An Urban Girl

Fall has arrived in all its glory. On the first day of Fall, I came back from a morning walk to a bouquet of Fall flowers from Mr. Urban.  I placed them on the windowsill in the kitchen. My girl has a new found love of decoration using pumpkins and squashes.  She can not leave a grocery store without at least one or two cute ones in tow.  They each have proper names: pokey, green stripey orange, silly, mommy, daddy, baby....  each with a special place in her heart.   I have started the process of organizing our lives for a new addition.  On the weekend I did 6 loads of laundry.  Tiny newborn clothes are so soft and smell so good when they are out of the wash.  They can turn you into a fan of doing the laundry.  I am almost surprised at all the chaos and turmoil around the world...  it feels unreal and so distant, but still tragic.  Wishing all a safe and peaceful Autumn.

I must confess.  I have not been nourishing my family the way I wish I were. When I do cook, which is not nearly as I often as I hope these days,  I opt for things starchy, salty, sugary, oily... you get the point. And the other night, when Mr. Urban had a dinner time meeting, guess where I took my child for dinner in a clandestine fashion?  I can't bring myself to even write the words.  But my daughter who has been conditioned sine birth to categorize this restaurant as "Unhealthy", took bites out of her burger with such suspicion and hesitation, almost expecting the ceiling to cave in on us from above...  I on the other hand savored each bite of my card-boardy sandwich, as though it were my last meal.  But there are days like yesterday, when miraculously you have time to go for an early morning walk, to play, to draw, to read, to run over to get your car fixed, to have a picnic lunch before school drop-off, to answer mail, and to make a soup for dinner.  How I lov

I was planning a dinner party for 15 last Friday night. My rather huge midsection seemed to get in my way all morning as I prepped, which slowed me down considerably.  And my girl wanted to chit chat and play and do crafts and of course help around the kitchen.... There was no use buying time by sending her after yet another expedition, which would only keep her occupied for a few minutes.  I had to be more creative, so I accepted her offer to help. If you need to keep your tiny helper occupied with a fun and simple recipe try these delicious mushroom caps for your next dinner party.  They are great as an appetizer or as a side to a meat dish. Easy, Cheesy, Mushroom Caps 1 sprig of fresh rosemary A few leaves of fresh mint 1/4 cup dried whole wheat bread crumbs 1/4 cup good Ricotta cheese Grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling Extra virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 24 Crimini mushroom caps Wash tiny hands.  Finely chop rosemary and mint le

It's that time of the year again!  Back to School... We decided to continue with our tradition of a Back to School dinner in honor of our "Graduate" as she calls herself...   Our girl came up with a simple menu for dinner and sent me shopping for the ingredients.  She also decided that the theme of the dinner was to be Sea Turtles and suggested that it would be really sweet if the Parents of the Graduate brought Purple Cala Lili's for her to the dinner (probably inspired by my yellow Cala Lili wedding bouquet). A crown was commissioned for the guest of honor and we sat down to a delicious meal of Persian Kotlets and home made french fries with organic ketchup (which incidentally tastes vastly better than anything Heinz makes) to celebrate the importance of the upcoming school year and all the exciting things that we'll do over the year, in a round table working dinner format! I suggested that we go around the table with each of us recounting school re

Getting back into the rhythm of things ain't always easy! It seems like we've been away all year.  After a week in Hawaii and a week in Vancouver and a week recovering from the various illnesses we picked up along the way, we are home on a free Saturday afternoon wondering what to tackle.  The Bills, the messages, the gardening, the loose ends from our renovation project, the lost bedtime routines.... I buy groceries but only manage to make at most two meals a day out of them... I find myself standing in front of the fridge or the pantry, staring into the abyss, wondering what could I possibly make for our next meal.    I munch on Macadamia nut dark chocolates and Ketchup Chips we brought home from Maui and Vancouver when I don't have an audience.  As my taste buds blush with the intensity of the flavors,  I wonder could I possibly get away with doing so much of a very bad thing...   I asked Mr. Urban to facilitate some quiet time for me to figure out my game plan