Friday Things
1. The older Joseph gets, the more and more he loves interacting with Duke and Einstein, which is so much fun to watch. He loves throwing balls for them, taking one of them the rings so they can play, then he giggles his head off. It’s so awesome.
2. On another note, any tips for clipping a toddler’s nails? Ugh, it’s a major battle every time it needs to be done. Joseph squirms, pulls his hands/feet away, etc. We try putting on cartoons, but he really doesn’t care at all about cartoons.
3. Huge apologies to any of you who are subscribed via email and weren’t getting the daily emails last week… the service I use was having technical issues, which was causing the emails not to go out. Everything appears to be fixed at this point, so you should be receiving them regularly. Again, so so sorry for the inconvenience!
4. Have you checked out Milk Street Kitchen? It’s the new site/magazine being rolled out by Christopher Kimball, the founder of America’s Test Kitchen. It sounds like it’ll be done in the same vein as ATK, Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country, but with updated flavors and less traditional recipes. I’m intrigued, of course! You can sign up for a free copy of the first issue (I think it’s due out in the fall).
5. I went for my 3-hour glucose test yesterday and have my fingers and toes crossed that I passed with flying colors. It wasn’t all too awful – the drink didn’t make me sick, and Quest has a private room with leather recliners and a TV that I could hang out in while I waited between blood draws. The lack of wifi got a big thumbs down though!
6. The Most Popular Food the Year You Were Born >> 1980 = ranch dressing. No wonder I love to dip anything and everything in it!
7. SO… Pokemon Go… Am I just too old to understand the appeal of this?
8. I was gifted a membership to Thrive Market… do you belong? If so, what are some of your favorite things to get from there?
9. Do you have any holiday (October through December) recipe requests? Lay ’em on me! I’m going to be working ahead developing recipes so you have new content to look at while I’m tending to a newborn later this year :) Â Let me know if there’s anything special you’d like to see!
10. TGIF! Such serious buddies!
Do you cut Duke and Einsteins nails, if so then you could let Joseph watch you and clip one of the dogs and one of his. A trade off so to speak.
Hi Barbara, I don’t, we leave that to the groomer :) But like your idea!
I am a big fan of America’s Test Kitchen, Cooks Illustrated, etc, but I have a bad taste in my mouth already over the Milk Street Kitchen and it hasn’t even started yet! There’s a Milk Street Cafe located down the street from Kimball’s new place that has been in business for 35 years, and, according to published reports, Kimball refused to change the name of his place despite repeated requests from the Cafe. The Cafe is now suing him and one report said Kimball is suing to get the Cafe’s copyright overturned. It seems a pretty clear case to me and doesn’t leave me with very warm feelings for Kimball. You can read more here:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/07/06/chris-kimball-new-milk-street-venture-faces-trademark-lawsuit-from-similar-sounding-cafe/FvN9IuuZgJyyWXfj2JlRVI/story.html#comments
Nails are softer after a soak in the tub. Perhaps
that would be a good time to trim his nails? I like the ideas all you moms are coming up with to deal with this.
Emelia T., if you go to this link, I think that’s the topping you were thinking of for the Pumpkin Praline Pie. I do just use my regular pumpkin pie recipe for the filling, then pull the pie out after 20 minutes of baking and put the topping on. BTW, the topping does have dark corn syrup in it. That’s the best pumpkin pie, the topping makes it.
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/ta9iq9c9/pumpkin-praline-pie.html
Katy Perry videos – seriously, it’s like a tonic for our son. Cartoons and kid shows do not have the same effect. Just make sure you have someone to queue the next video to minimize squirming! ;) Also, I’m a fan of the little scissor clippers (https://www.amazon.com/Piyo-Yellow-Baby-Nail-Scissors/dp/B004DFO57M) rather than the tiny nail clippers.
As an adult I hate to clip my nails but after buying a super sharp, high quality clipper the task is more bearable. I just really dislike the feeling. I bought Seki brand clippers from Amazon and it is much better than using the drug store clippers.
