A Taste of France, Part II

Sorry if you were waiting for Part II of our trip to France – my computer got a virus! While it was out of commission I forced myself to have fun at the beach and eat at every yummy Portsmouth restaurant with friends who were in town. But it is so fun to think about food, and France, and travel again. This post is SUPER long, but I have a great-line up of recipes to share so I wanted to finish the story of our trip. If you are in a hurry just skip to the story of our Best Meal Ever at the end. Happy reading!

There are a few stories from our trip that warm my heart just thinking about them.

The first is Claude’s tea shop – Le Maison du Bleu Lin. The people who owned our house recommended going there for tea, so I brought sweet Sophie, who loves tea, there one afternoon.

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As I was taking these pictures, Claude, who is a lovely tall, strong French woman with curly hair and beautiful eyes, totally yelled at me for taking a photo of her shop without asking. After a few excuse moi! si vous plait! she warmed up to us – well, Sophie at least. We quickly started chatting about rude tourists (Claude kept exlaiming “they don’t even say bonjour madame!” after every person ducked their head in) and of course, food. In her shop she carried 12 different varieties of chutneys from England. I wanted to buy them all, even though it would make my bag heavier then it already was. So she let me try them. She had sample jars ready in the fridge! I sat there like a kid in a candy store, or a food blogger in a tea/chutney shop, and savored the amazing spices and interesting combinations. I settled on a pickled lime chile, a cheeseboard chutney, and a red pepper chutney that we ate that night with chicken with herbs de Provence, fresh tomatoes and lemon. RJ said it made his mouth explode with flavor.

 The next day we headed to Paris. (Barely. Carrying bags up this hill almost did us all in.)

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Our three train connection went so smoothly and we all read the whole way. When we got into Paris, it was a 100 degree heat-wave. Luckily our hotel was air conditioned. We stayed at The Millennial Marriott, which was so enormous, it must have been a hospital before. It was painted in lovely French colors, gorgeous grays and blues and mirrored French doors everywhere. I may have come home and painted my dining room the color of this door and picked up a gray and white rug that looks like this one. And these Bensimon shoes and shorts from Boden were the comfiest clothes to travel in. (Shorts are sold out but see similar here). Did I mention it was the 4th of July?:

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We braved the heat for our first night and ventured out. We ate at Le Trumilou which was a recommendation from David Leibovitz’s website, who JUST did a whole post about this restaurant on his website! The guy he pictured with the beard and blue shirt was our waiter, and the olives and sausages were amazing. Sadly, his post talks about the smoking outside when people are eating and my father in law couldn’t even down his gorgeous food because he was eating smoke. On our end of the table though, it was fine, and the people watching was superb. 

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The lardons on the frisee salad were soaked in some kind of vinegar that was so delicious. I didn’t think you could make bacon taste better then it already does, but I was wrong.

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Sorry for the half-eaten plate BUT I had to show you the Cote de Boeuf that was SO good and SO huge. Good thing we walked a few miles back to the hotel.

IMG_5372IMG_5368^^RJ is apparently in a no-smiling phase. My father-in-law during happier times before he got smoked out.

The next day, we saw some of the gorgeous sites, starting with Mass at Notre Dame.

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We saw all the Locks of Love at Pont Neuf:

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We ate lunch at a lovely bistro just in time to sit under a canopy while it rained. I had a country salad that was delicious:

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And we saw this old thing which I can’t even look at the same after reading the Da Vinci code (ugg. Thanks a lot Dan Brown!)IMG_5468

IMG_5470Outside the Louvre was hot and crowded. Inside the Louvre was hot, crowded and beautiful.

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^^ I grew up with a charcoal copy of this Da Vinci so I love it.

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Even though my husband thought it was sort of a waste of 30 euros to go to Louvre (we had already been there before), the morning after we got home, I heard RJ telling Lucy as he pointed at pictures on my phone, “See this Lucy? This is the most famous museum in the world. And this is the most famous painting in the world.”IMG_5492

I am going to call that a parenting win.

From the Louvre my kids could see this ferris wheel towering up on the sky line and were like, “we are going there.” They were such good travelers I couldn’t argue.

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We made our way to the Tulleries, which thankfully had lots of entertainment. I didn’t remember an entire fair in the middle of the Tulleries last time I was there, but the proximity to the Louvre makes me think they were just meeting the demand of bored kids.IMG_5512

Then we had a quick photo op by the Eiffel Tower:

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RJ really wanted to go to it, but it was after 5 and we had been walking in the heat since 10. It was worth getting only this close to the Eiffel Tower to be back in an air conditioned hotel where we hit up the Concierge Room hard for cold drinks and snacks (hello best spicy eggplant and zucchini ever!).

But the best story of our whole trip was what happened at the very end.

