crunchy parenting

I loved mushrooms as a kid. My sister and I used to pretend that we were hobbits because we were mushroom-obsessed. Mushroom-flavored ramen? Check. Mushrooms for breakfast? Check. Mushroom curry? No potatoes, please; just mushrooms. Thanks. Sadly, my precious spawn have failed to inherit my mad love of these delightful bits of fungi, so I […]

Finding Joy in Imperfection See those hearts on the right? I made those. You know those school projects where the kids are supposed to bring in something innocuous, like say, valentines? And you realize with dismay that your five-year-old is more likely to cut off her pinky than cut a heart-shape a dozen times over? […]

“The secret of success is consistency of purpose.” — Benjamin Disraeli I’m aware that it sounds like inconsistent parenting is a kind of parenthood that you get to start and stop at will, and oh, how I wish that was the case. I would love nothing more than a pause button at four a.m. when […]

Ever wondered why cookbooks have so much text? Even the lovely glossy pages of your favorite food photography cookbook still typically have written directions. Why is that? Born from this question is a wonderful cookbook from Katie Shelly. “More of a designer at heart than an artist”, Shelly has created a entire cookbook that replaced […]

This is first in a new series called Knowledge Fridays. While this info might not be directly related to kids, parenting, or cooking, I think it’s interesting food-for-thought for the weekend. Of course, being married to a European, I’m curious to know how these numbers line up against the typical consumer in Scandinavia. Beyond that, […]

As soon as they were interested in rummaging through their clothes drawers, I’ve encouraged my kids to dress themselves. This is mostly because I’m lazy; why dress my kids when they’ll save me a few minutes doing it themselves, and have more fun in the process? The other reason is probably the better one: in […]

Sometimes, I love taking the long road when cooking. There’s something unmistakably comforting about homemade chicken soup, breads, pasta and pizza. And then, there’s the typical Monday night. I don’t feel like any kind of long-form cooking. It’s too early in the week to even think about ordering something for dinner. It’s the kind of […]

There are few things better than having a home cooked meal ready and waiting for you after a long day. Too bad we all can’t have a personal chef on staff. That’s the promise that a slow cooker is based on. It’s the promise of a perfectly cooked beef stew waiting and ready. A well-timed […]

I’ve never understood how you could have the best of 2014 when it’s still January. Or even February. Honestly, I jump around with apps a lot, but in this case, dear reader, it’s to your advantage. I’ve tried some great apps and some terrible apps and here are the stand-outs. First, a baseline of features […]

By far the best book on this phenomenon is The Panic Virus, by Seth Mnookin; I can highly recommend it. He tells of how when public-health officials try to work out which areas are at highest risk of fatal outbreaks, one thing they do is look at a map of Whole Food stores — it’s […]