giving thanks

misc

Just wrote a little dissertation for the Krrb blog about how to write a thank you note. FIgured it’s actually useful information, so I’m linking it to it here.

For all of those in doubt about how/when/why to send a written thank you, your days of uncertainty are over.

Oh and this is well timed, because the annual Brooke Williams holiday gift guide starts tomorrow and will continue most days between now and when it’s pretty much too late to get a gift under a tree/menorah/etc…

Keep checking back, because “Tis the season” is now…

Mushroom bread

food - kids

On a recent trip to Portland, OR, my aunt treated us with this amazing bread recipe. Called mushroom bread, it’s basically a delicious loaf of bread that is cooked in a one pound coffee can and emerges looking like a mushroom.

The recipe, evidently, comes via my Aunt’s mother, who had a subscription to Sunset Magazine over 40 years ago, and deemed this one worth saving. It’s really easy… after you mix the dough, you stick it in a coffee can, wait for it to rise (and pop the top off!), and then bake.

And let me just say for the record, that I am very glad my aunt has kept so many of her old recipes, because this one rocks.

Click below for details…

Here’s how you will make this bread. Which you will. It’salso fun for kids to watch the dough rise inside the unorthodox pan…

Mushroom Bread – from AJ’s 44 year old recipe file

1 pkg. Yeast
1/2 Cup warm water
1/8 tsp powdered ginger
3 TB sugar, divided

1 tsp salt
1- 12oz can Evaporated Milk
3 TB oil
4 to 4 1/2 Cups flour

Two – 1 pound coffee cans with plastic lids. Butter insides of cans and lids.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl, then stir in ginger and 1 TB sugar and let stand in warm place until foamy on top (about 15 min.). Stir in remaining sugar, salt, milk and oil. Then gradually add flour with a wooden spoon. Blend well. Dough will be heavy and sticky. Divide in half between the two coffee cans. Put on lids. Let stand in warm place and let dough rise until lids pop off (about 1 hour or more).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cans on lower shelf and bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Remove from oven and brush “mushroom” tops with butter. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, then take knife and run around edge of cans to remove bread. Or just try to tap and shake bread out.

Cool on rack if you can stand to wait! Makes excellent toast.

hello jack

misc

I just wanted to give a little shout out to our 2011 jack o’lantern.

Child designed.

Father produced.

Truly a lovely collaborative effort. I am going to miss him…

Though he did begin to decompose and leaked a horrible mess of liquid before I realized that it was time to throw him in the compost pile.

Live and learn.

bedtime stories

misc

My three and a half year old is a precocious devourer of stories and will listen as happily to The Cat In The Hat as she will to The Lord Of The Rings (which can get a bit exhausting to read aloud, night after night– especially as the chapters are quite long.)

So to satisfy her love of complex plot lines and superheroic magical characters who fly, shoot arrows and throw thundrbolts, etc, we picked up a copy of the 1967 classic volume chronicling the exploits of the Norse gods and goddesses (and giants and trolls and other creatures) by the D’Aulaire family.

Click below for more:

The stories in D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths are told in a straightforward but by no means condescending manner (ah, the 60′s when it was cool to smite your enemy with a giant hammer) and the illustrations are themselves works of genius, striking a perfect balance between beautiful and strange. Which is probably what these creatures would have actually been like, had they ever really roamed the earth.

My kid can now casually discuss the difference between a jotun and the aesir and makes reference to Thor whenever thunder strikes. And I get to brush up on a bunch of old stories that I actually never really knew, so I don’t get bored reading them over and over (which is worth more than I can even relate in words.) They also have a book of Greek myths that is equally compelling.

Back in print after 20 years, you can probably pick up a copy just about anywhere, though I always check Alibris for used copies in good condition as the price is always right and secondhand is the way I like to go.

keeping it smooth

misc

I’ve decided that this fall is going to be all about keeping it simple. Paring down. (Or at least making room for more appropriate stuff…) I’m feeling all of my belongings bearing down on me like some kind of swiftly rising tide, and who knows what’ll become of me if I don’t do something about it– and fast.

So I’m gonna start posting more stuff on Krrb in the hopes that people want it.

And I’m also going to clear my head out a little bit by posting more here, whilst ceasing to worry too much about being profound. Although maybe I should take that back, because the topic of this post, a lotion horribly named Vanicream, is pretty damned amazing.

click below for details…

My skin is really dry. My husband’s skin is really dry. And, as the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so is our kid’s. I bought all kinds of baby lotions, but they were all too light. And then I was tipped off to this stuff. Dermotologists are into it. It’s not organic (egads!) but it is free of any scents and extra chemical irritants, so it’s great for sensitive skin. And it is  the one thing that stopped everybody’s skin from flaking in the cold winter months. (well, Red Flower has some good body creams too, but I’m feeling a bit frugal these days)

Anyway, they sell it at the more elaborate drug stores and the usual amazon-like web venues. Or check out their site for more info. If you are in need of a hearty lotion, I cannot reccomend this stuff enough.

