jewish community, Teaching
Check out my experience at Out of the Binders, aka #BinderCon, on Storify: https://storify.com/RheaYK/out-of-the-binders.
I was inspired by the Storify version of the Google For Media Summit, I decided to make one myself for this conference for women and gender non-conforming writers. Thanks for reading!
Filed under Blog, Community of writers, Conferences, Events, Women
Journalists and all creative users of video, data, and technology: The Google for Media summit in NYC last week was pretty mind-blowing. From the Google Trends workshop alone, I had dozens of story ideas. And did you know Miley Cyrus crashed her fans’ Google hangouts?
If you’re interested in what we learned, check out this Storify summary. You may see a familiar face in the tweets!
Filed under Blog, Community of writers, Events, Writing and technology
In the previous post, I shared some of my experience cooking for 40+ acrobats. Though the menu board in the dining room listed details of only our lunches and dinners, the breakfasts were also documentation-worthy. Part of what made them legendary (at least in my mind) was the bread.
Let me set the scene: The four of us cooks would stumble into the kitchen by 6:15 a.m. to set up a breakfast rotation of housemade chai and granola, a hash with whatever grass-fed meat the monkeys (aka acrobats) hadn’t gobbled up the night before, potato hashbrowns, oatmeal, and/or kitcheree. Coffee, hot water for tea, and hot chocolate, too.
One mainstay of these breakfasts was Chef Josh‘s overnight bread, which is an easy and delicious project for cooks at any level. As the name suggests, you start this bread the night before. Instead of the usual routine of letting the bread dough rise for about an hour a couple of times before baking, this one rises slowly over six or eight hours. (If you’re interested in the technical why and wherefore, the key is the high volume of salt. It slows the yeast’s activity).
Here’s a recipe for the bread, scaled down to make one large or two small loaves (recipe after the jump). Continue reading
Filed under Blog, Events, Healthy eating, Recipes
Zucchini by Rhea
Today, 5 percent of all grocery bills at Whole Foods in Silver Spring will go toward empowerment. That is because those dimes and dollars will support the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Shared Use Community Kitchen.
Not all 85 subscribers to this blog live in the D.C./Maryland area, so I won’t go into detail about the 5 percent day (though if you are in the area, you should go!) Instead, I’ll tell you about this kitchen. According to the project site:
For the past three years, a group of dedicated individuals have been working hard to renovate and reopen the commercial kitchen located in the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church.
Once completed, the kitchen will be available as:
1. an incubator for entrepreneurs to start small food-based businesses,
2. a classroom for teens, seniors, and anyone to learn about healthy eating, and
3. a production space where donated food can be prepared to be sent to local food banks and homeless shelters.
I’m proud to be a part of this kitchen as a board member of the Crossroads Community Food Network, one of the partners in launching the new space. Crossroads is all about food access and empowerment — empowerment to eat healthier food (through the Crossroads Farmers Market and Healthy Eating Program), to earn a living wage from preparing food (the Community Kitchen and Microenterprise Program), and to embrace the cultural foods of your own community and others’ (all of the above).
I look forward to the funds and attention this day can bring, and appreciate the community contributions and support we receive. By reading this post, you’re already part of the empowerment. So thank you!
Many thanks to the gracious and knowledgeable people I interviewed, the daring friends who tasted my recipe trials, and to everyone who gave me feedback.
The table is set for an online chat about food and maybe even my own recipes and writing on Wednesday, April 9. Pictured here are Karaite-style matzah and a green take on maror.
Friends,
I’m pleased to announce that on Wednesday, April 9, I’ll be a guest on the Free Range on Food chat with The Washington Post. This weekly online Q & A features WaPo food editors and staff writers, as well as the occasional freelancer like myself. An article I wrote about Passover will appear in the newspaper that same day. Readers can tune into the chat from noon to about 1 to ask about food, drink, and maybe even my piece.
Here’s the site to bookmark: http://live.washingtonpost.com/free-range-4-9-2014.html. And here’s what you’ll see when you go there before the chat:
Joe Yonan is editor of the Food section; joining us today are deputy editor Bonnie Benwick, staff writer Tim Carman, Spirits columnist Carrie Allan, Smoke Signals columnist Jim Shahin and Beer columnist Greg Kitsock. Guests: Washington Baker Teeny Lamothe, author of “Teeny’s Tour of Pie: A Cookbook”; freelance writer Rhea Yablon Kennedy. [<—Yep, that’s me right there, just a few phrases removed from the editors of the Food section]
Check out past Free Range sessions if you’re curious about what they look like. See you there Wednesday at noon!
My dad, Chuck Kennedy, plays in the snow in Lanesville, NY, some time in the 1970s. Gotta love the snow suit. Photo courtesy of Bart Friedman.
No one knows whether springy or snowy weather will greet these events, but I look forward to going. Cross posted from Videofreex.com.
Videofreex and friends are coming to Washington, D.C. in March. Join us for two events.
1) On Sunday, March 9, the National Gallery of Art will host a screening of Videofreex material and a talk by Videofreex members Skip Blumberg and Parry Teasdale, along with Tom Colley of Video Data Bank.
Early Video Pioneers: Videofreex with Portapaks
Sunday, March 9, 4:00 p.m.
East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art
6th St. and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC
FREE
2) The next day, the work of the Videofreex and their contemporaries comes to the DC Arts Center. The event will debut a new edit of the compilation Videofreex Pirate TV Show and feature video from the landmark May Day protest of 1971.
Videofreex and the May Day Video Collective at DCAC (Facebook event)
Monday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
DC Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: $8 Ticket reservations: 202-462-7833
After party to follow nearby. Contact us for information.
Rhea Kennedy Morgenstern, writer 