Dinner with my husband.

This was sort of an anniversary trip, and a dinner out alone in Paris was sort of the heart of the trip for us. So we left the kids with grandpa, who after a day of heat and crowds were in heaven doing this:

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And at 6:30, we set out on our mission: To find the best meal of our lives.

I had researched the dinner the night before, but tonight we wanted to be spontaneous and discover a hidden gem. My husband had walked by one that looked great, near our hotel. But when we got there it was closed on Sundays. We had seen a bunch of restaurants in the 2nd Arrondissement the night before near Le Trumilou and thought we’d go back. But when we did, we found that all of the restaurants were the standard bistro fare that we had eaten many times or had very touristy food. The atmosphere was fun, but like Fanueil Hall in Boston, you can get really bad food in a fun area. And our mission was most definitely good food. My husband was really craving warm salmon as well (after our beef the size of a labrador the night before).

We headed out and stopped to have a drink at a little place, studied the menu and thought about it as a dinner venue. All the while we were silently asking ourselves:

Was this the place where we would get the Best Meal of Our Lives?

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^^Not a winner. But it had a solid charcuterie board that was our pre-game.

Then we did that on repeat for two hours. We didn’t mean to bar crawl our way through Paris, but we did. Because we would sit down and read the menu, and be disappointed, or one of us would go to the bathroom and get a weird vibe and we were like, nope, this isn’t the place. Or they lacked salmon on the menu, which became increasingly important as the night wore on. After a while I thought, are we just being picky? Is the Best Meal of Our Lives too much pressure, do you think? Why didn’t we pick from the million and one recommendations online?

Guinness sustained us in our quest. IMG_5587(My husband studied abroad in Ireland. And we are Irish.)

Finally, after leaving a restaurant that my husband was sure was the one but I veto’d after it had karaoke going in the back when I went to the bathroom, I looked at my watch. It was 10:00. We decided to walk back to the hotel. I had seen some places the night before that I hoped were open on Sunday. Or at 10 pm. If not we could eat at the hotel. At the very least, we had a fun night out and we would be back someday, right?

{Commence Panic.}

Then, when we were almost to the hotel, we looked down an alley and there it was, like an oasis in our desert of hunger:

IMG_5589It was called Le Poule au Pot, or Chicken in a Pot,which just sounded like a place where you might have the Best Meal of Your Life, non?

And guess what?

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It totally was.

The menu looked incredible (see all those VERY recent awards and recommendations?) and when we sat down, the waiter sensed our hunger/panic and was like a monk in the middle ages offering us food and drink.

We started with the best wine from their very short wine list (because they only picked great ones, obv):

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And started with the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. If you have been reading for a while you know of my love of artichokes. IMG_5595

But you may not know of my dislike of the runny egg. I know, how can I even be called a food person if I don’t like soft cooked eggs? But I finally discovered what all the fuss is about, because it was delicious here. The artichoke heart was so fresh, and the smoked salmon with dill on top had a vinaigrette that mixed with the egg and made it all delicious.

And then came the main course. My husband got (can you even guess?):

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The salmon. But not just ANY salmon. The kind with the cutest puff pastry man on the side (endless possibilities on that front), and his favorite, creamed spinach.

I got a braised lamb shank that was just so good it hurt. And the potatoes were stacked like lincoln logs, something I must try in the future.

IMG_5600IMG_5601My favorite thing about eating really good food, the kind that fills your soul and your belly, is how you have to close your eyes when you take a bite. And this food was so good we practically ate with our eyes closed.

The search made this meal even more sweet. It was a total adventure, exactly what we wanted on our last night in Paris.

Finally, all week I had wanted to order a Tarte Tatin, and we were always too full. But I insisted, and I am so glad I did:

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When we THOUGHT we were done, our waiter brought out a complementary shot of pear distilled liquor that was delicious but strong. I think he liked the story of our quest. Or my bad French accent.

IMG_5613Either way, we walked back content and full and touched by the magic of Paris.

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(Of course all these photos were taken at night on our phones and are not the best. But I had to share them because this really will go down as one of my favorite food memories ever.)

Thanks for reading this novel! I promise to turn around and bring some of this deliciousness to the food blog. But if you have any fun magical Paris stories feel free to share them!

XOXO Katie

Marriage Math

Sorry for the radio silence on my writing blog. As this post can attest to, we had a busy June! But I am looking forward to getting back to regular writing after our travels. Good writing takes time, and I am striving for quality, so I will always choose that over quantity. But I love this little space on the internet. I hope you do too. 

***

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“Going once. Going twice. Sold to the gentleman in the back.”

The auctioneer pointed to my husband, Rob.

When he had put in a bid for a week long stay at a house in France moments before, I thought he was just trying to help the charity fundraiser by upping the bid*. We had four kids. A busy life. A trip abroad was not even on the radar. But when he outbid another person, I knew.

