Zeno's Bar & Grill

My brother’s friend Nora introduced me to a holiday delicacy known to her family as Norka Dogs and to the rest of the world as pigs in a blanket. Well, according to the New York Times this lowly, but incredibly tasty, treat is the latest taste sensation at chic black tie cocktail parties all over Manhattan. Of course instead of Oscar Meyer Wieners and Pillsbury Crescent Rolls chefs are rolling out andouille sausage wrapped in poppy seed studded phyllo dough. I wonder what the next hot food will be. Spam au poivre anyone?

--Kelly

Last week I went to Pennsylvania to visit my family. It was a fantastic trip, though even if it wasn’t good I couldn’t say anything bad because they all read this blog. One of the highlights was going to the Hookstown Fair. Having grown up in rural PA, I had been to quite a few of these types of agricultural fairs, but this was the first for my kids and husband. They loved it. Except of course for the display of prize-winning gourds that I found strangely fascinating. We rode on rides of questionable safety, got suckered on the midway games, and pigged out on the items in the title. The Bucket ‘o Fries was a plastic bucket about the size of a child’s sand bucket. It cost $8 and could be refilled for only 5! We didn’t refill it there, though we did later have it filled with sirloin tips and mushrooms, which were shockingly good. The deep fried Twinkie was just that. Battered and cooked in hot oil and served with caramel sauce it was dee-licous! Also offered, but not tried, were deep fried Oreos and Snickers. Maybe next year.

--Kelly

Yesterday’s NY Times has an article on mini-fashionistas who thirst for the likes of Juicy Couture and Baby Phat. The poster girl for the article is a four-year old New York girl who is shown on the front page of the Thursday Styles section surrounded by her various designer pieces, and then later in the article, getting a pedicure.

The front page photo makes her look very much as if she's just been plunked down by an adult who arranged all her belongings on and around her, a sort of microcosm of the whole debate. I, for one, find it very hard to believe that this four-year old "has a mind of her own" when it comes to choosing designer clothes, as her mother claims. She's probably getting the idea from somewhere...um, like the mom who volunteered her for this article, maybe?

I guess it could all be written off as good, girly, fashion fun if the clothes weren’t so dang expensive. The whole thing just feels like another assault by the marketing machine.

The other problem seems to be that so many of the clothes are miniature versions of adult outfits. Even the editor of Cookie, a magazine that glorifies children’s high end fashion, had this to say, “You get this idea that there is a kind of lost innocence…the gap is diminishing between what’s meant for children and what’s intended for their elders. I find that a little sad.”

I guess I’m lucky that my biggest problem these days is convincing my daughter that knee socks really do look eccentric with shorts.

--Melanie

Pull up a chair and pop open a Pacifico. It's time for Thirsty Thursday. Join us if you want, invite a friend, and/or come back next week when we'll have a new Special. Today’s theme…Back to school

What will you miss most about kids going back to school?

Kelly: Well, the kids of course, but also not having to schlep them from place to place and having long, luxurious days without any place to go.

Melanie: The late starts in the morning. I can hardly imagine how we are going to be ready by eight o’clock every day. Time to start resetting the ol’ circadian clock.

Least?

Kelly: Long, luxurious days without any place to go.

Melanie: Having to apply sunscreen all the time!

And of course, everyone's favorite question. What will you do with all of your free time?

Kelly: Not sure yet. I'm going to continue with my tennis and try to get in a yoga class. Also, I'll finally be able to start writing again.

Melanie: Hmmm…well, with all twelve hours of it? Yeah, like Kelly, I plan to do as much writing as I can.

Next week is the last of the summer series I’ve been running. In a miraculous, last minute development, I cut about a minute off my time for a 25:33 race—fastest I’ve done all summer. Guess it goes to show if you start something and stick to it…

--Melanie

In the annals of best birthday’s 16, 21, 26 (when I got engaged), 35 has rocketed its way up there. I awoke to 35 miniature Tyrannosaurus Rexes on my front lawn with a sign proclaiming my birthday to all who ventured into our cul-de-sac. Then, taking a page from friend X’s book I told the kids to find something to do while I read Wicked all morning (Much better than the musical). My husband came home early from work and I got to open presents (which got returned later that day in exchange for something I picked out on my own that came in a fetching blue box!). We then all went to dinner at La Bella Winnetka a fantastic Italian place with beautiful al fresco dining and the best Linguini and Clam Sauce I’ve ever had. Then home to a cake and bed for the kids, or so I thought until I opened the door. “Surprise!” All of my dear friends were there (except Jenny who was on vacation :-( ) with a delicious organic cake from Sweet Dreams Bakery and presents! My husband and friends put together a fantastic birthday party for me and best of all I didn’t have to do any of the work. It was such a great day it almost makes me look forward to turning 40!

