Entries from February 2008 ↓

Do you believe that there are people who bake and people who cook but very few who do both?

I love to bake. Brownies, cakes, any kind of dessert. Give me a recipe and I’ll follow it meticulously (and make something that comes pretty close to the desired result). I just follow the recipe.

But cooking? As in, look in the pantry and the fridge and make something for dinner, drawing only from your experience and creativity? I’m in awe of people who can do that. It’s so foreign to me, that it’s like another world. I’m amazed by people who can throw together food and spices and make something delicious, just because they know what should go with what. I wish I could do that.

In fact, when I stopped working to stay home with my kids full time, I looked at the dinner hour like it was that giant Basilisk in Harry Potter.

Dinner was something I had to tackle, to take on, to conquer. Years later, I would still shudder when the kids grew old enough to ask, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Ugh.

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Kids bring joy to our lives in the most unexpected ways, don’t they?

I had planned to post the plain picture (above) for Wordless Wednesday, but when my daughter saw it, she insisted on adding a little i can has cheezburger kind of personality to it. If you haven’t yet seen that nutty, humorous, fantastic website, you just have to get over there and check it out! It’s always good for plenty of laughs (but you may want to look at the photos before your kids do…some of them can be a bit racy).

So…

Here’s the photo with a little help from her:

We hope it brings you a little joy today. Happy Wednesday!!

The annual Toy Fair, held by the Toy Industry Association, ran from February 17 through February 20. Whenever I read about it, I’m overcome with a strong desire to own a toy shop, partly because I’ve always dreamed of having a toy store, but also just so I could go and check out all the latest cool new toys. But, alas, I’m toy shop-less, so, instead, I zip around the web, looking for posts about the hottest tech toys. Engadget, one of my favorite tech sites, came through with a couple of posts about new devices made by the folks at LeapFrog.

The first one, designed for 3rd through 8th grade students, is called the Crammer. As in cramming for tests? Hmm…not a habit I want my kids to pick up (at least not so soon…). It’s being touted as a study device that lets kids create flashcards, download quizzes for their own textbooks and even play music, too. It looks way cool and would no doubt make the kids feel a little like Dad or Mom holding their blackberries or iPhones (or whatever) because it looks like this:

Expected to be released in the fall, it will be priced at $60 (with 1GB of memory).

It’s much sleeker looking than the old iQuest, which the company no longer makes.

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My kids and I found a couple of online games that are unusual and fun, although in very different ways. The first is called BP Gas Mania.

It’s part of the Miniclip.com collection of games (Club Penguin is the most well known and most popular of its games).

The BP in the Gas Mania site, unfortunately, stands for British Petroleum. I am one of the last people who would want to promote any kind of oil company, but if you can get past that connection, the game is really fun. You may have heard the little jingle, “Make Your Day a Little Better” and, indeed, that song plays in a loop while your child plays the game. The song gets incredibly annoying after a while, but in small doses it’s cheery and pleasant.

The gist of the game is that you control a little gas station attendant and give the customers what they want. Little cars drive up and you have to sort the customers according to the type of gas they want, accept their payment for the gas and then give them whatever else they might request (like, coffee or sandwiches). There’s something about it that kids love. It’s different, fun and can get a bit challenging.

Do you know what the second game is?

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I have had such a good day and am in such a great mood; I’ve decided this meme is a perfect post for today.

I’ve been tagged by my wonderful friend, Ann over at A Nice Place in the Sun. If you haven’t read her blog yet, stop by. It always makes me smile. Thanks, Ann, for being you and for thinking of me. I, too, love books and find this meme playful and fun!

So, here it is…

It’s been called the 123 Book Meme, The Fifth Sentence on Page 123 and now, After the Fifth on Page 123. Here’s the way it works:

1. Find the book closest to you (with at least 123 pages).

2. Open it to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people and post a comment here after you post it to your blog, so others can read it (including me!).

My book is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (whose initials just happen to be the same as the author of the book chosen by Ann, but your book does not need to be written by some SG person).

Do I recommend it?

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If you like Epicurious, you’re going to love an amazing new feature provided by their partner, Tastebook.

If you aren’t yet familiar with either one, here’s the deal. Epicurious is a comprehensive site for cooks, filled with recipes from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines.

The site includes a terrific search tool that can be used many ways. For example, you could enter the title of a recipe that you saw in Bon Appetit. Or you could enter a few items you have on hand and it will spit out pages of recipes with those ingredients.

So, let’s say that one day you’re wondering what to make for dinner and you have plenty of, say, carrots, onions and chicken on hand. You’d enter those ingredients and find 440 recipes, like these:

Pot Roast with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Carrots

Curried Chicken Soup with Carrots

Poulet a la Farmiere (Gratineed Chicken in Cream Sauce)

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As of today, February 10, 2008, BMG Mom is Soapbox Mom.

It came to me in a dream…

No, not really, I just thought it would be easier for people to remember, become familiar with…I don’t know, Soapbox Mom just sounded better to me (and less cumbersome) than Being a Mom is Great!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed a little because the transition was a little bumpy (and that explains why I haven’t been hopping around all your blogs as much as I usually do…).

So thanks for taking the trouble to find me over here. Come, gather ’round and join me in this idyllic, parklike setting (yeah, whatever) so I can comfortably stand on our modern day equivalent of the soapbox (this blog!).

Wahoo!!!

On Oprah recently, I saw Ralph Lauren’s daughter, Dylan, talking about her love of sweets and her numerous candy shops called Dylan’s Candy Bar. Three levels of candy, candy from around the world, candy from your childhood, just look at it and you’ll be amazed!

If you want to give a unique valentine’s gift to someone who isn’t necessarily nutty about chocolate, I think these little items are great finds!

Here’s the swag bag she gave to the members of Oprah’s studio audience. It includes things like a “Lollipop Tackle Box, gummy bears, gumballs, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Laffy Taffy, Mary Janes and a limited edition Pez Princess set and can be yours (or your daughter’s (?)) for only $50:

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