He was doing it for me.

My husband doesn’t love France. He’s big, they’re little. He’s loud, they’re quiet. In a country of demure, he’s a mechanical bull in a china shop. But he does love me, and he was thinking that this trip could be our 10 year anniversary gift. We had talked about doing a big trip, perhaps skiing in Austria or Rome in a few years, but he knows my passion for food has some big roots in French cooking, since my mom studied there for a year and was really influenced by the food. Growing up she passed the love on to us. I had visited Paris in college with good friends when I did a semester abroad in London, fell deeply in love, and vowed to return. In the mean time, I worshipped at the knee of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and David Leibowitz’s My Paris Kitchen. Rob knew all this, and on a whim, acted on love.

And that’s how, a few weeks ago, I was packing a bag for France. The week was a doozy: I was solo parenting, the kids were on their first week of summer vacation (read: fighting). I had to bring the car to the mechanics and meet a plumber to install a new hot water heater, go to lots of tennis lessons, mine and the kids, and leave my house and fridge ready for my mother-in-law to watch my 5 and 2 year old. My plate was Thanksgiving buffet in Vegas full. I really didn’t even have the head space to consider what we should do in France. Should I brush up on my French? Research wines? Or just grab my passport and go? Wait. Where was my passport? (Commence turning house inside out. I should have done the ConMari method while I was at it if I had an ounce of time to spare. It was on my desk the whole time, where I had searched over and over. !@#$%#!) Finally, thanks to my saintly mother-in-law watching the two youngest at home, and a blessed father-in-law who came along and watched the big kids so we could go out at night, it happened. We were on the plane, Champagne in hand.

This was the longest trip we had ever taken. Even our honeymoon was a quick 5 day affair to Aruba because it had a direct flight and my husband had just started a new territory for work. Then we had four kids in succession and moved a couple of times. We also learned that since Rob has to travel a lot during the week, family trips were best taken on long weekends.

But the other truth is that we ski a lot. All of our travel eggs went into a ski condo basket, which we bought just after our third was born. It was a tough decision at the time. I wanted to figure out our main house first, and we were in the process of looking for a house in a bigger neighborhood with more kids. But my husband loves to ski the way I love to cook. He took me up to see the condo one fall weekend, at peak foliage time in the mountains, because he is a salesman and knows to do things like that. We committed – to skiing and spaghetti dinners and weekends away – before we even knew where we were going to live the rest of the time. Since then it has become our family get away. Going up there has not always been easy, especially when our fourth was a baby. There have been tears and fights. But it has been so worth it to have that family time up north, to have a familiar place with rituals and routine and relaxation.

So when he bid on the trip to France, it was a gesture. A giving back to all of the times I have packed up four kids, driven them north (often alone since he would meet us from work), returned tired but happy on Sunday night, only to dive into a busy school week. He knows the sacrifice involved, and how I made room in our lives for his passions. He was returning the favor, and I was deeply grateful.

We went into this trip knowing that we have both made concessions for the other. Sacrificed to fit in big important things – our time, our money, our sanity – for something vital to the other person.  All sweet things in a marriage. But what is beautiful to see is that all this giving has made a certain alchemy happen. When we shared in each other’s passions, they took root in our own hearts and grew. And when our kids share in it too, the joy grows exponentially.

I have become passionate about skiing, excited to see the first flurry in winter, philosophical as I navigate a challenging run, and giddy when I ski with my kids next to me. And they love it even more then I do. When we are skiing, we are in the moment. Fully present, fully alive.

And Rob has grown to love new food, and possibly even France. When we got married, he hated fish. On our last night in Paris, we sought out a salmon for dinner. We all made happy memories over a cote de boef that was as big as our labrador, the intense flavor in the raspberry macarons, the trois fromage crepe that called to us every night at 5 o’clock, hungry and thirsty from exploring hot streets. We ate in the moment. Fully present, fully alive. And while there is no question that Rob would take the beaches of Saint-Malo over the hot crowded streets of Paris, he still found beaucoup de joie de vivre in France.

They say that love is when you can halve each others sorrows and double each others joys.

It is marriage math. And I am so thankful to be its student.

*I wrote before how our trip was from the charity fundraiser for the Hope For Gus foundation. Please visit their page to learn more about helping families with sons who have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

A Taste of France: Part 1

IMG_4663For a food lover, a trip to France is like a football fan going to the Super Bowl: impossible to recount every play. But I will try to share some highlights because France is such a magical place and so inspiring, from food to flowers to fashion. And I read My Sweet Life in Paris by David Leibovitz on the flight over, so if you want to know even more and live vicariously from someone who has been there longer then 10 days, I highly recommend it.

