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Inside the Sweetnicks’ Mailbag

Posted by Cate under Narrative

Saveur magazine


When there are questions in the comment section of posts, or in my e-mail box, I try and answer them right away, but I get distracted easily.  It happens to the best of us.  Forgive me!  So I thought I’d tie up some loose ends and answer some of the recent questions here, and share a little Sweetnicks’ link love to boot.  Here we go.

Where did you get the curtains in your living room?
I received that question a few times after I included a picture here, and given how hard it is to find the right curtain, I totally understand.  I’m still on the hunt for the right curtains for the office and playroom and, at this point, it might just have to come from making bed sheets into curtains, one of my favorite tricks that my Mom taught me.  Ok, so the living room curtains came from Bed, Bath & Beyond.  The line is called Paris, and the color is Oyster.  I love the pinched pleated top, making them look really rich and lush, without the matching price tag.  Because the living room and dining room are next to each other, and open to each other, I wanted to find a curtain that would work in both rooms.  I needed a total of ten panels, and once I found the curtains, I collected a handful of Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons so I could use one on each panel.  This is the direct link to the curtains online.

Where did you get Madeline’s tutu from her first birthday?
Wow, she looks soooo different in those pictures, doesn’t she?!  Baldy!  I love that tutu, and right now, it’s hanging in her bedroom.  I found it on Etsy.  That one I bought from this seller, Trinity’s Tutus; I loved her pictures, and she was very easy to work with, customizing a few things on the tutu for me along the way.  If you do a search for tutus on Etsy, there are tons of other great sellers too though - almost too many to choose from; I had a hard time narrowing it down!

How many cookbooks do you have, and what do you do with them when you don’t want them anymore?
I used to have a crazy amount of cookbooks, but every time we move, I try to whittle down the collection a bit more.  Hopefully there are no more moves (knock wood!) - I’m staying put!  On the last move in August, I thought long and hard about each cookbook I put into a box.  I only wanted ones that I loved or really would use.  I don’t just want to collect them just to collect them, you know?  I’ve got my collection down to four bookcases now, and it’s much more manageable.  My clippings, on the other hand, is a work in progress.  As far as what I do with them when I don’t want them any more, it runs the gamut.  I sell some on eBay, Craig’s List and Cash4Books.net.  I also donate a bunch to a local hospital that has a used bookstore, and also to our local Freecycle chapter.

What is your favorite recipe?
Oh my gosh, that’s like picking a favorite child, I couldn’t possibly.  And equally important, tastes change.  I couldn’t pick a favorite overall.  I mean, maybe a favorite recipe in each category.  Maybe.  The recipes on my OMG list are still pretty much my OMGs, but lately I’ve been trying to make an even bigger effort in making more new recipes than repeating old ones.  I still, of course, have a cache of recipes that I do repeat, but also trying to mix it up a bit with new ones as well.  When we entertain, I usually have a few tried-and-true recipes and some new ones.  A nice mix, that way if the new ones bomb, we’re still covered.

What blogs do you regularly read?
My bookmark list is all over the place.  I have a short list of food blogs that I regularly go to, and a much longer list of ones that I pop in on sporadically.  When I first started food blogging, there was a large group of us, but it was still small enough that I felt like I knew them all or had visited their blogs.  Now, flash forward nearly five years later, there are so many, it’s seriously hard to keep up.  But amongst my regular reads list, I also read a bunch of photography blogs (like Ashley Ann and Karen Russell), decorating blogs (like Apartment Therapy and Ohdeedoh), crafting blogs (like Joy’s Hope) and more all-purpose blogs (like Meg’s and Darby’s). Continue reading this entry…

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Weekend Photos in Review

Posted by Cate under Photos

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

What Happens When Madeline Eats Spaghetti

 (although I know she loves spaghetti, we certainly pay for it in clean up)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

(apparently toys are no longer needed in our household; the box that Eli’s dog food came in will do just fine.)

