This Ain't Yo Mama's Sunday Gravy

My husband doesn't like pasta. And I married him anyway, which should tell you about his copious other redeeming qualities. I, however, am a firm believer in pasta. As comfort food, right of passage, learning curve... It's the best food on earth, second only to cheese, which is like pasta's BFF anyway.

Any time E is out of town on business I make pasta. I make it when he is home also, and he chokes it down dutifully, but it is usually a last minute dinner choice, nothing requiring effort. He wouldn't appreciate it. When he is gone I experiment. So when he headed out to L.A. this week, I got all fired up to party like Roy Choi. I figured it was appropriate since he's an L.A based chef and his spaghetti has been popping up everywheres.

Now let me tell you. This ain't yo mama's Sunday gravy. No carrots, no tomato paste, no sawseech. But it's incredible. Like fingers-in-the-hot-pot-can't-wait-to-taste-it incredible. I took my pots and tomatoes over to the home of some pasta aficionado pals and took over their kitchen for the evening (That's been happening lately. I dig it.). We all agreed that this was an unusual sauce, one we would never have thought of making, but it was goood. Hints of mushroom gave it a fantastic depth of flavor and all of that mellowed garlic was perfect. Lots of cheese on top, some good wine, and it was pretty much pasta heaven. Just don't tell my grandmother.

Roy Choi's $4 Spaghetti - adapted just a touch by your truly

Ingredients:
1 lb. whole wheat thin spaghetti
2 28 oz. cans plum tomatoes in juice
4 oz. white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 cups water
1 cup olive oil
1 head of garlic, peeled
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
In a pot bring water and mushrooms to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour. Strain the stock and set aside. Save your mushrooms for this amazing spread!

Meanwhile, add oil and garlic to a small sauce pan over very low heat. Simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours, turning occasionally, until garlic is evenly browned and soft.

In a dutch oven, pour tomatoes and cooked garlic with the oil. Pour in one cup of your mushroom stock and blend with an immersion blender. Add more stock as needed until your sauce is smooth like buttah. (Use any excess stock for that spread I mentioned earlier.) Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until reduced. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti until al dente (about 6 minutes). Strain, toss with sauce, top with freshly grated parmesan and sere immediately. Preferably with a big glass of red and a chunk of bread for sopping up any saucy goodness left in your bowl. Licking it would be considered unsightly by some, though I wouldn't blame you.

Little man asked for repeats of the dinner today, so he devoured the leftovers with meatballs and lots of "fancy cheese" on top, all while singing "On Top of Spaghetti" as if he was the first boy on Earth to do so. He is so very proud of himself:) 

Mason Jar Mania

Oh, look! It's a mason jar! With a chevron tag! And kraft paper! And a chalkboard label! And...! All it needs is a neon fox with a mustache and I think this little bread-mix-in-a-jar has hit every handmade trend going right now. The sad thing is, it wasn't even intentional. That is not at all a claim that I have a finger of the pulse of coolness, or that I even understand true coolness anymore. It does feel a damned shame that what is cool gets to be chosen by people who are 13. (Sidenote: That's actually the truth, you know. In my linguistics classes we always talked about how language trends began with middle schoolers. So if you want to know what the next hot phrase will be, find a 7th grader. Totes Magotes.) I like to think I'm kind of cool, and that hair cut to mimic Johnny Lawrence from Karate Kid is NOT cool, but I guess that just means I'm getting old. I wouldn't go so far as to say that giving someone a jar of cookie mix is cool, unless maybe that cookie mix was inspired by Jem and the Holograms and makes you poo sparkles. That would be considered cool even by middle school standards. (Sidenote: Did you know a new in box Jem doll goes for over $300 on eBay now? I should have hung on to mine. Even Kimber gets $225 and she played the keytar.)

But anyhow, back to those pesky little on-trend mason jars. I dare you to get a mix-in-a-jar as a gift and not think it's pretty awesome. You can do so much with them! Soup, bread, brownies, cookies! And once you empty it you start scanning Pinterest pages for all the millions of ideas for how to turn your mason jar into something truly fabulous (A light fixture! A terrarium! A house for fairie folk!) It's just too much fun for one person alone! So you will just have to share with your pals. They are quick to make, inexpensive, and everyone appreciates a little something handmade, even if you didn't knit an organic, free trade alpaca wool afghan. Cause who can do that? You can do this:

Holiday Gingerbread in a Jar

-Grab a quart sized jar and three small bowls.

-Into one bowl, measure 1/2 c. brown sugar.

-Into the second bowl measure 1 1/2 cups of flour.

-Into the third bowl, measure 1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground ginger and 1/2 tsp. allspice.

-Pour 1/2 of the flour into the jar. Don't be silly; use a funnel or a spoon so you don't make a big mess.

