I think it might be time to invest in some child proofing gear …

Some days, the last thing I want to be is an adult.

Wouldn’t it be nice to pop back to childhood once in awhile? Just click your heels three times and there you are, seven years old again and free from responsibility, obligation and demands. Life is simple, and even easy. You get up and someone else is tasked with making sure you get cleaned, dressed, fed and on the school bus. Then that bus delivers you to school where other adults make sure you are safe and teach you all sorts of new things. Just when you stomach starts to utter a slight protest, you head off to the cafeteria to eat a lunch that someone else packed. After that, it’s time to go outside and play. Play! Not plan your schedule for the next day or budget for the month, just play.

To be a child again … Read the rest of this entry…

The Obama family is settling into their new home tonight, the big one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. There are toys to be put away, closets to be filled with clothes and beds to be fluffed. But one thing that I loved to hear was that Michelle Obama said that she plans to make sure her daughters are still making their own beds in their new home. Another heartwarming tidbit: Michelle’s mom will be living with the family too to help out with the girls.

Love it.

If I could offer one piece of advice to the family: don’t forget to cook as a family sometimes. Barack Obama may be commander in chief, but he is still Dad to Malia and Sasha, two girls that the Obamas seem to want to give as normal a life as possible. Sure, he will be plenty busy. But it doesn’t take that much time to toss a salad, broil a steak and roast some veggies (like the roasted asparagus below!). You can’t get much more normal than cooking as a family. Someday, Malia and Sasha won’t be living at home anymore. Someday, they will need to cook their own meals … the experience of cooking as a family will help.

This recipe is something that I can cook with Will. He snaps the ends from the asparagus – a great task for a three and a half year old. And he is a pro-drizzler, understanding that the oil must hit each piece of asparagus. I take care of the hot preperations.

Now, I know – I totally know – what you are thinking: A sweet sauce with roasted asparagus? Are you nuts? Well, I’m not and yes, the two really do go together well. The kids couldn’t get enough of this.

What advice would you offer the Obamas for making their children’s lives normalish in the White House? Read the rest of this entry…

My mind has been elsewhere these past few weeks. It’s been consumed with thoughts of losing weight, eating better, exercising more, as well as more mundane thoughts of snow removal and getting all of my work done on time. I miss the leisurely days of last summer, when fresh vegetables were only a walk away and afternoons were for swinging on swingsets and backyard picnics. These days, the scenery is much different. And my office, my could-be-awesome office is still being dug out from the rubble of the holidays. It hasn’t done wonders for my ability to put words on paper.

Meanwhile, Weather.gov and I have become bosom buddies. I must check that site at least thrice daily. It’s reliable, honest and tells you like it is. But right now, I want to toss tomatoes at the head of the twit who wrote that there is a 40 percent chance of snow tonight. I am so sick of snow. Every time it seems like we are almost in for relief and – gasp – a little thawing, it snows again. If I could drive up my ridiculously steep and long driveway, I might just drive to Florida for some relief.

No such luck.

Enough about that. No food today, folks – sorry. Instead, I wanted to share something a little … odd that I like to do while I am cooking. I didn’t think it was that strange until I mentioned it to a few friends and received mixed reactions — some envying my energy level (really? me?) and others wondering how I can pull it off whilst stirring sauces and preparing roasts. So what is it that I do? Read the rest of this entry…

When I woke up yesterday, I looked outside to see delicate snowflakes falling gently from the sky and adding a blanket of pristine white snow to the outdoors. The undisturbed snow looked so peaceful and inviting, like a standing invitation to come play. It was a perfect winter wonderland outside, one that I craved as a child every winter morning.

Live and learn, right?

My first thought when I saw the snow wasn’t about how pretty the scene was or how lovely the flakes were. It had nothing to do with snowdays or snowmen or snow angels. I didn’t think about skiing or sledding or any other fun winter pursuit.

No, instead the first thing I thought was “Not. Again.” with an assortment of colorful words dotting the sentiment. I am so sick of snow right now. In fact, winter itself is persona non grata for me at present.

Don’t get me wrong, I love snow. What I don’t love is the fact that I have shoveled and shoveled and shoveled and even sprung for a plow to help when it was too heavy to do ourselves (we have the mother of all driveways). But my too-wide, too-long driveway remains my nemesis this winter. An ice storm last week, followed by up and down temperatures and two (yes, TWO!)  more snow storms has left it a sheet of ice that five bags of salt can’t undo.

