food

The Best Granola Bars Ever!

Last year we remodeled our kitchen, after 14 years of cupboards that didn’t close, a tile floor that could never be made to look clean, and a daily view of ceramic 3-D cherubs poised in flight on the backsplash.  I have nothing against cherubs in general, but cleaning the kitchen gunk out of every nook and cranny of their chubby little bodies got old after a while.  The remodel was a big job; it took a long time, but the […]

flowers

Creating your own Summer Bouquet

Here’s a quick how-to for arranging a bouquet of summer flowers.    I’ve chosen roses, stock (matthiola incana), viburnum, and lavender because they’re available at most flower shops and the roses and stock come in a variety of colors.   I’ve been doing a lot of relaxed, casual flowers this summer, and it seemed time to do something a little more a la White House. In the first photo, you’ll find what you need to get started: a vase, scissors, and floral […]

food

Organics

Today’s post relates to a serious subject: the level of pesticides present in the food we eat.  I was shocked to learn what the numbers on the stick-on labels of fresh fruit and vegetables actually mean.  I thought they were for scanning the price of the items, but that is only one purpose of the PLU, or price lookup number.  Here’s what else it means: -If there are four numbers in the PLU, the produce was grown with the use […]

food

Baked Oatmeal

The first day of school was a big day in our house.  For days before, we talked about what the girls would wear, what their teachers would be like, who might be in their class, and a million other vital details.  I always wanted to make a really good breakfast on the first day of school.  I thought we should begin as I hoped we’d go on.  Of course the big school breakfast didn’t happen every day, but this recipe […]