ek76's Profile

Oh, to have a coat closet!

Certainly! Although I'm not sure why anyone would try to train themselves to like mayo. I'm glad I don't like mayo! I've learned to like watermellon, cantelope, beets, and alcohol. To those who say beans, I asked for help on thekitchn to learn to like those and got lots of great suggestions. But, for me, it was a preparation thing- I still can't do canned beans.

BTW, although I did not actively try to make myslef un-like certain foods, there are some childhood favorites that I no longer enjoy, like chicken nuggests, strawberry quick, Wonder bread, and Froot Loops. Tastes evolve.

I am past reading up on the research on breast feeding- I advise mothers to follow their doctor's advice if they can. I will say that my two formula-fed kids are not sickly, do not get ear infections, are not overweight, and are not stupid. Oh, and my children and I are very well bonded. My only regret in feeding my kids formula is that I did not start it with my oldest earlier. I wasted so much time despearately trying to breastfeed my older child, and beating myslef up for my failure, when I should have been enjoying my beautiful baby. So, the first bit of wisdom I wish to impart is enjoy being a mom. It is glorious thing to have this new little creature in your life- don't waste time worrying about your perceived imperfections.

My second bit of wisdom is give your kid a second to figure things out. Bringing Up Bebe has gotten a lot of kudos in this post. That book made me realize that my sleep-training technique was apparently French. I also advise new parents not to go running into the baby's room right away when they cry at night- give them a minute to try to sort it out. This is not to say allow an infant to "cry it out," just wait a minute. And when they get older and fall down, give them a couple seconds to figure out if they are really hurt, rather than swooping in. Kids are really resilient, and they are almost always ok if no one makes a dramatic fuss.

This sounds fabulous. Sara, when you return, please do a post about how to choose international cooking schools!

I agree that the first thing you need is a chef's knife. There have been several posts on which ones to get on theKitchn. I would also get a Dutch oven, a big pot where you can boil water, and a non-stick lidded pan (as big as you can get). As for cookbooks, I think Martha's Stewart's Everyday Food cookbooks are really easy. Finally, and I might get yelled at for this, I suggest watching a few episodes of Rachel Ray on Food Network. She's very easy to follow and her recipes are simple but tasty. I think soups, stews, and something like tomato sauce is very forgiving.
Remember, unlike baking, you can adjust as you go along with cooking. If something tastes bland, you can add a little salt, hot sauce, or vinegar. If you only add a little at a time, you won't over season. The only thing you can do to really screw it up is undercooking meat (which may result in illness) or burning things. If you focus on what you are doing, you'll be fine.

Our kids are told time and time again that we can only draw on paper (and occasionally they may be allowed to draw on other materials- only with explicit permission). We also tell them they can put stickers on paper or themsleves. Guess what? On occassion, I've had to remove pencil and crayon from the walls and stickers from the hardwood floors. When this happens, I make them help me clean it and reiterate our "we draw on paper" mantra, but I know it will happen again. Sometimes kids make bad choices. And, having a 3 and 6 year old, I learned not to say (or think) "my kid would never do that" a long time ago. Oh, and if you have kids, invest in a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

They might be the coolest named couple I have ever heard of. Nice pad too.

Thanks for the blueberry story, Heather! I confess that I always thought the blueberry haze was a preservative (man-made, that is) like wax on apples. And I'm a pretty educated consumer, especially about food. I don't consumers are being stubborn about this- farmers need to do a better job in spreading the word.

So great! Ashni had a terrific idea- what a cool kid. And it helps that we are huge Janelle Monae fans at our house (you should see my 5 and 3 year olds dance like her!)

Buy it. We did exactly that. Everything we read and were told by our inspector made us comfortable- the siding was in good shape and we were not going to be breaking it up and breathing it. As others have said, asbestos actually has some benefits in that it is very fire-resistant and holds paint very well. By the way, you can always ask, but if I were selling my house I would not reduce the price by $5K to remove the siding since I think it's fine. If your neighborhood is really great, I would not expect the sellers to do so either. In contrast, we did the sellers of our house to reduce the price slightly to remove crumbling asbestos tiles in the basement.
The one issue is if you do an addition, your contractor will have to do a little extra work (and charge a little more) when dealing with your siding. But, we recently did that and had no trouble finding matching non-asbestos siding for our addition.
Buy the house and enjoy your wonderful neighborhood!