I have a short list of things I worry about. Well, perhaps it’s not especially short, but that’s besides the point. Most of the things I worry about are things that I can’t control. Comes with the territory of being somewhat of a control freak, I guess. One of the things that weighs on my mind lately that I can control are pictures. I am usually the one behind the camera. I think it’s that way with a lot of moms.  It’s not just me.  Always grabbing for it and getting the shot. Documenting memories. And moments. Big ones. Small ones. And I worry that when I’m gone that my kids will look through albums and say, “Hey, where’s mom?” Not keep-me-up-at-night worry, just something that has started to nag at me a bit, particularly since I got separated. I also read a powerful blog post last year about Aleida’s Challenge, and that certainly spoke to what I worried about.  (You can see the Flickr group for it here, and scroll down to the bottom half of the page to read what it’s about.  It made me cry the first time {though commercials sometimes make me cry too}, so consider yourself forewarned.  So one of my goals this year was to make an effort to hand over the camera sometimes. To be in on the action in another way. So that being said, I handed over my camera today.

Although Madeline’s birthday isn’t until Thursday, today begins “Birthday Week,” and we had a party with family. I seriously had to take a deep breath to really relinquish camera control, and I think I only took maybe 10 shots myself. The bulk of what’s below were taken by Nick, with a few from my sister and Payton as well.  A lot of pressure to hand over the camera for the first time at my daughter’s birthday party, but I did it. I gave Nick some general direction of what to make sure to take pictures of it, and I swear I only checked the camera a few thirteen or so times to make sure there were some good ones there.  When I got my camera back at the end of the day, there were 171 pictures on it, so I’m going to spare you the endless pictures of the dog … and Barbie dolls … and things that I can’t figure out what they’re pictures of, even though they’re in my house.

Crusty Rolls for Ham Sandwiches

Big T-w-o

Triple Decker PB&J

Homemade Love

(I asked Nick what PM meant. “Princess Madeline.” But of course.)

Mustard Choices

Terra Vegetable Chips

Take Home Treats

Old School Delight

(My sister has been putting potato chips in her sandwiches for as long as I can remember. Some things never change.)

Basting

Payton

Maddie's Choice

(When planning the menu for today, I asked Maddie if she wanted cupcakes or cake. She chose cupcakes. And then went on to choose the color of both the cake and the frosting as well. “Yellyow” frosting and hot pink cupcakes it was. She done good.)

Sadie and Grandpa

Sophie's Choice

Eli's Doppelganger

Mommy in Training

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Charmin’ Cherry Bars

Posted by Cate under Narrative

Charmin' Cherry Bars-2

I just love that naughty piece of toasted coconut standing straight up in the back of this picture.  Kind of reminds me of my grey hair.  I have just a few pieces, but they’re wiry as all get-out and there are one or two shorter pieces that are stubborn and stick straight up.  Drives me mad.

So desserts.  Desserts are one of the overlooked categories of Super Bowl parties.  Dips.  Chilis.  Finger food galore.  Beer.  Chips.  And then dessert.  A complete after-thought.  But given that Valentine’s Day is right on the heels of the big game, it’s fair to say we more than make up for it with the thrust of chocolate, sweets and desserts that quickly follow.  But if you’re looking for a dessert recipe for this weekend, you just might want to try these bars.  They cut nice and neat, are easy to eat with your fingers, and taste good to boot.  What more could you want, right?

I was actually looking for a good muffin recipe (got one?) when I found this one for Charmin’ Cherry Bars.  It from a Pillsbury cookbook, Best of the Bake-Off Cookies and Bars.  And the recipe?  From the 1951 Bake-Off.  I love that it’s a recipe that is some 60+ years old, but is still just as relevant today as it was back then.   The base is shortbread, and the filling is just a touch creamy with just a bit of crunch from the walnuts and a bite from the cherries.  The only change I made was that I used dried cherries, instead of maraschino cherries.  No real reason why except for the fact that the maraschino jar in the fridge had just the juice in it, no more cherries.

If you’re watching your figure, these aren’t too terrible, with 130 calories per piece and 6 grams of fat.  Not wonderful, but not terrible.  More nachos on Sunday for you!