-Add the brown sugar in a layer, top with the remaining flour, then add the spice mix in the last layer.

-Grab a ziploc sandwich bag. Fill it with 1/2 c. of powdered sugar, seal it up, and stuff it into the jar.

-Put the top on the jar with a cute scrap of fabric, a doily, tinsel, or whatever you have around the house that could pass for festive.

- Print out this little recipe card below. Punch a hole in one corner and tie it to your jar with baker's twine, ribbon, yarn, whatevs.

And voila! You have a ready to give little handmade gift! Want to dress it up for your hipster pals? Feel free to draw a mustachioed woodland creature on the jar with a sharpie, knit it a tiny beret, or tag it with faux bois prints. (Oh wait, I actually have some of those!) Or you can just ask me for some chalkboard labels and be done with it. I'm all stocked up.

Also, not so keen on gingerbread? No worries there! Take a peek at this board full of lovely ___-in-a-jar recipes for bars, cookies, breads, soups, and even bath goodies!

The 12 Shops of Christmas #3

Today I have the pleasure of  introducing you to Danielle of DKTop, a ceramic artist whose pieces are just incredible. I stumbled upon Danielle's shop when looking for gifts through Etsy's Shop Local feature and it was love at first sight. Her lotus pod sculptures are so incredibly cool! And if you wonder if a lotus pod could fit into the of the moment fashion trends, no worries there, because she also sells a version adorned with spikes. Tres chic! I love that Danielle offers a variety of price points in her shop, so if you don't want to go whole hog with a custom made sculpture, you can still own a fabulous piece of handmade pottery for under $20. Don't forget to peek at the end of her interview for a coupon code!

My perfect gift choices from Danielle's collection would be for two people: my knitting fiend of an aunt, and my coffee addicted husband. Auntie would get a custom made version of this crazy cool yarn bowl pod, with a few skeins of delicious handmade yarn and some new needles. I'm not sure if she already has a yarn bowl, but she definitely doesn't own one like this! It's a like a conversation piece for knitters!

Hubs would score an awesome pod handled mug, with a few pounds of his favorite beans, and a knit mug cozy on the side. Maybe even a Starbucks card, but I wouldn't let him leave the house with his mug for fear those hipster baristas would try to steal it for themselves.

Please tell us a little about you and your products.

My name is Danielle Kotopoulis. I am an artist and art educator who works primarily in clay. My work is a combination of hand-built and wheel thrown vessels.

How would you describe the mission/purpose of your business?

The purpose of my business is to share my artwork with the world. As an art teacher, I generally focus on the work of my students. I love to see how they grow and thrive artistically and it made me realize that I missed creating my own work. 

How did you get started as a creative business owner?

For years I have been giving away my work as gifts to friends and family. After hearing “you should sell this” time, and time again, I decided look into it. I’ve been a huge fan of Etsy for quite a while now and thought it would be the perfect starter site for my business.

What is your favorite part of running a creative business? The biggest challenge?

I love being able to share my work with the public. Since I began selling, I have been commissioned to create a few custom pieces as well. While it is a challenge, it is incredibly gratifying to be able to create a piece that someone will treasure for years to come. 

What is the best gift in your shop? Who is it for?

Not sure what to buy for your Secret Santa? A handmade mug is great gift for anyone!
Need a gift for the person who has everything? Try a one of a kind hand-built ceramic sculpture.

Get 5% off of any purchase over $50. Expires 12/31/13 Use Coupon Code: HOLIDAYS5

What's For Dinner: Live!

Facebook is so weird. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook most of the time, thanks to the outpouring of nasty politics, oversharing, and general negativity it tends to breed, but lately my feelings for the social media mega whore have turned to love/love. I'm loving the  warm and fuzzy November Thankfulness Campaign bandwagon, and thanks to Facebook, I got to cook in my dream kitchen this past week. I am a member of this great group of 900 called What's for Dinner, a page where members simply post what they are cooking up each day. It's a simple way to inspire each other through food, and it is awesome.

Talking with my hands much?

Recently the group's organizer tossed around the idea of a cooking demo night, where members could get together to meet in person and share some recipes. Of course I wanted in, since I pretend I am on a cooking show in my own kitchen most days anyway. I didn't realize when I volunteered that I would have to cook in front of 30 people. Talk about performance anxiety. Luckily, I got to be last of the 4 cooks, so by the time I had to demonstrate my recipe, everyone was half in the bag and chatting up a storm. The glasses of wine I had already consumed didn't hurt either. Phew!

I decided to make an Autumn Harvest Soup, full of butternut squash, apples, onions, roasted garlic, and topped with creme fraiche. It's one of my favorites, and perfect for Thanksgiving. You can dress it up with crispy sage leaves and frizzled onions for a fancy dinner, or keep it simple for a weeknight meal. It comes together really quickly, and is a go-to on my holiday menu. The recipe is below, and I will add the recipes for the other dishes from the night as I make them!

