Friday Things
1. These boys of mine, I love them so much. I’m trying to soak up as much time with each of them as I can before baby #3 arrives since I’ll be seriously limited in what I’ll be able to do for a couple of months (no errands with them, no baths, no naps or bedtimes, ugh). I remember feeling so much guilt with what I wasn’t able to do with Joseph when Dominic was born, but in retrospect, it’s such a tiny blip of time in the grand scheme of things. They seem to grow and change so much each week, it’s so much fun to see the little people they’re becoming :)
(Speaking of which, Joseph LOVES helping me in the kitchen. Anytime I’m standing at the counter doing something, he pushes a chair over and gets up to help. This week we were snowed in on Wednesday so I made monkey bread, and he hopped up to help roll the balls of dough and then drop them in the bowl of butter – his favorite part, ha. If you follow me on Instagram, you got to see a couple videos I posted of him helping!)
2. I can’t believe Easter is already next weekend! Do you have any fun basket ideas for toddlers? In the past I’ve done favorite snacks, bubbles, books, etc.
3. A few months ago, I purchased my first non-stick skillet. No joke… we’ve always just had cast iron, enameled cast iron and stainless steel. However, there were just some recipes (and eggs!) that really needed a non-stick skillet and after much research and deliberation, I decided on a Swiss Diamond nonstick frying pan. I absolutely LOVE it; it’s a little pricey, but a totally worthy investment. If you’re in the market for one, I highly recommend!
4. So excited for my friend and fellow food blogger, Jessica of How Sweet It Is, who released her second cookbook this week! The Pretty Dish is full of gorgeous, seasonal food; I’ve bookmarked so many pages!
5. We eat dinner at 5pm, but I’m totally intrigued by this post about early dinners; like the author, my kids are begging for more snacks and dinner pretty much constantly once 4pm eats, even though they’ve already had a reasonable, healthy-ish snack previously. And truth be told, my husband and I are usually starving by then, too. I don’t think I could do 3pm, but maybe more like 4-4:30?
6. Looking for a fun Easter baking project? Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs will NEVER disappoint and they’re super easy!
7. I haven’t been to The Olive Garden in YEARS, but I could always crush bowls upon bowls of their salad and breadsticks. Has anyone made a good copycat version of their dressing? I just saw this recipe and now it’s making me crave massive bowls of their salad!
8. Are you still watching March Madness? I sort of lose steam after the first few days when there’s an abundance of games to watch and my bracket to track. I’m excited for hockey playoffs to start (OF COURSE), and for the Masters in a couple of weeks (which I might be watching from a hospital bed if little girl stays put as long as she’s supposed to!).
9. The Americans is coming back on Wednesday night! So excited for it to start up again, but seriously bummed that this is the last season. It’s been one of our favorite shows since it first aired, and it’s seriously underrated!
10. TGIF! I hope you have a super cozy weekend!
Thanks so much for linking to my Olive Garden Salad Dressing recipe Michelle! I am absolutely obsessed with it, and can’t believe how spot on it is! I’m going to the store today to stock up on salad ingredients just so that I can eat more dressing, lol. Have a great weekend and enjoy Easter with your family! -Stephanie
What size Swiss Diamond pan did you get? Are you happy with the size?
Hi Nicole, I got the 12″ pan… it’s perfect for stir fry but on the large size for eggs (we still use it because I make big batches, usually not less than 4 eggs at a time). If you were ONLY going to use it for eggs and never make more than 2 eggs at a time, then I would get one of the smaller ones.
I’m pumped for The Americans season premiere as well! And I agree, it’s todally underrated. In fact, I don’t know anyone who watches it, besides us! Crazy.
I’m going to make the peanut butter eggs this week and I cannot wait!
My girls are about the same age as your boys and I’m doing swimming themed Easter baskets. New suits, towels, cover ups, flip flops, goggles and some pool toys. Pinterest has the how to on making the towels into a bunny. I also ordered the pop-up pirate game. Some goldfish crackers and a bit of candy.
Pop Up Pirate https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JICB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_DBCTAb4NDR4Z4
Happy Easter to you and your family!
We eat dinner at 5pm too! People say it’s too early, but really… they just eat late! I’d be game to eating dinner at 4:30 too :)
Also, Jessica’s cookbook looks AMAZING! When are you going to write one?? 😉
Your timing about the Olive Garden salad is amazing – in my Food Network magazine I just got this week there’s a recipe for the salad and dressing on page 59. Let us know how it compares to the original! :)
Ooooh now I want to pick that up so I can see the recipe for the actual salad! I seem to remember red onions and pepperonchini? It’s been soooooo long!
