classiccook's Profile

I am a poke and let the oil run in before stirring type but I think about this every now and then...

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Natural_Goods___Hand_Cranked_Items___Natural_Peanut_Butter_Mixer___54322#54322

Spanikopita! It can be frozen, and can be eaten with one hand in small squares (or made into triangles).

No one brought us food, but before our son was born I filled the freezer with food. I was nursing and definitely over-relied on granola bars; next time I will definitely make some snack things, too, like muffins.

I think the breakfast ideas on here are great, too.

I bought the non-travel version of this and returned two to the store because it would not charge right. After talking to other parents I found out that this version was a battery hog so we went with the IKEA version and my two year old LOVES IT. When I was at IKEA three moms standing nearby practically jumped at me to tell me to buy it. I highly recommend it.

My son was born in November. He lived in footed pj's (both the heavy fleece kind and the lightweight cotton kind) and nightgowns (the kind that cinch on the bottom). We also had side snap and some tie t-shirts to layer under them, I did not like the pullover kind. We never had a snowsuit thing and I never would have used one. We just layered, layered, layered.

We used babylegs quite a bit, especially as it got warmer. We did have a couple cute outfits, little pants and shirts, and shirts and overalls, and he wore those for holidays or special outings. Otherwise, it was pj's pj's pj's.

Or the country...Our son is 1 1/2 and next year we are planning to move to the country from the city. I am looking for faculty positions at colleges in small towns but we will actually live outside of town. College towns generally have something going on in the way of arts, food, etc and we won't stray more than a couple hours from a larger city.

DH and I are not fans of the burbs.

In our dining room. We did not use a stroller until LO was almost 6 months old, but I am so glad I have one now. We walk everywhere so it is much easier to throw groceries in the basket than to carry him and carry groceries, or to chase after him (he walks/runs now). It isn't in an ideal place, but we are in a condo with no outdoor space so it is our only option.

Yeah, it looks great and I can't stand granite countertops (and I want to poke my eye when I hear someone on one of those home shows say, "we need granite countertops and stainless steel appliances). But I can't imagine actually replacing granite if its in good shape I think I would just live with it unless it was definitely being reused somewhere. But it is a really, really nice kitchen.

Asafoetida doesn't remind me of garlic and onions at all, it smells more acidic to me (if that makes sense?). I have a small amount that an Indian friend gave me from a larger jar. I only use a pinch of it in Indian cooking.

I just cleaned out my spice drawer and found I have nearly all the spices and herbs listed, plus some. I rely most heavily on dill, cinnamon, and cumin but use the others with some regularity. Also in my spice drawer is dried lemon and orange peel--not ideal, but good in a pinch.

carriejeaux--great point about the lowercase letters, I've never thought of that. I will definitely think about that when looking for something for my 14 month old.

A sort of funny Montessori letter story...I used to be a live in nanny for a family with 4 children, one of whom was in a Montessori school. Her mom (my boss) decided to replicate the sandpaper letters for her at home. She spent weeks spreading glue on cards and sprinkling them with sand and the sand was always getting on everything. She was very proud of them. You should have seen her face when I quietly asked--it was a real question, not a criticism--why she didn't just cut up sandpaper and glue it to the cards?

Great ideas. I have a pile of towels and a set of sheets that are too worn out for normal use and we are up to our necks in rags made from old textiles (we can only store so many in our small condo and I bet we have 10 years worth). Anyway, someone suggested donating the towels to a local garage or other business where they can use them as rags.