And it certainly doesn’t help that the temperature is so low that you could easily store all of the contents of your freezer outside without concern. It’s times like this that rich, delicious food can be a great comfort – a bright spot in an otherwise frozen day.

This artichoke sauce is versatile – use it for sandwiches, pasta or appetizers and you won’t be disappointed. But be warned: it’s addictive.

Read the rest of this entry…

Earlier this month, my cousin hosted a luncheon for her sister to celebrate her soon-to-be-born second child. It was a nice, small gathering of family and a few close friends. My cousin put together a great spread of veggie sandwiches, chicken clubs and egg salad sandwiches, along with several delicious salads and desserts. But the star of the spread was the bread she used for the sandwiches. It was firm and crusty with perfect texture and taste.

And guess what? She made it in her bread machine.

Now, if you are anything like me, you probably have a bread machine that you used to use fairly regularly but now resides crammed in a corner of your pantry, behind mixers, blenders and storage containers. Let me tell you: it’s time to break out the machine. Read the rest of this entry…

Garlic. When I say the word, two things come to mind: First, my grandmother who back in the 80s caught wind of the health benefits and took it to heart. And second, the fact that people either love garlic (me!) or hate it (Shawn!). While I am not a fan of raw garlic (is anyone?), I do absolutely love it cooked — in sauces, on pasta, with veggies and especially roasted. Roasted garlic takes on a slightly sweet but still bold tone. It makes a great, low-cal spread for sandwiches or can add something special to sauces (like a yummy roasted garlic alfredo).

The flavor of the roasted garlic is the star of this recipe. The other components are delicious, but the garlic is what makes it shine. But let me be perfectly honest: this recipe has a lot of steps. It’s more than I would normally advise. But when something is good, it’s worth it and this is divine. First, you make the roasted garlic (click on the link below for directions), then you make the artichoke hearts, then you assemble and bake a bit. Fussy? A bit. But totally worth it.

This is the kind of dish you’d want to serve before dinner at a dinner party with your close friends. Or, you could use smaller pieces of bread (perhaps a slim ciabatta loaf instead?) for a great game day appetizer. And yes, I do think that game day is a day for real food, not junk. Read the rest of this entry…

It’s that time again! Time to nominate the best and the brightest in food blogging for the annual Food Blog Awards. Awards are given out in 14 categories including best photography, best family/kids food blog, best theme, best drinks blog and the coveted best new blog and best food blog overall.

Now in its sixth year, the Food Blog Awards are hosted by The Well Fed Network. Nominations are accepted between now and Friday, January 9 at 11:59 p.m. to get your nominations in. Judges, which include yours truly, then select the top five from the nominations. Finally, voting is opened up to the public to crown the winners.

Now, go forth and nominate.

Souffle. It’s one of those words that conjures up notions of complexity and difficulty. It just sounds so fussy. But with some cheese begging to be used and egg whites calling my name, I decided to bite the bullet and try Blue Cheese Souffle from Barefoot in Paris, one of Ina Garten‘s cookbooks and the latest addition to my cookbook collection (thanks, Shawn!).

It really was my first souffle ever. I have never made or eaten one, actually.  Will pulled over a chair to see what I was doing but unfortunately couldn’t do much more than watch since the recipe involved a lot of stirring on the hot stove, chopping and whipping raw eggs.

I have to admit, I whined never again after working feverishly to pull the dish together (about 30 minutes hands on!) and then sliding the dish into the oven. But when I pulled out the fluffy souffle and took my first bite, it won me over. And Will and Paige liked it too … Thank goodness, because I would have otherwise likely eaten it all.

Have you had a souffle before? This one is light as air. It makes Angel Food Cake seem like a dense crumb. The rich blue cheese gives this a robust and comforting flavor. It’s the kind of thing that you slide into your mouth and stop, pause and just take it all in. Simply put: you have to try it.

So delish. Read the rest of this entry…

Ahh, the New Year.

I was so happy last night when I finished all my work for 2008 at 6 p.m. All of it. So, we got Chinese food for dinner – our tradition. Then, the pooped out kids went to bed and Shawn and I watched The Pursuit of Happyness. It ended just in time for us to glimpse the dropping of the ubiquitous ball in New York and sip some sparkling wine from Voga at the stroke of midnight. Good times.

What did you do to celebrate the birth of 2009?

Well, since it’s the New Year, I wanted to share my resolutions. I have to admit, I only managed to complete one of my 2008 resolutions. No matter. It’s a new year, right?

I resolve …

Read the rest of this entry…