Tonight I made my sixteen-year-old son J finish some chips and dip. He said he was finished, but I begged to differ. Normally I don’t police his meals, really. One of the benefits of having teenaged boys in the house is that they don’t need to be coerced to eat. I would even venture to say that the lack of need for Jim and me to be directly involved with making sure they eat their vegetables (they do) or try new things (they do) almost makes up for the fact that they eat us out of house and home, as the saying goes. Almost. The reason I stepped in to…
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Sometimes It’s Best If You Schedule These Things.
Confession time: over the past year or so (maybe even eighteen months: I’ve lost track!), Jim and I have been in a rut. I never thought it would happen to us, but it did. We used to have plenty of time, and plenty of desire. In fact, on the nights when I didn’t feel like it, he took charge, and vice versa. As of late, our busy schedules and pure exhaustion at the end of the day turned the tides. When we least expected it, something we used to do almost every single day became an afterthought, a rarity. Of course I’m talking about cooking dinner. We used to have…
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A Cupcake Haiku
Cupcakes are so sweet Spongy baked goodness melts me Icing-induced high. Um yeah. I promise to resume regular programming in the next day or two, but I’m a little preoccupied right now, what with all the sugar I ingested today. If you’re interested in learning about the behind-the-scenes tour of Sprinkles Cupcakes Chicago I took today, check this out. In the meantime, I’m off to bed…the sugar…is…wearing……..off…..zzzzzzz
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Chinatown Square
The title of my post may be a little on the boring side, but I think you’ll agree that my photos make up for it. Yesterday I enjoyed my first (ever) visit to Chinatown on the near south side of Chicago, where I ate lunch with a friend. Being smack-dab in the middle of Chinatown Square was a lot like being in a whole other world: I guess that’s probably true of a visit to any city’s Chinatown. The culture, the sculptures, the signage, the sights, and the smells have a way of enveloping you in such a lovely way. Want more? I thought so.
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My Official Book Launch: An Epic Celebration of All Things Chicago
I don’t even know where to start when it comes to summarizing my book launch event that occurred in the city on Tuesday night. I would love to tell you about everything, but I don’t want this post to be a novel and so I have to skip the fine points on: ~ all of the ideas I tossed around in my head starting about two months ago as this event was conceptualized ~ the great conversations (and epiphanies) I had with the ladies of my “Event Advisory Board” (I made up that name but it’s perfect), made up of friends who have experience with the ins and outs of…
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The Icing On The Cake
Late last week, J–who, until recently, was considering a Culinary Arts major in college (he decided that he’d rather go towards music/business, and be an excellent hobby cook instead!)–came to me and said, “Hey mom, would you be interested in helping me make a cake for H (his girlfriend) this weekend?” The question shocked me a little bit, because it’s been ages since we’ve had the time around here to even consider spending time in the kitchen, let alone together. I was thrilled that he asked me, and I vowed to make the time. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted to make, and he said he had…
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What To Make For Dessert That Will Have Everyone Humming…
I’m swamped at the moment, between my Productivity project and trying to catch up on a few other things this week, so today I thought I’d give you Christmas-celebratin’ folks a great (and easy!) last-minute recipe, should you need a dessert at some point this week. It’s called Hummingbird Cake and though I’m probably way off, I consider it a sister of the carrot cake. It’s got pecans, pineapple, and banana in it, and the frosting is of the cream cheese variety. It is, as my sister (and Weaselmomma) would say, “STUPID GOOD.” When I wanted to make it last week, I couldn’t find the recipe I got from my…
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The Views And Opinions Expressed By The Teenager Do Not Necessarily Reflect Those Of The Management
Yes, it says “is disgusting”. ©2010 Suburban Scrawl
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You Know How Some Foods Bring Back Great Memories? This Isn’t About That.
Before I begin, I feel the need to put up a disclaimer:“Readers who have a strong aversion to reading about bodily functions (ahem, Julesie) should proceed with this post at their own risk.” Last night, because I had to work until 6:30 and Jim wanted to get a workout in after he got home from his day, dinner was a bit of a rush job. I made–since the ingredients were already in the house and it was something easy–pigs in blankets*. A food like this generally brings the warm fuzzies and thoughts of childhood to the person enjoying it. Though I like pigs in blankets every once in a blue…
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Birthday Presents Good Enough To Eat!
My sister Julesie had a birthday on Friday, and because of the fitness conference I had this weekend–recap post is in progress–and the fact that the younger boy had the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night, we had to schedule the birthday festivities for this evening. We went out to a favorite restaurant, and then it was, of course, time for rainbow cake. Regular readers already know that the rainbow cake is a staple of almost all of our family birthday celebrations: our mom has made us rainbow cakes since we can remember, and I’ve carried on the tradition. (Want a partial look back? Click this.) The recipe itself is phenomenal:…