15 minutes of fame

misc

A few months ago, somewhat randomly, I got an e mail from Sarah Engler, an editor whom I’d worked with at Cookie Magazine (may it rest in peace) who is now happily ensconsed at Martha Stewart Whole Living (formerly known as Body and Soul magazine.) She wanted to know if I’d be into giving some style tips to their readers  for their September issue.

Seemed easy enough. I get to sing the praises of wearing vintage, give some shout outs to some favorite designers, plus I figured it’d be good karma, as I spend a lot of time on the other sdide of the coin as a Krrb editor trying to get people to do similar things.

In reality, these things take forever, and to actually answer the questions in a halfway decent manner took me AGES. I am now officially way more impressed and grateful when anybody ever agrees to be interviewed by me– especially if that means answering questions via email.

The piece was published a few weeks ago, and I must say it is a testament to the good people of MSWL (as it’s affectionately known) how spot on it is. And when I spent time actually reading the magaizne (which, to be honest, I hadn’t really done in years) I found recipes I wanted to try, books I wanted to read and all sorts of stuff I wanted to buy (hmmm… maybe that last one’s not such a good thing…)

So, as we get ready to begin another school year (and are hopefully finished with hurricane related power outages and the like) I would like to take this time out to publically thank all of the people at Whole Living for doing such a thoughtful job, from the wardrobe to the photos (by the talented Johnny Miller) to the text itself. It really is a nice portrait that’ll be fun to look back on in the distant future when I have more time to sit and casually read again.

Sigh. If that day ever comes…

a perfect sumer dress

misc

For your kid, that is.

While trolling through the listings on Krrb, I happened upon this super cute dress by a company called Rasany which, were I in the vicinity of the Dekalb Market in Brooklyn, I would just go pick up right now. So I figured I’d share it with you all here, and then maybe somebody I know’s little girl can be flouncing around in this little number before the summer’s out.

For me, it’s the perfect dress: not too frilly, not pink, a print that’s sophisticated without being obnoxious… and yet it can be described as a princess dress, which is, right about now, all a certain someone is interested in wearing…

And look! They make quilts and other stuff too. Like these kaftans that I can buy and parade around in, pretending to be a 70′s movie star hanging out by the pool.

Which sounds like a pretty nice life, right about now…

better than barney

kids - music

This has been the summer of downsizing, or at least, of trying to get rid of clutter. And yet, while we were donating (or trying to donate– a lot of our stuff wasn’t quite up to snuff) to a favorite local thrift shop, the last thing I expected was to leave the place with new treasures in hand.

But when my husband found this 1960 NY Philharmonic recording of Peter and the Wolf, with Leonard Bernstein narrating and conducting, we couldn’t resist and found ourselves listening, rapt, along with our three year old, while Peter and the bird captured the wolf that ate the hapless duck.

It’s a wonderful story in any form, but seriously, can you imagine anyone better to narrate the story than the most brilliant conductor ever? Plus he’s a great storyteller, and doesn’t talk down to his young listeners at all (something that drives me crazy with so many readings of kids books these days.) And he always leads his orchestras to play with such emotion that the entire story is palpable, from the sun shining down on the meadow to the grandfather’s anger at Peter’s waywardness.

So if you don’t already have it, please make this a part of your arsenal of things to do with your kids. If for no other reason than this– how much would you rather have this music running through your head all day than the theme from Blue’s Clues?

Come on, be honest.

zero swimming

style

A long long time ago, when desperate for something to use as a bathing suit bottom, I bought some black girdle underpants at Woolworth’s. Yep, Woolworth’s. Thus marked the beginning of my mix and match bikini wearing and it’s been going strong ever since.

Best part about it is, I get to pick and choose what tops and bottoms fit (and look) the best, while also being pretty damned sure that no one else on the beach is going to stroll by in the same exact suit. Which is more important to me than I care to admit.

I’ve had these beautiful bottoms from Araks for several years now, and loved them dearly, but it is only in the past week that I have found them a suitable mate.

Enter Maria Cornejo– artist, designer, genius– and her new line of swimwear. I found the perfect perfect top. Beautiful color and cut, and it actually stays on in the ocean (nothing worse than diving into the surf fully clothed and then coming up empty, so to speak.)

There are equally amazing one piece suits as well… it’s very much worth a trip to the shop if you are in NYC (or LA), as many of the styles aren’t available online. Maybe you already have the perfect suit. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate checking this out. Cause there’s nothing like a good bathing suit to make you feel like a grownup, in the best of ways.