My parents never served any sort of pre-prepared foods, except things like cereal where it’s impractical to make your own. Fries were made from potatoes, not from a freezer bag. Macaroni and cheese was made with actual cheese, not orange powder. And pancakes were made with flour, eggs, oil, and milk. As a result, pancakes […]
Continue ReadingSubversive ingredient use is fun, especially when you don’t reveal that the recipe has been hacked until after your family is gobbling up the results. This brownie recipe gets a nutrition boost from garden fresh beets and thick applesauce. Brownie Ingredients 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla […]
Continue ReadingOur family loves anything and everything French. My love for French things started when I was a child. My mother was a French teacher and I took my first trip overseas with her when I was sixteen to France. My husband and I met in French classes in high school and went to Paris on […]
Continue ReadingI love planning my kid’s birthday parties. It gives me an outlet for my creativity and I can be as crazy with paper, glue, and cardboard as I want. My daughter and I pick a theme several months in advance so we have plenty of time to make things together. It is great mother-daughter bonding […]
Continue ReadingAlthough the rest of the country got out of school a month ago, we finally had our last day, here in New York, last week. So finally, finally, it’s summer! And what says summer better than watermelon? Well, maybe popsicles and lawn sprinklers — but watermelon’s a close third. So what clever things can hip […]
Continue ReadingMany moons ago, I used to have a little baking company called “Princess Yum Yum.” I’m using the term “company” loosely. It was me and an oven. I would make birthday cakes, wedding cakes, shower favors, home made candies and lots of other goodies, and I made some nice cash doing it. I stopped because […]
Continue ReadingMy kids occasionally call the kitchen Mom’s Evil Laboratory because I like to make our own soaps, lotions, and herbal tinctures. I’ll concede, some of my concoctions don’t smell wonderful. Okay, some don’t turn out too well either. These days we’re using the last remnants of salve that’s become a little too solid. And […]
Continue ReadingAlmost-two-year-olds aren’t very responsive when you ask what kind of birthday party they’d like. Especially mine, who isn’t the talker that his sister was. Three connected words are still a rarity, so when he spent a whole evening repeating, “Ang-y Birds par-ty! Ang-y Birds par-ty!”, I knew we had a winner. I, on the other […]
Continue ReadingOne of the primary reasons I garden is to fill my pantry with canned fruits and vegetables that are free of bpa and pesticides. Of all the different things I preserve, tomatoes are far and away the most-used garden ingredient in my household; it seems I’m constantly pulling a jar of some sort of tomato […]
Continue ReadingMany of our daily conversations are dominated by some combination of these four topics: Our homes, our partners, our children, and our appearance. This is particularly true for women, as social pressures drive us to focus on these things above all else. However, habit can become stifling, and it’s probably not healthy to fulfill any […]
Continue ReadingIf you are what you eat, do you have any idea what you are? In an increasing push for nutrition transparency, you’ll soon at least know how many calories you’re taking in, whether you want to or not. If you live in California, you’re already familiar with this. In 2008 it became the first state […]
Continue ReadingAn aesthetically hungry non-artist, I binge whenever I find what fills my senses. My kids do hilarious parodies of Mom Rhapsodizing About Nature and they insist they have Post Traumatic Art Gallery Syndrome after being dragged to see one exhibit too many. Clearly we have different appetites. But my kids share my enthusiasm for They Draw […]
Continue ReadingOne of my sons’ birthdays is in April and consequently always managed to fall around Easter time. Because of this, we often were stuck throwing had a big Easter breakfast/birthday celebration for our extended family. And can I just whine say that breakfast is one of the hardest meals to make for a crowd? The […]
Continue ReadingSeven smart and unusual ways to spend time indoors with kids.
Continue ReadingRecently at the grocery store, I asked my oldest son what kind of snacks he might want, and his answer was “funnel cakes like at the ball park.” Sigh. I was expecting an answer like “tortilla chips” or “Nutter Butter cookies” or something more normal like that. But in typical overachiever fashion, I said, “Okay!” […]
Continue ReadingCakerella I am not. Duff Goldman I am not, either. But I can dream, right? Hopefully my stuff looks better than what CakeWrecks posts, though 🙂 After spending about $30 on my youngest son’s first birthday cake in 2006 (that didn’t even taste that good), I decreed that I needed to learn some cake decorating […]
Continue ReadingWhen I was a newlywed GeekGirl, I hated to cook. It was boring and I didn’t like planning out menus or looking for recipes. Those were the pre-Internet days (gasp!) and pre children days. Back then when I got home from school exhausted we went out for meals. However, as I got older I began to enjoy […]
Continue ReadingOkay, I know that all of the relationship experts out there are touting the romantic properties of flowers and jewelry this Valentine’s Day. Nothing for the kitchen, they say. Nothing that will require your sweetheart to work. But this is just all kinds of awesome. I covet Le Creuset cookware. It would be a happy, […]
Continue ReadingI’m not the biggest candy fiend, so every year I end up with candy canes left over after Christmas. Valentine’s is the perfect way to get rid of them. Of course, now that I have two kids of candy-eating age, I expect to have to hoard candy canes for this purpose. It’s quick, too. All […]
Continue ReadingIf you’re looking for a fun Valentine’s Day activity to do with your kids, consider a little dip through chocolate. Everything‘s good dipped in chocolate, right? My 15 year old, ever aware of a chance to eat chocolate, volunteered to help with this project. He could easily have done it all by himself, but in […]
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