Brooke

ho ho ho

a sevenau christmas 2011 review.

 

preschool singing pageant

third grade assembly

advent envelopes

frosty the snowman pizzas for dinner:

satchel's pizza

temple's pizza

present for teacher

christmas cookies

christmas packages.  inspired by scottish glam and gwen stefani's new girls line for target.  tartan plaid with glitz & fur!

warm bath, christmas jammies & movie night!

lego christmas.  lego crazy!!!!

dolly christmas

finishing off the gingerbread house on christmas morning (in handmade christmas jammies from busha!)

the only 2 pictures of me from christmas...one blurry. one bad shot.

a few other shots i love...

nanny

my sister, camille with my dad in the background.

uncle shotty telling satch about his cool christmas gift - turning satchel's artwork into his own sneakers

wrapping for satchel's 'robot kit' from busha. everything needed to make robots from salvage including pliers, glue gun and decorative supplies

my mother in law, catherine

temple with christmas lipstick and sparkly bow

i think that face pretty much sums it up.

 

we love the grinch

we went into the city today to see how the grinch stole christmas - a musical.  matt, the kids, me and my father in law, bob - up early on this sunny, warm, amazing december morning. the day was a christmas gift from bob for us and the kids.  a long day of theater, union square, people watching, and all-around holiday fun...finished off with a fabulous meal at house of prime rib on van ness.  another s.f. classic.

god, do i love dr seuss! and this fabulous '70s christmastime special was turned into an even more fabulous live musical at the decrepit but still lovely golden gate theater in san francisco.

the costumes, the art deco decor, the actors - especially cindy lou who and the GRINCH himself; he was hilarious - the fun and happy crowd, the funky, gritty, gloriously sunny walk from parking lot to stage..all of it a perfect san francisco day. 

tomorrow is christmas eve and it's been a very busy week, so i'll wrap this up with a quick photo post from the day.

after the grinch matinee, we grabbed a few slices from blondie's pizza on powell street. here is satch, eating a slice of cheese under an album cover from satchmo the great.

shades of greatness.

pizza eaters

then we strolled through the tenderloin and around union square: department store windows, ice skaters, ghetto corners, glide memorial church, street performers, chess players.  the usual suspects on a city afternoon.

on one block, i found storefront after storefront of symmetrical window displays.

cupcakes:

glasses:

hats:

chess:

and then we walked in the afternoon sun while i snapped a few street candids.

temple:

satchel:

matt:

 

a great day. big hugs. now getting ready for christmas...

recipe of the week

butternut squash lasagna.

this lasagna has zero tomato or meat factor.  it is a slightly sweet, rich, buttery version of the favorite layered noodle casserole classic. i love it for how different it is from what one expects when they hear the word lasagna.  i also love how simple it is to make and how humbly elegant it looks in the pan.  slightly collapsed, with carmelized edges and a toasted, cheesey top.

(and for the record:  i stole this recipe from giada de laurentiis. you can find the link to her food network recipe here.)

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growing up in the 70's, lasagna was a staple at any potluck, dropped on porches after a birth or death, a leftover tray often in the refrigerator for a quick meal, and even one in the freezer for emergencies.  the version i was accustomed to was a variation with spinach and walnuts, sometimes tofu.  always ricotta.  and tomoto sauce with tons of garlic.

when it was time to decide what to bring to a 'spanish solstice hannukah' party last night, i decided to bring the traditional enough lasagna with a modern twist. 

here is a pictoral view of the recipe, which took about 45 minutes to prepare and another 45 or so to bake. my variations and notes are in italics.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 amaretti cookies, crumbled
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• Pinch nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

i started with peeled, seeded & cubed squash from whole foods to save time.

i decided to toast the squash a bit first for a deeper, brown flavor in the puree by using high heat til the sides turned brown before adding the water to simmer.

Pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

i suggest an extra amaretti cookie or two plus a heavy pinch of salt.

Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute.

Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes.

it took longer than 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken...and i wondered if it ever would get thick enough. trust.  do not get antsy and add more flour.  it WILL thicken to the perfect consistency.

Whisk in the nutmeg.

you can certainly use ground nutmeg, but i love to use a microplane and shave the nutmeg myself.  it smells so yummy!  just watch out for your holiday manicure.

Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth.

Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles.

the squash puree is a little hard to spread once you have the basil bechamel sauce in the pan.  i resorted to plopping heaping spoonsful and hoping that it would spread evenly while cooking.  it worked out just fine.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

sadly i don't have a final photo of the lasagna when cooked.  since i brought it uncooked to our holiday party, i forgot to take a snap of the final product.  however, i'm making this again on christmas eve so i'll make it up to you.

 

week in review

just a few notes from our week.

