Play Date

As it turns out, Tiny G is something of a ladies man. Today he hosted three of his gal pals for a play date. Since I don’t have a daughter, I may have used G’s play date as an excuse to girl out. Using a monogram template, some pink construction paper, and these great little paper totes from Target ($.49 ea), I put together personalized bags filled with stickers and a bracelet for each of G’s friends. Only after I assembled them did I realize I was having flashbacks from working in fashion years ago. But then, I’ve always loved a good swag bag.

And because my little munchkin is the sweetest, I made his favorite cornmeal strawberry muffins to share with his friends. The cornmeal recipe (which is sweetened with diced pineapple as well as pineapple juice) is from Macrina Bakery in Seattle. They’re a good alternative to cupcakes as they’re not too sugary sweet and won’t have kids bouncing off the walls. While the muffins are cooling, you make an indentation on top using a spoon and then fill with a dollop of your favorite preserves. Tiny G requested strawberry, so I used some of my Aunt Margaret’s coveted strawberry jam. I’ll probably get in trouble for posting this last bit because my aunt didn’t make all that much of it this year and only a few of us got jars. (Expecting a prickly phone call from my mother any second…)

And really, the last thing I want to do is upset my wonderfully generous mother, who sent me a care package containing a bunch of anodized aluminum cups and bowls my dad got at Steve’s Hardware in St. Helena when I was a kid. They are a nontoxic and eco-friendly alternative to plastic and kids love the bright, jewel-toned colors. And they’re pretty much indestructible (to wit: they survived the 80s)—which make them ideal for a roomful of toddlers.

Cooking Club with Lulu Powers

Earlier this week, my friend Carrie invited me to her ultra-chic cooking club hosted by Sally Horchow (above, right). The group was honoring another member, Lulu Powers (above, left), and her fabby new book, Lulu Powers Food to Flowers. Lulu is a local celebrity, having catered for everyone from Madonna to Bill Clinton. Needless to say, the woman can cook. For Wednesday night’s cooking club, the theme was “breakfast for dinner” (a well-documented favorite around our house) and we all picked a recipe out of Lulu’s book. Check out the table Sally set with newspapers for a tablecloth (a decorating tip from Lulu), oranges for place card holders and mini boxed cereals as a centerpiece. Lulu says she likes to “buy newspapers from several cities, as well as a few tabloids for fun (otherwise known as my “periodicals”)! Whenever I throw a brunch like this, I find that everyone really starts talking about world events and reading from the papers and starting friendly debates, which makes it like a morning roundtable.”

Okay, now for the food. Let’s start with Sally, who made a killer vegetable herb frittata that was the hit of the evening. A word about the photo below. Sally is standing next to a photo of her grandmother, Fay Pfeifer, who was a finalist in the Flour Division of the 1970 Pillsbury Bake Off for her Toffee Treasure Cake, which Sally describes as “more coffee cake than dessert, though made with Heath Bars – and progressive for that year because of her use of the bundt pan! She was from Little Rock, Arkansas, and every cook in my family has a book of her recipes called ‘Our FAYvorites.’ ”

Here’s a close-up of the frittata, and reason alone to buy the book.

Carrie made Lulu’s Granola for party favors plus a bowl for nibbling, and Stacy made awesome Chocolate Banana Bread with ice cream for dessert (sadly I don’t have a photo) as well Lulu’s Body Scrub made with coffee and lavender, which she put in these little canisters from Cost Plus. I’m keeping mine by our kitchen sink as it’s great for softening hands and smells divine.

As for the rest of the lineup, Sally also did Spicy English Breakfast Sausage Rolls; Alix made Green Salad with Orange Cilantro Dressing; Jess made Mini Turkey Breakfast Patties; Megan did Sugar-Crusted Raspberry Muffins; Nicky brought Cheddar and Ham Biscuits; I brought a Fruit Salad with Rosemary Syrup; and Lulu arrived with a tray of Bloody Mary fixings. Here’s a taste:

A seriously fun evening where the company was every bit as delicious as the food!

Book It to Northshire

One of the best independent bookstores in the country has to be Northshire Books in Manchester, Vermont. We made several trips during our stay, including one to outfit Tiny G from the Zutano boutique upstairs in the children’s department. (Zutano is a Vermont company that makes crazy cute baby clothes.) You could lose hours browsing the stacks. And the store itself and gardens couldn’t be more picturesque. Check out some of the flowers in the Northshire garden:

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Northshire Bookstore is the Spiral Press Cafe, located in back of the bookstore. The pastries and cakes are pretty, and pretty delicious.

During our stay, in the mornings I jogged (okay “slogged” – slow jog) several miles into town and Tiny G and his daddy would drive in to pick me up and grab a cup of coffee and one of these maple corn muffins. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is the BEST. MUFFIN. EVER.