Lucy & Michael Family

OVER THE EDGE

2010-02-16T15:59:00.000-08:00

So today we really should write something about Fat Tuesday or Presidents' Day or spring or celebrating something or other. But all we can do is relay a little story that we bet you might find familiar.

Yesterday, being Presidents' Day, and being, of course, excited and pleased that our little chickadees would be home from school, we embarked on a small adventure. Because it was unusually cold here in Texas (high-40s for some may not be very cold - for us it shuts things down), our outing to the park was rescheduled for Chuck E Cheese's. We're not huge fans. But the children are, and friends would be there, so off we went.

Two hours later, $60 poorer, we headed to meet more friends at another favorite - Chick-fil-A. After all, the kids were out of school. Shouldn't they get to go where they wanted to go?

We didn't fully realize the toll all the indoor excitement was taking on the elders in the crew. Until we tried to tell a friend where to meet us for lunch, and out came, "Chuck E. fil-A". Oh boy. When does school start again?

BON TEMPS

2010-02-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Lots of celebrating going on! This past Tuesday was "Dat Tuesday" in New Orleans, in honor of those terrific Saints. And this coming Tuesday is Fat Tuesday, ending several weeks of Mardi Gras-style debauchery.

In honor of all of the above, we're decorating our trees with Mardi Gras beads (great fun for the kids to throw plastic beads into the backyard trees with abandon - it's a party!) and eating Red Beans and Rice. Here's our recipe.

RED BEANS & RICE

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 pound dried red beans, rinsed & sorted

1 chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon ground thyme

3 dried bay leaves

4 chopped garlic cloves

1 beef boullion cube

2 links andouille sausage, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon Emeril's Essence spice mix (see recipe below)

In a large stockpot, cover the beans with water. Add baking soda. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for 30 minutes. Rinse. This is a quick-soak method to soften the beans, saving the time of an overnight soak. Set the beans aside.

In the same pot, heat a tiny bit of oil, and saute the onion, pepper, celery, and all spices through the thyme until the vegetables are soft. Add the bay, garlic, and sausage. Cook for 10 minutes at a medium heat. Add the beans, boullion cube, Emeril's spices. Cover all with water (about 1 inch above the beans). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours. Mash some of the beans against the side of the pot (best done with a wooden spoon). Simmer for another 1 1/2 hours or so. Serve over rice (brown rice to make this super-healthy).

EMERIL'S ESSENCE SPICE MIX

from Emeril Lagasse

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all.

KUNG-HSI FA-TS'AI!

2010-02-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! Since it lands this year on the same day as Valentine's Day, we're going to have a Chinese New Year/Valentine dinner. Instead of our traditional Feburary 14 heart-shaped pizza and chocolate, we're having Chinese dumplings, wonton soup, and lo mein - long noodles for long life. Plus something Valentines-y and chocolate at the end.

Since Chinese New Year celebrates the new lunar year and the coming of spring with family, food, and gifts, we've invited the grandparents to our little New Year/Valentine dinner. And since the grandparents love reading to the children, and the children love the stories (or is it the attention they love?), we've gathered a couple of books for them to read while we take the take-out out of the bags.

Our favorite of the books is Ruby's Wish, by Shirin Yim Bridges. Ruby's Wish tells the story of a young girl growing up in old, traditional China whose only wish is to go to university, a privelege reserved for boys. Inspired by Bridges' grandmother's life, the story is a wonderful lesson in Chinese culture and history, appreciating our educational opportunities, and determination.

Happy Valentine's Day, and Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts'ai!

BIRTHDAY BASH: IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING

2010-02-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, 25 6- and 7-year old girls joined us for an early Saturday evening "party in your pj's" bash. Freeze Dance (led by the daddies) was a hit, as were the pinata, silly string, headband decorating, and pizza making. Whew.

With all the giggling and screeching, though, the house never looked better. Our Lucy & Michael banners, along with multi-colored streamers from Party City and a few other odds and ends, set the stage for a really fun time. Take a look...

We hung a "Lucy Pink Banner" and a "Happy Birthday Banner" in the front hall to greet people. An easy and cute way to say, "party!"

