When it comes to sugar cookies, my grandma is the queen of the kitchen. There’s something magical about the super thin, perfectly sweetened treats she’s been making since before I can remember, and I bet her grandkids would all agree that her sugar-cookie skills are second to none. Without fail, for every major holiday, Grandma…
Archives for October 2010
Casper meets chocolate
You’ve already seen how we’ve decked our place for the holiday, but everyone knows that at the end of the day, Halloween is really all about the sweet stuff. Martha Stewart made these white chocolate ghosts candies on one of her Halloween specials this week, and I thought they were way too cute not to…
Think outside the jar
Well, they say all good things must come to an end, and I’ve officially scraped the bottom of my Arkansas Black Apple barrel (actually, it was a bag, but wouldn’t a barrel of apples be wonderfully festive?). Round 1 of apple baking included my time-tested and Jared-approved apple pie recipe, which didn’t disappoint. But for…
Someone, call a doctor! (Puppy) parenting 101
For a five-pound dog, Ella’s got ups. She can zip around the house at the speed of light and jump from chair to chair before you know what’s happening. She’s been like this since she was a puppy (just ask our friends who used to laugh politely while she scaled the back of the couch…
If monkeys could bake…
When I was little, my mom passed on two very important nuggets of wisdom. The first was that life is a many splendored thing. And the second? Monkeys don’t eat bananas when they’re full. I’m pretty sure that her main motivation for passing on these sage words was the instant reaction she’d get from me….
Halloween décor: The rules need not apply
You know that saying that less is more? That does not apply to Halloween. From the time I was in first grade to third grade, my family lived on Rhein-Main Air Force Base near Frankfurt, Germany. We had a lot of fun living there; we did a bit of traveling, visited nearby German towns and…
The make-do desk
Have you ever put together a wish list of all the things you would buy for your home if you had super deep pockets and never-ending storage space? Jared and I have an ongoing list of things we’d like to get for our apartment at some point in the future. It’s a long list, and…
The DVR who stole Christmas
I’m a total rule follower, and I have been for my whole life. I drive the speed limit. I cross at crosswalks. I don’t remove those tags on mattresses. But you know that unspoken rule that says it’s unacceptable to listen to Christmas music or watch holiday movies until after Thanksgiving (or, at the very…
Let them eat pasta
When it comes to cooking, I’m a firm believer that pasta is one of the greatest inventions in history. Think about it: When a picky kid won’t eat his dinner, what can you feed him? Macaroni and cheese. When you’re an amateur in the kitchen who’s cooking for a crowd, what foolproof dish can you…
Eat ’til you’re empty, shop ’til you’re full
Earlier this week, in the pumpkin pancake post, I mentioned our depressingly empty refrigerator and pantry. Well I’m happy to report that we finally made it to our bi-weekly grocery store date (cause we’re romantic like that), and our kitchen is once again stocked with all sorts of foodie goodness. It’s a great feeling, partly…