--Kelly

Pull up a chair and pop open a Pacifico. It's time for Thirsty Thursday. Join us if you want, invite a friend, and/or come back next week when we'll have a new Special. Today’s theme…in honor of Kelly’s big day…Birthdays

Worst thing to happen on your birthday?

Melanie: Ummm…getting one year older? I can’t really remember any major birthday mishaps, but that doesn’t mean much, since I have a terrible memory anyway. I could have had some awful experience but just blocked it out. Sorry, folks.

Kelly: Having my appendix taken our when I was 11.

Have you ever been thrown a surprise party? Were you surprised?

Melanie: Okay, this I do remember. It was my sixteenth birthday, and it was at my best friend’s house. And, yes, I was really surprised. Mostly I remember feeling flattered that everyone would go to so much trouble. That was one time in high school that I definitely felt cool.

Kelly: My husband has surprised me twice. Once when I was pregnant with our first child and I was 100% completely surprised. And then again, last night.

Best present ever?

Melanie: Last year, my friend Katharine and her husband came up from Pasadena over my birthday weekend and brought my favorite cake, which is the Swedish Princess cake (complete with green marzipan all over the top). We all had dinner, and Katharine cooked for a bunch of our friends. I definitely felt like my birthday was a big deal that year, and that was the best present I can remember. The cake was really good, too!

Kelly: My husband surprised me the morning of my birthday with 35 foot high dinosaurs assembled on our front lawn.

As usual, I’m way behind the curve. It all started…oh, about ten years ago, when I used to see my sister-in-law washing her Ziploc bags for re-use. I used to think it was pretty weird.

Fast forward to 2006 and I finally get a clue. Our city has curbside mixed recycling, so our recycling hasn’t been so bad, but still…we could do better. I think my new awareness started when I saw An Inconvenient Truth, cliché though that may be. When I used the calculator on their website, I was surprised and relieved to find that our household carbon dioxide production is below average. As best I can tell, this is a lucky coincidence resulting from living in a warm climate, having a miniscule house (by default more than choice) and short commutes.

Then, on the recommendation of my friend Daniel, I read the recent devastating series in the L.A. Times about the state of the world’s oceans. This should be required reading for anyone who cares about the world their kids will inherit. When I got to the section about the great Pacific Garbage Patch, it was all over. This thing is the size of Texas, and it’s getting bigger every day. An editorial in the L.A. Times warns of the coming “Tsunami of Trash.” According to one report, there are 46,000 pieces of plastic floating for every square mile of the world’s oceans.

Unfortunately, as a parent in modern America, I’ve probably inadvertently done my share of contributing to the plastic problem on land and sea. It’s hard not to, when every birthday party brings a new avalanche of plastic toys, which will quickly break and become useless.

So, now, I’m on a mission. My new slogan is Boycott Non-recyclable Plastic. I’m paying more attention than ever to what can and can’t be recycled, and my goal is to eliminate the bad plastics from our lives as much as possible. I feel really lucky to live in a city that makes recycling easy. And, yes, I’m washing those Ziploc bags. I still haven’t quite won my kids over to the concept of no-gift birthday parties, but I’m a’tryin’.

What about you? Any great tips or tricks for reducing the impact of a family in the modern era?

--Melanie

One little confession about our weekend trip to Madison in honor of my approaching 35th birthday. As I mentioned, Madison is a college town. While we were there it brought back lots of great college memories for me and I was thinking that if I ditched the husband and two kids I would fit seamlessly into the scene. My dream was shattered when childless and husbandless for a moment I went to a coffee shop and was greeted with, “May I help you, Ma’am?”

Of course last night Carolyn and Jenny took me out for my birthday and we were all carded. So either I need to stay in the suburbs or the waitress was looking for a good tip!

--Kelly

Except for the, um, THIRTY HOUR TRAIN RIDE, our trip to Oregon for a family reunion was great. Actually, even the train wasn’t so bad. We had a sleeping compartment and could also spend time doing the various activities on board, from watching a movie to wine tasting to “dining,” if you want to call it that.

We stayed at the Sunriver resort, which has more stuff to do than you can shake an old-growth pine stick at. My favorite day was the one where our family of five biked to a marina and rented a canoe to paddle six miles down a pristine river, then biked through more gorgeous scenery on the way back to the resort.

On the other days, we managed to squeeze in whitewater rafting (that's my oldest right in the middle of the raft), swimming, hot tubbing, more biking, massages at the spa and lots of eating, but somehow missed the horseback riding, rock climbing, golf and bazillions of other activities. Oh well, next time.

All in all, it’s a really fun place to visit, and a big part of it for me was being with a big group of family. We had about twenty people—from my eighty year old grandma to a ten month old baby cousin. We were constantly in and out of each other’s rooms, cooking big meals and generally hanging out. Maybe next time we’ll try it with friends—Kelly, are you up for it?