On the mantle, we decorated with party hats (Party City again) and a felt ball garland (check back for that story another day), then we hung one of our "Personalized Name Banners" below. The birthday girl loved it. We like all the colors and the way the triangles echo each other.

At the pizza-making station (a.k.a. our kitchen island) we filled glass containers with leftover scraps of streamers.

For favors, we baked cookies onto lollipop sticks and wrapped them with notes that said, "Thank you for celebrating 7 with me!" We stuck them into florists' foam inside a basket, then covered the foam with colorful paper fill. Check back later this week for the cookie & icing recipe!

A HAPPY LUNCH

2010-02-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

It's hard to get lunches right. Grownups want healthy, kids want yummy (and usually nothing that will draw a comment from their lunch buddies). How to make everyone happy?

We've come up with a fantastic recipe for Banana Muffins that everyone loves. The children think they're just yummy muffins, and we can see that they're packed with protein (from wheat germ), fiber (from oatmeal), and fruit (you guessed it).

A bonus from making these muffins is that you make a batch of 15 and freeze them. Take one out in the morning to pack in the lunchbox, and it's defrosted by the time lunch rolls around. Easy, healthy, delicious. That's a happy lunch.

BANANA MUFFINS

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oats (not quick-cooking)

3/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 2 very ripe bananas)

1/2 cup lowfat or skim milk

1 egg

1 egg white

1/3 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups. This recipe makes about 15 muffins, so you may need to use one whole tin plus part of another.

Sift together the first 7 ingredients, through salt. Stir in the oatmeal and wheat germ.

In another bowl, mix the banana, milk, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. If you're feeling fun, add about 3 chocolate chips to each muffin. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, until the muffins just begin to look toasty. Your house will smell fantastic.

One more thing...while we hate to plug Pottery Barn, as they did copy our playtent (argh), we must say that they do sell great little plastic boxes that are perfect for toting muffins to school in a lunchbox.

IT'S NOT SPRING YET...

2010-02-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

but it's right around the corner. Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather-predicting groundhog, saw his shadow today and predicts six more weeks of winter. That's fine, because we're starting a spring garden right in our kitchens.

We just bought and set up a seed starting kit. Whoever knew growing things from seeds could be so much fun? You're probably ahead of us and know about these kits, but they're all new to us. On a whim (while running in for a new garden hose), we bought two kits from Home Depot last weekend. Surely you can find these at any garden or home store, probably online as well. So they come with square, plastic grids filled with little freeze-dried pellets of dirt. Pour a measured amount of water into the grids - be sure to have your children right there - and, like magic, the dirt absorbs the water and "grows" to fill the little squares. Then, open the seed packets you brought home with the kit and place 1 - 2 seeds in each square. Cover the whole thing with the plastic top, creating a little greenhouse, and watch. Our seeds sprouted in a very short time - 4 days, maybe. Quick enough to keep everyone interested and excited.

Also cool - the saplings grow toward the light. Amazing, isn't it? So when we rotate the boxes under the under-counter lights in the kitchen, the plants seem to move. And, the kits came with charts where we recorded what kind of seed each little box holds, so that we can keep track. We're trying peas, basil, dill, tomatoes, and green beans.

Once the plants start to thrive, we'll take them in the back yard and start a garden. Hopefully we'll make it that far! We'll let you know...

If you have any experience with growing seeds - or anything on the gardening with kids front, for that matter - please, we would love to hear it!

A TASTE TEST

2010-01-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

On a quick trip to the grocery last Monday to pick up something nondescript to make for dinner, we ran into what the store called a "Citrus Fest", or what we called a gigantic push to sell oranges of all kinds. It worked.

The oranges all looked so bright and unusual. We didn't know which ones to buy but didn't want to just stay safe and buy our standby navel oranges. So we did something a little different. We bought two or three of each kind. Yes, we bought a lot of oranges. But all those oranges turned our Monday night dinner into something a little special.

Before everyone came home, we segmented the oranges, putting most of the segments into a large container to make a Grapefruit & Orange Salad (click here for our recipe), and setting aside on a plate five segments of each type of orange. We snipped the store labels with the names of each orange and taped them to the plate rim, using them to identify the different kinds of orange segments. And after dinner, we had a dessert taste test. Everyone was engaged, everyone had their favorite (and their least favorite), and lively conversation ensued. It was just what Monday night dinner should be.