The other ladies in the group made some crazy amazing dishes. First up was Sara Van Goor's Pumpkin lasagna, which was off the chizz-ain. No joke. Prosciutto, parmesan, pumpkin, and a smooth and decadent bechamel all blended together into a gooey flavor bomb. Everyone wanted seconds. Now I just have to figure out how to make it all in advance and drive it down to North Carolina for my Friendsgiving:) Doesn't she look like she's all ready for Food Network?

Next was Marcella Simon Vander Eems who made Wonton Cups Three Ways. I was so glad to learn that you can bake wonton wrappers and keep them in an air-tight container for days. I have never made them for appetizers, but they can be so quick with just a bit of advanced prepartion! Marcella made three different fillings: a five spiced chicken salad with citrus and cilantro, a fall fruits blend with blue cheese, and a shrimp with hoisin sauce. I will never buy hoisin at my supermarket again after tasting the one Marcella used! It was a bit richer and saltier, and nothing like the jammy flavor of what I have been buying!

The third cook was Melissa Caminiti Clare, who is also a blogger. Please go visit her at I Was Born to Cook and check out some of her amazing recipes! She made her mother's stuffing recipe, which was loaded with surprises. I'm no stranger to adding dried fruits to stuffing, but Panattone? Never. The idea of adding cake to stuffing is pretty much the best idea anyone ever had. Paired with roasted chestnuts and pork sausage, it was incredible. Moist, a touch sweet, and deliciously unexpected. I will definitely be making it myself! I got lucky and snagged a little bag of leftover stuffing to take home in my purse. I did feel a bit like the old ladies who frequented Chelo's on Sunday afternoons, but I didn't care. It was that good. I made a huge Thanksgiving sandwich the next day and refused to share any of it with Jude. Mean mama.

It was so much fun meeting all of these women and the 20 something others who came to hang out with us. I still can't believe that our host let us all in to take over her gorgeous kitchen for the night! If I had a kitchen like hers, there may not be room for anyone else to cook in it! I would probably sleep in the farm sink. 

12 Shops of Christmas #2

The next shop up in the 12 Shops of Christmas series is one I discovered in a serendipitous online search. (Don't you just love that word? Say it with me! Serendipitous!). I was hunting for board book party ideas when Jude was celebrating his second birthday and found a gorgeous Brown Bear quilt on Pinterest. It turns out that that the quilt was created by Sandra of Sandra's Studio, who  is practically my neighbor. She is also a book lover, and I was immediately drawn to her bold graphic prints and the literary theme of many of her pieces. She does gorgeous work! 

My favorite gift in her shop (other than that crazy amazing Brown Bear quilt!) would actually be this lovely red floral tote bag. It would be a great gift for a mom, stuffed with a few pampering goodies. A luxe hand cream, some soft slippers, a bar of dark chocolate, and of course, a good book! I imagine it could also hold a couple of bottles of wine instead, just in case you are into that kind of thing!

Please tell us a little about you and your products. 
My name is Sandra, I am a graphic artist, a quilter and the mother of a 4 year old boy. My first introduction to Art and Design was sewing and knitting with my mother and sisters when I was eight years old. Since then I studied Graphic Design and worked in the field. 

How did you get started as a creative business owner?
I started my creative business right after my son was born. I made a quilt for him with a brown bear design (the one from the book Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?). My first quilting attempt came out so good that friends and family suggested to me to make quilts to sell. That's how it all started; I returned to the thing I enjoy the most: creating hand bags and quilts. I incorporate many techniques in my items, including: embroidery, quilting and textile painting. They are all unique and handcrafted in a smoke and pet free environment.

How would you describe the mission/purpose of your business?
My mission is to create artistic and good quality items. Items handmade by me. As a business crafting person, I would like people appreciate more the handmade and crafty world.

What is your favorite part of running a creative business? The biggest challenge?My favorite part of running a creative business is designing and producing my products. I love to see people getting amazed when they see my quilts. I have been asked: How do you do all that stitching? Well, I enjoy and love to sew and when I am quilting it works as a relaxation therapy to me. 

What is the best gift in your shop? Who is it for?
The best gifts for babies is one of my baby quilts. They are colorful and soft. They are good for decoration too, they will brighten any kids room. Because I make quilts from kid's books illustrations, I would say to have one of my quilts it's a beautiful way to introduce kids to the art of reading.

12 Shops of Christmas #1

With six weeks to shop before Christmas (and like, two weeks for those you celebrating Hannukah; how did that sneak up so fast this year?), it's time to get the features started! 