We felt very lucky to be staying in the Brittany region in the northwest – it turned out to be totally enchanting. Our house was in Dinan, which is about 1,000 years old, and is one of the oldest towns in France since it was bypassed during WWII and was never bombed. We also explored the beaches of Saint-Malo three of the days, which was leveled during the war but they rebuilt it and it is just beautiful. We really felt like we got to know both towns. Then we took the train back to Paris and spent two nights there. It was great to contrast a small town with the big city, and both places had their own charms.

Dinan sits on the Rive Rance, and though it is a small town, it enjoys a lot of tourists since people boat all the way from Great Britain for the day. The house we stayed in was on a street filled with artists, shop keepers, jewelry and ceramic makers.

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A lot of what made our trip great was the house. It was a 500 year old stone house that stayed so cool even during the worst heat wave. We had the windows and doors open the whole week, and the back yard was a dream terraced creation that I could have read and sipped coffee in every day if there wasn’t so much to do. And talk about lush – roses, hydrangeas, impatients, ferns, ivy and forget-me-nots were all overflowing in our backyard and in all the window boxes.

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IMG_4825_2 IMG_4862As soon as we got there, after walking down the biggest hill you could ever imagine (think Lombard St. in San Francisco and you are part of the way there):

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We of course immediately went and had champagne at a bistro on the river while the kids and my father in law settled into the house.

IMG_4685_2Then we dropped off some champagne for my father in law and some macarons for the kids:

IMG_4668After digging out my very rusty French, I got directions to a market that turned out to be much too far away, and much too uphill. (There was one closer that we learned about a few days later. That the person who gave us directions didn’t know we didn’t have a car is filed under ‘lost in translation’. On the plus side, we burned off all the wine and bread we were about to eat since bottles of wine are not light and we had many).

We settled in on the patio with delicious foods for an easy dinner our first night.

IMG_4670_2IMG_4671It was such a happy time. After a long flight and a full day of trains we let out a deep sigh and drank lots of wine with these treats.

The next day we walked around and learned about our city of Dinan, which was a major foothold for wealth and transportation during the middle ages. There is a large cathedral and a walled fortress that runs around the whole town. And the aqueducts were amazing:

IMG_4693Having our big kids along was a joy, they were such good travelers. I think they made memories that will last them a lifetime. Plus, they really did skip down three doors in the morning and get us fresh croissants. Slave labor or enrichment?  You decide.

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We found a great place in the heart of the city to have dinner after our day of exploring and shopping. Those red blankets on the backs of the chairs were so cozy! The night got cool and they were such a nice touch.

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IMG_4913I had an amazing filet with Bernaise sauce and au poivre sauce, and a little pat of foie grois like it was no big deal.

Then we had some shenanigans around the town:

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The next day we went to Saint Malo. At the bus station (which has the most beautiful fresco on the wall):

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We ate a quick lunch we had picked up along the way. It was a pizza with ricotta and a salad made with celery, tomato, egg, comte cheese (like gruyere), ham and mayo. It was a reminder of how good a salad made with celery can be.

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When we got off the bus at Saint-Malo, we were in heaven, especially since it was a heat wave. The cool ocean air was parfaitIMG_4976_2

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There were artists everywhere, and we did some shopping and toured the Castle. We sat out at a bistro for, you guessed it, bread and cheese. And our kids had 3 square meals of ice cream every day.IMG_5303

Then we took the bus ride home with a baguette and some wine and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

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Naturally, the next day I was craving some greens. Lucky for me Les Halles was open and the market vendors held out gorgeous veggies. The tomatoes were amazing, I don’t know what is in their soil that makes them taste that good.

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We made hot dogs for the kids and feasted on a summer bounty. We still had 4 glorious days left in Dinan and 2 in Paris.

But you’ll have to wait for the next post because I am sure there has to be a limit for how many photos you can squeeze into one blog post. To be continued…BUT if you have some time on your hands, feel free to try out Martha Stewarts recipe for macarons – she shows you how to make all the flavors so her version looked the best and I can’t wait to try them at home!

xoxo Katie

5 Tips to Help with Late-Night Snacking

Hi all! I am SO excited to introduce you to my Insanity instructor – that’s right, the lady who kicks my butt every Thursday. She has just launched her own website, jackiegarnett.com, and is a Personal Fitness Coach to the stars…I mean moms in Portsmouth.

She heard my plight about going out of town (we leave for France tomorrow…I am halfway packed which is pretty good for me) and having a few freelance writing magazine articles due before we leave, so she brought her A game to the Humble Onion and is sharing with all of you how to bust those late night snacking cravings. I just read what she wrote and will be referencing this post nightly when my Salt & Vinegar Popchips are calling.