I did the dad-half of raising two boys so this is not likely to be the silver bullet but speaking from Joseph’s side as a clip-phobe, it would have helped me if I had known of the sharper clippers earlier.
He is a handsome fellow, by the way. Seeing your pics reminds me of the sound of bare feet in a hurry to explore on the floors.
Haha, there is some serious pitter-patter that happens here every day! It’s the sweetest sound :)
Slow cooker recipes for turkey, beef brisket, and baked potato soup please!
Thanks!
Slow Cooker BBQ Brisket coming soon!!
I don’t have a membership to Thrive, but do use them. Shipping is free for orders over $50, so I go that route. They have quite a variety of flours that I’ve ordered…rice and rye come to mind. I’ve also gotten duck fat (great for cooking potatoes), avocado & walnut oils. Quite a few other things, but they have been a good company to do business with. I can only speak on the food products as I’ve not gone to their other categories.
Not having any children, I can say that clipping is best done while asleep – at least with a cat, lol. I could get three or four done before she even noticed.
Joseph just looks to be such a joy :)
I just love the pictures of Joseph and the doggies – they are so cute together! I’m so glad that Joseph gets along with them so well. I would love a good recipe for fall for Thanksgiving for a really good cranberry chutney side dish. I don’t get Pokeman Go either…lol
May I suggest using a nail file to file instead of clip? Gets rid of sharp edges and files down length. No owies and easy to do while they eat a cracker etc on your lap. No biggie if you only do one or two at a time. Toes too! It works great with my grandkids.
Many many years ago, there was a recipe for pecan pumpkin pie which my family loved. it was pretty much a traditional pumpkin pie but you pulled it out of the oven during the baking process to spoon a corn syrup with pecan mixture on top of it so you sort of wound up with a pecan pie layer on a pumpkin pie. I want to say that the recipe came from Eagle Brand as it had sweetened condensed milk which is not a common pumpkin pie ingredient but when I’ve written to them, they don’t have a recipe like that in their archives. Have you ever seen a recipe like this or care to create one?
Thank you for everything! Hope the test results are favorable!
I have pretty good luck clipping my son’s nails out on our porch. There’s usually something for him to watch (cars, birds) and he is just always more calm outside. Also — don’t have to clean up the clippings!
On the nail front – I have a wiggly 2 year-old so I feel your pain! For finger nails we do one at a time and he gets to hold the nail clipper in between each nail. (I don’t understand either!) For toes he lays on his belly in my lap and watches videos on the iPad and I just go as fast as possible while holding onto his foot for dear life. ?
1983 here – “Penne alla Vodka”. Uh, no thanks.
And no, you’re not alone. I don’t get the Pokemon GO craze either. We did catch two people wandering in our small gym parking lot this week, apparently looking for Pokemon… kinda sad. LOL
I don’t totally get it either but my sons have helped me with a perspective. They have used it as a way to get out and meet new people. I was sitting down to have a martini in peace in my living room and they were off to an outdoor shopping center when I rolled my eyes and they pointed out that for the grief (good natured) we exchange in them being buried in their on-line stuff, I was the one sequestering myself while they came home with pics of more new people that they met than I meet in a month.
It is not likely that any of those people will be life-long friends but neither would the people that that might have met that same night at a craft brew-pub.
I absolutely love all of your recipes and pictures. I have a fall recipe request for you! Could you pretty please with a cherry on top do a copycat version of the decadent Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins? Also, the latest coffee trend seems to be iced cold brew coffees…I was wondering if you could do a recipe/tutorial on that. Have a great weekend!
Hi Darla, I actually did an iced coffee quite a number of years ago:
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/diy-iced-coffee/
I have a 19 month old and nail clipping is SUCH a struggle! Glad to know I’m not alone. :) I literally have to sit down with her in my lap and wrap my leg around her to hold her down while I do it as fast as possible! Getting her to sleep is still a struggle so there’s no way I could clip them then and risk waking her up! I took my 3 hour glucose test 2 weeks ago and passed (after failing the one hour) so I’m wishing you luck! I just found your blog but seeing we’re in such similar positions (with toddlers and seconds due at almost the same time) I’m enjoying it (and the recipes)!!
