So I love eggplant.  My husband hates it.  He does most of the cooking.  If I want eggplant, I need to cook it myself.  Over the past couple of years I have managed to find and make 3 eggplant dishes that I really like. 

Today while picking up my farm… Read full post »

This is a great recipe for dealing with a whole pile of veggies.  Make adjustments as needed to taste and availability.  Best made if most of the ingredients are fresh.

1 large eggplant - cubed

1 Xl onion, or two medium – red or yellow… Read full post »

I was staring at my 13 year old son next to me on the couch, thinking, “man his mustache is actually getting pretty dark. Maybe his father is going to have to teach him to shave soon.” Then I realized it was dried chocolate ice-cream! It was all over his… Read full post »

On Saturday the whole family went with me to see the final dress rehearsal for the Boston Children’s Theatre performance of Seussical Jr. at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Boston.  I designed the lighting and needed one more chance to tweak the lighting cues.  Having properly ra… Read full post »

I think Lost is a rousing good time.  Not rocket science, but good fun Sci-Fi. 

I am currently reading Lord of the Flies to my sons.  A bunch of boys crash land on a tropical island.  They are currently panicing about a mysterious monster that doesn't leave foot prints.  The… Read full post »

I gave the summer time gift collection described below to my son’s teachers at the end of the school year last June.  They are also great for camp counselors.  They were based around finding these really great insulated lunch bags on the sale table at a local high end gift… Read full post »

I must admit to having mixed feelings about writing this Hot Chocolate Mix post.  There are literally thousands of recipes for home made hot chocolate mixes on line.  There are standard plain ones, flavored mixes, mocha mixes, on and on.  But, if you stick to the plain cocoa mixes it c/… Read full post »

Chocolate Covered Oreos

I never get up any complaints when I give these out as presents and I feel free to give them to the same people multiple times.  They are from a class of homemade projects where you basically take a finished item, melt it, add stuff, mold it, and/… Read full post »

Chocolates

I wrote earlier that Glycerin Melt & Pour Soaps were my favorite project.  Chocolates are my favorite gift – to give as well as receive.  They are from a class of homemade projects where you basically take a finished item, melt it, add stuff, mold it, and i… Read full post »

This is my favorite homemade gift item.  It is from a class of homemade projects where you basically take a finished item, melt it, add stuff, mold it, and it becomes a present.  Chocolates and candles are two more examples.  It is creative and fun,… Read full post »

Thank you to those who braved your way through 4 other posts that don’t actually have any suggestions on what to give to get to this one.  I swear this post has concrete suggestions in it. 

Gift baskets can be a great choice for a group present.  Sometimes it can/… Read full post »

If you are just getting started with a decade (or two) of gift giving there are a number of items that are useful to have on hand.  Since you have kids I assume you have the basic craft supplies: crayons, colored pencils, markets, construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter.  The oth… Read full post »

Strangely enough, before even getting started on what gift to give, there is the question of who gets one.  Typically you start needing to give gifts as soon as your child enters the professional child rearing system.  This may mean care from nannies, day care centers, pre-school or the fir/… Read full post »

In the next few entries I hope to outline some lovely and reasonably priced gifts you can put together for your child’s teacher.  Some of them are crafty and your child can help out.  Some are not.  All are meant to be reasonably priced and fun.  An emphasis is put on/… Read full post »

I want to say right up front, that I respect teachers.  Teaching is hard.  Teachers are under paid and often under valued in our society and yet given huge responsibilities in our communities.  It is not enough to pass on facts, concepts, learning styles or even a basic love of knowled/… Read full post »

1999 was an intense year for my family and me.  I had already left my stagnating University job to pursue freelance work and was pregnant with a second child.  It was a good time in Massachusetts.  The real estate boom was just getting going.  Unemployment was around 3% (my husban/… Read full post »

In the distant past mornings used to be so simple.  Ah the rosy past.  Mornings in days-of-yore you rolled out of bed, put your shoes on, and started your day.  Hell if you go far enough back; you didn’t even roll out of bed, you picked yourself up off of the… Read full post »

Original post has been updated 12/25/09 

Every family needs a photographer, and in my family that was my father.  He loved taking pictures on his hiking trips through the Adirondack Mountains and where ever else he went.  Since he was family choronicaller, vacation and life even/… Read full post »

I want to thank the driver of the pick-up truck following me yesterday afternoon in Winchendon, New Hampshire. 

My husband, two sons and I were on our way to our extended holiday celebration at my mother's house.   Six years ago my mother announced she and my step-father were returnin… Read full post »

At amost eleven years old our eldest son is beginning the transition into his teen age years.  First there is Joshua's total lack of elocution. Receiving mumbled one word answers to direct questions has been part of our lives for some time now. Most of the time when Joshua asks us a qu… Read full post »

Please read Part 1 first - otherwise this won't make any sense!

In the long run the concert wasn't too bad. By that I mean that it wasn't too long. Aesthetically speaking it was every bit as g-d awful as we expected, but the performance ran only 45 minutes. So… Read full post »

Last night we went to my elder son Joshua' s fifth grade winter concert. We were there to watch Joshua play the flute in the band and sing in the chorus. I know that means that we are very fortunate. My son goes to a school where there is still a… Read full post »

It seems that every where in the media there are new scares about kids. They grow up too fast. They are sexually active too early. As a parent you are supposed to be freaked out about their weight all the time. If they are not anorexic then they are obese. Girls… Read full post »

Joshua my twelve year old son was emptying the dishwasher last night and asked the following question:

Josh:   Is it better to get one thing done all the way or two things done half way?
Jen:   Huh?
Hubbie:   It is better to go all the way through medical school than it… Read full post »