 

mornings and something like organization.

we like to sleep late - as late as possible - on school mornings.  so rather than force myself out of bed earlier than i like, i do my prep the night before.  planning breakfast, laying out clothes, pre-packing as much of lunch as possible, setting the thermoses out by the tea kettle to be filled with hot water in anticipation of hot lunch filling them. 

after dinner the kids join me in their room, opening dresser drawers and picking their outfits for the next day.

it occurred to me that these tiny, mundane chores are actually the real moments of our life.  not posed family portraits or staged smiles in front of a camera, but worthy of capture nonetheless.  so i started snapping a shot of the kids clothes, laying side by side, ready for the morning. here are a couple days from last week:

and here is temple wearing outfit #2 (note two different colored socks...her choice.  with metallic gold sneakers. she is also wearing - not one - but three tiny topknots in her hair.  again, her request.)

 

an artist 'au naturel'

the other day satchel said he felt like drawing a naked lady and asked me if that was wierd.  for a moment i considered whether he was being silly, doing 8 1/2 year old boy things.  but i decided to let it play out.  to see what he would do.  so i told him that people have been drawing the nude body for ages and that is isn't silly.  it is art.  that he should go ahead and explore his vision.

this is what he came up with:

nude 1.

breastfeeding mother.

(i am particularly smitten the baby's tiny butt crack!)

the next day, he wanted to try again. 

nude 2.

woman lounging on bed with ceiling fan.

and here he is photographing his work on my iphone

 

fashion & beauty

about a year and a half ago, i became smitten with oribe products and they have become my mainstay - shoving bumble out of the way.  recently, i have added a new beauty product to my hair regime.  this one comes from the luxe euro line, davines, from italy.  while my hair needs moisture, it also needs volume & bounce.  i have found the perfect conditioner!  it smells divine, it gives bouncy moisture & shine...and it is the most gorgeous shade of pink.  i love looking at it in the shower every morning.

for my birthday last month, matt took me shopping and i bought this slinky, crepe blazer with 3/4 length sleeves and a satin lapel. i wore it this week over a cheap trick tee and my most favorite jeans by mother denim. since we don't have a full length mirror at home, i decided to take snap of the blazer after i snuck into the men's room to pee (thus the urinal in the background.)

 

24 hour flu.

it's been going around.  some crazy, wild, quick & dirty stomach bug that's taken down a bunch of people i know.  poor little temple.  she got it.  and i don't know what it is about my kids, but they get so stoic and sweet and brave when they are sick.  matted hair, sweaty jammies, barf and all the rest, she was just irresistable.  and i'm happy to say it really did last only overnight.

i wish i had taken a picture of her, holding onto her barf bowl for dear life.  while she only puked a few times in 24 hours, she carried the bowl around - everywhere - for 48.

 

basketball has taken over our lives.  uh, i mean, basketball season is here.

matt was a great basketball player and so was his brother, jon.  with the height and the athletic ability from both sides, it was only a matter of time before my son became a jock..and my life would be spent feeding temple first and keeping dinner warm for matt & satch.  that weekends would be devoted to sitting in bleechers and cheering. only a matter of time before i'd cry happy tears because my son scored his first 2-point basket and i would watch proudly while my husband (who is coaching) gave sound advice and steady encouragement to the kids on his team.

here is satch at his basketball game this morning:

and temple munching on an apple while we watched the game:

 

poet (and a babyhog) in our midst

dear satchel,

you are the most perfect love letter of an 8 year old boy.  in spite of being almost 9 and all the moodiness that creeps in at times, you are a pure shining soul of love.  through & through.

i've never seen a boy your age that is more of a baby hog than you.  you pick them up with confidence and you manhandle them.  making them gurgle, coo and laugh.  esepecially your littlest cousins who you saw this week.  little dude hugs for jake who is 2, and lots of jiggling and walking and airplane rides for baby giles. 

 

 

this week you came home from school with your first poem.  your teacher taught you how to rhyme and gave you the assignment of writing a poem about the season.  this is yours (typos and all):

 

thankfulness

i am thankfulness for the things my hands can hold.

pumpkins, oranges and leaves so gold.

i am thankful for the things my ears can hear.

a song nice, far and near.

i am thankful for the thing my eyes can see.

in the forst nice and free.

 

 

dear satchel, i am thankfulness for you.

before its too late...advent ideas

i know i already posted this morning, but it occurred to me that i should refresh this post with ideas for celebrating advent before it is too far into the season to be worthwhile. 

this hodgepodge of ideas is a blend of my catholic roots, my mom's waldorf influence, a love for ritual & all things beautiful, and my own curiosity that leads me to seek out the commonalities in spiritual traditions to find the essential seed of truth and source, creating some blend of it all for my own family holidays. 

beyond this, it is a really fun way to get creative with your kids through the holiday season.  making your own advent calendar is a blast!  a little labor intensive on the front end, but you get SO much out of the season by pacing yourself and planning a special activity each day.

