Youth sports and the dinnertime conundrum

Soccer practice is back this week, which means we won’t be home at a reasonable hour a few nights a week for the next few months. I’m going to try not to hit the drive-thru every practice night, but history tells us there’s a high chance of cheeseburgers on a regular basis. Here’s what we’ll be having this week: Monday: Grilled Something Sandwiches...

Feb 2018

In which Nichole learns about Martin Van Buren, idioms and party politics

Let’s talk for a bit about the eighth president of these United States of America. I don’t recall learning much of anything about Van Buren in school. Other than a goofy turn on Seinfeld and an Ezra Pound canto, we don’t see a whole lot of him in pop culture, either. So I was surprised to read that he actually had a huge influence on our current political...

Feb 2018

A simple weekend, a super soup

Yesterday I made Thai Potsticker Soup for the Souper Bowl Sunday youth group fundraiser lunch at church. The recipe is from CookingWithTraderJoes.com. It’s almost embarrassingly simple, but it’s warm, just a bit spicy and totally delicious. There weren’t leftovers after lunch. The original recipe says you can add red bell pepper, carrots or other veggies...

Feb 2018

The cookbooks are out of their boxes

We’ve spent the last couple of months packing, and then we were moving, and now we are unpacking. It still feels a little surreal to be in a different house and especially strange to be in a different part of town. We’d been in the same general area since we moved here a decade ago, and the view from the other side of town is very different. We’re getting...

Feb 2018

In which we serve up a change of venue

We’re moving across town, and knives and dishes and Crockpot and stock pots and everything else in the kitchen is packed and ready to go. So our “menu plan” is a little bit less organized and a lot less nutritious than usual. Wish me luck, and I’ll see you on the other side of this mountain of boxes. Monday: Turkey sandwiches Some with mayo, some...

Feb 2018

Today’s a Monday masquerading as a Tuesday so here’s a menu plan

There was a time when I would have scoffed at the idea of making a Chrissy Teigen recipe pulled from a Kardashian website. But that time was last year, and this year I’m absolutely making Chrissy’s lettuce wraps because they sound delicious. Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs These were delicious and I might make it our traditional New Year’s Day dish....

Feb 2018

So this is the New Year.

It’s the return of the All & Sundry survey! I’m not sure if it’s still a going concern over there, but we’re going to do it again here regardless. (Here are 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2016 editions.) What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before? I participated in my first protest march, I started calling my elected representatives...

Feb 2018

What Nichole read in 2017

I’d set a goal of reading 45 books this year, and I only made it to 34. I was determined to finish “John Quincy Adams” this year, and I did it. But it was a slog and I had to stop reading other things to do it. I’m going to aim for 40 in 2018. I didn’t know much about Trevor Noah other than that he’d taken over at “The Daily Show,” so I wasn’t really...

Feb 2018

I still don’t get Bergman films

I didn’t exactly shine as a student in high school. I was pretty average, and my general policy was to put in the least amount of effort that would get me a B or better. So I’m not sure how I tumbled into being friends with the Straight-A Smart Kids crowd, but tumble I did and that’s how I first heard Paul Simon’s “Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their...

Feb 2018

What we’re eating as the snow melts

I am always pleased to have a Saturday totally free of obligations on the schedule, so I was already looking forward to last weekend. And then the weather folk said “You’re going to get a light dusting of snow!” and I was pleased because I like a light dusting of snow.” Then they said “You’re going to get 2-4 inches of snow!” and I was OK with that...

Feb 2018