Yes to Costco’s Tuxedo Cake! Would love to have that recipe. Pokemon Go: huh? I’m just guessing but I think Koolaid or Jello was popular in 1951. Ha!
sleep is the answer as others have mentioned. put him to sleep on your bed with pillows to the side in case you want him to stay there and not move him to his crib. while he is sleep you can cut them, they move less and it is less likely to have a miss-cut accident too from lack of moving around.
The Most Popular Food the Year You Were Born- only goes back to 1970- boo! I’d be curious to see what 1955 was.
My son was born in Dec. 1981. The hot food that year was kiwi, and he doesn’t really care for them, but 1982 was CRÈME BRÛLÉE and he can’t get enough of it! Love the pictures of Joseph and the dogs. He is one lucky little boy.
LOVE the photos of Joseph and the dogs!! We have a Halloween birthday in our house, so extra harvest/fall/Halloweeny recipes are appreciated! Thanks for your awesome website, Michelle… Blessings to you and yours!
I’m a 1980 baby too! :)
I don’t get Pokémon Go either… and I’m getting pretty annoyed by how much it’s showing up in my FB and IG feeds.
Apparently I’m the only Mother on the planet that had no problem with my kids clipping their nails – and I used scissors! I had no idea this problem existed – I count myself lucky!
I have checked out Milk Street Kitchen – and can’t wait! I love Chris Kimball and was really sad when I learned about him resigning from his own start up. I am glad to see him starting another!
Speaking of Chris Kimball – there was a Tex-Mex cheese enchilada recipe recently with homemade chili sauce/gravy. I can’t wait to try it! I printed the recipe out today. Looks easy – has a few shortcut tricks, too – and looks delish!
I, too, hope your glucose test comes our great!
I don’t get the Pokeman thing, either – but I saw something hilarious on t.v. this morning – it was a female comedian who made a video on Facebook – called “Chardonnay Go.” She was running around with a wine glass – too funny. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/denablizzard/videos/924079277703563/
I can’t even think of holiday food – surprise me!! I know you will! Have a great weekend!
I was born in Dec 1979. Yuck to the Goat Cheese salad. I am a ranch dressing girl so I will defer to it! Close enough!
I have been searching for a tuxedo truffle cake recipe that is like the cake they sell at Costco. Its a base layer of flourless chocolate cake, then choc mousse, then another layer of cake, and then a cream cheese white chocolate mousse and lastly iced with choc ganache. You need to try this cake asap and then recreate it. It is totally worth the calories.
Yes!!
Maybe similar to this? http://gabrielacuisine.ro/tort-tuxedo-tuxedo-cake/#easyrecipe At least it’s a start!
Glad the procedure was better than what you expected. Fingers crossed you have great results/ I have a suggestion for recipes….since we all love family recipes why don’t you let readers submit their family recipes to you and then you can share some of them with us. Another idea sometime not holiday related would be sour dough starter and then follow-up recipes on ways to use it. Thanks, have a great weekend.
What a great idea! Michelle shares so many recipes, and I have one or two I’d like to share with her but I don’t have any interest in blogging. Might also take some of the burden off for a bit while she bakes the bun in her oven :)
LOVE this idea Barbara and think I will use it! Stay tuned :)
How about a buche de noel? Love to see your take on one!
Hi Kate, I actually did one a few years ago!
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/yule-log-buche-de-noel-with-espresso-mascarpone-filling-and-ganache-icing/
I always waited until they were asleep before clipping their nails. It worked every time. Good Luck!
Btw, love your posts and recipes. Keep up the great work! :)
Joseph is so adorable playing with his dogs! Those are priceless moments right there for sure. Have a great weekend!
I’m bummed the years don’t go back far enough for the most popular food the year I was born!
Same here!
Me three! I guess that officially make US “too old to understand the appeal” of Pokemon Go…
Me four! So disappointing!
Didn’t they take away ATK from Christopher Kimball.
He will no longer be on the show.
So he had to start something of his own.
I can’t imagine ATK without him.
I was curious about Christopher Kimball as well. I had heard he left. Do you know the scoop Michelle?