BE THE HOLIDAY DJ

2009-12-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

Old and tired holiday standbys these aren't. Turn up the volume, gather everyone together, and have a family holiday party, just for your little crew. Or, use these as a jumping-off point and download a bunch of newish holiday songs to your iPod, bring it to your sister's or mother's, and be the favorite festive DJ.

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Ray Charles
Christmas Don't Be Late, Alvin & The Chipmunks
Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley
Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Weezer
Christmas Time Is Here, George Winston
Frosty the Snowman, Willie Nelson
Last Christmas, Glee Cast
You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch, The Brian Stetzer Orchestra
Oh Good Grief, Vince Guaraldi Trio
The Chrismas Song, Catherine Feeny

and PLEASE don't forget...

Christmas in Hollis, Run-DMC (remember, "It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. Mom's cookin' chicken and collard greens...")

A TRAY OF (SUGARY) TREATS

2009-12-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

We love to give neighbors and friends easy, homemade treats for the holidays. We especially like giving the treats in, on, or with something that can be kept and used again - a classic white tray, a Nambe heart-shaped bowl, a copper cookie cutter, a sillicone spatula. This year, we chose not to actually bake, but to put together a plate of super-easy candy treats. If you're a dentist, stop reading now.

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups smooth peanut butter (not the natural kind)

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup Rice Krispies

12 ounces chocolate chips

Beat together the first 4 ingredients, starting at slow speed for about a minute, then at high speed for about 3 more minutes. Stir in the Rice Krispies. Roll into 1-inch balls and freeze on a foil- or wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Once the balls are frozen, melt the chocolate chips. You can do this over a double boiler, but our favorite way is to put them in a glass bowl and microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between each interval. This should take about 1 1/2 minutes. Using two forks or toothpicks, dip the balls in the chocolate. Replace onto the cookie sheet, and freeze again. (You can first add sprinkles or silver dragees if you'd like.) Yum.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

from a Paula Deen recipe

1 stick plus 6 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cold water

1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 ounces milk chocolate chips

Line a rimmed cookie sheet with heavy-duty foil. Over medium-high heat, combine first 3 ingredients. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do this with a wooden spoon so as not to burn your hands!). Stop stirring, and continue cooking until mixture reaches 305 degrees on a candy thermometer. The color will be dark amber. Work quickly, as this will burn fast (experience), and remove from heat. Stir in the pecans and vanilla. Pour onto the cookie sheet and spread to a 1/4-inch thickness. Let cool slightly (about 4 minutes). Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. When they have melted, spread them evenly over the toffee. Cool, then pop in the freezer. Lift the foil out of the pan, and break the toffee into pieces. Yum again.

CARAMEL POPCORN

2 bags microwave popcorn, popped
1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts

1/2 cup roasted cashews

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

Line a cookie sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the popcorn, peanuts, and cashews in a layer on the sheet. In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the next 4 ingredients to a boil. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 245 on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes. Quickly, pour the caramel over the popcorn, peanuts, and cashews. Make sure everything's pretty well covered, before it gets good and crunchy. Try telling your family this is a gift and will not stay in the house.

A QUICK TIP

2009-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Just a very quick endorsement, because we always love getting a great tip.

Fine details are not necessary, but Febreeze is amazing at freshening up sofas that have been victimized by a surprise session of throwing up (this, of course, after many "couch air flips" immediately following dinner on Saturday night while employing an adorable 13-year-old babysitter, resulting in a phone call that very effectively halts grown-up holiday festivity by saying, "come home NOW, Mommy!").

If this ever happens to you, send whatever can be removed to the dry cleaner, and spray the heck out of the rest with Febreeze. We were amazed.

A PERFECT TEACHER GIFT

2009-12-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

Our friend just gave us the best idea ever for holiday gifts for our teachers. If you're still undecided (as we were moments ago) about what to give, consider this: gift certificates at a Whole Foods- or Trader Joe's-like store. The cards themselves are clever, printed with little sayings like "peas on earth," and they often come in cute and environmentally friendly paper sleeves. Wrap in cellophane if you want, or just tie on a ribbon, and include a tag that says, "Lunch is on me! Love, Lucy". The teacher can either actually have lunch during the break, or she can use the card toward the purchase of groceries, flowers, bath products - maybe even a bottle of wine.

