I made a promise to myself to keep it simple this holiday season. I honestly have had to keep saying this mantra quietly to myself for the past month. I, and all of us, have a tendency to think we can do it all. I've also been trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Being thankful and giving, spending quality time with our families and friends, giving to those in need, creating memories that put awe and a twinkle in our little one's eyes, making time to kiss under the mistletoe. For ...
Favorite Toddler TV Shows
Here's a list of our favorite toddler TV shows. If we're going to let our kids watch TV, we try to make it educational (obviously, there are some exceptions). We generally try to do as little TV as possible - an hour or two a few days a week. Also, we prefer to have a number of days throughout the week when they watch no TV - otherwise Ellington seems to crave it and ask for it all the time. BUT, when the TV is on for the Ellington, this is what he watches. Ellington is a little over 2 1/2 - I ...
Pistachio Cherry Granola Recipe
If you know me, you know I love making and gifting granola. It's such a special treat when it's made with good ingredients and love. I've heard from most people I give it to that they hide their granola (randomly, often in their nightstand) and don't share it with their family or friends. This granola also has the perfect balance of sweet and salty so it's hard to stop eating. I hope you enjoy this pistachio cherry granola recipe (and sometimes share with others!). I have given this out in ...
Whole Octopus Recipe
Whenever my cousin Anika comes into town, we primarily cook and drink wine together. Both of us love to cook and be in the kitchen together. Anika had the idea of making a whole octopus so we decided to do a bit spanish/mediterranean with the menu. We made Food 52's recipe for whole octopus. We went to Quality Seafood - an excellent fish market on the Redondo Pier in walking distance from our house. We bought one whole 2.5 lb octopus and 6 baby octopus. The octopus looks large, but it ...
Clean out the Fridge Soup
We returned home from the Bay Area for Thanksgiving and I definitely ate more than I planned on eating. I generally stuck to my food restrictions given to me by my GI (no acidic foods; small portions), but the choices were not spectacular. We had also been gone a week so I needed to clean out the fridge. Enter clean out the fridge soup – a very forgiving recipe (if you can even call it that). The key is using fresh herbs (if you have them, not fatal if you don’t) and not overcooking it. I know I ...
Wild Salmon Cake Recipe on a Grateful Thanksgiving Day
The Sarnor family is a blended family. Lateef was married before and he and Sophia had Evan. One of the things I am most thankful for is that our blended family functions so smoothly. This recipe for wild salmon cakes is a recipe Sophia shared with us and it is now in my holiday brunch rotation. One caveat, this recipe does take a bit of time so I would not personally make it if I were also hosting on the same holiday, but this is perfect if you are just bringing a dish or two to someone else's ...