What a year 2008 has been.

It started with a project to transform my old blog into something that I would be proud to share. With the help of a very capable designer and some prodding from a good friend, I took the plunge and had a fantastic custom design created for Sarah’s Cucina Bella. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I did that. It was worth every second, every penny, everything.

Over the course of the year, I joined a CSA, created a kick-ass new site for moms with the aforementioned friend, moderated a fantastic food panel at a BlogHer conference with three amazing women, spoke at a public relations conference on pitching to mom bloggers, and – oh – quit my full time job to freelance and be home with my kids.

Yes, my kids. Will turned three this year and started Pre-k – oh my, I have a child in school – and Paige turned one. Where did the time go? My husband and I celebrated our fourth anniversary too. Read the rest of this entry…

Mmmm, extra local, farm fresh, free-range eggs. We’ve just entered the depths of winter now, where fresh food in Connecticut is but a dream and all we can hang onto is memories of delicious summer delights like the salad you see … Oh, how I miss those lovely, wonderful eggs.

Poached eggs are an easy method of cooking eggs that doesn’t impart any additional fat (like an egg over easy would). Making them is a breeze. Hopefully this guide will have you poaching fresh eggs in no time. Read the rest of this entry…

That was Christmas morning. Before Will even looked at the presents, he checked to see if Santa had drank the milk and eaten the cookies that he and I made. He had.

This Christmas was different for me. I relish in Christmas shopping. Hearing carols piped through the mall and hunting for great deals on the gifts I want to buy are among my very favorite parts of the holiday season. But this year? I went to the mall maybe twice and both for short times. I don’t remember hearing carols at all while there. I barely purchased anything in person either.

Paige got the idea of presents and tearing off wrapping paper this year, which made Christmas so much more fun … Read the rest of this entry…

Christmas is two days away. My presents aren’t wrapped, my house isn’t clean enough yet. I have scores of baking left to do too. It’s going to be a frantic Wednesday, I will tell you that much.

Are you making any cranberry sauce or conserve this week? If so, keep this in mind when you do …

Sweet and tart is a combination that I really love — particularly when it’s combined with a cake-y base. So, when I was faced with leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving, I knew what I wanted to look for: A coffeecake recipe. I found several recipes to draw from and created this — which was absolutely perfect and satisfied my sweet/sour craving.

If you have leftover cranberries after the holidays this week, try this. You won’t be disappointed. Read the rest of this entry…

When I started baking from scratch, I was a preteen. I scoured the Joy of Cooking for an easy cookie recipe that included ingredients we kept in the house. I found that in a sugar drop cookie recipe. Before long, I was adapting the recipe to make thumbprint cookies, decorated cookies and more.

One year, my very good friend Allison and I decided to have a baking blitz to produce dozens of Christmas cookies in one single day. It was just days before Christmas, and I’d like to think it was snowing hard outside while we mixed, rolled and baked. To be honest, though, I am not sure if that’s the case or not. Nonetheless, we baked nearly all day – sugar cookies, chocolate chip, and more. The kitchen, with it’s makeshift kitchen island table, and glorious dark cherry cabinets, was covered in flour, sugar and more. Everything was crying for a cleanup, but we pressed on for one last recipe – meringue cookies. Read the rest of this entry…

Will pulled up a chair to the counter the other day, as he often does when I am cooking. He was waiting patiently for me to give him the go-ahead to add chocolate chips to the firm cookie dough whirling in my KitchenAid Artisan Mixer. Usually, he helps sift and add the flour mixture to the dough, but on that day he was just too busy playing, which is A-ok. When the time came, he carefully poured the chips into the dough and then went to put the cup in the sink.

It’s amazing to me how far he’s come in his status as kitchen helper. It wasn’t that long ago that I worried constantly about whether he’d get hurt, or add something unsavory to the food. But he’s patient when he waits, watching with interest and listen to my play by play. I tell him why I use unsalted butter in the cookies we make and why we don’t use the extra virgin olive oil for everything.

I hope his kitchen interest doesn’t wane as he grows. Having him in the kitchen is a joy.

