I spend most of my pinning time on food and house stuff, so I am frequently directed to blogs.  I’ve been amazed at how accomplished people seem to be! Professional-looking photographs, elaborately themed birthday parties, Halloween costume creating extravaganzas – you name it, people are doing it and they are kicking ass at it. Sometimes I wonder, why am I having so much trouble? If I can cook a meal, bathe Nolan and watch one show on my DVR, I consider that an unusual success worth celebrating with a glass of wine. Sure, many of these women don’t work outside the home, but neither did I for nine months.

Some examples…

Doesn’t everyone use electrical tape to create avant-garde art?

Forget about just growing herbs, you should build the container too!

Ok, this one I actually want to do. But I know I’ll never get around to it. So now I feel bad again.

Then the essay “Your Children Want YOU!” started floating around and I felt a whole lot better. Read it. Right now. Hurry! The title might turn off readers without kids, but I really believe the sentiment applies to everyone. It’s not just about people’s relationships with their children, it’s about  people’s relationships with everyone important to them. Your kids (friends, loved ones, coworkers) won’t like you more for hand-crafting their favorite flowers in fondant icing. They like you because you because you’re thoughtful and loving. (If you’re not thoughtful and loving, well, they probably don’t like you as much.)  That’s not to say that completing a project or creating something beautiful isn’t satisfying and wonderful – it is! But we should use sites like Pinterest and Facebook for ideas and inspiration, not to make us feel inferior and useless.

So go forth and multiply your pins! Just don’t get down on yourself if you never make that rainbow layer birthday cake.

Pinterest – holy mother of all time suckers. I have a whole post on Pinterest in the works, but if you haven’t pinned, get busy.

Bronx Zoo – we went here yesterday for a birthday party and it was so fun. I go every few years and each time I think, Wow! I need to get here more often. It’s lovely and so nicely cared for.

Cooking Food Stuffs – the aforementioned Pinterest has kept my kitchen BUSY. This BLT Quinoa Salad is delicious, these Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps taste like they could be from a restaurant, and if Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars sound like something you might enjoy, then you have to make these. If they don’t sound like something you would like, please leave. Or see a mental health professional STAT.

Reading – being back at work and reading the literary gems of high school students keeps me pretty busy so I haven’t been reading much fiction lately. I started the memoir Bringing Up Bebe and really enjoyed it but had to return it to my library since it was a 7-day loan.  English teacher + mother of baby = not finishing a book a week. I’ll probably buy it from Amazon next time I’m on there. So in about five minutes. I think I’m the last woman on Earth to read 50 Shades of Grey. It’s on my to-do list for the summer.

ABC Kitchen – Matt and I went here for lunch over the April vacation and had a pretty amazing meal. I will say this, the place tries really hard. A little too hard if you ask me. It’s a bit over curated for my taste and just felt kind of forced. Everyone was friendly, the food was original and delicious but the space and the “uniforms” were a bit of an eye roll. Is it weird that I’m being a snob about a restaurant’s snobbery?

This Guy – he’s been keeping me busy and happy  Here he is doing some work on Matt’s computer.

And enjoying some Starbucks:

What about you, friends? Read anything great lately or have something worth sharing?

Before I gave birth to our son Nolan last April, my husband Matt and I planned and saved and determined that I could take maternity leave for nine months. At the start of my leave, nine months sounded like forever. I had the summer to look forward to, the back-to-school whirlwind I wouldn’t be a part of, the holidays – it seemed like so much time. And in many ways, it was so much time -  I’m well aware that some women return to work after a few short weeks! That being said, even after taking an extended leave, returning to work was really difficult. Continue reading here…

Microplane Zester ($15.95) - a must-have for zesting citrus fruits, you can also use this for fine shavings of chocolate and cheese.

Citrus Reamer ($3.95) - while it certainly doesn’t have the power of a large electric juicer, this little sucker makes it surprisingly easy to get tons of juice out of citrus fruits. This is a favorite of mine when making cocktails!

Steaming Basket – an easy way to gently cook vegetables and it’s invaluable for making baby food!

Liquid Measuring Cups ($11.95) – did you know that liquid and solid measuring cups aren’t the same? It’s true. One cup in a dry measuring cup is different than one cup in a liquid container.  It makes a big difference when baking because you need precise measurements. This measuring cup from Crate and Barrel is pretty with its green markings, don’t you think? Pyrex and Anchor make sets of these in different sizes for very reasonable prices.