Hope you love this one as much as I do, and if you do show her the love and check out her new blog! She is one of the most positive, mentally tough girls I know, so I can’t wait to follow. xoxo Katie

 

by guest blogger, Jackie Garnett of jackiegarnett.com

 

It’s 9pm. You finished dinner with the family a couple hours ago. You’re not hungry but you want a snack.

Well, hello, internal struggle, it’s nice to see you again. I’ve missed you since last night.

Your mind is telling you no but your heart is all like: snuggling up with that ginormous box of Cheez-Its on the couch during the Bachelorette sounds like the best thing in the world right now. We convince ourselves that we deserve it. The kids are in bed, it was a long day, this is our time to enjoy life’s little pleasures.

Sound familiar? Well, I’ve got news for you: you’re not alone. I asked my Facebook friends what their Achilles heel is when it comes to late night snacking and I received 45 comments about chips, cheese, crackers, ice cream, chocolate, wine, cereal, popcorn, pretzels, and Nutella. I loved this thread on my timeline because it felt like a confession of sorts. We don’t talk about it a lot, but look, when you feel like you’re the only loser in the world going to town on an entire sleeve of Thin Mints, I promise you– you’re not. And I’ve got something to tell you: it’s not your fault.

After years of research, Dr. Nora Volkow recently presented a lecture announcing that refined processed foods are equal to, if not more addictive than, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. Through brain scans, she discovered that during the moments before consumption, we experience the exact same kind of anticipation as drug addicts before taking a hit. That’s right, you heard me correctly. Your salivation for those hyper-palatable foods is in fact an addiction. Habits formed along the way that eventual led to a lack of control. Luckily, these habits are reversible. Or rather, there are ways to create new, healthier habits that will take the place of your old ways.

I typically hear about 5 different scenarios that paint the picture for our reasons to snack at night. Here are some ideas for how to make these scenarios a little prettier.

 

#1. When you are convinced you deserve a treat.

You ate healthy all day, and you deserve a little indulgence. I’m right there with ya. I teach my clients about the 80/20 rule because it works for me: 80% healthy food, 20% fun food. That’s why at the end of every day I indulge in 5 Dove dark chocolates. They are 210 delicious calories. They don’t ruin my entire day of clean eating. And they satisfy my sweet tooth. So when you’re craving something bad for you, fine, have it. Don’t deprive yourself. Instead, portion out the amount you know you should consume (hint: there’s usually a “serving size” on the label. Follow it), eat only that, and let that be it.

cookie butter (in case you’re wondering, the serving size of Trader Joe’s cookie butter is just 1 Tbsp.)

 

#2. When it’s all in your head.

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You know there are treats in the pantry but you also know you have the willpower to say “no” to them. This is when you have to remember the bigger picture. Your “why” for wanting to make a change. So why do you want to make a change? My guess is that your answer is somehow related to your health. When it’s all in your head, this is when you should pull out your Pinterest board of healthy motivation. What, you don’t have one of those? Well go make one! And pin everything that will inspire you to take baby steps toward your goal. If Pinterest isn’t your thing, scatter other reminders around the house that will keep your head in the right place. Maybe there’s a hot dress you want to fit into again. Hang it on display in your bedroom. Maybe you have a new grandkid you want to stick around for. Post a picture of him on your fridge. Anything that will help you visualize your success.

 

 

#3. When you have a major craving.

Make a healthier version of it. Make a whole bunch of it on Sunday so that you have it ready to go for your entire week. Even better, portion it out into individual servings. Because it’s the convenience you want late at night, right? Air popped popcorn, chocolate peanut butter protein balls, baked sweet potato chips, and banana “ice cream” are all perfect alternatives. I could show you pins all day long, but you can do a search yourself to find a healthy alternative to your favorite snack.

 

#4. When you want company.

When you want a friend to share your favorite tv show with, or if you have to get work done on the computer and you need something next to you. Substitute the junk with some herbal tea. You can milk that puppy all night and it will be with you through the entire thing.

tea

 

#5. When you’re bored.

Go to bed. Seriously. Unless you’re a sleepwalker, there is a 100% chance that you will not eat when you’re asleep. As my friend, Jaynie, mom of 3 adorable kids, says: “I’m a toddler…put me to bed before 7pm and all is good. After that…I’m a wanna be frat boy!!??”

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Because everyone’s brain functions differently, maybe all of these will work for you, or maybe only one of them will. But try them all out, see how they go, and let me know what’s working for you. Got other ideas? Please share them!

 

If you want to read more from Jackie Garnett, be sure to subscribe to her newsletters to receive weekly blog posts.

Artichoke Bruschetta

IMG_6284Does anything scream “grab a glass of spritzer and sit outside” more then bruschetta?
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Seriously, these are so easy and they take a nano second to put together. And they are so good you can’t stop eating them.  So when this weather beckons you to sit out side and savor everything… spouses, friends, life, sunshine, health, kids, wine, nature…you have the perfect companion snack.