I am pleased to introduce you to Cynthia Lynch of Cynthia's Soap Kitchen, with whom I had the joy of hanging out this summer at the Oakland Farmer's Market. She makes beautiful cold process soaps, skinny lotion, aromatherapy blends, and even an all natural insect repellent that I snatched up for Jude this year. None of the other natural products I tried worked for us, but he was bite free all through late August and September thanks to Cynthia's Bug Bane. I loved having a booth next to Cynthia at the market this summer, because the breeze would blow through our tents, carrying the scents of her soaps with it. Instant aromatherapy boost!

She was nice enough to answer my questions, and even to offer a coupon code for readers (see the bottom of this post!). Her soaps make amazing gifts, and pair really well with other items for those themed gift baskets I keep talking about. My favorite is the Organic Mulled Wine Soap, which would go perfectly in a basket with a few fun wine charms or coasters, a wine journal, corkscrew, and obviously, a big bottle of your favorite red! Read on to learn more about Cynthia and see her picks for the best gifts in her shop! 

Please tell us a little about you and your products. 

I make natural, organic bar and liquid soaps with pure essential oils. The inspiration for the soaps comes from the best lesson I learned as a professional cook: keep it simple and use the best ingredients available. It makes for the best, healthiest product you can get.

How would you describe the mission/purpose of your business?

If I could change one thing with my business, I would love to see people get away from using bath products with toxic ingredients. I believe we can all be a lot healthier with a few minor changes to our daily routines.

How did you get started as a creative business owner?

It goes back to cooking. Making soap is so similar--creating a recipe, measuring ingredients, cooking it properly--it was just a natural choice. Along the way I've fallen in love with the essential oils that I use, which is now leading me into perfumery as well.

What is your favorite part of running a creative business? The biggest challenge?

That's easy: my favorite part is making the soaps, and inventing new ones. The biggest challenge is getting the word out. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

What is the best gift in your shop? Who is it for? (Feel free to add a few, ie: The best gift for gardeners is this amazing hand cream because… The best gift for a baby is this burp cloth set because…) I've got soaps for quite a few tastes. Any of my organic soaps are the best hostess or teacher gift because they're both beautiful and useful. The best gift for the beer lover is either my Organic Beer or Organic Stout soap--they'll soon learn that beer is amazing for your skin too! The best gift for someone you want to pamper would be a combination of my Organic Lavender Soap and Liquid Soap in Lavender Grapefruit because the scents are just so soothing and uplifting.

Where can shoppers find your wares (other than Etsy, of course!)?  

You can find my products at:

- Lambert Castle Holiday Boutique at Lambert Castle, Valley Road, Clifton, NJ from November 9-30,

- Jersey City at the 6th Borough Market on November 17 and December 8 (Hamilton Park, 11-4pm),

- The Troop Fundraiser in Riverdale, NJ on December 1 (Riverdale Community Center, 10-4pm),

- West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood on December 7 (Varian Fry Way, 9-4pm).

You can use the coupon code XMAS20 in Cynthia's Etsy shop to receive 20% off your total order, through December.

'Tis the Season

Oh, I know, am I seriously about to start posting holiday shopping and gift giving ideas? You bet your butts. Once Halloween is over, you all know what happens in the stores. A clean sweep of the costumes, a cursory glance at the Thanksgiving table decor, and then BOOM. Christmas. All sparkling snowflakes and Santa Claus and stockings in yo face, every time you turn a corner. At least the carols haven't started yet.


Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE the holidays. My birthday is Christmas Eve, so my Christmas addiction is a birthright. However, I enjoy Thanksgiving thoroughly (I think it's the mashed potatoes, really), and I am happy to wait until December 1st before pulling out my Nat King Cole CD's.


All of that said, I am also a tiny business owner, and the crazy thing about that is my holiday prep begins in July. It's odd to design winter cards in July, but there it is. It's also odd to make Christmas gifts in July, but if you are a crafter you do it! I'll never forget the night my mother was up until 3 AM one Christmas Eve putting finishing hems on a set of Star Wars quilts for my nephews. I swore I would never do that, so now I get my holiday crafting started early. I also start the list of items I will buy, and this year, that means all local or handmade. That's a bit of a challenge, but I am determined to avoid the big box stores this year, to spend less, to think more, and to invest my time and creativity into making a memorable, quality holiday instead of a commercial one.



If you're with me, then stay tuned for the weeks coming up to Christmas! I will be hosting a new featured shop for The 12 Shops of Christmas, all of them local, and all of them handmade. There will be interviews and coupon codes and a giveaway or two! Including some from me of course.

I'm working hard to fill the shop with new holiday card designs and prepping for my first holiday marketplace. It's in a little over a week (yikes!) and in addition to my usual cards and party goods, I have a few fun new gifts to share. Ready to grow mini gardens, personalized stationery sets, and my new favorite thing, stationery gift baskets. I think people are sometimes unsure about how to give stationery as a gift other than a stocking stuffer, but you really can do so much!

