Archive for the 'Parties' Category
The Breakfast of Champions
July 13th, 2011By Lisa We are big time into the Women’s World Cup right now, which is turning out to be one of the greatest sporting events of the year for us. Amazing female athletes, an amazing US team, little commercialism, or ego, or marketing, and heart-stoppingly dramatic games. The games have been a tremendous source of [...]
Chocolate Brownie Frosting
June 1st, 2011by Caroline I don’t do elaborate kid birthday parties. Knowing that most children are happy with a treat and the chance to play with their friends, I don’t see any reason to knock myself out. I am lucky that my sons both have spring birthdays, so we can keep everybody in the backyard, and for [...]
Triple Citrus Cream Cheese & Poppy Seed Coffeecake
January 21st, 2011by Caroline Before my mom went back to work full-time, when I was in elementary school, she cooked dinner every night and baked bread every Saturday. She made birthday cakes for all four of us kids and thousands (I’m not exaggerating) cookies at Christmas. But the one thing I don’t recall her making on any [...]
Iced Ginger Cookies
December 29th, 2010by Caroline I spent an hour today going through my stuffed binders of torn-out magazine recipes, assembling a menu for our annual New Year’s Day party. This cookie recipe is one I found in Sunset magazine four years ago and yet had never tried. Now it’s going to be a regular part of our holiday [...]
Now he is six
November 16th, 2010by Lisa As Ella remarked last week, while I was making meatballs and spaghetti, and red sauce and a chocolate layer cake, which came after the 3 dozen cookies made for his class, and after the schoolday breakfast of pancakes, but before the Wizard Party attended by 23 five-year-old boys and a few girls, “Birthdays [...]
Pumpkin Toast
October 19th, 2010by Lisa Our children’s school has a great tradition of hosting a social for the parents (only!) of each grade in the early months of the year. Some of Ella’s third grade class has been together since pre-school & it’s a terrific group of parents and children. This year, our enterprising room parents decided on [...]
2 Simple Salads: Green Goddess & Country Mustard Potatoes
September 28th, 2010by Lisa These salads are so simple that they hardly deserve a post, but they have become very popular in our family this summer, and since we write about all the ways that we eat here–the simple and the fancy–they are getting the attention they deserve. If you’ve followed me for any time at all, [...]
Grilled Spicy Sweet Chicken Wings
September 27th, 2010by Lisa It may be the end of September, but it’s still summer weather here. So when we had friends over for dinner on Saturday, the only thing to do was barbeque. In retrospect, I might have chosen to do something other than stand in front of the grill in 90+ degree heat grilling wings, [...]
First Communion Feast
June 11th, 2010By Lisa This was a big year for Ella, and one of the bigger events was her First Communion. Many families have very, very large celebrations. We were brief guests at one than included, among many other offerings, a taquero equipped to make several hundred tacos–in addition to fantastic chicken mole, rice, drinks, fruit, vegetables, [...]
LEGO Cake
November 20th, 2009by Lisa The boy loved the chocolate card his sister made him, and his shiny new red bike, but most of all he craves one thing and one thing only: LEGO. I tell, you, the boy’s passion for the bricks surpasseth all else; the glory of a new kit transcends every earthly joy he has [...]