Cookie Dough Scoop ($12.95) – If you bake cookies with any regularity, using a scoop helps keep the cookies a consistent size so everything cooks evenly. It also keeps your hands clean (that is until you start eating cookie dough).

 What about you, fellow home cooks? What low-cost gadgets and tools are invaluable to you?

Fast forward four weeks: I go back to work after nine months of being home with Nolan.

Rewind three weeks: I spend most of January throwing a pity party for myself about my impending return to work.

Fast forward four weeks: Nolan starts crawling (for real, no more belly scooting), gets his first tooth and Matt takes this picture to mark Nolan’s nine month milestone.

Fast forward four weeks: I am back at work long enough to feel like I never left, but not so long that I forget what it was like being home. I painfully miss our routine. I simultaneously envy our babysitter for being home with Nolan all day, and pity her for being home with Nolan all day because it’s harder than ever now that he is on the move.

Play: Today is Nolan’s first haircut. Disaster! We bring him to the barber that Matt uses and everything is fine until the barber puts that smock around his neck. There is no recovering after that. The next ten minutes are a blur of crying (real tears and snot!) as a helpless Russian man waves filthy toys in front of Nolan’s face to distract him. The one he is really pushing is an outdated electronic toy that not only has hair encrusted all over it, but also dirt so old it might have come from the mother country.

I promise to be better about posting from now on. It’s my St. Patrick’s Day resolution.

I don’t know why cooking a steak always intimidated me but when I watched Ina Garten make filet mignon I saw how quick and easy it really is. Go to the butcher for your meat and you’ll see that it’s just as good as what you order at a steakhouse (and a lot less expensive). An 8oz filet in a restaurant can easily cost $30 and up. Our two steaks from my favorite butcher cost about $25.

I follow this recipe for preparing the steaks with a few adjustments. The recipe calls for fleur de sel (a type of salt) but I just use kosher salt. I also use about half the salt and pepper it calls for because otherwise it is WAY too overpowering. I don’t have a seasoned cast iron skillet so I use a Le Creuset enameled cast iron pan instead.

To go with our steaks I’m making twice baked potatoes and creamed spinach. For dessert, I’m following the recommendation of A Cup of Jo and I picked up Trader Joe’s Chocolate Lava Cakes. If they’re as good as they are fattening, we’re in for a delicious evening.

Happy New Year, friends and family!

If you can bake, try Martha Stewart’s lime meltaways. I blogged about them here.

The Barefoot Contessa’s Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake is really impressive and not too challenging. Food Network has the mini-cakes version that appeared on her show, but the whole cake, which is made in a bundt pan, is found in Barefoot Contessa Parties.

If you’re not really a baker but you can turn on an oven and you own a spoon and an 8×8 pan, you can make some jazzed up brownies. Start with a box of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownies and get cracking.  Peppermint Brownies are perfect for the holidays and a cinch to make. Pour half the prepared batter in the pan, layer six large peppermint patties across the pan (or a bunch of smaller ones) and cover with the remaining batter.

Nothing goes better with brownies than peanut butter so microwave a few tablespoons of peanut butter for 15-30 seconds to soften it, pour three stripes across the batter and run a knife perpendicular to the peanut butter to swirl it through. Wowee zowee.

If you know your hosts are wine drinkers, choose a bottle for them to enjoy when they’re not crazed with guests. And please, step away from the white zinfandel! If you’re a wine novice, ask the salesperson for a suggestion and don’t be afraid to communicate your budget (even if it’s $10), there are a lot of good choices at every price.

Of course there are many great websites with beautiful gifts. Check out Terrain, Wisteria, Beekman 1802, and for gorgeous personalized photo gifts that are surprisingly well-priced, you can’t beat Pinhole Press. I bought a ton of gifts there this year.

Happy Holidays!!

I also love a bargain. Carter’s sends me coupons pretty much every day and I have taken advantage of double-stamp Tuesdays for a few $10 certificates. Etsy is a wonderful spot for handmade clothes and toys but the prices aren’t always the cheapest. Still, I’d rather spend an extra few dollars and support an individual than buy another mass-produced, Made in China item at Buy Buy Baby.

Now that the holidays are around the corner HERE, advertisements for beautiful baby goodies abound. Some items make zero sense to me.