My new favorite thing is to group little gifts in a themed bunch 

with a set of coordinating cards,  like this baker's set:

1. An adorable pink printed tea towel

2.  Cupcake Note Cards in Hot Pink (these can be printed with a name or in another color!)

3. A tiny silver bucket for planting

4. Lemon Balm seed paper

5. A seed starter pellet

6. A recipe for Lemon Balm Tea Biscuits

Bundle all of this together with some cute packaging and voila! You have an adorable little themed gift for your baking pal. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get a card back from them as thanks, and you can plant your own little wild garden. I'll have a bunch of these sets for sale at the Artisan show next Saturday, so if you are local, do come visit!

Post- Halloween Party Sugar Coma

I often make the mistake of using candy as decor for parties. Cute jars full of candy are a popular thing, they tie in your theme, make your party colors pop, blabbity blah blah. The problem is that no one eats it. Most of the time the display looks too pretty to eat, or there are too many other delicious treats from which to choose. So guess who ends up with 6 jars full of candy to eat? Toss the leftover Halloween candy from trick or treating into the mix and it's a recipe for disaster. An 8,000 calorie Twix and Snickers for breakfast every day kind of disaster.

My new plan is to skip the cute jars of candy. Instead, I'm going to just bake the candy into cookies the size of Tony Robbins' hand and serve them on a cute plate.See this mason jar? It was full the day of the party. And it was full the day after the party, which means every time I walk by it I have to fight the urge to grab and eat a fist full.

That afternoon I baked 2 cups of it into these candy cookies and then gave most of them away. I couldn't give them all away. That would be wrong. So in the end I don't know if it was worse to bake the cookies, or to just eat the entire jar of candy. Oh well.

Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies 
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar 
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 cups Reese's Pieces and M&Ms (or any other candy you have!)

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the mixer at low speed. Scrape the bowl and mix until just combined. Fold in candy. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for five minutes on the sheet before transferring to wire racks.

Happy Halloween!

I think it's fair to say I'm a bit batty for Halloween. See all previous Halloween obsessed posts for evidence! Like my refusal to throw out extra candy, and the lengths I'll go to dress up my husband.

Between the costumes, the spooky decorating, and the baking of sticky treats, it is just one more reason to throw a party and that's right up my alley, folks. I'll throw a party any chance I get. Our 3rd Annual Halloween Boobie Group Bash (working title:)) was more fun than the last, thanks to a seriously improved effort in the costume area, and some deliciously wicked treats.

I started our hoo-rah by decking out the back yard, complete with a haunted playhouse, a wicked witch under our shed, and a hanging giant ghost. Inside was pretty standard, bats, pumpkins, ravens and the like, but I got a bit of inspiration in the bathroom. I figure if every other space gets decor, why leave out the room every guest is guaranteed to visit? I got a little crafty with some games and a craft project for the kiddos, including a "Feed Jack" ball game, and a Monster Making Station. In the end though, all they did was play in the sand and run. And run, and run some more.

Oh, and there was ample eatin' and drinkin' to be had, obviously, including Poison Apple Cupcakes, Death by Chocolate brownies, and lots of Sam Adams Oktoberfest. We had to keep a bit of the German spirit flowing! but I'm going to do a recipe post separately. No need to overload you too much! And on that note, I will slightly overload you with some photo-rific highlights. Because why not...

Bugs in the soap, mummified TP, and mirror disguises!
This one is Silhouette Studio Design ID #28579 cut into black vinyl.

I used haybales for kiddie chairs and covered the tables in kraft paper and Halloween coloring pages.
A brown grocery bag tucked into the strings on each bale kept the kids' tushies from getting too dirty.

A new bag of sand and a bunch of plastic spiders and snakes went into the sand box,
which is where Jude played literally all day long. 

R is a bit confused about the witch. She keeps looking for the rest of her.

You're supposed to roll balls into his mouth, but Jude is racing cars through instead now!

Webtastic!

I'll get back at ya' with the recipes for the sweets, some printable templates and a little crafty DIY! 

What are your plans for Halloween?

Stock up!

I have six pregnant friends. Two days ago I had eight pregnant friends. Now I have six pregnant friends and two friends with newborns and toddlers at home. It's crazy. We have all officially entered that stage where everyone is married and has a baby and the number 2's are making their arrivals. Suddenly everyone is being delivered on the doorsteps of pre-schools and pediatricians with double strollers, balancing changing naptimes, potty training, pumping, nausea, nursing, and on and on into mommyhood eternity. Luckily we have each other.

My badass mama crew rocks. I literally had zero New Jersey friends until Jude was born and I started taking him to the nursing support group run by our hospital. Then the stars aligned and Booby Group was born. It's been two and a half years, and now we get to welcome the second round to our team of all-stars.