But I think we’ll skip the train.

--Melanie

Research finally confirms what we’ve long suspected: Moms who diet may provide a negative role model for their kids. According to an article making the rounds in yesterday’s papers, a study from Harvard Medical School shows that frequent dieting by mothers was associated with frequent dieting by their daughters, along with the accompanying negative body image anxiety.

Another study found that even 5-year-old girls were aware of dieting and weight loss strategies if their mothers were dieters. Doesn’t that seem kind of sad?

On the other hand, there is an abundance of articles about overweight children, and even infants, exhorting parents to instill healthy eating habits. This might seem inconsistent with the anti-dieting message, but there’s a big difference between healthy eating habits and constantly obsessing about losing five pounds or being filled with self hatred about your thunder thighs.

So, parents, walk that perilous middle ground. Otherwise it might just come back to bite you when your kids are teenagers…or kindergartners.

--Melanie & Kelly

Pull up a chair and pop open a Pacifico. It's time for Thirsty Thursday. Join us if you want, invite a friend, and/or come back next week when we'll have a new Special. Today’s theme…Shop ‘Til U Drop

Currently on the prowl for?

Melanie: Lightweight rolling kids backpacks to replace the Disney suitcases that (oh joy) were destroyed during our recent trip to Oregon.

Kelly: A black, boat neck tank. I was going to tell my friend/personal shopper about it tonight over dinner.


Love it or hate it?

Melanie: Used to love it. I can remember whiling away the hours after work when I was kid-free, just browsing at the mall, or at the venerable institution of Wanamaker’s (a classic old-style department store, complete with tea room and organ) in Philly. Now? Hate it. Leave it until last minute possible, then panic.

Kelly: Love it. I wish I had more time to go into the city and browse the boutiques. But alas, I’m stuck with suburban mom shopping.

Paper or Plastic (to pay)?

Melanie: Plastic—always. We are flying to Europe practically for free on the United Mileage card miles that we’ve been hoarding for years. If you wait long enough, all those yogurts and half-gallons of milk…and rent…and gas…and everything…actually add up.

Kelly: Same here. We use plastic for everything.

Okay, I think I really need to get a job. My project over the summer has been training this chipmunk that sits on our wood pile on our front porch. (Please don’t ask why we have a wood pile on our front porch. That will have to be a story for another blog). Anyway, this chipmunk sits on our wood pile all the time and one day he was sitting there and chirping super loud. I got the idea that I would train him to chirp for peanuts. Armed with a ginormous bag of nuts from Costco I began my experiment. People scoffed and said it couldn’t be done, but today I proved them all wrong. Or at least I think I did. Today the chipmunk sat and chirped as usual and I threw out a handful of nuts which a squirrel promptly stole. About fifteen minutes later the chipmunk was back on the woodpile, looked right at me and gave a different kind of chirp like I’ve never heard before. It was less shrill then his usual song. He stayed where he was as I approached the window to see if the nuts were all gone (they were) and then he looked at me again and did the same sort of chirp. Of course I gave him his nuts. I feel like Jane Goodall of the suburbs.

--Kelly

That is what we saw on our weekend jaunt to Madison, Wisconsin and nearby Mt. Horeb. Madison, which is both the capital of Wisconsin and home of the University of Wisconsin, has a huge farmer’s market on Saturday mornings with such fantastic organic produce, cheese, and meats that I almost felt like I was on the West Coast again. While I perused the kohlrabi, the kids checked out the cows that were decked out to look like the characters from The Wizard of Oz. Not real cows. Madison is host to the current Cow Parade. The one on the upper left was our favorite – Pasture Bedtime. After checking out the capital building (beautiful) we headed over to Mt. Horeb. California can boast of having Little Denmark, (Solvang, think of the huge windmill in the movie Sideways), but Wisconsin has Little Norway. And what is Norway famous for? Trolls! There were carved wooden trolls all over town. Not only that, we were lucky enough to be there for the National Mustard Festival! It attracted such notables as the Weinermobile, Frenches the Mustard Man, and The Duchess of Mustard. In all seriousness, Wisconsin is really a beautiful state – you betcha!

--Kelly

Does your baby crave Vegetable Korma or Asparagus Risotto? Then the latest crop of designer baby foods might be right for you. Proving that it’s possible to buy just about anything these days, you can have selections Fed-Exed to your home (or even hotel if traveling with baby), according to an article in Wednesday’s NY Times. You can buy Evie’s Organic Edibles at your grocery store or order designer foods from Homemade Baby. Homemade Baby actually has a Le Cordon Bleu chef on staff.

One reason given for going to such lengths is that ordinary baby foods are too boring and will result in the development of callow palates that demand only the blandest of foods. Quelle Horreur!