Project 365
February 4, 2010, Photo #35

The Scene of the Crime-1

The Perpetrator-1

I have a lidded jar on a shelf in the middle of the pantry.  A tight-fitting lidded jar.  On the fourth shelf down.  Inside the jar are some assorted mints and gum.  See that leg of the chair in the left side of the picture?  That would be the chair my daughter dragged over to the pantry.  To get the lidded jar.  With the tight-fitting lid.  To help herself to some gum and mints.  When she was caught red-handed, she scurried over to try and clean up her mess, but I told her she had to wait so I could take a picture of her thievery.  She liked that idea enough that she wanted to be in the second picture herself.  The scene of the crime.  And the perpetrator.

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Buffalo Chicken Dip

Posted by Cate under Narrative

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Thanks so much for voting on yesterday’s post and your comments.  I think, for me, that it’s all case-by-case… depending on the person, the situation, the motivation behind the decision … that it’s all about them, you know?  That it can’t be decided by age (so my answer would probably be you’re never too old) because it’s a personal decision.  I loved hearing what you guys all thought, and it was a nice break from food.  And speaking of food, how about some Buffalo Chicken Dip?

When it comes to buffalo wings, I’ve never been a big fan.  For two reasons.  First, in my pre-kids days, I seriously had an iron stomach and could eat anything.  After kids, well, not so much, so I tend to be a little more cautious with spicy things.  And the wing thing?  Well, buffalo flavored or not, it always seems like an awful lot of work for little reward, you know?  When The Ex got them, I stuck to the celery and bleu cheese dip.  He didn’t like either, so in that respect, we were a perfect match.

Now when it comes to dip, that’s a different story.  And when it comes to Buffalo Chicken Dip, there are a million and one recipes for it, and I’ve made a few.  Mostly for the guys, not so much for me.  Can’t stand the heat.  But I made it last night, and this recipe suggested serving it with Frito Scoops as dippers.  Hello, salt.  I need no introduction.  I am a total saltaholic.  I don’t know if it was the Fritos or this particular dip recipe or the combination of both, but I was all over this one last night.   Of course, that required a little more time on the elliptical tonight at the gym, but all in the name of good food.  And it wasn’t just me.  The Neighbor Wife, another one who doesn’t clamor for buffalo-flavored stuff, loved it as well.

The only change I made to the recipe, inadvertently at the time, was that I used real bleu cheese crumbles instead of the bleu cheese dressing the recipe called for.  It was accidental at the time, since I had actually bought the dressing, but I would totally make the same switch the next time I make it.  This Sunday.  We’re celebrating Madeline’s birthday (ack!!) and the Super Bowl, and this is a perfect party food.  Quick, easy, full-on flavor and worth every bite.

Project 365
February 3, 2010, Photo #34

Chicken Nugget

With Valentine’s Day just over a week away, I was more than tickled when I spied this heart-shaped chicken nugget this afternoon.  And no, they weren’t made that way.  I collect heart-shaped rocks and shells, but I promise I didn’t save this one.  I did, however, make Nick grab the camera so I could take the shot before it got eaten.  Love is in the air.

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How Old is Too Old?

Posted by Cate under Narrative

It’s always interesting to see where conversations lead.  Gather a bunch of different personalities (or even similar ones) in the same room, set a relaxing vibe with good food, and let the topics lead where they may.  Even without the presence of alcohol.  Sometimes especially so.  Tonight was one of those nights, and one of the topics that came up amongst friends was How Old is Too Old?  Our opinions for how old is too old to get a tattoo, nose piercing or belly ring definitely varied, and that leads me to you.

We’d love to know what you think to settle some of our friendly debates from tonight.  I think *some* of us might be off base.  Perhaps it’s me though.  I’ve never claimed to have my finger on the pulse of what’s socially acceptable or age-appropriate, but I also don’t think you shouldn’t do some things because someone thinks that you’re too old.  Sure, there are some things that we are too old for (that side ponytail that might have been hip in the 80s won’t exactly work on my nearly 40-year-old head), but there are some things that I think you should be able to do if you want to.  Feel free to add your own comment, or just take the survey (only three questions), or if you’re all about the food, then come back tomorrow, when the heaviest topic will be a new recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip, perfect timing to hit your Super Bowl Game Day table.

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