There are plenty of ways to make the transition a little easier, and food is the best. If you have an expecting friend, check out Meal Train, a site that helps you organize daily drop offs of dinner for the first week your pal is home with bitty baby. You can see what everyone is bringing so the family doesn't eat 5 nights of baked penne. It's pretty genius and I wish we had actually had someone to do it for us when Jude was born! Thanks, Becky, for finding it for us all! Once the meal train ends, mama and papa will likely need to occasionally put a meal together for their damned selves, and that's where the stock up party comes in.

A Freezer Meal Stock up Party is a quick and dirty way to make sure your freezer (and the freezers of 3 pals) is  good to go with easy meals for when you are in a pinch. For a family with a toddler and two week old, that's pretty much every day. A few weeks ago we had a mini Stock Up for my pal L and her hubs just before her little guy was born this week. This weekend I did it again with three new friends. It went faster and smoother thanks to my OCD planning skillz. We made lasagna primavera, white bean chili, and two crock pot chicken dishes. Everyone went home with 8 meals, and all for $40 each.

Wanna host a Stock Up? You know you do! I have added the files for each of the recipes we made, a shopping list, and the sticker labels for your meals below. Just click to download and print! Then invite three friends over for a two hour prep session. You can divide up the shopping if you wish, but I did it in one big trip to BJ's. Buying so much food (especially the chicken) in bulk helped to keep down the cost. All your pals need to bring is a cooler or box to bring home the food! Here's the lowdown on my set up:

Before the crew came over I set up stations for each meal. A cutting board, chef's knife, apron, a copy of their meal's recipe, and all of the ingredients for each bag. I ended up putting a garbage can under the table to keep it easy, but you can do individual garbage bowls if your space is big enough! I took care of the chili, so that station's ingredients went next to the stove. Since the chicken packages from BJ's are so huge, I ended up splitting all the chicken up into bags beforehand just so I could fit everything into the fridge.

Upon arrival, all kids and dads are banned from the kitchen (unless your dads are doing the prepping, than peace out moms). No one wants raw chicken juice and toddler fingers getting involved in a play-date. The preppers pick a station, grab an apron, and start their prep. The two chicken dishes are basically just assembly, so they go fastest. Once the chili is simmering, you can make the bechamel for the lasagna, clear the chicken prep from the table, and lay out your lasagna pans assembly line style. It all takes about an hour and a half, more if you are drinking, less if you are Hung from Top Chef.

I like to have one hot dish, so that once you finish all the work, you have a meal ready to eat at the end of your party. Every one of us had chili for supper, and it's awesome chili, let me tell you. (It's even better with a spoonful of this amazing chimichurri made by my friend Erika on top!) So with a full belly, a cooler full of meals, and a chance to get some gossip out, you're Stock Up will leave every expectant mama ready to rock when the new bambino arrives, and the new mama of number two will be able to better balance her hectic days.

Have any questions? Hit me up in the comments.

Download the Printable Labels - Page 1
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Recipes
Shopping List

As always, you can find more recipe ideas and tips all over Pinterest, so here are a few of my faves:
Chef Tess Bakeresse - This has a few great recipe and party ideas!
Little Runner Girl - Includes ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes!

So today this happened...

I'm not very political. I'm not very controversial, or confrontational, or even very ballsy. I used to have a bit of a mouth in my twenties, but honestly, I'm pretty much just a run of the mill wuss when it comes down to it. I've never been in a fist fight, never screamed at anyone in public, don't fall into fits of road rage.

But today this tiny thing happened that made me so pissed my hands literally shook. I posted a link to this article on my Facebook page, shared via a fellow teacher friend. It's a commentary about public vs. private schooling and while the title is extreme, and it is dubbed a "manifesto" by the author, it makes some interesting reading. It's worth taking the few minutes of your time to actually read. Like the entire thing. Unlike the fellow who took it upon himself to send me this little gem: 

"I'm an acquaintance of _____. I read the article all the way to the part that I should send my children to public school even though they and their grandchildren would suffer but eventually it would be for the good of all.

You are a freaking idiot. Seriously. Quit posting."

Um. WHAH? Yep. A family member commented on the link, which posted it to her feed. This lovely gentleman saw her comment and then saw fit to send me the above message. Now let's not be naive here. I am not ignorant to the fact that trolls exist throughout this bnig wide world of the Internet, nor do I pretend that my own posts are immune to criticism. However, I was floored. More than that. Reading that message instantly set my blood to boiling and it was all I could do not to write my thoughts out in a reply. "Who the FUCK do you think you ARE? Idiot? You sir, are an asshole to the nth degree."