Actually, I think there’s probably some truth to the callow palate theory, and my third daughter is the proof. By the time she came along, I was just too frazzled to spend the extra time and money buying a variety of baby foods. My older two had the fruits and veges at least (we stopped short at potted meats that looked like deviled ham.)

The third one, however, virtually never tasted a bite of the stuff. Call me a neglectful mother, but I just fed her what we were eating, mushed up if necessary. So, yeah, she had risotto and korma at a tender age. It just wasn’t labeled baby food with a corresponding price tag.

It’s possible this is why all my kids ended up liking a variety of weird foods, from raw fish to bizarre, stinky cheeses. That third kid loves salsa and pickles, although usually not together.

Another reason, of course, for these new fangled baby foods, is the organic factor. Sadly, I must confess that my risotto is not organic, and probably neither is the Taj Café’s Korma. Still, Kelly cooks organic for her family all the time, so if we could just coordinate on this somehow, we’d have the best of both worlds.

--Melanie

Pull up a chair and pop open a Pacifico. It's time for Thirsty Thursday. Join us if you want, invite a friend, and/or come back next week when we'll have a new Special. Today’s theme…Fashion Patrol.

How low do you go?

Melanie: Um…not too much below my belly button. I’m talking pants, here, not shirts, by the way!

Kelly: Lower than I should I’m afraid. I’m happy for the return of the tunic this fall.

Do you ever go out without make-up?

Melanie: Sure, especially in the summer. Although I guess I do almost always wear mascara and lip gloss.

Kelly: I never leave without under-eye concealer, mascara, and lip gloss.

What was the most over- or under-dressed you’ve ever been for an occasion?

Melanie: Does going to the grocery store in jammies (well, really sweats and a tank) last night count? Probably not, considering half the people there were dressed the same way, and one guy even had on the full set of plaid pajamas in the cereal aisle. Other than that, it might be the time I went to a barbecue in a skirt and a shirt with sequins on it.

Kelly: I went to a private showing of the Jackie O exhibit for my husband’s work and I wore a cocktail dress, but all of the other women came from work and had on suits. Oops!

On the eve of our exciting overnight train trip to Oregon on the Coast Starlight Express, the local paper has this headline on the front page: Waiting for a Train? Bring a Long Book: Coast Starlight is often 10 hours late.

Oh, Lordy, no. Not with three kids. The article details the decline of this once majestic train line, whose current on-time record is in the single digits. The southbound line seems to be more affected, so that’s a mercy. We’re only traveling northbound, returning home by plane.

Gulp.

--Melanie

Maybe it’s just mom paranoia or maybe it’s a cold hard fact. In any case, I’m not taking any chances. My oldest had decided that over easy eggs are the new peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The question is: is Teflon the new trans-fat? It was easy enough to switch from Jif to all natural peanut butter by first masking the less sweet version with extra jelly, but could I make an over easy egg in any other pan? The answer was in my dad’s kitchen – an old cast iron pan. It works great! I can even flip an omelet in it. And don’t think you need to find an old one that’s been properly seasoned. Lodge sells pre-seasoned pans, and Le Creuset sells pans with an enamel coating if you’re worried about an iron pan getting rusty. I own both and I think the Lodge works just as well, is as easy to clean and is a lot cheaper. Plus, cast iron skillets are the best for browning meat and can add to the amount of iron that you consume!

--Kelly

An article last week in the WSJ raised the question of why we don’t reprimand other people’s kids. In the article, a quote from Garrison Keillor’s novel Wobegon Boy waxes nostalgic about a time when “you didn’t smart off to elders, and if a lady told you to blow your nose, you blew it.” I do try to instill a proper respect for older people, but with so many families, including my own, living far away from grandparents, aunts, and uncles, there are just fewer opportunities for my kids to get used to other adults disciplining them.

Also, for me there’s the question of why I feel defensive when someone reprimands my kids. I think part of it may have to do with the generation of perfectionists that Judith Warner talks about in her book Perfect Madness. So if someone reprimands my children, I take it as a direct criticism of my parenting. And really who can blame me? There seems to be a constant drone in the background telling me I should do more for my kids (61 million results from Google) and that it’s my fault when they do the wrong thing. No wonder I get a bit testy when the "well-meaning" lady says my one-year-old is being too loud at Taco Bell.

With all of that said in my defense however, as my kids get older and go on to more activities without me present, I do hope that their friends’ parents will feel comfortable in reprimanding my kids and even – gasp – giving them a time-out if needed. Maybe what we adults, floating alone like islands away from extended family, can do is create pacts with other parents we trust. We can give them permission to scold or give time outs to our children when they are in their care or somewhere where we are not. We can then create bridges between other families so that we aren’t as alone and so our children will feel comfortable knowing that there is someone in control, helping to keep them on the straight and narrow.

--Kelly