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I made these because we were going to a daytime party last weekend, and I knew the food would be sitting out in the sun. I actually mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl and just served the crostini on the side, but I remade them for my husband the more traditional way. You just toast your baguette…

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Then mix these heroes together. Can you say flavor? The champagne vinegar just sings, especially mixed with the garlic (which is strong! If you don’t love it you may want to go with 2 in stead of 3 cloves but I love it) and the meaty artichoke fills you up so you might even skip dinner and just linger outside.

IMG_6246IMG_6256IMG_6254IMG_6257Then you top them each with filling and a little parmesan cheese.IMG_6260IMG_6273IMG_6280

Rustic, easy, and delicious. Everything I love about food. Bon appetito!  xoxo Katie

Artichoke Bruschetta

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 baguette, sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1(14 ounce) can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1 cup seeded chopped tomato
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1⁄2tablespoons  champagne vinegar
  • salt and pepper
  • parmesan cheese
  • flat leaf parsely, minced

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350. Place sliced bread on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in oven 10 minutes or until slightly toasted.

In medium bowl combine artichokes, tomatoes and garlic. In another small bowl mix vinegar and oil. Add parsley, salt and pepper to vinegrette and mix well.

Add vinaigrette to artichoke mixture mixing well, add salt and pepper to taste. Top toasted bread with artichoke mixture to cover. Sprinkle with cheese.

Optional: Mix all ingredients into a bowl and serve with toast bread on the side. Great for parties so bread doesn’t get soggy!

 

No-Cook Summer Clicks

Don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen with all this gorgeousness happening outside? Me either. Here’s some great quick ideas that I cannot WAIT to try.

Ballard Plates

// I am a big fan of non-breakable plates. Ballard designs has so many pretty melamine plates like these ones that I could use every day or these ones from Bunny Williams (love her, she is one of the most inspiring designers). 

// This fennel and apple salad looks perfect for a date night salad.

// A bloody mary salad? Yes please.

// I can’t wait to make Ina Garten’s Gazpacho.

// Pioneer Woman’s Panzanella: Crave worthy. Basil and Tomatoes and Vinegar and Bread = Yum.

// Martha Stewart’s Tuna Nicoise Sandwich. Of course, you could put ketchup on ciabatta and it would look yummy to me, but I love salad nicoise and putting it on delicious bread just makes sense.

// These ideas of mixers for your beer made me super curious and can’t wait to try them out. Not all at once, of course.

// For non-alcoholic drinks, these looked super refreshing and yummy. 

//If you are a Trader Joe’s fan (and really who isn’t?) you probably second this list. They all belong at a picnic, don’t you think?

What are you making this weekend?

These Four Walls

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^^Lucy, age 9 months, visiting a lake cottage. Where we went with lots of sippy cups.

When I was a new mother, with 3 kids 3 and under, nothing could make me fly into a pint of ice cream faster then a travel magazine. Pages filled with gorgeous meals, usually things like seared salmon on top of a gorgeous puree with micro greens, a glass of white wine catching the light just so, mahogany four-post hotel beds with crisp white sheets, and beachs with golden sand, and a boat off on the horizon.

These things were the opposite of my reality, which was diapers and sippy cups and trashed play rooms, tantrums and teething and mind-numbing sleep deprivation. It was enough to make me fling the glossy pages across the room. France and Italy pictures or articles were particularly painful, since my longing to visit there grew as my love of cooking grew. And if there were cooking or writing classes involved, forget it. I had to pull my comforter up over my head until the din of Dora the Explorer and the prospect of mac and cheese for dinner didn’t feel quite so painful.

Eight years later, we are gearing up for a trip to France.

My mother-in-law can comfortably watch my youngest two, so it will be just the longer-legged, broader-palated children coming with us. As I plan and pack for this trip, I realize that something has changed for me. Yes, the world is a big exciting interesting place. Getting to seeing such an amazing country and having fantastic food is the stuff of dreams. But I am starting to see that happiness is complicated and simple at the same time. The complicated part is what you have to say no to. Dying to the parts of you that want Rome, sleep and stimulating conversation is hard. But the simple part of happiness is that it mostly exists right under your own roof. You don’t have to go anywhere.

My young family is easing into another stage, another chapter, less about sippy cups and more about homework and baseball practice. And happiness now is seeing how interesting and funny and loved my kids are, their little personalities oozing out of every pore, their enthusiasm and sense of humor making me feel less alone then I did in the early days. Looking at them makes me feel like I am already on a journey. With them. With who they will become. They are more interesting – more meaningful – then any trip I could ever take. They are my ancient ruins and my waterfall, my hammock and my vineyard.  They are a terra firma all their own.