WHAT ARE WE HAVING FOR DESSERT?

2009-12-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

Why have our kids suddenly decided that dessert is something that comes after every dinner? Could it be that chocolate-chip banana bread that our sweet friend brought for a holiday treat? Or maybe the box - yes, an entire box - of assorted homemade cookies we brought home from the cookie exchange party last weekend? Or maybe it's the toffee we're making to give to friends? Oh, the holidays.

Well here's a good answer to all that dessert craziness. This is just a good, healthy dessert or snack to keep around this winter, while the citrus is so gorgeous. Children will love it, and so will you.

GRAPEFRUIT & ORANGE SALAD

(you don't have to actually say the word "salad" to the kids)

grapefruit

oranges

dried, sweetened cranberries

To remove the peel and membranes from the grapefruit and oranges, work one piece of fruit at a time. Cut off the top and bottom of the fruit, and stand it upright. Cut down following the curve of the fruit, removing the rind and all of the white pith in thick strips. Once the peel and pith is removed, slice as close as you can between the membrane and the fruit, making angled cuts to release the segments.

Once you've removed all the orange and grapefruit segments sans membranes, cut them in half and toss them in a bowl with the dried cranberries. Refrigerate for a while, as the cranberries and juice will mix together to plump the berries and sweeten the citrus. Once all of this comes together, you really won't believe it's just fruit that you're eating. Best part - neither will your kids.

LITTLE GIFTS

2009-12-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

The big presents are easy - puppies, dollhouses, Lucy & Michael playtents (!). What's challenging for us is finding all those little gifts to stuff thier stockings or to open each night of Hanukkah. In the spirit of keeping things simple and old-school, here are a few ideas that we're actually using ourselves this year. We think they'll be fun to open and provide some great opportunities for family fun over the holidays.

A grab-bag filled with clear, colorful, beginner chopsticks and a set of magnets shaped like sushi. We'll have siblings open the bags on the same night of Hanukkah, before dinner, and then serve take-out Chinese (or sushi if they'll go for it). If you're in Houston, stop by Kuhl-Linscomb on West Alabama and Kirby, which is the amazing store where we got our Asian-inspired sussies - this would be our favorite store even if they didn't carry Lucy & Michael playtents and bags!

What kid doesn't love a party in the tub? We're also giving Lush Handmade Cosmetics' Snowcake Shower Gel. It smells like almonds and sugar, and the name is definitely a winner with kids. They'll be clean and this should provide a good 30 to 45 minutes of fun in the tub (even more if you live somewhere like Texas and there's a chance that the weather will be warm enough to take the whole thing outside with a garden hose). Buy it here.

Okay, we have to say it. Lucy & Michael aprons really make an adorable gift when monogrammed (take one to your favorite monogrammer) or paired with something clever like cookie decorations (here are some great ones from Williams-Sonoma) to prompt an afternoon together in the kitchen.

http://lucyandmichael.com/items.asp?id=3

And we're sorry to keep touting ourselves (but, gosh, we've got some cute things!), but we're also giving Lucy & Michael tote bags with new Jellycat Bunglie Pigs inside. You can buy the pigs at Oompa Toys (another store we'd love even if they weren't selling Lucy & Michael playtents!). We think these little bundles will be perfect to take to Grandma's house and hope that the children will be excited enough to spend the night out (we're really craving a movie night!).

GETTING CARDED

2009-12-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things about the holidays is opening the mail. Every day brings a new crop of holiday cards with smiling faces, some of which we haven't seen since last year's cards. We love seeing the new babies, where everyone's traveled, and who's lost their teeth.

So what to do with all those cards? We've tried piling them into a big bowl, but we never feel like they quite get the attention they each deserve.

Propping them up on a mantle or table is a disaster as soon as some little person runs by fast enough to create a breeze. And so, a few ideas from friends on displaying all the merry-wishes...

