Wannabe Recipea: White Chocolate Cranberry-Kissed Cake
I’m trying really hard not to be cliché. Then again, maybe I’m just lazy. My hair for the day would confirm that. I’m going through an awkward stage which I’m attempting to mitigate with the tiniest ponytail you’ve ever seen and a headband. I look like I either just got my wig snatched on Jerry Springer or like I’m about to film a Proactiv commercial and am poised to go in for the big sink splash. The UPS guy came to do the door,... Read More
Palace of Pain
One innocent day, a couple weeks ago when I was wiping a Baby Mouse’s runny nose with my bare hands at Nutcracker rehearsals, Pea Daddy went Christmas shopping for the girls. There’s no denying that Pea Daddy’s a great dad. There might be loud, shrill denying that he is always the best of husbands. Rarely. But when selecting Christmas gifts for the girls he overlooked the important consideration that should always be made in all key decisions: “How... Read More
Everyday Eats: Mediterranean Salad Shakers
Now’s the time of the year when everyone starts making lists. It starts with lists of what they wanted to achieve last year, followed by big red checkmarks and “x”s by what they did and didn’t achieve. It’s a real “feel good” exercise. Then, in the afterglow of their successes and shadows of their failures, they make lists of what they want to achieve next year. If I’ve learned anything in 2011, though, it’s that no matter how... Read More
Lessons From Christmas
1. Do not buy your children Advent calendars. It is better that they don’t know when exactly Christmas is. Unless of course you enjoy waking up at 1:00 am, 3:00 am, 4:00 am, then there was that long stretch until 5:50 a.m and then 6:30 am only to tell your little angel that it is still not time to open presents yet. 2. Remind your spouse to buy things to fill your stocking so you are not going through your junk drawer at midnight finding... Read More
The Perfect Christmas
It’d be very easy for me to just sign off for the holiday now and wish you the very best of Christmases with your loved ones. And I will. But I wanted to share something else too. It’s far from the perfect Christmas here. Despite Gigi making up her own, very creative Spanish lyrics to “Feliz Navidad” today and Lulu donning her skunk costume for no apparent reason, I’m not quite in the Christmas spirit. I feel like I have the weight of... Read More
Gifts You Can Eat (But Shouldn’t): Lavender Rosemary Gel
One of the worst things about making a living putting things in writing is that, well, it’s in writing. Even really stupid things. Even worse is when you spell “lavender” wrong, photograph it, realize your mistake and know there’s no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that you are reshooting. Don’t do that. Worse still is when you say something stupid in a book. That doesn’t go away, people. Pull out your copies of Peas and Thank... Read More
Tuesday News
1. I’m still addicted to Pinterest, and it’s not doing me any favors. Since joining, I’ve been wearing a sloppy smoky eye to Target for laundry detergent, I’ve stopped washing my hair with shampoo and I’ve cut off the sleeves from my cardigans to make boot socks. In other words, I’m a hot mess. Thank you, Pin-interest. 2. The candy on our gingerbread house is “accidentally” falling off faster than it was put on. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Gingerbread “Cliff” Bars
You know what’s the worst? Staying up until midnight watching the Survivor finale and then having your phone alarm go off at 5:45. Only your phone fell off your nightstand and under your bed and you have to scramble around and try to find it before the whole house wakes up and you have to workout with an audience. And they totally call you out when you do girl pushups. Also the worst? Getting icing caked on your jeans that you just washed for... Read More
The Certificate
Say what you will about Gigi, but that girl wears her heart on her sleeve. She gets it from me. If I get a paper cut, you’ll know about it, the thickness of paper that instigated the wound and the eight naturopathic remedies I’ve applied to ensure rapid healing. Aloe vera for the win. Pea Daddy, on the other hand, internalizes things a bit more. I’m sure it has nothing to do with me or my listening and empathy skills. Nope. Gigi came... Read More
Gifts You Can Eat: Ranch Oyster Crackers
Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. I find myself saying this a lot. “Look Mom, I can stick this whole Christmas ornament in my mouth!” It wasn’t a candy cane. And the ornament hook is still missing. That’s gonna leave a mark on the way out. “Look Honey, I can get free shipping on a Tommy Bahama dress for you for Hawaii!” Perfect. I’ll look lovely in it while I crochet doilies on the plane... Read More