I learned that the four walls you are surrounded by every day and the people in them are a much better barometer of happiness then the glossy pages of a travel magazine. The crazy dance parties while you wait for spaghetti to boil, the snuggles first thing in the morning with chocolate milk cups and lovey blankets, reading one more board book when you are bone tired but you still notice your toddler belly laugh again and again at the snake behind the flap in their favorite lift-the-flap book. These things sit just a little deeper in my heart then Minding the Gap and tasting French butter.

They don’t have a brochure for parenthood. There are no travel agents for being a mother. Your itinerary may look the same on the surface of everyday, but if you look closely, there are new, spectacular things happening right under your nose. Their first bike ride, the rosiness in their cheeks after they’ve been playing in the yard, when they eat lobster with you or ask you about infinity or how crayons are made. It’s magic.

The rituals of your every day life, in the same old surroundings with Lincoln logs and Cheerios scattered on the floor more days than you care to admit, are happiness within the strain. Joy within the fatigue. It is hard to see. But the ordinary life stuff might just be better then the trip of a life time, when all is said and done.

Love is its own destination.

**We won staying at a house in Dinan, in the Brittany Region, at an auction for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and the money we spent will go to fund the medicines they are researching to extend their time with their families and improve their quality of life. If you want to learn more about this cause, click here

Greek Al Fresco Lunch

 

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What kind of food blogger would I be if I threw a lunch for our families that was easy and delicious, took 20 minutes to cook, looked gorgeous all spread out, went great with white wine, and I didn’t share it with you?

Seriously, I posted before (complete with horrible photos that did not weather the transition to the upgrade of this website well) about how much we love Pork Souvlaki. We call them Greek Tacos because they are a similar concept and level of ease as the South American variety. But the flavors are my favorite!

So when my oldest son RJ made his First Communion a few weeks ago, and all of our families were coming over to celebrate afterwards, I decided to do a greek spread with the souvlaki since it can feed a crowd and it is so quick to make. And it just can’t get any easier then opening packages of hummus and tabouleh and putting lemony tangy pork in a pita with some feta and tzatziki sauce.

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I should throw in that I have had a steep learning curve trying to throw food parties with small children.

If you have never tried to do it, imagine trying to be a line order cook at a restaurant in the dinner hour and a preschool teacher at the same time. 

If that sounds hard, it is.

It has to be simple. But the food lover in me really wants it to be good too. And pretty. Can we get pretty too or is that too greedy?

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Not with this spread.

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IMG_0101^^I am obsessed with aged goat cheese right now.  Learn more about them here.

I cubed and marinated the pork the night before. The morning of, I made the orzo pasta salad while the meat cooked, which took 20 minutes. You can do the pasta salad the day before too though, obv.

Then add these sides:

Pita Bread

Olives

Tabouleh

Hummas

Feta

Tzatziki Sauce (yougurt with dill and cucumbers). For Ina Garten’s recipe for this click here

Cucumbers, Tomatos, Mint, Mixed Greens

My husband likes to use romaine lettuce instead of a pita for a low carb version. 

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After the ceremony we were starving but it really only took me a few minutes to set everything out while the kids played in the back yard.

 I used white kitchen towels from Target as napkins and I loved them – I can totally picture them with cute ribbons and napkin rings in the future, but since this was entertaining with kids, setting them in a bucket is a victory.IMG_0105

Our whole family had such a special day together and we were so happy for RJ! We had lots of full bellies and full hearts.

And to my amazing Greek friends, I know you can cook Greek food about a THOUSAND times better then this, but let the people with small kids eat your yummy flavors via store bought sides.

And, of course, let them eat cake.

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Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

 

Pork Souvlaki (printer version for Pork Souvlaki and Orzo Salad here):

If you can find Basile’s Pork Souvlaki seasoning mix, making pork souvlaki is as easy as marinating 2 lbs. of pork tenderloin with:

4 T. of Souvlaki seasoning
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup of olive oil

If you can’t find it, follow this recipe I got from allrecipes.com:

  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 4 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes

Marinate for 2-3 hours, then cook the meat on the stovetop:

 

Orzo Salad with Feta: another summertime backyard favorite, travels well.

  • 1 lb package of orzo, cooked and drained according to package
  • 8 oz. of feta, crumbled
  • 1 package of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 jar of drained, pitted kalamata olives
  • 1 cucumber, sliced and quartered
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced
  • 1 bottle light Greek or Italian dressing
  • 2 T mint, chopped (Optional)

Toss all ingredients together and serve hot, room temperature or cold. Enjoy!

All Around the Web

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The view from our favorite beach over the weekend. It reminds me of a quote I love:                                “The cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen

I have a few deadlines I am working on this week so I thought I would share some interesting tidbits I found around the www for your reading pleasure.