I’ve adored your posts and recipes for a while and I just wanted to say hello! I want to get into the baking/blogging world and your blog has been my inspiration! I’m just starting up so I’m pretty clueless. Have a great weekend!
Aww thank you Laura! Best of luck to you as you start your blogging journey!
Just love your Friday Things !
Had to comment today because of the early dinners part! To me it feels like complete madness ;-)) In France, nobody would eat before 7pm and it would be considered very early! Dining at 8pm or 8.30pm is quite common, even for kids!
First time I went to the USA with my parents, we tried to find a restaurant at 9pm and nobody would take us, looking back it’s so funny!
You know that in Spain, they start lunch at 3pm sometimes ?!!! And dinner at 10pm! But even for me, it feels excessive…
I always wondered : if you dine around 5pm, are you not hungry by 10pm if you watch a little tv?
Anyway, sending lots of love from France and wishing you great last weeks of pregnancy and a lovely baby girl!
Hi Audrey, I love the different perspective! So funny how cultures are different, because I could never imagine eating that late! Our kids are asleep by 7pm, ha! And I would be totally famished, lol. Usually we’ll have a little snack in the evening if we’re hungry while watching TV, not every night, depends on how heavy/filling the dinner was. But, we’re usually heading up to bed by 10pm (the kids are up early!), so our day just naturally shifts early.
After getting a really good deal on a Calphalon Contemporary pan at Bed Bath and Beyond, I decided it was time to replace my non-stick pans. I have a set of stainless Farberware pots, but the pans were a motley assortment of different kinds and sizes I had accumulated over the years. I have to say, I LOVE my new Calphalon pans! I confess…I don’t like cast iron. No matter what, they always stick. Living on the California coast, we grill year-round. But a Blue Apron recipe had me cooking my steak in a pan on the stove, which is something I don’t usually do. It came out so good, I decided to do the next one in the cast iron as a comparison. The Calphalon gave it a much better crust. I’m a convert and will be cooking my steaks that way more often!
I love cooking steaks on a skillet (and sometimes finishing off in the oven). I actually like them better that way than grilled!
Olive Garden has actually started to bottle and sell their dressing. It comes in regular and light versions. Check the salad dressing aisle at the grocery store.
Aren’t your boys just beyond cute!?! My great nieces are about the same ages. Every time the younger one calls our dog “Dog-Dog”, my heart melts.
I was about to say the same thing…Now you can buy it in store!! whee
No way?! Thank you for this! Will try both :)
Yes, GE (not sure about the Market Districts, though I would guess they’d have it as well) carries Olive Garden’s dressing, and it is really is just like what you get on the salad in their restaurant. I have an open bottle in my frig now and an extra one in the pantry.
I think GE Market has it too- in fact almost positive! I love your recipes- and GO PENS!!
Brightest Blessings for you, your hubby, and the babes (including the furry ones!!)
Joseph looks so intent while helping with the monkey bread…so cute.
I love the picture of your fur babies. ..so cozy. It is hard to tell which is Duke and which is Judith.
FYI…CBS Evening News last night( Thursday) had a piece about research that is being conducted to figure out why Golden Retrievers have an abnormally high rate of cancer. It was interesting and hopeful. I thought of Einstein and that you perhaps might want to check the segment out.
Oh I’m so interested in that news segment, thank you for letting me know! I’m going to try to find it online!
Yes to the hockey playoffs!!! I’m over here rooting for the Flyers. In my opinion, playoff hockey is more exciting than any other sport : )
100% agree that hockey playoffs are the ultimate!
We are an early dinner family, too. When my girls get off of the school at 415-430 we started having dinner ready. Otherwise, they get hangry super fast. I’d rather just feed them dinner than struggle with a snack and not wanting to eat what I’ve made.
We try to do outside toys for Easter, too. Anything to embrace the sun and mild temps…. except this week!! Hope you’re feeling well… won’t be long now!
Yes! Snacks and then not interested in dinner is definitely an issue here too, even though I generally try to not allow any snacks after 4pm, then they’re just hovering in the kitchen, begging to eat, ugh.
You have such a cute family! Love how Joseph helps you in the kitchen. We have had fun with “outside toys” in Easter baskets, hopefully to take advantage of the upcoming warm weather. My son has loved the Little Tikes lawn mower and golf club set.
Ahhh Joseph might need a lawn mower this year; he LOVES watching my husband cut the grass, I’m sure he would get a big kick out of pretending to do it himself!