Go on a hunt for a good-looking, substantial, fallen branch. Clean it up and attach picture hangars to its back, then hang it on the wall. Use invisible wire to hang cards (with holes punched in their tops) at different levels. If you're feeling colorful, intersperse a few different-sized ornament balls hanging among the cards.

Without getting too crafty, put together a simple mobile out of invisible wire, some crossed sticks or straightened-out hangers, and clothespins. Clip the cards to the sticks or hangers a few at a time.

Paperclip the cards to the greenery in garlands, whether on the mantle, banisters, wreaths, or all of the above.

And, finally, our favorite...Simply tie ribbon around the banister. Punch holes in the tops and bottoms of every card that comes in (our kids love to do this each day). Use ornament hangers to hang the cards from the ribbon, and then from each other.

Super-easy and cleaned-up. The kids check out the stairs daily to see what's new and study all the faces. What's not to love?

IT'S NICE TO SHARE

2009-12-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

We've been saying it since day one. First to the babies, gently, to encourage them to give us whatever it is that they're playing with, only so we can give it right back and say, "Thank you!" Then to the toddlers, hoping that asking them to share a toy truck won't prompt an all-out kicking and screaming revolt. And then - and this phase seems like it's going to last a long, long time - to the big kids, begging, "Please, please share with your sister."

So much teaching. At lunch the other day, a friend said that when she had her babies, she envisioned an adorable, pink-cheeked, chubby baby-filled life. She said nobody (Mom???) told her how hard some days would be, and how sometimes she'd feel like it was just getting harder and harder, and how she'd say the same thing over and over and over ("share with your brother") seemingly to the walls. It was actually quite a funny conversation, which ended in a very yummy slice of chocolate cake and a glass of wine (at lunch!), but that's another story.

So back to the teaching. And the sharing. December brings one of the most teachable moments out there for sharing. Just about every day, we've been getting letters from nonprofits asking for end-of-year donations, and we've saved a pretty good stack of them. The plan is that when we have a free 30 minutes, we'll hold a family meeting and go through the brochures and letters with the kids. Who knows how meaningful the conversation will get - maybe it will be inspired, maybe it will just be a little humor mom time. Ultimately, we'll all forego one gift - one gift under the Christmas tree, one giftless night of Hanukkah. The money that would have been spent on those gifts will somehow benefit the charity of everyone's collective choice, either as a monetary gift or as items purchased and donated - whatever hits home more for the kids.

Will our great plan mean more sharing inside our homes? Probably not. But maybe one day all of these small lessons and repeatings will build some great people. We can only hope. And in the meantime, let's share another slice of cake.

A SIMPLE SUPPER

2009-12-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

In the rush of December (always?), we find ourselves looking for quick and simple ideas for dinner. Here's a great standby to keep on hand and use whenever you want something healthy and homemade but just don't have the time or energy for complication. Best of all, the slow-roasting tomatoes and garlic will make the house smell like you've made something really special. The taste - mmmmmm - is the final hook!

PASTA with ROASTED TOMATOES & BASIL

12 plum tomatoes
olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

salt & pepper

dried oregano & basil

sugar

pasta

basil

fresh shaved parmesan

Preheat the oven to 250. Cut the tomatoes in half, and take the seeds out with a small paring knife. Arrange the tomato halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle just a little olive oil over the tomatoes, then sprinkle with the garlic, salt & pepper, a few shakes of oregano and basil, and a pinch of sugar. Don't worry about measurements - just be sure each tomato half has a little bit of each element. Leave these to roast in the oven for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until they are a bit brown on the tops and sides. When the tomatoes have roasted, take them out of the oven and loosely wrap the foil around them, forming a packet. Let them sit just like that until you're ready for dinner.

At dinner time, cook the pasta as usual. While it's cooking, pour the tomatoes and their juices into a bowl. Add some fresh basil leaves and chop everything very roughly (best done with kitchen shears). We like to add whatever vegetables we have on hand - frozen peas, leftover broccoli, asparagus. Mix with the pasta, top with parmesan, and dinner's done!

READ ON

2009-12-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

In honor of our very wintry, wet weather here in Texas, we thought we would share some great reads for snuggling by the fireplace (possibly with lots of pillows inside a Lucy & Michael playtent?). These are a few all-time favorites of ours - true gems that everyone in the family will love.

