We’re in Disney this weekend for the Food Blog Forum. People are often surprised that a world traveling family like ours would be Disney fans, but we do enjoy a Disney long weekend. Getting a life size Pooh bear hug is a pretty great experience and the Magic Kingdom fireworks never fail to make me… Continue Reading
How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce
The Real Reason French Women Don't Get Fat: Trout en Papillotte
Sweet Dark Cherry Clafouti
Homemade Hot Fudge
Just a Simple French Chocolate Cake
Facing the Fear of BRCA and a Family Breast Cancer Legacy
Angelina Jolie revealed yesterday that she had a preventative mastectomy after discovering that she is a carrier of one of the BRCA gene. The news hit close to home. The timing seems relevant so I thought I would share my BRCA story. Bored during a stupefyingly hot summer afternoon, my cousin and I decided to… Continue Reading
Soy Glazed Roasted Sweet Potatoes and a New Approach to Feeding Picky Eaters
I love sweet potatoes. I love them baked. I love them mashed with butter and crunchy flakes of salt. I love them in kielbasa stew and in hand pies. I love them forgotten to bathe in the fat of a slowly roasting chicken. But no matter how much you love something, no matter how much your… Continue Reading
Food as Medicine: Your Favorite Comfort Food Recipes Needed Stat
When people are sick, my first instinct is to feed them: big bowls of chicken tortellini soup, hot challah from the oven, creamy spaghetti bolognese. Watching my father being fed the same vanilla flavored nutrition liquid through a nasal tube for the last five months has been one of the many painful aspects of his… Continue Reading
Mango Shrimp Tacos and Asian Steak Tacos: Taco Night Al Fresco Fiesta!
Taco night has been a longstanding tradition in our household, long before we relocated to Chicago. But the rich Mexican community here and the abundance of delicious taco joints has inspired us to take taco night to a whole new level. Taco night used to mean seasoned ground beef served with a few colorful bowls… Continue Reading
Life Lessons in the Little League Dug Out
I never gave much thought about the different dynamics of sports until my kids started playing them. I’d played soccer, basketball, and softball, with varying skill, but didn’t realize how different their rhythms were. A missed pass is forgotten quickly during a soccer game but on the baseball field all eyes are on the player… Continue Reading
My Long Road to Lactation: New Chicago Parent Article
I have a new personal essay published in this month’s Chicago Parent magazine entitled My Long Road to Lactation, all about how it took me three kids to become a nursing mother. I got comfortable nursing with Juju and was a pro when Sophie arrived as a tiny preemie, ready to deal with pumps and… Continue Reading
A Poetic Cry for Help Lost in a Sea of Paper
Periodically, my children’s backpacks explode onto the kitchen counter, overflowing with weeks worth of graded homework, unit tests, and all the other paperwork that fills their school lives. It sits on the counter for a few days before I can find a quiet morning to sift through it and find the gems worth saving, the… Continue Reading
Caramelized Banana Dutch Babies: One Dish Breakfast Solutions To Feed Big Families
Breakfast for six is a tall order. Bella doesn’t eat fruit. Jack doesn’t like breakfast. Steve likes a toasted bagel with cream cheese, pepper, and ruby red tomato slices. And both Juju and Baby Sophie like a feast of little tastes. Me? I like to sleep in and be woken with a steaming caffe latte and lots… Continue Reading
Quotes and Optimism From Michael Pollan on Cooked Book Tour
On Sunday night, I headed to Elmhurst College with Emily Paster to hear Michael Pollan discuss his latest book, Cooked. Although I’m a big fan of Michael Pollan, I was a tad apprehensive. I was tired, mind churning with the planning to get through the busy week that would begin in the morning. I wasn’t… Continue Reading
Earth Week Green Tips: What to Buy Organic and How to Make Stock
We’re not a particularly green family. Sure, we recycle and walk to school, but the mere idea of cloth diapers stresses me out. And while I’m intrigued about composting and dream about a brood of happy hens laying pastel eggs with golden yolks in my backyard, I know my neighbors would purchase pitchforks to run… Continue Reading
Quick French Weeknight Dinner: Pork Medallions with Mustard Sauce
When people ask me what type of food I like to cook, saucy French foods is my usual reply, but I worry that this gives the wrong impression. Our weeknight meals usually involve a protein with a sauce, but they’re far from fancy. Whipping up a little sauce to top boring pork chops is just… Continue Reading
Too Much Death and Destruction Inspires Personal Credo
Last week was an endless week of carnage and destruction. When the Des Plaines River flooded on Thursday, it was as if it was as overcome with grief as those living around it. Every day of last week brought more grim news and sadness. First there was the inexplicable horror of the Boston Marathon. Then… Continue Reading
Beautiful Crema and Coffee Love at the Nespresso Summit
My daily cup of coffee is more than a casual addiction, it’s more like a full on love affair. I plan my days around my morning latte. Until I’ve breathed in deep the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, my day hasn’t really begun. Coffee preferences are so personal. I like a strong double shot of… Continue Reading
My Child’s Pain Brings Out the Tiger Mom
Like all kids, my brood complains about aches and pains frequently, but Juju’s back pain for the last year has a different quality. Her back hurts in the morning, after sports, and even after family movie night. Like a dark cloud eclipses the sun on a perfect spring day, the smile vanishes from her face… Continue Reading
The Crooked Branch – a Book Review
Historical fiction plunges the reader into another time, and often giving readers a new appreciation for the conveniences of their easy, modern lives. Jeanine Cummins‘ novel The Crooked Branch takes the dissonance of historical fiction to another level by intermingling a mother’s story set in current day with another set in the past, in the… Continue Reading
Bruschetta with Homemade Ricotta and Slow Roasted Tomatoes
This weekend, we baked and cooked as a family for the Chicago Food Swap. With the exception of a few challah loaves, everything we made for the swap was from Jennie Perillo’s new cookbook Homemade with Love. Steve and Bella made her buttermilk donuts in lemon and decadent dark chocolate. I made slow roasted tomatoes and homemade ricotta,… Continue Reading
Homemade with Love – a Beautiful Cookbook from a Beautiful Cook
Homemade with Love is Jennie Perillo‘s first cookbook. It has the great recipes and lush images of a great cookbook, and while it is certainly destined to become one of your favorites, it’s so much more than just a great cookbook. Homemade with Love is Jennie’s ode to cooking from scratch and a love letter… Continue Reading
Soy Butter Glazed Roast Chicken: a Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner with Glorious Crispy Skin
I’m sharing a recipe for roast chicken with soy butter glaze today with just an instagram photo to illustrate. The chicken was too good to keep to myself, but I have no materials left today to take a pretty picture with. Food stylists work with food that gets thrown away. Food bloggers work with food… Continue Reading
Chocolate Mousse Trifle: Magical Desserts from the Fridge
When I think of a mouth watering dessert, I usually picture something hot out of the oven, something oozing with dark chocolate ribbons. But the fridge, or even the freezer, can be just as effective in creating magical desserts. After a few hours in the fridge, this chocolate mousse trifle is layer after layer of… Continue Reading
Family Travel: Skiing with the Kids in Steamboat Colorado
Our spring break destination this year was Steamboat Colorado. With the exception of a very sad Baby Sophie, everyone went to the top of the mountain. Choosing to lug gear for so many people on a ski vacation is never an easy decision. Five pairs of skis, 5 pairs of boots, Ten poles, ten gloves,… Continue Reading