// This amazing clip I saw about the book called 10% Happier on Charlie Rose. (I love Charlie Rose so much and secretly want his job, just to talk to interesting people all day long). It is with Dan Harris, who was a newscaster for Good Morning America who had a panic attack on air with 5 million viewers and in his quest to figure out why, he eventually found meditation.  His book recounts how meditating 5 to 10 minutes everyday has changed his life. Paying attention, being more aware, has made him a better father, husband, person.

// I don’t watch the Bachelor. Or espouse any of Amy Schumer’s views. But this made me laugh for days and I think I should tune in stat.

//While we are on the subject of Amy Schumer, my husband was watching Bill Nighy the Science Guy on TV and thought it was a real piece. But instead it was the funniest skit (not PG! turn down volume due to a few swears in there) where he explains the universe on her show on Comedy Central. More laughing for days.

// Paulo Coelho, one of my favorite authors who penned The Alchemist shares such inspiring advice for writers in Time magazine but I think they apply to everyone.

//This post on Slow Parenting speaks to my heart.

//I just discovered this family with 4 kids who bought a farm and now raise free range meat. They are basically living my dream, and how gorgeous are the photos from their site?

//This NY Times article by an anthropologist dissecting the Upper East Side culture was an interesting read. And I can’t wait to see the new Odd Mom Out show about a mom who doesn’t fit into that particular tribe.

//Break open your tissues and your hearts for this clip with Jack Black and Felix, a Ugandan boy who is a homeless orphan who just wants an education.

//Do you miss Colbert as much as I do? Here he is from a while back interviewing one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott.

//We are going to France in a few weeks, and are researching what to do the 3 days we are in Paris. Let me know if you have any suggestions! So far I am just planning to do everything on this list from Ina Garten on where to eat and shop. I also found this article about dining in Paris with kids from one of my favorite food writers, Ann Mah. And if we get to sneak out for one night with just us (my father in law is coming!), were are going to try one of these restaurants.

Hope you are having a lovely week!

Katie

Creamy Roast Beef & Avocado Wrap

It is that time of year again, when cooking is the last thing you want to do, and running to the beach and lake and picnic and backyard lulls you into ignoring everything else on your to do list.

Enter wraps. With lots of flavor. They are great for parties, picnics, or just lunch for one out on the deck.

I was thinking these summer thoughts and I remembered a creamy, vinegary roast beef wrap I had 8 years ago. I don’t even know where I got the recipe but it was an actual recipe, and I used to make these when we would pack a cooler to go to the horse races in Saratoga Springs (where we lived for 5 years) or to the lake.

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The reason why I had a craving for them eight years later is because this is not just any roast beef wrap. You take the roast beef and you toss it with a dressing made of cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and oil. And if you are like me, anything that has a vinegar kick to it tends to stay in the memory and put down deep, deep roots.

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Then you add in creamy avocado and the moisture from the oil and tartness from the vinegar, and it all mixes together to make a texture that is unlike anything I’ve ever had. Add in some crunchy scallions and it is perfection.IMG_6210

In fact, I may or may not have searched through two huge recipe binders to look for it.

Just. For. You.

(Ok maybe a little bit for me too.)

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I also don’t think the original recipe called for horseradish cheddar cheese, so if you don’t have it no worries, it is still delicious. But I had some and it is just perfect on this wrap. I will be dreaming of these until the next time I have an excuse to make them. Trust me if you or anyone in your crew like roast beef, you will cement this into your summer menus. 
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Wraps are also so great for entertaining. You can make them ahead, no one is intimidated and most people can find something they like. Maybe even love with these other flavorful wrap ideas:

{Turkey with thinly sliced cheddar, apples and mango chutney mayo (mix the mayo with the chutney and spread on wrap)}

{Chicken, bacon and shredded white cheddar with avocado cilantro yogurt dressing like this one. SO good.}

{Chicken salad mixed with curry mayo and grapes}

{Buffalo chicken salad with chopped celery and blue cheese dressing}

{Asian Wraps with Shredded Chicken, Carrots, Scallions, lettuce and Sesame Ginger Dressing}

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Creamy Roast Beef and Avocado Wrap (printer version here):

Makes 3-4 wraps

1 package 9″ tortillas or your favorite flat bread (I used whole wheat Flatbread brand)

1/3 c. olive oil (or canola oil)

3 Tbs. cider vinegar

1 Tbs. dijion mustard

3/4 lb. roast beef – shaved is great or slice it into strips

2 avocados, peeled and cubed

2 scallions, chopped

1/4 salt, dash of pepper

4 sliced or horseradish cheddar

Whisk together oil, vinegar, and mustard. Add other ingredients and toss together. Put on a tortilla with cheese and wrap.