It ain't over till it's over (plus extra time...)

If there's one thing I've learned from watching soccer, it's that the game isn't over until the final whistle blows.  One of Alfie's and my pet peeves when watching soccer games is seeing fans leave the stadium before the game ends.  Usually that happens when one team is down by a few goals and there doesn't seem to be much hope of them catching up.  No doubt they can't stand to see their team lose, and they want to get a head start on the outbound crowd.

Wordless Wednesday -- another step towards equality

No words necessary, just a hashtag: #loveislove

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration On the Road -- San Francisco recap

Two years ago I received an invitation to the Disney Social Media Moms celebration at Walt Disney World.  As any blogger will tell you, invites to this conference (which includes amazing speakers, 7-day park passes for you AND 3 family members, exclusive events and WDW lodging for a ridiculous nominal fee) are highly coveted and extremely rare..... but due to scheduling and budget constraints, I was forced to decline.  Boy did that hurt. Turning down the chance of a lifetime with no guarantee that I would ever be invited again?  Crazy!  I just had to tell myself that there would be other opportunities.  As the (Disney) song says, “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true.”

How NOT to make cupcakes

These beauties are not the subject of this post.   They're made by the best cupcakery in the Bay Area, Sibby's.

I spend a lot of time on this blog telling readers how to do things:  how to paint a kitchen, how to throw a fun party, how to make hummus, how to decorate for the holidays.  Lots of my posts contain instructions on how to do this and do that.   But sometimes telling someone what not to do can be just as important as telling them what to do.  With that in mind, I've written down a list of Don'ts that I came up with after a particularly disastrous cupcake baking experience.  Read and learn, people, read and learn.......

How to make Beignets

Happy National Doughnut Day!  Normally I'd say there's nothing better than a sweet, tender Krispy Kreme plain glazed donut, but today I decided to get all fancy and celebrate this important holiday by making my own donuts.  To be more precise, I made beignets, which don't actually have holes: they're square, pillow-shaped deep fried pastries popularized in New Orleans.  In fact, I got the recipe from The Princess and the Frog Cookbook; since the movie is set in New Orleans, all the recipes in the cookbook are inspired by New Orleans dishes.

Making a splash at the first pool party of the summer

One of my favorite childhood stories is about seeing my grandmother jump into a swimming pool with all her clothes on.  It was my 7th or 8th birthday, and all the kids in the pool were too busy playing games to notice that my baby brother (he must have been 2 or 3) had slipped from his swim ring and into the bottom of the pool.  All of a sudden I saw my grandmother, in all her 60+ matronly glory, complete with heels and spanish fan, jump in and splash her way to my brother.

Now my kids will have a similar story to tell their children about me -- except my story isn't quite as noble.

I survived the Monstrous Summer All-Nighter at the Disneyland Resort

Disney always throws the best parties, and over Memorial Day Weekend they threw the best party yet: a Monstrous Summer All-Nighter to celebrate the upcoming Monsters University movie!  What better way to celebrate Mike & Sulley's college days than with an All-Nighter, right?  Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort were open for 24 hours, from 6:00 AM on Friday May 24 till 6:00 AM on Saturday May 25.

I was at the Disneyland Resort that week to see the premiere of Mickey and the Magical Map, so I decided to join the fun and see how long I could last.  Even though my college days are long gone, I like getting into the parks early to avoid the long lines anyway, so I arrived at the park gates by 5:45 AM.  The plaza between Disneyland and DCA was already filled with bright-eyed, eager parkgoers (no doubt fueled by coffee, Red Bull and god knows what).

What's for lunch this week?

Avocado, ham & tomato sandwich, strawberries, peaches

This is the last week of classes for my kids.  I can't believe I made it through a whole schoolyear's worth of school lunches!  It certainly has been a lot easier to resist the temptation of sending my kids off with prepackaged lunches or money for school lunch, now that I have the right equipment (i.e. the perfect bento box!).  Setting myself a goal of photographing each and every lunch also helped with the motivation!  While I can't say that I made and photographed each and every school lunch that my kids ate this year, I think I came fairly close.

How to fry croutons

I must really be a glutton for punishment.  Of all the weeks to pick to try out recipes from Jennie Perillo's cookbook, Homemade With Love: Simple Scratch Cooking from In Jennie's Kitchen, it had to be this week.        Aside from my usual schedule I had PTA parties, blog events, lunch with a visiting uncle, The Pea's band concert and my birthday -- plus I've been in Disneyland for the last 2 days, so I had to cram 5 weekdays worth of work into 3.  Yet I found myself not only cooking from scratch but blogging about it for 3 consecutive days!

How to roast tomatoes

I received a review copy of Jennifer Perillo's cookbook

Oven's are a lazy cook's best friend.  I love baked dishes because usually all you have to do is throw ingredients into a casserole, throw the casserole into the oven, and the oven does the rest.   Roasted vegetables are probably the easiest dishes to make, and getting a great-tasting roast is nearly foolproof.  I first learned how to roast potatoes when I was a graduate student, then graduated to roasted carrots, peppers and onions when I first had kids.