The other night while channel surfing we landed on The Grammy Awards.  During Chris Brown’s “comeback” performance. Ugh. I don’t follow much celebrity gossip, but I know enough to know that he was arrested for beating up his girlfriend.  I saw the terrible pictures of her abused face, and like most people I was deeply […]

Happy Valentine’s Day! To start this lovely day off right, I made a batch of homemade pancakes.  To the batter I added mashed fresh raspberries and red-&-pink M&Ms, and I topped them off with homemade yogurt and pure maple syrup. Making pancakes from scratch doesn’t take much more time than a box mix, and homemade […]

When I was 8 years old my mom’s brother married a woman from Bangladesh.  Feryall was outgoing and chatty and so friendly – she dove right in to our big family and fit in seamlessly.  Growing up, I remember that she never spoke down to the kids in the family – she made a real […]

I’ve been interested in making homemade bread for a while now.  I’ve tinkered with different recipes and tried my hand at new techniques, but my results are inconsistent and sometimes disappointing.  Earlier this month I was thrilled to try out the Average Joe Bread Kit, which  requires no kneading and surprisingly minimal effort.  The delicious […]

Baking is always a bit challenging for me.  It is such an exact science, and if one measurement is even a little bit off the whole recipe can flop.  This seems to be especially true with homemade bread.  So, when I read about Average Joe Bread Kit in my college alumni magazine I was immediately […]

All of a sudden, it seems like my third pregnancy is coming to a too-fast end.  The July morning we found out about Bundle #3 feels like a long 7 months ago, but now that I’m in the home stretch I’m starting to panic a little bit.  So much to do! So much will change! […]

Today in protest of his regular afternoon nap Mack decided to tear apart one of his absolute favorite books.  After listening to him chat and whine and sing and yell for nearly an hour, I went up to his room and saw the destruction.  Shreds of paper littered the floor, and little Mack couldn’t have […]

I really love the farmers co-op we belong to.  Every two weeks our friendly farmers bring fresh and wholesome food from their Michigan farm to Chicago, and my family and I are healthier and happier because of it. I almost always order delicious eggs with marigold yolks, juicy whole chickens that roast up perfectly, earthy […]

After a surprisingly expensive fall and the flurry of the holidays and a much-needed vacation at the end 2011, we are reigning in the spending to start this year.  Ever since my husband left the corporate world to start his own businesses I’ve become a pro at creatively living the frugal life, and I’m always […]

I don’t watch a lot of movies.  My husband could watch one every night of the week, but we only have one TV so we have to compromise on just about everything we watch.  When I do watch a movie I usually like something light-hearted that won’t stress me out or scare me.  And, sometimes […]