Read the rest of this entry…

Where have I been? There are halls to be decked (check! just need to get the tree), cards to be sent (tomorrow, I promise!) and presents to be wrapped (ahhh, soon?). But meanwhile it’s mid-December and I am swamped. I’ve been baking cookies left and right. My office is buried under press releases, press kits and samples for The Voice of Mom. I am writing about town politics for a newspaper again. Then there are the columns and blogs …

Admittedly, it’s a lot. But as my friends always remark, I thrive under pressure.

Today, I wanted to share something that is very heart healthy, and tasty too. It’s a vegetarian dish that combines some very good-for-you ingredients with a very filling, hearty result. Now, don’t get me wrong. Brown rice? I barely touch the stuff. I hate how it’s always just a little chewy, like it might be undercooked or something. But I am slowly coming around to accept the important, fibrous grain. It is healthy and I want to be healthy. Yes, so I will just accept that it’s good for the digestive track.

But if I am going to eat the stuff, it’s got to taste good. In fact, it’s got to be delicious.

This recipe delivers. In fact, it is absolutely delicious. Since there aren’t any hot peppers or chile powder, it’s very kid friendly (but it still has a wealth of flavor). Sprinkle it with a little cheddar for a bit of dairy and the kids eat it up literally and figuratively.

Read the rest of this entry…

Spicy Tomato Shrimp

I have to tell you, I didn’t eat shrimp for most of my life. A bad experience as a child left me unwilling to give them a chance. But a few years ago, I got curious and ate one or two from my sister’s plate. Since then, shrimp and I have been good, good friends. I keep a bag of uncooked frozen shrimp in my freezer for when I just really, really want some.

About a month ago, I started thinking of some delicious tomato-y cajun shrimp I had a few years ago at a party. That got me thinking, could I create a quick and easy shrimp dish that would be delectable but simple?

Yes, oh yes.

The plump shrimp swim in a rich tomato base that is enhanced with a touch of sea salt and a bit of zing form the spice. Serve it with brown rice and a salad and this is as healthy as healthy can be.

This is one of the few things that I harbor as a mommy treat – I actually haven’t given this to Will or Paige (in fact, Paige hasn’t yet had fish or shellfish). But the other day, I wanted to see if someone else enjoyed this as much as I do. So, I whipped it up quickly and served it to a guest.

That guest loved it so much that she went home and made it for dinner.

Yes, sir-eeeee, this is totally craveworthy.

The key to this though is quality. Some dishes can stand using inexpensive tomatoes because they are doctored and influenced by other flavors. Not so here. The tomatoes shine in this, so you want good ones. I love Muir Glen for this. Pricey? Yes. But worthwhile.

(Recipe after the jump.)

Read the rest of this entry…

After spending the better part of a year cooking without any regard for fat or calories, I am slowing down. As much as I love bacon (isn’t everything better with bacon?), I’ve said farewell for now to my faithful friend. We’ll see each other again, I am sure … but for now, I need healthier recipes, and so does my family.

These carrots made their first appearance on Thanksgiving (yes, I broke the no new recipes rule, but this was was pretty simple). I had accidentally planned a bacon-licious menu of some of our favorite dishes (I swear, it wasn’t planned … ), and then realized that we needed something that wouldn’t add to clogged arteries.

As it turns out, my tossed together carrot dish, which bakes in the oven to develop the sweetness of the carrots, was a huge hit with children and adults alike. Read the rest of this entry…

It’s been a busy week. With deadlines hanging over my head everyday, a fantastic day on Wednesday filled with networking, and two busy kids who want to get into the Christmas spirit as much as I do, I just haven’t had a chance to write.

My apologies to my readers.

I wanted to drop in and share some of this week’s highlights:

• The Public Relations Society of America‘s New York group held Meet the Mommy Media and I was one of the speakers! My partner in crime, Cate, and I had a fantastic time meeting some of the best and brightest women in the online momsphere. We also made some great connections while we were there. What an honor it was to sit on a panel with Stacy DeBroff from MomCentral, Victoria Pericon from Savvy Mommy, Kimberly Coleman from Mom in the City and Nicole Feliciano from MomTrends. I was enamored listening to these amazing women – and mommy bloggers – discuss some important issues related to public relations and advertising. Read the rest of this entry…