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national chocolate pudding day
My son informed me that today is National Chocolate Pudding Day. I’m not sure why people come up with these less than significant holidays, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we had really good chocolate pudding.
the winner of the ramona movie and book giveaway!
Thank you to everyone who entered the Ramona giveaway! Random.org has cleverly selected Natalie H. So, congratulations, Natalie! You’ll be going to see Ramona and Beezus this summer! If you are Natalie H., please leave a comment on this post, and I will get that prize to you right away!
And now, for another announcement! How many of you saw Toy Story 3 last weekend? Well, we saw it, and it was fantastic (aside from the fact that a man—with lots of facial hair—told me he was a little kid when the first Toy Story came out, and made me feel old, since I wrote my junior year undergraduate research paper on Toy Story when it came out!).
But what I was really excited about during that movie was . . . can you guess? The trailer for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!! Now, this is important, everyone. I love those Narnia movies. They make me happy. And we’ll all be very sad if they don’t make another one, so make sure you go and see it in December. See it 10 times, even! And tell everyone you know about it. Tweet it from the rooftops! In case you haven’t seen the trailer yet, here’s a quick look:
Now, I have no idea why all four Pevensies make an appearance in there, but I am not complaining. You know how I feel about King Peter. And did you see Ben Barnes? I’ll be grinning the entire movie—yum!
caramel bananas
This is one of those snacks I felt guilty the whole time making. Once it was ready, though, all my guilt went out the window, and it was just me and my caramelized treat.
All you need to make this is a good excuse, and a few extra points left in your diet.
good things come to those who bake.
I just want to thank you all for coming to my blog on babble. It’s fun to post some of my easier, quicker food ideas over there, and I know sometimes you may be wondering where I’ve been. For example, right now, I am hosting a cookie contest over there, with a prize from Icebox Bakery.
They are a really fun, all-natural cookie company based in Colorado. I discovered their cookie dough at a Whole Foods, and really love it. Go check out my post on babble where I am hosting the contest.
Here is what the winner will receive:
chicken tikka masala in a slow cooker
I’ve been working on this recipe for awhile, and though I still haven’t gotten it exactly the way I want it, it’s pretty good. The thing with Indian food is it’s tricky to get a perfect recipe because everyone has their own. I have put this together based on what the nice people down at my local Indian restaurant have told me, the ingredients list on the back of a Tandoor Chef box, America’s Test Kitchen’s The Best International Recipe, and bits and pieces from the Food Network. I imagine I will make improvements to this as I make it through the years.
a summer with ramona and giveaway!
Comments to this Giveaway are now closed. Thank you for all your entries. I will announce the winner on Monday. Come back then to learn more about a cookie contest on my other blog.
My seven-year-old learned to love reading this year, and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me.
Sadly, my mother couldn’t say that about me when I was young. Though I loved certain books here and there, reading never ranked high on the list of things I wanted to do until I was a grown-up. I was a worried my little first grader was headed in the same direction when she got off to a rough start this year.
For the first few months of first grade, she was the new kid in school and felt like the only kid with parents getting a divorce amongst a sea of happy families. She had trouble holding her pencil right and getting her homework done. That was why, in February, when she picked up Superfudge and read it cover to cover in about a week, I was ecstatic. She read most of Blume’s books in that series, and then turned to tackle a 500 page anthology of classic children’s tales. I can thank a patient first grade teacher for this, and a school that works hard to instill a love of reading—not by pushing deadlines and homework and book reports, but by letting each child be free to choose the books they are naturally drawn to.
A couple weeks ago, I saw the new trailer for the Ramona and Beezus movie, and then remembered how I actually enjoyed the Ramona books when I was young, and hoped my daughter would as well. She finished finished the first book in about a week, and now can’t wait to read the next and see the movie.
easy strawberry jam you don’t need to can.
Sorry to say this, but I have never learned how to can anything. But that’s why this recipe is so fantastic. You don’t need to can it. Whatever you do have left of this (if there’s anything), you can just freeze it.
If you’ve never made your own jam before, this is a great one to start with. You will be so happy you did. This is tangy and fruity, and perfectly delicious.
The little strawberries are perfect for jam. I love the look of the little jewels swimming in the bright red syrup. You could use whatever strawberries you want, of course. Just make sure you cut them into uniform sized pieces.
The best way to enjoy this is on a fresh, warm dinner roll. And you’re in luck! I actually just posted my favorite roll recipe on my babble blog.
tres leches cupcakes
Can you call these cupcakes if you eat them with a fork? I discovered tres leches cake at a local Mexican restaurant, and have never been the same. However, last time I made it, I probably put on ten pounds. These little heavenly cakes are enough to satisfy a sweet tooth at the end of a meal, but won’t have you feeling like you need to run a 5k to burn them off.
not sure what to call these . . . brazilian fajitas, maybe?
When I say “dinner party” here, I mean the dinner itself is the party. By no means am I suggesting you invite guests to eat these with you. That would mean you’d have to share.
A nice old man was giving away samples of this Brazilian sausage on Saturday. It was so good, and it reminded me of Paella. The next thing I knew, I was hunting around for some shrimp to go with it. But honestly, after a month of cooking like a crazy woman for my other blog, the last thing I wanted to do was get out a humongous pan and throw everything under the sun into it. For starters, I’d be the only one eating it, and secondly, there’s only one of me, and that would be a lot of food. Two of my kids are occasionally brave, but all three tend to avoid dishes where everything is sort of thrown together.