i'm also sending you to these christmas photos and to these where you can see the results of some of the projects i mention in my advent list...ice suncatchers and paper chains and snowflakes on the windows and even advent envelopes on the fireplace mantle in the background.

a version of this blog post went into the northshore news in vancouver that christmas and it has been published twice in school newsletters with people coming back to ask me for more ideas.  considering the overwhelming interest in the advent idea, i thought some of you might like a little seasonal inspiration.

please send me your advent ideas too...i'm always looking for new additions to our routine :)

hit parade - trader joes

some of my most popular posts have been my 'hit parades'...lists of favorite things.  i haven't done it in a long, long while but this idea has been coming back to me lately and is something i want to resurrect.  since i happened to be in napa today and stopped by trader joes to pick up a few things, i figured i'd start there. 

not to mention that i have a serious history with trader joes.  i first started shopping there in the early 90's when i went to ucla and lived in santa monica. back then it was a funky warehouse-y place.  it was a very la thing to do - go shopping at tj's.  plus it was the first time i had my own apartment and needed to grocery shop on the cheap. 

then, when we lived in vancouver from 2008-2010, i religiously drove across the us/canadian border to avail myself of americanisms i missed in canada.  so i owe a gratitude debt to trusty t.j.'s for being my consumeristic ally for those 2 important years of my life. 

so, in honor of my 20 year relationship with trader joes, here is my tj's hit parade:

1. flowers.  always affordable, always fresh and long-living.  the tiny tin cans of baby roses especially.  (great teacher gifts.) and at this time of year, the poinsettias - a real bargain and they come in all colors from red to salmon-pink to white.  under $5.

2. spinach & sour cream dip.  yum.  only a 5 day window to consume so browse through stock for the most forward date you can find.

3. chicken sausage ravioli.  fresh egg pasta with delicious chicken sausage filling.  steam some broccoli and you have a perfect dinner.  no sauce needed - just a shave of parmesan.

4.  apple-carrot sauce squeezers.  tj's has this awesome array of applesauce in squeezable foil pouches.  apple w/carrot is temple's favorite.  a special treat that is actually "growing food."

5. organic 'lite' string cheese sticks.  the best string cheese texture and flavor i've ever found.  a must for lunch boxes.

6. mirepoix.  have little time for pasta sauce or pot roast or soup?  buy tj's chopped onion, carrot & celery mix.  you have a perfect base.

7.  freeze dried fruit.  love the strawberries & bananas.  blueberries are ho-hum.

8.  lemon pepper pappadrelle.  big fat egg noodles with citrus zest and black pepper.  in their dried pasta section.  just boil and cover with olive oil and shaved reggiano.  it's so yummy!

9.  chicken taquitos.  in the frozen section.  big, fat, hand-rolled corn tortillas filled with shredded chicken breast.  my mom turned me onto these.  we bake them in the oven and serve with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

10.  free kid treats.  just let your kids hunt that store's mascot and you'll keep them entertained the entire shopping trip - either looking for or licking the lolly they get for finding the hidden icon.

11.  'oriental rice crackers' we love this asian rice cracker mix...seaweed and all.

12.  sunflower butter.  a true 'nut free' alternative, it makes a great pbj and is safe to send to any school.  plus super creamy and delicious.  you can use it in place of pb for any recipe - even west african peanut butter stew.

13.  chili lime pistachios.  a thai-inspired treat.  really spicy and kafir lime infused.  a gourmands nut mix.

14.  arancini.  i love italian risotto cheese balls. who doesn't?  tj's makes a frozen version you can pop in the oven for a perfect appetizer or even sunday brunch for kiddos. 

15.  diced pancetta.  after waiting in line at my local gourmet grocer while they slice pancetta to my specifications so that i can go home and dice it into the perfect size, i found that tj's has them all prepared just how i like them...tiny 1/4" cubes.  perfect for this recipe:  fettucine with butternut squash, pancetta and broccoli rabe.

16.  peanut butter filled pretzels.  need i say more?

17.  triple ginger snaps.  fresh, crystallized and powdered ginger in the tiniest, butteriest, little ginger bites.

18.  mini peanut butter filled chocolate cups.  really, these are like the size of overgrown chocolate chips.  we use them in place of the same for cookies and in our chocolate cupcakes or sunday morning pancakes.

19.  TJ reserve chardonnay.  i've been told that tj's outsources to the best chardonnay makers for their reserve blend.  for $11 and under, it's great!

20.  gluten free products:  rice mac & cheese and the chocolate brownie mix.  kid-friendly and gluten-freen mother in law approved.  i keep a stash so that the kids can have favorites at granny's house.

there are other products -- like lime popsicles, stevia packets, coconut oil, and dark chocolate cocoa nibs -- that i love and things that have waxed and waned over the years -- bbq flavored soy crisps, cat cookies, mini pita breads -- but the top 20 above are the ones that fill my cart on a regular basis.

am i missing anything?  what are your tj favorites????