the dish on us

What People Are Saying:

Winner Brighter Planet, Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking - “Loulies in DC blew us away with a handful of fabulous tips and recipes. One of our favorites (and the judges too!) is a guide for "Getting to Know Your Farmer’s Market”. The judging panel included Alice Waters of Chez Panisse; Bill McKibben of 350.org; Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farms; Amy Trubek, food activist; Lisa Gosselin, director and producer of Fresh the movie; Patti Prarie, CEO Brighter Planet; and Zachary Cohen of Farm to Table. Judges rated top-ranked entries based on eco-effectiveness and ability to inspire conservation in others.

Winner Food52, Fichi Caramellati - "We liked how Loulies (two friends, Bettina and Suzanne) keeps the figs whole, adding just a sliver of lemon zest, much as you might slip garlic in lamb, and uses rapid heat and a fragrant syrup (rum, sugar, vanilla bean) to quickly soften the fruit and glaze it....." Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubs

“Loulies.com… like the friend who’s always passing about kitchen tips and inspiration, this site (named for a grandmother of one of the founders) has ideas for holiday cocktails, seasonal ingredients, and even tunes to play at parties. Or sign up for e-bites – short-and-sweet kitchen note e-mails about seasonal foods and current food topics.” – Better Homes and Gardens

Bettina Stern and Suzanne Simon foster the welcoming feel of www.Loulies.com—a mini-media empire garnering plenty of daily visitors (the site’s growing popularity prompted the two former publishing editors to focus on Loulies full time) and over a thousand e-newsletter subscribers – Northern Virginia Magazine

“The site is a cyber hotspot for food lovers everywhere…it promises something for everyone who prepares or even eats a meal.” – Sarah Gordon, The Northwest Current

“The tone you guys have taken in your e-bites--of a kind of sisterhood of sense and fun REALLY-- works to inspire and also makes the website seem like a community. It conveys the sense of living people behind the words…pitch perfect. The website has the underlying sense that here are people trying to make healthy, delicious choices in the frantic lives we all have.” Sarah Blake, bestselling author of The Postmistress.

How it Works:
In a recent New York Times Magazine article, Michael Pollan says “It’s hard to imagine ever reforming the American way of eating or, for that matter, the American food system unless millions of Americans — women and men — are willing to make cooking a part of daily life. The path to a diet of fresher, unprocessed food, not to mention to a revitalized local-food economy, passes straight through the home kitchen.” In order to truly reform the way we eat, people need a guide to inspire and help them cook the in season and sustainable foods that they are being encouraged to buy. For years, we have been working to advocate this type of shopping and cooking.

Sign Up for our free e-bites (kitchen notes to help you make choices on how to shop in season and what to cook) and consider us your "trusted source". We'll send you menus, recipes, tips & techniques, and the things we love (from local finds and new ingredients to cocktails and table talk). Also, cook with us. Every season we feature a "cook the book" pick to give you a little support and encouragement in the kitchen and to help you be a better cook.

How We Met:
Over food, of course! Ten years ago at a holiday party, Suzanne overheard Bettina telling of her latest dinner party and a delicious double crème she loved. Suzanne could not resist, turned around, introduced herself, and joined the conversation. Always welcoming new friends, they kept in touch and months later Suzanne joined Bettina's Cookbook Club. Loulies was started thanks to the encouragement of so many great friends and family who love our cooking.

In Our Kitchens:
We both have simple kitchens; utensils hang from the walls, lots of wooden spoons, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes and a bowl of kosher or sea salt always in reach. Never without limes, lemons, plain yogurt, raisins, pignoli, walnuts, basil, rice wine vinegar, dark chocolate, olives, good honey, capers, mint, and fresh ginger.

On Cooking and Parties:
We cook from all inspirations. A great recipe is meant to be shared, but to cook any recipe is to re-invent it. Trust your taste and cook what you like. Have a smile, sense of humor, and a mix of ethnic and earthy. Be casual. Stretch to be stylish. Turn up the volume and mix up the music. Serve good drinks. Shorten the distance from soil to plate - foods in season are always the easiest to turn into a tasty meal.

Who is Loulie?:
Loulie Thomson Thompson was Bettina's grandmother. They would stay up late playing Gin Rummy and Granny would tell stories from her own youth. Hidden in her bedside table was a treasure trove of rich, dark chocolate bars from Europe. Sometimes the simplest things are the most elegant (and best of all, the most delicious).