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Steak 101
I am a vegetarian and have been since college. This was a choice based on simple preference, not on ethics or health. Meat just really does not appeal to me. The same cannot be said of my family members. I live in a houseful of carnivores. I did not do much cooking growing up, and by the time I started doing real cooking (not just heating, microwaving, or thawing), I was a vegetarian, so I never learned how to actually prepare any type of meat. My husband, on the other hand, makes great steak (I admit–I have tasted it, and it is good), and the kids LOVE it when he…
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My 30(ish) Minute Beauty Getaway
My husband and I live in the suburbs, but we continue to see a dentist in the city. It is truly a pain in the neck to go to appointments, but she is really good, so, several times a year, we schlep downtown to see her. As long as we are making the trip into Chicago on appointment days, I do take advantage of knowing that a Sephora flagship store is close by the dental office. I usually have my appointment first while my husband uses his “parking spot karma” to find a parking place, and, weather permitting, I go outside and walk during his appointment. The weather was beautiful…
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Brazilian Lemonade
While grocery shopping yesterday, I saw that limes were on sale, 10 for a dollar. I may not always know what prices are considered good prices, but I knew that 10 cents a lime was a good deal! I bought ten figuring that although I was not quite sure what I would do with them, I could always slice them and stick them in the freezer to add to water or iced tea at a later time. Before slicing them all up, though, I got on-line and started searching for lime-related recipes that seemed nice and simple. I was successful and found what I thought would be very appropriate to…
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The Olive Tap–An Olive Oil Tasting Emporium
My husband and I recently spent the afternoon at The Olive Tap with its owner, Rick Petrocelly. The Olive Tap is “an olive oil tasting emporium.” We learned more than we could imaging from Rick that afternoon! Let me share just a bit of what we learned that afternoon. Here goes… Let me start with some basic starting information. Virgin olive oil is made from simply pressing the olives. This is a first press oil. Nothing else is done to it. To be called extra virgin olive oil, the oil must have no taste defects and pass strict chemical tests. Oils called “pure,” “light,” or simply “olive oil” have had…
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Lunch at Enzo and Lucia–My Mouth is Watering Just Thinking About It
Disclaimer: My husband and I were provided a complimentary meal in exchange for sharing on this blog my honest thoughts about the experience. My husband and I had the opportunity to try a restaurant that we have known about for years but, for no particular reason, have never tried. Enzo and Lucia is an Italian restaurant in historic Long Grove. I will start by saying that this was a wonderful place for my husband and myself to share an anniversary lunch (we celebrated here one day before our 20th wedding anniversary–it just worked better with our schedules)! We had an 11:30a reservation. The restaurant was nice and quiet at that…
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Tinted Glass with Flowers, a Pinterest Success (mostly)!
I was interested in making a little “something” for Mother’s Day (for my mom, sister, and aunt), and I have a “too large” collection of empty glass bottles saved over the years, so I decided to try something I had seen on Pinterest in the past that did not look too complex and involved items I already had at home. I wanted to try to tint some glass bottles. I used several empty Starbucks frappuccino bottles, Mod Podge Gloss Luster Finish, and food coloring. After removing the stickers from the Starbucks bottles, I used Goo Gone to remove the adhesive and nail polish remover to remove the purple stamped-on date. The…
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I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty
I met Sara through one of my calls for “help” which I sent via a community facebook page. When I asked “Who is interested in teaching me something new?”, Sara was there for me! She is a make-up artist and beauty consultant at a local Walgreens, and I spent part of a recent afternoon having fun being “girly” and having my makeup done. We kept it simple (this time–I definitely plan to go back) because I knew that I had plans that evening to take a group of 8th graders out to see a nearby high school performance. The full-on glam look would have been overkill for a high school…
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Potato Gnocchi–A Nice Change from all the Matzo
One of the perks of having married my husband is that I have also had the chance to meet and become friends with his friends. (Thanks, Sweetie!) I recently spent a morning with his high school friend (and my current friend) Diane. She offered to teach me some Italian cooking. I was all in! Granted, at the time we made our plans, I had not realized that we would be getting together during Passover, so that affected what we made. We decided to make potato gnocchi which, although I would not be able to test out the day we made it, I would be able to freeze and eat after…
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Aspects of Passover 2019
My family always hosts at least one of the two yearly Passover seders at my home. Passover is the holiday that I have claimed for family hosting. The first year that my husband and I lived in our house, we hosted Thanksgiving. That was simply our trial run of hosting a family event. Once we acknowledged that we could handle it, we took over a religious holiday, and I am glad that we did! If you don’t have any idea what I am talking about when I use the term “Passover,” this link can provide some useful information. (FYI–the article in the link is from a previous year. The date…
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College Tour, Part 5: Last Stop–University of Louisville
The drive to Frankfort, Kentucky from Knoxville, Tennessee was uneventful (which is good). We arrived at the Capital Plaza Hotel and decided to have a mellow evening. My husband decided to just sit back and relax in the room. He had been doing ALL of the driving; he earned this! The kids were very happy to be able to enjoy some time in the indoor hotel pool (as you are farther south, you find fewer indoor pools). Shortly after we entered the pool, several other families showed up as well. Despite the noise and chaos in the pool, I was able to just sit and chat with another mom who…
If it's not illegal, immoral, or blatantly stupid, I am willing to give it a try!
