Check out this amazing birthday cake birthday party invitation made out of frosting and rainbow sprinkles by my dear friend, Nina Max.
And yes, it was her daughter’s idea to have a Rainbow/Buzz Lightyear/Thomas themed birthday party.
Oh, to be four.
Holidays
Life Planning with Little Ones
My glorious 10-day vacation on Cape Cod is coming to a close, and so out of habit or obligation, I’ve spent most of the day thinking about my life direction.
Life planning used to be just about me. Then it was about me and my husband. Now it’s about me, my husband, our two boys, and possibly another child, who knows.
Perhaps to help me wrap my head around where my life is heading before I even make any plans, I have this compulsive habit of charting out my children’s ages/stages by year.
For example,
2011 Judah turns 2, Isaiah 3.5, me 35
2012 Judah turns 3, Isaiah 4.5, me 36
2013 Judah turns 4, Isaiah 5.5. Isaiah starts kindergarten. Me 37 (last year to have another baby?)
2014 Judah turns 5 (starts kindergarten?), Isaiah 6.5 in 1st grade, Me 38
2026 Isaiah graduates from high school (ahhh that’s a little better–nice and far away)
And so on.
Seeing my life through this lens, a few things surface.
- My god, how quickly it really is going to go by. I mean, kindergarten? First grade??
- I probably have two years or less to decide if we’ll have a third child. Not necessarily based on ability but personal preference.
- How will my work schedule change when my children are in school? If I have a third child? And how does that affect the career choices I need to make now? Work more? Work less?
- What kind of milestones do Ian and I want to hit before the kids start school?
- Do I want to get a Ph.D.? If so, when? And in what?
The boys will wake up from their naps soon. We’ll go down to the water and collect hermit crabs and snails. I’ll have one of my last Sankaty Light Lagers of the summer.
And all of this will have to wait until another day.
Image from jackmck54
Our “Use What You Have” Easter Tree
I love the idea of an Easter Tree as a way to celebrate spring and the forthcoming holiday of birth/rebirth, and I decided to make one this year with my almost three-year-old.
For our tree base, Isaiah and I headed outside and clipped four branches, which we bound together at the base with pipe cleaners. We found a bright colored vase in the basement, along with two packages of tiny Easter ornaments I bought a couple of years ago but never knew what to do with.
Isaiah was super focused about helping me hang chicks, eggs, and bunnies on the branches.
It was just the motivation I needed to freshen up our mantle.
What I’m Cooking this Month (How about you?)
I spend a LOT of time digging up recipes that:
a) the kids might eat
b) involve ingredients I am likely to have on hand
c) can quickly be reheated for frantic weeknights
d) only require one pot.
So I may as well save you some time, right? Here’s what I’m loving this month.
Simple Chicken Soup
I try to bake a whole chicken every Sunday, either in the oven or the crock pot, so I can transform it into meals for the first half of the week.
Last week, I made a classic chicken soup by boiling a whole chicken. Here’s how:
Simple Chicken Soup (adapted from Domino magazine)
1 whole chicken cut in half (or save yourself the gross-out factor and buy a whole chicken already divided)
5 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2″ lengths
4 celery stalks, cut into 2″ lengths
1 large yellow onion, cut into eighths
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
In a large pot, comine chicken, carrots, celery, onions, bay leaves and parsley with 8 cups of water. Place over high heat, uncovered, and after it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook 1 hour or more, skimming the foam off the top every so often.
Remove as much of the big chicken pieces as you can and transfer to a cutting board. Shred or cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
Strain the soup into another large pan (you can use the pasta boiler insert). Go through the chunky veggies and make sure there are no bones/misc. chicken parts. Remove the bay leaves and parsley.
Then reassemble everything, leaving out all the bones and chicken pieces you wouldn’t want to eat.
Mexican Chicken Soup
When some friends stopped by, I transformed the plain chicken soup into a Mexican Chicken Soup fiesta just by serving it with a “topping bar” (jalapeno, limes, sour cream, corn, blue corn tortilla chips, cilantro). The idea came straight out of vintage Domino magazine (Jan/Feb 2006), may she rest in peace.
Chicken, Artichoke and Cannellini Bean Spezzatino
After the chicken soup fiesta, I had a ton of shredded chicken left, so I gave it a second life as Chicken, Artichoke and Cannellini Bean Spezzatino from the lovely Giada De Laurentiis.
The pancetta and artichoke gave the chicken soup an unexpected twist. I loved it and can’t wait to make it again.
40-Minute Cassoulet
I absolutely love Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything iPhone app. I pulled the 40-Minute Cassoulet recipe from Bittman’s “Casual New Year’s Eve” menu and it was fantastic. (It looks like you need to get the app to get the recipe–but it’s worth it, I promise!)
Serving a cassoulet (even if Bittman himself said it’s not a real cassoulet) made me feel like I’d graduated up a couple levels in my cooking know-how. And it didn’t hurt that my parents brought the pork and duck back from their day trip to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx (“the real Little Italy” according to Rachael Ray).
The next time I want to serve a hearty winter meal for a crowd, this will be my go-to recipe.
Cranberry Harvest Muffins
Snow days call for baking, and Ina Garten’s Cranberry Harvest Muffins were absolutely perfect. (I made them without figs and nuts, and I cut the sugar down by at least half.) The generous use of cinnamon and ground ginger gave them a spicy depth.
If I were a more confident baker, I would’ve cut the 1/2 pound (GULP) of butter way down and substituted it with something else. But the last time I did that (using olive oil in a “healthy” oatmeal raisin muffin), the result was horrendous–all I could taste was olive oil. If anyone has a trick to share, please do!