Age ranges are very loose, basically based on our own families. All are as appealing to grown-ups as they are to kids (thank goodness!).

Ages 3 - 8: Arnie the Doughnut, by Laurie Keller. One funky take on a picture book! Kids will love getting to know Arnie and his attempt at challenging his life's purpose - being eaten. Adults will love Keller's witty jokes (a thank you to her editor is set to the old song "Super Freak") and illustrations that are clever and plentiful enough to stay fresh through hundreds of readings. Because you will read this one hundreds of times!

Ages 5 and up: The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo. Maybe you've seen the movie. But if you haven't read this book, run to the bookstore now. No kidding. This is a truly delightful story of a brave mouse and "forgiveness, light, love and soup" (Booklist) - how can you resist? Best read aloud to everyone in the family, from the youngest to the oldest. It's a classic, and you'll smile while you read.

Ages 8 - 12: Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman. A fantastic, funny, totally relatable story of 14-year-old Catherine living in 13th-century England. Told through her diary, this book gives tremendous insight into life for girls in midevil England. Historical fiction thinly veiled by a laugh-out-loud story that will transport young girls and hold them (and their parents) captive.

Ages 8 - 12: Nicholas, by Rene Goscinny. The first in a series originally published in France in 1959, this is a timeless story of adventurous school boys getting in trouble. Their old-school antics are reminiscent of Leave It To Beaver and totally refreshing and new at the same time. Sprinkled with tiny cartoon illustrations from Jean-Jacques Sempe, a much-acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist. Girls and boys both will fall in love with Nicholas.

For the grown-ups: The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. Another book translated from the French bestseller. Months after finishing this book, we're still thinking about the intertwined lives of Renee, a concierge at an exclusive Paris apartment building, and Paloma, an overly precocious 12-year-old. This book made us think about life and class and what's real and what's important more than any other book this year. Read on if at first you don't think you'll love this book, because at the end you surely will. Actually, we're on our way to begin re-reading it right now...

GET INTO THE GROOVE

2009-11-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Music in the house makes everything more fun. Here's our version of a great Thanksgiving mood-setting playlist. It's a little eclectic, but so are our lives (to put that very nicely!). Let us know what you'd add!

Be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast
Kind and Generous, Natalie Merchant
All Around the Kitchen, Dan Zanes
We Are Family, Sister Sledge
Thanksgiving Theme, Vince Guaraldi Trio
Give Thanks and Praise, Bob Marley
Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie, Jay & The Techniques
The Bare Necessities, Jungle Book
Back Home Again, John Denver
Giblet Gravy, George Benson

PUMPKIN JUSTICE

2009-11-19T06:10:00.000-08:00

We know - there are just too many yummy recipes to share and make this time of year. We all have our favorites and our families' favorites (green bean casserole, anyone?). But every once in a while a recipe comes along that's too good not to share and too good not to become a new tradition. Move over, green beans.

PUMPKIN - RAISIN COOKIES

A take on a recipe from Williams-Sonoma, years ago.

Don't be daunted by the long ingredient list - these are super-easy and can be whipped up in minutes.

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

1 cup raisins

Icing

2 ounces cream cheese

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 teaspoons milk (more as needed)

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil, and spray with nonstick spray.

Sift the first 9 ingredients together into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Set both aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater and on medium speed, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy, about 1 minute. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the pumpkin mixture in 2 additions, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture gradually. Beat just until all is combined. Fold in the walnuts and raisins.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 15 minutes, until slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make the icing in an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater. Beat the cream cheese and butter for about 2 minutes, until combined. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the vanilla and milk, adding more milk by 1/2 teaspoons as needed for a thick but pourable consistency.

Place cooled cookies on sheets of wax paper. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the cookies. Refrigerate cookies for 1 hour before serving. Makes about 45 cookies.

THANKS & GIVING

2009-11-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Our children are soooo excited for Thanksgiving. They're already talking about whose cranberries they like best, what kind of after-lunch show they're going to put on with the cousins, and how we should decorate. They're coming home from school with ceramic turkeys and little stories about what makes them most thankful. We love it.