This is a baby sweater from J.Crew. It’s $125. And it’s cashmere. I think I find the material more offensive than the price. I don’t know if you know this about babies, but they spit up and drool about a gallon a day. They also have this cool trick where they poop up their backs (or is that just Nolan?). For fear of handing over my paycheck to the dry cleaner, I have had to temporarily “retire” all my wool sweaters so I certainly am not putting one on my baby. But then I try to imagine myself rich. Would it be normal to send my infant’s clothes to the dry cleaner? Would it bother me when my son poop-sploded up his back and into the fine Italian cashmere fibers of this sweater?

And then there is this layette set from Mabo.

It’s $62 which I KNOW is silly. But did you see that little knot hat? And the cute little butt?

It’s details like that that make me want to do crazy things! Like buy baby clothes for $62!

And did I mention they come in stripes?

Etsy is highly addicting (and overwhelming) and I have purchased a few cute mini-splurges for Nolan on there. This flag banner from Sweetbug Studio hangs above Nolan’s crib.

This owl hat from Jojos “Boo”tique is ridiculously cute. It was made to order so it took about a month to receive but it was worth the wait.

With the weather (finally) getting cold, the fleece-y booties from Bison Booties I bought are coming in handy. The seller carries booties in a ton of really adorable fabrics. They arrived pretty quickly so they make a great gift!

We bought this picture to hang in Nolan’s room. I love the old-fashioned style taxi. It reminds me of old New York movies like An Affair to Remember.

Little Alouette makes wooden teethers that are eco and baby friendly. Yes to fewer plastic toys! Fingers crossed Nolan doesn’t read my blog because he has two of these in his stocking.

The routine is always the same. I walk up to the counter and state my order: “Medium decaf vanilla with milk.” The cashier repeats it back to me (usually correctly) and then immediately pours coffee out of the regular coffeepot. “Excuse me, is that decaf?” I ask. “Oh you want decaf?” the cashier responds, surprised. This happens no less than half the time. For this reason, I cannot order from the drive-thru because I can’t actually watch the person pour the coffee. I haven’t had caffeine (other than in chocolate) in over a year so you can imagine what would happen if I downed 16 oz. of regular coffee. On the off-chance that I’m given decaf, I’m almost certainly guaranteed to not get the vanilla I asked for (as was the case this week).

A few months ago I threw caution to the wind and went to the drive-thru because I had Nolan in the car and it was a million degrees out. Before I was even handed the coffee, I could see the mound of sugar resting at the bottom of the cup. “Um, that looks like it has sugar in it and I asked for just milk.” The cashier frowned and looked at the cup and then tried handing it to me, “Just try it! You’ll like it!” They remade my coffee when I refused, but forgot the vanilla. No surprise there.

What is surprising is that this happens at every DD. It’s not like there’s one bad location by me and I should just try another. Am I really asking for that much???

Roast Turkey - Barefoot Contessa’s hands-off approach to turkey hasn’t failed  me yet. No brining. No basting. Moist and delicious. Her recipe is for a 12 lb. turkey; I adjust accordingly for my 20 lb. bird. I make this gravy (minus the business with the giblets) and it’s easy breezy.

Mashed Potatoes - Again, love Barefoot Contessa’s. I don’t bother with putting them through a food mill, however. I gently mash them by hand and then use a stand mixer. The thing with mashed potatoes is that they have to be made last-minute. Last year I attempted a baked version from The Pioneer Woman and I have to say, it just wasn’t the same. To give yourself a little extra time, you can keep mashed potatoes warm for a while in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Carrots – I’m trying these for the first time this year because they look easy and I’m interested to see how the chili powder and the pumpkin pie spice come together.

Cranberry Sauce – Pioneer Woman’s is sweet and a touch tart. I’ve tried other ones that are too citrusy or too lumpy but this is just right. I like mine a little smoother so I put half the cooked batch in the food processor and pulse two or three times to break up the cranberries.

String Beans – I don’t really know what I’m doing here. Probably blanching them, and then sauteeing with butter and shallots.

Sweet Potato Casserole - I’ve made a half-dozen different versions and loved and them all but I think I’m sticking with the copycat recipe for the Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole. It’s dessert on the dinner table.

For appetizers I’m doing the basics, cheese and crackers, hummus and veggies, and spinach dip in a bread bowl.

I love Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday that everyone celebrates. It’s food and it’s family and it’s the intro to Christmas and the holiday season. What I DON’T love is that tons of stores are opening on Thanksgiving. I have plenty to say about the hypocrisy of people cutting time short with their families to go buy gifts for…their families. And what about all the poor people who have to work these stores?? Ugh, that’s a post for another day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving 2009