Ours is 72-inches long made from a soft wood. So soft it holds every scribble, a practice session of the letter “E”, and a splinter of red paint. It keeps records of our dinners, weekend breakfasts, and the occasional overly stuffed gathering by way of smeared avocados, petrified pasta noodles, and a never ending supply of crumbs. In a wild game of tag, it’s our home base. The dinner table, that is. Read more
If it looks like a blender, blends like a blender, and makes smoothies like a blender, then it must be a blender. Unless it’s a Vitamix. In that case, it’s a blender, a food processor, an immersion blender, a peanut butter maker, an oat flour blitzer, a whipped cream whipper, and the list goes on and on. I married into a Vitamix family. My husband grew up using this high-powered blender. His Uncle Rex sold these machines for many years. And his mom, Tamara, got him a Certified Reconditioned Vitamix as a college graduation present. It’s the same blender we’ve been using all these years. (Read on for giveaway.) Read more
I’m a 9 on the enneagram. The peacemaker. I love homeostasis, a 98.6°F basal body temperature, for everything to be right in my world. I tend to be easy going and agreeable, except in the presence of oysters, too tight of jeans, and the feeling of disappointing someone. That also makes me a people pleaser. It’s my biggest asset and my greatest deficit. I’m very good at self deprecating talk, but that’s not news to any of you. And if I get overwhelmed, I tend towards sloth. I said that way too fast, I tend towards sllloooooootttttthhhhhh. Which is how I’m feeling at the moment. Read more
My love language is cooking, cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner from scratch. Well, outside the fried onions for the top of the green bean casserole, which I still buy. I don’t care to speed up the process up or cut corners. I want this meal to be made with so much love you can taste it. Thanksgiving is my Christmas and my Super Bowl. However, cooking a whole Thanksgiving from scratch can feel overwhelming. Over the years, I’ve broken down the meal into several days of prep to make it mentally and physically manageable. I have a pennant on my wall that says—good things take time. When it comes to Thanksgiving, good things take time and a bit of planning. So I made you (and myself) a Thanksgiving Cooking Schedule. Read more
This is not news. The oven has a strict Thanksgiving schedule, especially if you only have one oven like we do. Between the turkey and the green bean casserole, the rolls and the sweet potato casserole, and the stuffing that’s not really stuffing (I prefer to bake it outside the bird), the oven is full. One thing comes out and another goes in. I like to imagine myself as a synchronized swimmer, long arms pointed and outstretched, a flat back, grabbing the uncooked dish on top of the stove with one hand and removing the heavy golden casserole with the other. Without looking, of course. I just hope I have the oven mitt on the right hand. Read more
Last year, my sister got Hal a faux red rose from Ikea and placed it in a glass jar, also from Ikea, that looked nearly identical to the one from Beauty and the Beast. “Mom it needs sparkles,” she said. While she was sleeping, I painted the edges of each petal with glittered nail polish before returning it to its glass dome. She woke up the next morning to exclaim, “Mom, you have magic! Will you teach me?” Read more
If this post seems silly, nonsensical, or dippy, it’s all of those things. It’s also a very good reflection of how I’m feeling these days. A little lighter. Not taking myself so seriously. Back to trying to infuse the everyday with a little smile. Somedays, we have important matters to talk through, chew through, and think through. But today, it’s time for spooky, or not so spooky, Beet Red Boo-levardiers. Nonsensical, necessary, and hauntingly good. Read more
There are several different methods for preparing winter squash to be puréed. You can cut it in half, place skin side up on a baking sheet, and roast for 40+ minutes. You can place a whole squash, with knife-pierced slits, in a baking dish filled with water, and bake for a similar amount of time. Or you can steam the squash on the stovetop in 20 minutes. I’ve tried them all, and I keep going back to the same method—the stovetop steam. Read more
