My little Trevor isn’t so little anymore. Only 2 pounds lighter than his sister, who is 2 years older. And he’s catching up on her height, too. He turned 4 last week, which is still a bit surreal for me.

He loves the PBS show Word World, so it was a no-brainer that for his birthday party this year, that would be the theme. The possibilities with letters and animals is pretty endless. Which is good and bad! Sadly, Pinterest did not come to my rescue. I searched and searched for ideas, but nadda. Apparently nobody has ever thought to host a Word World birthday party. OR nobody has ever thought to write about it. So, I’m going to! 
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Continue reading How To Host A Word World Birthday Party

My kitchen gets a workout! And so does my mind, with the never ending list of recipes I want to try.

Even though I don’t blog every day, that doesn’t mean I’m not cooking something new all the time. Here are some dishes I’ve made recently, but haven’t devoted an individual post to. They vary in degrees of ease – some super simple, others intermediate, but I recommend all of them!
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Continue reading This, That, and The Other…Food

One might accuse me (and by “one,” I  mean Paul) of wasting time on Pinterest. But I say quite the contrary – I can’t believe all the helpful tips I’ve found!

And since I know not everyone is wasting…er…spending time on there with me, I don’t feel like you should lose out on everything I’m learning.
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Continue reading Why Didn’t I Think Of That?!

This is a 2010 round-up of my favorite food-related products, perfect for gift giving:

Make ‘em some good eats!

Toffee Crunch Pretzel Rods by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures

Spicy Cocktail Nuts By Foodie with Family

Herbal Salts by Burp!

Fruit Leather by Indian Simmer

Create Your Own Brownies by Fine Cooking

Something fun for their stocking!

Buttons/Pins – “I love you more than Ham/Steak/Pork/Bacon” ($6/set of 4)

Chocomize – build a custom chocolate bar, just the way you like it. ($4-$10)

Spaghetti Measure – compact spaghetti measure provides an adjustable portion guide for 1-4 servings ($7)

Scoop Colander – this simple kitchen utensil allows you to quickly and efficiently scoop and drain food straight from a pan or oven dish ($7)

Coasters – sweetly colored coaster doilies topped with not-so-sweet messages. ($8/set of 10)

Chef’s Pencil Set - includes 6 pencils: Al Dente, Saute, Whip, Knead, Zest, Mince ($11)

Ice Cube Mold Trays – 15 different ones to choose from ($5-$12)

Napkin Hugs – felt napkin rings. Set of 4, 2 boy/2 girl ($15)

Gifts

OXO Tools – it’s hard to go wrong with any OXO kitchen gadget. My personal favorites: mango splitter, cherry pitter, ice cream scoop, angled measuring cup, julienne peeler, corn peeler, and citrus juicer.

Food Face Plate – who says you shouldn’t play with your food? This plate is mid-sized and crafted from hotel-quality, food-safe, high-fire ceramics. ($15 for Mr. Food Face or Ms. Food Face at Amazon)

Apron Cooking Guides – an apron with all the culinary information you need printed on it – numeric conversions, cooking times for vegetables, roasting times for birds, freezing instructions, defrosting times, a cooking glossary and more. ($15)

3-Tier Oven Companion – cook the roast, bake the casserole, warm up the rolls…all at the same time ($20)

Mini Donut Factory – makes 6 donuts in a waffle-iron like configuration. Pour in the batter, close the clamshell, and wait for 4 short minutes. ($20)

Recipe Tea Towels – 100% European linen, screen printed tea towels in your choice of mushroom, french onion soup, fish pie, breakfast in bed, orange & poppyseed cake ($20/each)

Customizable Alphabet Plates – a fun customizable gift option for kids ($25)

Zoku Quick Pop™ Maker – freezes up to 9 ice pops in as little as seven minutes right on your countertop without electricity ($50)

Ladder Cork Trivet – A trivet for pots with a design similar to a ladder or a railroad track. It can be configured in many ways so you can place your pots in different ways – $55

Breville Pie Maker – Create up to four individual-sized pies. All the same. Or all different. ($80)

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My favorite smaller food-related news stories and products that made it in under the radar:

Food allergies more likely in kids born in winter – might explain why my February born 4YO, is allergic to peanuts.

Blogger Kicks Off A Month Without Processed Foods. Could you do it?

The Geometry of Pasta.

Cooking apps for your iPhone, iPad, Droid or Blackberry – Mario Batali, Cook’s Illustrated, & Salsa-Making.

Newly designed Chiquita Banana Stickers.

Thousands of New York Times readers favorite recipes – The Community Cookbook.

Getting rid of the Food Pyramid. Why must we always fix what’s not broken?

The Origins of 10 Food Phrases.

Create your own brownies, customized to your taste.

Six ways customers tick off chefs. Are you an offender?

Mark Bittman on Saving Time and Avoiding Headaches in the Kitchen.

4 Memory-Boosting Spices.

Top 6 Food Myths.

The Dumbest Kitchen Gadgets Ever.

100 Ways to Cook a Pumpkin (honored to be part of this collection with my Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins and Pumpkin Pecan Crescent Rolls)

Product Find: Double-Sided Peanut Butter Jar

Product Find: Martha Stewart’s Pie Gate

Product Find: Origami Napkins

Product Find: Star Wars Cookie Cutters

Product Find: Jar Tiles

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