Namonia for Me, Present for You (GIVEAWAY)
Remember that cold the little mouse ballerina who coughed on me gave me a week ago? It’s not a cold. It’s ‘namonia. But it’s not hospital pneumonia, it’s not even bed rest pneumonia. It’s walking pneumonia. Lace up those toning shoes, strap on the ankle weights and head to the mall pneumonia. Okay, maybe not. So I’m prescribing myself a little breather. Specifically, I’d like an inhaler that applies lip gloss when... Read More
For Santa: No Bake Snowball Cookies
I haven’t been fully working this Santa thing to my advantage. We haven’t gone and seen him yet this year, and I’d be surprised if we do. I’d also be surprised if I make gingerbread men for our tree or mail out our Christmas cards. The Christmas card thing would be especially surprising since I never ordered any. So, friends and family, consider this your Christmas card/newsletter nearly every day of the year. Merry Christmas! But back... Read More
Ten Things About Sunday
1. On the 13th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one case of pinkeye, acute bronchitis, four missing teeth, and a partridge in a pear tree. 2. How ‘bout some irony? Gigi, both a pacifist and a vegetarian, has been cast as the solider who gets to kill the Mouse King in The Nutcracker. I feel nothing but pride. I suspect Lulu, cast as a mouse, will find her harder to forgive. 3. The worst part about writing a cookbook: 4. ... Read More
Vegan Pie in The Sky (GIVEAWAY)
I was on Math Team in seventh grade. I’m still not sure how that happened. I was a book nerd. I read books. And not books about math. Unless you count A Tale of Two Cities. See, I‘m such a book nerd I actually said that. Is it a wonder I was bullied on my seventh grade math team? Our math team, wearing matching purple t-shirts with all sorts of algebraic formulas screen-printed on them, would pile onto a big yellow school bus and... Read More
Gifts You Can Eat: Eggnog Spiced Nuts
I’m nuts. I blame Jingle Cats, which Pea Daddy decided to play for the girls right before bedtime last night. Brilliant move. I heard meowing Christmas carols from their bedrooms for an hour straight. I further blame the 102 degree fever I spiked around caroling time last night. And for that I blame Maya, Myla, Mayla or whoever was coughing on my lap at Nutrcracker rehearsals last weekend. I wanted to die when I woke up this morning, only... Read More
The Antidote for Mommy Guilt
From the moment I found out I was pregnant with Gigi to this very instant right now (and now….and now…), I’ve experienced overwhelming love for my children. Coupled with overwhelming guilt. Mommy guilt. This guilt stems from: Riding every ride in Disneyland including the Tower of Terror 13 times before I officially knew I was with child. Poor fetus Gigi. Forgetting to put a note in Gigi’s lunchbox this morning. Getting, no, begging for,... Read More
Recipeas Worth Repeating: Pumpkin Spice Bars (VIDEO)
I know my timing is totally off on this pumpkin thing. You’re all onto flavors like gingerbread (I’ve got a bar recipe pending), eggnog (I’ve got a gift recipe pending), and peppermint (I’ve got a homemade mocha pending…in my stomach). But some recipeas and some opportunities are just too fun to pass up. Personal girl crush of mine and amazing cookbook author, Julie Hasson, invited me up to her home to cook with her on the webcast... Read More
Lessons from the Weekend
1. There’s something far worse than having a broken dishwasher–having a broken door to your garage. When you are locked inside. And without easy access to get out of your house to go to the grocery store, to ballet rehearsals, to anywhere away from children that have woken up at 5:45 to eat chocolate. 2. Chocolate-filled advent calendars are evil. For the last four days, my children have been waking up at an ungodly hour so they can eat chocolate. ... Read More
Gifts You Can Eat: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cups
It’s only December 1st, and I’m already feeling the holiday time crunch. Lucky for me, I am armed with lots of time-saving tips. They aren’t always endearing and they’re rarely hygienic, but I have many ways I cut corners and add a few more minutes to my day. I sleep in my workout clothes. There’s nothing hotter than sports bras and shorts with built-in underwear. Yeah, baby. I keep a grocery list going on the whiteboard in the kitchen... Read More
