We had originally planned on having a get together with our dear friends Mark and Ksenija (who is an extremely talented photographer. You can check out her work here!) around Thanksgiving (hence the name “Friendsgiving”), but our schedules didn’t line up until now. It worked out because it gave me ample time to plan the epic menu. After we enjoyed an incredible vegetarian meal together at a vegetarian restaurant called Inn Season in Royal Oak, I was inspired to do a complete vegetarian spread. I thought it would be a great contrast to your typical heavy holiday dinners and a great way to start the new year. Continue reading “FRIENDSGIVING 2014”
CHLOE, YEAR ONE: THE BIRTHDAY
Wow, Chloe is a year old! Where has the year gone? I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. When Ellie’s first birthday came around, I was ready. I ready for her to be one. I was ready for the next step. Her first year did not go by fast and her birthday was as much of a celebration for us surviving it as it was for her becoming one. But for Chloe, just as this post is late, I’ve felt behind this whole year.
I Believe I CAN
One great thing about the end of summer is the garden harvest. We have tons and tons of tomatoes, zucchinis, eggplants, and green peppers. And every year we plan on making salsas, stews, and sauces and preserving them. And every year, we never do. So we scramble to eat everything or give them away before they go bad. But this year, we canned 22 pint size jars of diced homegrown tomatoes!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Both my wife and I were fortunate that we grew up in houses where we sat down at the dinner table as a family to a home cooked meal from scratch 98% of the time. We both value meal time around the table and love food. Now that we have our own family, we want to give our kids the same experience we had and appreciated growing up.
Along with this experience we want to expose them to as many different varieties of food as we can. Different vegetables, spices, flavors, ethnic foods, etc. Not only do we want them to experience variety, but also know a little nutrition and not think “healthy = vegetables = yuck.” I’d rather them think, “Yay food! Food is good! We love food!” We want to instill in them a positive, healthy image about food.
THE CAKE CONVENTION
I have a friend from high school, Lynne, who has been making cakes and cupcakes on the side lately. Cupcakes that look like Elmo and Thomas the Train cakes and cakes using marshmallow fondant. My mom used to make and decorate cakes a lot a long time ago. The fancy cakes with frosting roses and basket weave patterns, etc. She still does them, just not as frequently. So one day my mom offered to show Lynne her skills and Lynne offered to show my mom her tricks with the fondant and all that stuff. So what does this have to do with me? Well, I have a unique set of culinary skills sought by many in the baking world. I am an expert in the art of cakeball making. And because of this, my presence was requested at this cake convention.