This Thanksgiving, in the midst of all the talk and activity and planning, we thought we'd initiate a new family conversation. So at the dinner table tonight, we're going to talk about Thanksgiving, but we're going to break it down a little. Into Thanks and Giving.

We're going to discuss - as we often do - what we're most thankful for in our lives. But we're also going to discuss that second part of the word - the Giving part. Just to remind the little people (and the big ones, too) how lucky they are to be able to choose whether they want to eat the gorgeous herb-roasted turkey or the cajun-fried one next Thursday. And how it's their responsibility to give to those who don't come even close to having that choice.

In that spirit, here are a few ideas that might inspire a little dinner-time brainstorm at your house. We'd love to hear your additions!

Ask the kids, "What would you most like to see changed in the world? What are two little things we can do together to help?"
Discuss "food insecurity". In Texas, we were surprised to find out that 23.3% of children are "food insecure". Wow. We're a lot more thankful for those turkeys.
Check out these websites: www.feedingamerica.org and www.thevolunteerfamily.org . At Feeding America, you can enter your zip code and learn about opportunities close to home. The Volunteer Family has a fantastic list of ideas specifically for families. A great conversation starter.

IN THE KITCHEN

2009-11-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

It's definitely fall. The season always puts us in an in-the-kitchen kind of mood. Wanting to cook a little more, to warm everything up (just a little - remember, we're in Houston) to fill the house with yummy smells. All of which has just this year brought us to a realization. An obvious but, to us, pretty profound realization. The realization that, really, it all happens here, in the kitchen.

Well, sure, you're probably thinking. After all, everyone is always talking about the kitchen being the heart of a home, the place where everyone gathers, blah, blah, blah. We don't know about you, but we never actually stopped to think about what that all means. In real life.

Until we read Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes, by Emily Franklin. In her fun, familiar, and voyeuristic memoir on expanding the palates of four picky kids and one like-minded husband, Franklin puts into words what hadn't really registered in our minds:

"They (the children) dash off, leaving our basic kitchen - a jumble of shoes, plates, baseball cards and books, art and stick-figure drawings and penmanship practice, a red block, discarded peppers, and empty chowder dishes. The stuff of memories."

So here it is. Messy, at times chaotic, lived in. All that "junk" that we move around and put away and make room for. All those school papers, the art projects, the shoes (the shoes!). At some point, it all winds up here. And with all that junk come the stories about their days and ours, the lessons taught and learned, the plans being made for tomorrow and next week, the "this dinner is great!"'s and the upturned noses. The day-to-day-ness that can be such a hassle but that, when we stop to look at it, is all evidence of a busy, growing, satisfying life lived and shared.

Pretty much, it all happens right here.

Refrigerator art.

Countertops filled with lunchboxes, produce, and ... more art.

Backpacks and one of our good-for-everything

Lucy & Michael Catch Alls. This one holds flash cards,

math games, and practice books.

One lone flop.

THE CANDY FAIRY

2009-11-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Another fun family Halloween tradition. Although this one's after the fact, and it leans just a teeny bit toward the sneaky.

Each November 1 (or 2, or 3, or 4, depending on how generous we are feeling - and how addicted we are to the Almond Joys), the Candy Fairy flits in to pay us a visit. Our children know she is coming, and they are prepared. They've each selected one favorite piece of Halloween candy for every day of the coming week. And they've hidden it so that the Fairy won't have a chance of finding it. The rest, well, it's magically moved on to some other candy bowl.

Note to the Candy Fairy: We like to think that our candy has been donated to make others happy. If you could please send ours to either the US troops overseas at http://www.opgratitude.com/ or to Meals on Wheels for elderly people who can't leave home at http://www.mowaa.org/, we would be grateful!

NEVER TOO MUCH CANDY

2009-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

While we are the first to put our feet down when it comes to the day-to-day whine for sweets, there's just something about October 31 (and several days before and after) that makes us melt like candy, if you'll excuse our pun. So instead of figuring that the children will get way enough candy roaming the streets and keeping our homes fairly clear of it but for the big bowl of giveaways at the door, we decided to just go all out. Pull all the stops. So for dessert, after trick-or-treating (!), we're having good old-fashioned, homemade candy apples.