Instead, I waited a beat, took a breath, and wrote this: 

 "Actually, I am an educated professional with a degree in education, who went to public school and has taught in both private and public schools in RI, NJ, and MI. I am very knowledgeable about the subject and am certainly entitled to my opinion. I am also entitled to post anything I like on my own personal Facebook page. I certainly wouldn't expect that acquaintances of my family members would then privately message me with hateful statements when they don't even know me. I find that to be incredibly rude and uncalled for. You also missed the entire point of the article, which is meant to inspire a discussion about long term change in public schools. It also clearly states that children and grandchildren of wealthy families won't actually suffer from public educations, as their families can afford to be involved and effect improvements. You are certainly entitled to your opinions on education a well, and to share them with your own family and friends on Facebook, but you don't need to send them to me along with your negative comments."

I could have said so, so much more. 

Instead, I sent my reply and did what any other intelligent, pissed off, modern day person would do. I Googled him. He's the regional manager of a company worth $250 million. Good for him. And yet it's not surprising that the bully who messaged me also happens to fit into the exact target audience of the article. By the way, he probably doesn't think of himself as a bully. Especially since he sent me this: 

"You're right and please accept my apology. I just get very angry and frustrated when I hear people like you try to dumb America and try to make us all "equal". That's not the fundamentals and principals this country was founded on and I refuse to accept this country being socialized by this idiot in Washington. Having said that I lashed out at you unnecessarily and for that I am truly sorry.

Did you see that? Mixed in between the "my apology" and the "I am truly sorry?" Go ahead, go read it again! "People like you try to dumb America." Yes. Because that's exactly right. Public teachers try to dumb America. I must be a socialist. Oh, and don't forget to toss in a little dig at the President. Because that's the kicker, right? Please.

I'm so torn between ignoring this last note, writing something scathing, or just writing "apology accepted, douchebag." None quite capture my current feeling. I'm not a bully though, so I could just passive aggressively flame him on Twitter, or I could let it go. 

And there it is. Deep breath.

Back to ski-zool, sort of

Jenny, these are for you!

It is so very strange to see all of the hubbub of back to school madness swirling around me and to not be a part of it at all this year! No back to school shopping for new clothes or classroom decorations, no organizing bookshelves or planning lessons. Nada. Zilch. Nothing.

It's nice, actually, not to feel stressed and nervous about setting up a classroom, settling in new students, or meeting new parents. It's also sad. I do miss a lot of what made me happy to be a teacher: amazing kids who actually loved English, hanging with my bad-ass staff buddies, and feeling challenged at my job. But I have to be really honest at this time of year. There is a LOT that I don't miss. People undervaluing my career. Working endless hours at home to prep and grade papers. Defending myself to helicopter parents. None of those things make me want to go back to work.

I have come to realize that many of the things I adored about teaching, I can still have. And without the negatives.

- I can still surround myself with like minded people and have discussions about a wide range of topics (yes maybe those topics may occasionally be Sandra Boynton instead of Shakespeare, but still).

- I can be inspired and creative every day. Often the artistic side of me felt pushed into the background by the language lover in me at school, so being at home has helped me foster that much more! Jude is the best guinea pig and student I've ever had. He'll try anything and never tells me I'm lame.

- I can still inspire and create with kids. I'm working on expanding this part, as my current focus is clearly on Jude, his small circle of friends, and the day care kiddos. I am thinking of starting a Mommy and Me art/story class, so that would be a nice push in that direction.

- I can still read. And write. I do miss my creative writing class, where I would sit with my students and actually write for 30 minutes daily. It was incredible. I don't know why I never thought to do it on my own! I bought a new journal, visited the adult stacks of the library (alone!), and am now thoroughly enjoying a small amount of book nerd me time every day. 

I have decided to embrace this September as a time to get out own little play-school at home refocused. We'll hopefully be welcoming some new friends to the day care, and getting that class I mentioned up and running. Jude is now a super active, curious, and intelligent toddler, and thanks to him, I am a far better teacher than I ever was before. I just never realized that being a mother would make that happen. Teaching your child how to, well, how to everything, puts classroom practice and training into real perspective.

We'll just see how long I can hold off on introducing him to iambic pentameter.

Lucky duck

I'm pretty lucky.

I tell myself this often.

Most often on the days when my normally wonderful toddler decides to do a fully normal toddler behavior, like slither into the bottom of a police-car-shaped shopping cart and lick the possibly-E.coli-covered steering wheel that is sticky with week old who-knows-what. Moments after he intentionally dumped a cup of water on his shirt, shorts, shoes, and the floor of the market. All while singing loudly about how "luck" rhymes with "duck" and "cluck" and "tuck" and, you guessed it, "fuck", and smiling at old ladies. Yup, I'm lucky.

I have a healthy, happy, active little boy who keeps me on my toes every day, and it's awesome. The trials are minor for the most part, and a healthy dose of added patience mixed with a touch of creativity goes far to keep me from forgetting how great we have it. Being grateful is something I wasn't always good at, but having a kid put that into perspective for me. I have nothing to complain about.