Hi Tamara, All I know is that Boston Common Press is the parent company to America’s Test Kitchen and apparently they couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract, so Kimball left to do his own thing, which apparently is Milk Street Kitchen.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/17/456378738/america-s-test-kitchen-founder-chris-kimball-leaves-show
Love Thrive! My favorite is Primal Kitchen mayo. Only a few ingredients and no junk. Plus I’ve never really liked mayo but LOVE that stuff. Also Honest Jackson brand. Most other brands like Braggs- can’t find the prices any lower than Thrive. Enjoy!
I was wondering what went wrong with Friday thing last week.However I saw it later on in the week. Good to know everything is back to normal.God bless you and yours.
Wait until Joseph is asleep to cut his nails. It’ll be quick and easy!
Clip nails when they are asleep…works best when they first fall asleep. Or I loved the car seat idea with m and ms or another treat. Tricking kids only goes so far because then they don’t trust you so if you explain what you are doing with a little treat you might build up the trust to do it without treats eventually.
I love salad dressings that are easy…your italian one is our go to and made a lot! Would love a dressing that was sweeter for a salad with fruit and nuts as main ingredients.
I love the thin, crunchy type chocolate chip cookies ala “Tate’s.”. It would be great if you could do a recipe like that!!!
Love the pictures! Joseph has such great buddies to play with!
I checked to see what the most popular food was when I was born – 1979. It was goat cheese salad. No thanks. Oh well. I was only alive for two months out of that year :)
I don’t have any specific requests for holiday recipes except maybe twists on the classics or holiday favorites from around the world? Anything you come up with will be fabulous :)
My granddaughter, who is 19 months, loves watching Nursery Rhymes on Youtube Little Baby Bum or Chu Chu. Her mom can get her nails cut while she watches these. Cartoons have never excited her, she totally gets into the Nursery Rhymes.
Crispy chocolate chip cookies, crispy white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. (Like Pepperidge Farm Chesapeake and Tahoe cookies?) also, a great pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger cookie crust recipe would be nice!
I really wish o have the perfect homemade ricotta ravioli receipe and I know that you’ll be the one to develope it :) Also a lemon meringue wouldn’t hurt anyone ;)
My best advice is to wait until Joseph is asleep to cut his nails. It makes it so much easier.
Do it in the car seat. It’s so much easier when they’re already strapped in and you only have to wrestle with their hands. I’d wait until after we got home from somewhere so we didn’t cause issues during the ride if it didn’t go well. And we gave M&Ms while doing it (the mini M&Ms are awesome- give one for every finger and it’s not so much chocolate it’s a disaster). I did it every week or so and around 2 my oldest had no issues (and now my second doesn’t care, he watches his brother do it first).
We do a counting exercise with it – “How many fingers to you have?” and “Let’s count our piggies!” Recently we introduced thumbkin, pointer, etc. to the mix.
The only thing that worked for both my girls when they were your son’s age was giving them a sucker and putting on a cartoon. The sucker would keep them busy with one hand and then they’d switch hands when I needed them to. After a few weeks (two months max) they got used to it, and didn’t require the sucker anymore :-)
I always clipped my kids nails while they were asleep :)
This is what we did too. So much easier on all of us.
Me, too!
My suggestion as well.
Best way ever!!
No clue how I would even do this! Joseph only sleeps in his crib and he sleeps on his stomach, with at least one hand (usually both) underneath him. There’d be no way I could lean the whole way in there, pry his hands out and clip them without him waking up!
I think he’s probably a little young for distraction or rewards. Sometimes you have to think a little outside the box — or in this case the crib. Does Joseph ever fall asleep in his car seat or high chair? Does he ever fall asleep on your lap or your husband’s lap? Sometimes you have to take advantage of the moment. And sometimes you have to give up and realize that, at least for now, you’re never going to get all his nails trimmed at once.
LOVE Thrive! I get caramel sea salt coconut chips, barnana treats, jam/jelly, beauty products, etc.. Lots of good things…. Oh, salad dressing and other snacks too! Yum.