Hold on. Don't get turned off yet. This isn't the mess that you think it is (at least it's not ALL that bad). This is what our children look forward to year after year. It's one of those traditions that can never be ignored, mostly because the kids will remind us that we "have to, have to" make these apples. "It's just not Halloween if we don't have candy apples," says our 9-year-old in spite of the party we've put together, the costumes, the decorations, etc., etc. Really, next to the jack-o-lantern, candy apples are Halloween for us. Addictingly chewy and crunchy, sweet and tart, and full of all that candy we crave this time of year, they're better than you might think. Give them a try, and see if you don't start your own tradition.

CANDY APPLES

6 medium-sized apples (we like Fuji or McIntosh)

6 approx. 6-inch wooden dowels

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1 12-oz. bag milk chocolate chips

toffee chips

toasted, chopped nuts (we like pecans)

chopped dried fruit (try apricots or cherries)

Halloween sprinkles - lots of them!

Wash the apples in very hot water, making sure that you remove any wax stuck to the skins. Poke the tops of each apple with a wooden dowel. In a heavy saucepan, bring the cream, sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil. Continue cooking over medium heat until the temperature reaches 245 on a candy thermometer (a great thing to have). This should take about 10 minutes.

One by one, dip the apples in the caramel, swirling them to coat. Let them cool a bit on wax paper sprayed with cooking spray.

While the apples cool just a little (not all the way), melt the chocolate chips, either in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-second bursts, stirring after each round until the chocolate is melted and pourable. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the caramel apples, using a spoon (alternatively, you can dip the entire apple into the chocolate, creating a layered chocolate caramel apple).

Keep a broom handy, and let the kids go sprinkling on toffee chips, nuts, dried fruits, and, of course, the ubiquitous sprinkles. Transfer apples to a serving platter. Let them cool completely in the refrigerator. You can either serve them cut into slices (we prefer this - less messy!) or whole on the sticks. Whee!

BOO!

2009-10-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Two days before Halloween, and we're in a spooky mood. The beautiful handmade Lucy & Michael BOO! banners are hanging right next to the creepy (and very plastic) moaning ghosts, the costumes have been worn already to a pre-Halloween party and are ready to go again, and the candy is waiting (in unopened bags, thank goodness!) at the door. We've got pumpkins coming out of our pumpkins. Literally. Take a look at this fantastic "Pumpkin Man" our 5-year-old came up with. (We have to be creative here in Texas with no snow for snowmen.)

The small creator of this jolly Pumpkin Man was entirely in charge of the project. She searched the farmer's market for close to an hour to find the perfect large, medium, and small pumpkins to make the body. They had to have fairly flat tops, enough so that they would be stackable, and they had to have just the right grooves to fit her mind's eye view of her man. Then, very methodically, with Sharpie markers, buttons from our art collection, googly eyes, and lots of glue, our little artist brought Pumpkin Man to life. We crowned him with a bunch of shredded metallic green stuffing (truly, we have no idea when or how this stuff landed in our home, which goes to show that pack-ratting can actually come in handy sometimes). We fully endorse a last-minute trip to the pumpkin patch to create your own little man or woman. This one has prompted so much pride from our artist and so many giggles from neighbors, friends, even the mailman. How could you not smile at this guy?

WELCOME!

2009-10-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

We are so glad you've come to hang out a bit. We're not really in-the-know bloggers (is that a word?), and we're not sure we get this whole concept, but here we are anyway in hopes that we can share a little fun.

First, a little about us...

Lucy & Michael started out selling beautiful playtents for children and their families. (We say "and their families," because lots of parents bring our tents home because they fall in love with them first. Of course, the kids follow suit.) While in the big scheme of the world, we're still a teeninecy operation, we've grown tons. Take a look at us on www.lucyandmichael.com.

What we've noticed is that everything we make, and everything we hope to make (hint, hint - more to come!) is based around a central theme - having fun with family. Making memories and traditions together. We're not talking about trekking to the Galapogos Islands (although that would be a great memory). Nor are we talking perfection (we think messy is interesting, anyway). We're talking about focusing on the small, everyday goings on that make our lives what they are.

So, here we are.

We'll share thoughts on holidays, recipes, books, tips we've been privy to...basically, we'll share thoughts on life. Life with kids and beyond. And on making the most of it together.