Don't worry, there is a recipe coming :)

In a moment of creative problem solving, we took a visit to the library. We checked out the book Oliver's Fruit Salad and now Jude is obsessed with making big bowls of fruit
salad. This is nice, since for months the only fresh fruits that he ate consistently were apples and bananas. I was forever buying pineapples, berries, or melons when he asked for them at the market, only to have him ask for something else once we were sitting down to eat. I started getting irritated, bothered by throwing away spoiled fruit, stressing about wasting a few dollars, worrying about the lack of vitamin C in his diet.

And then I realized I was being stupid.

Almost every time I feel overly stressed or worried about something with Jude, it's because I am being stupid.

I take a deep breath, remind myself that he is fine, and I am lucky. Then we have a big bowl of fruit salad with a little of this incredible fruit sauce on the side, because nothing makes my kid happier than dip. We whipped up a batch of this to bring to dinner with friends, after I realized every recipe for fruit dip on Pinterest had cream cheese and marshmallow fluff in it. This is better for you, yummier, and prettier, and your little can help. Jude especially likes squeezing lemons, since I tell him he has to do it with his eyes closed. He gets it everywhere, but he also gets super excited. "I am SO LUCKY to have a lemon!"

Banana Cream Fruit Sauce

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c. sour cream
1 frozen banana
zest of one lemon
1 Tbls lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbls. powdered sugar
1/4 c. vanilla soy milk

Preparation:
Add all ingredients, except soy milk, to your food processor bowl or blender. Pulse just to combine. Your mixture should be thick and may be a bit chunky at this point. While processing on low, add milk in a thin stream until sauce has reached a smooth, pourable consistency. Serve drizzled over fresh fruit or cake, or as a dip.

Hello Fresh! (Review and Giveaway!)

Have you heard of Hello Fresh? If you are a sub box junkie, you probably have, but if you have yet to join the subscription box craze sweeping the land lately, you should listen up. How about fresh ingredients and recipes for three meals delivered to your door weekly? All you have to do is follow a few steps and dinner is done in less then 30 minutes. No shopping, no planning, no super skills required. There is a Classic box for omnivores and a Veggie box for herbivores. We tried one of each. The branding is cute (and I'm a sucker for cute branding), and the food arrives nicely organized and cooled by a very funky cooler box. Yes, we kept the cooler box, and the reusable freezer packs inside (hey, I'm thrifty!).

Each box includes labeled bags of ingredients for each meal, and a colorful recipe card with step by step instructions for preparing each meal.

 As soon as I open my box, I pile the ingredients for each meal together and pull out anything that won't need refrigeration. Shelf space in my fridge is prime real estate, so I don't shove anything in there unnecessarily. Anything that needs to be cold goes into a large pasta bowl (one for each meal), and I slide them into the fridge in order of how I will cook them. The recipe cards are clipped to the side of my fridge with a magnet, and everything else goes into the pantry at eye level in a little pile. OCD? Perhaps. 

Then the fun part, getting cooking. The recipes are very simple, and none take more than 30 minutes, so they are perfect weeknight fare. However, if you are clueless in the kitchen, read carefully. I have noticed that a few of the cards missed small details in the instructions. For example, a chicken meatball dish required cooking chopped scallions and setting them aside, but then they never reappeared in the instructions. The photo of the finished dish on the card actually showed raw scallions as a garnish. I ended up folding my cooked scallions in to the meatballs, so no big deal, but again, if you aren't someone who normally cooks, it could mix you up.

That said, I am not sure advanced cooks would be head over heels for the recipes either. They are healthy, simple recipes, nothing that will stretch your culinary imagination. The Asian Sloppy Joe sauce was simply tomato and soy sauce. I added shredded carrot and zucchini to the onion and garlic included in the box to kick up the veggie component. In the end is was delicious, and Jude scarfed down two huge servings.

All in all, I believe that the best customer for this company is a busy family that is interested in trying something aside from the typical meat and potatoes Americana for dinner, but who isn't so advanced in culinary feats that they'd be bored by fresh ginger and soy. It is amazing if you are short on time, and need something healthy and new.

Sooo, is that you? If so, and you are interested in trying out a Hello Fresh delivery, I have a giveaway for you! I have one Hello Fresh Gift Card worth $25 to get you started!

You may earn up to 4 entries for this giveaway:

1 Entry for leaving a comment on this post, just tell me why you'd like to try Hello Fresh!

1 Entry for liking Jojobean Designs on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/jojobeandesigns

1 Entry for Following Jojobean26 on twitter and tweeting about this giveaway.

1 Entry for following this blog via GFC.

Please leave a comment for each of the above!

Thanks and good luck!