June 2008

I’ve been waiting for the right time to thank Heidi for her feature of us and now it’s time. Her self-described “little book” Super Natural Cooking is nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award and she’s off to NYC for the weekend to celebrate. Yay Heidi!

In praise of Heidi
We’ve been friends (and fans) of Heidi for a long time, and she’s always doing something amazing, from chickclick through her regular posts to 101 Cookbooks to her gorgeous photographs and tasty potluck dishes, she’s a great friend, mentor, and all-around fun person to have at a party.

We thank you for your delicious dishes and encouragement that we should have a website and also a book. You rule.

In praise of Super Natural Cooking
This latest book project offers practical suggestions for gradually increasing the whole grains and healthy foods in our pantries. As a result, I’ve got a few better sugars and heartier grains with a few more to go. Of course, it is beautifully photographed and stocked with the usual array of fantastic vegetarian dishes with unique twists on standard ingredients.

I admit that I’m a carnivore and I tend to throw a small chicken breast on the Foreman as I’m making one of her recipes, but let me assure you… my little chicken is the side dish and the main dish is Sushi Rice Bowl or Risotto-style barley with arugula.

What do Pretend Soup and Trader Joe’s have in common?
They’re on our round-up of favorite Rookie Mom cookbooks over at 101 Cookbooks.

For the dirty details on why we like what we like, a montage of funny pictures, and which of us aspires to be June Cleaver, you’ll have to read the full post, but here’s a quick list of faves:

• Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s
• Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up
• The Best 30-minute Recipe: A Best Recipe Classic (Best Recipe Series)
• The Six O’Clock Scramble: Quick, Healthy, and Delicious Dinner Recipes for Busy Families
• Super Baby Food
• First Meals (New Expanded Edition)

Thanks a million to Heidi Swanson for featuring us and congratulations on your nomination!

If you have preschoolers or pre-preschoolers, you probably already know about SavvySource as the best place to do some research and find preschool reviews. Well, now it’s also one of the best places to find out what to do with your 2-6 year old when they’re not in school.

SavvySource just launched the Being Savvy City Sites as an amazing reference for parents in 20 different metro areas. We have been furtively and feverishly writing for Being Savvy: East Bay at eastbay.savvysource.com. Please have a read or just stop by when you need fresh ideas for fun stuff to do.

Here are some of our favorite recent posts, but there’s already more than a dozen to list, so go see for yourself. Have a click, get comfortable, and make an action plan:

99 things you must do in the East Bay before your child grows up
Discovering the wilderness of the urban jungle
How to cultivate the tiniest green thumb in Berkeley

… and many many (many!) more. If you don’t live in the East Bay, there are 19 other blogger city experts covering other areas around the country.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Whitney loved the new SATC movie and I hated it. Without giving away any plot spoilers, I can say I had to do some major soul-searching and this is what I came up with…

When I first met Whitney, I was very much a Charlotte: dating, prudish, looking for love.

Oh sure, my husband likes to think I was a Carrie (because she’s cooler, no doubt), but strip away the job as a writer, the fashion, the nightlife, the ability to walk in those heels, and all the men… and only then are we similar. We both like a good brunch with girlfriends, right? And we have naturally curly hair. If anything, I’m a little more like her now with all my writing and wondering.

But now?! Four years after the series ended, and who am I now? Clearly Miranda. Well, the unemployed version of Miranda. I moved to Brooklyn/Berkeley for my baby and my man and am way too controlling. Awesome. Scary.

But, what about the rest of you new moms out there? Has your SATC character stayed the same since the show ended? Why or why not?