Foodmomiac

Holiday Decor in the Foodmomiac Household

I am stealing this idea from Linda, but I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite holiday decor. 

First, I have to share a photo of our menorah. I LOVE our menorah. It's from an art gallery in Ann Arbor, and I never get tired of it. 

 

Next up are some of my favorite ornaments on our tree. I love this old photo of Dylie (with our funny

Starbucks ornament in the background):

Michael loves skulls, so this ornament is a favorite. It's next to the awesome Pat the Bunny book that actually opens up to reveal a fluffy bunny just like the real book:

Toledo is Michael's hometown and we lived their for seven years. It is also known as the "Glass City" so we have lots of blown glass ornaments from our time there. This sweet bird is one of my favorites:

I have a set of five of these Norman Rockwell papier mache ornaments. I don't know why I love them, but I do. :-) They are from Big Lots of all places!

Many of our most beautiful ornaments come from my sister-in-law Megen. This is an antique glass bell that she got us one year:

Megen also got us these glass baby-themed ornaments when Dylie was just a few months old. They are so sweet:

And of course we have lots of food and cooking-related ornaments. This KitchenAid one is my favorite of the lot:

What's your house look like?

Baba Rice (a weeknight lifesaver)

This is my dear friend Lisa. Our husbands have known each other since Kindergarten (!!) and when we lived in Toledo, Lisa was a constant in my life. I remember calling Lisa and Todd just a couple of days after they brought their oldest son home from the hospital to tell them that we, too were going to have a baby! Now Ty is almost 11, and Dylan is 10, and I feel like an elderly woman, but that's a story for another day.

Lisa is the friend who introduced me to Bunco (which I greatly miss - why don't people play Bunco in Chicago??), and the person who brought over food after Dylie and Max were born. And the one dish that was ALWAYS included with this delivery was Baba Rice. Baba was Todd's grandma, and she was from Bulgaria. I love Baba Rice, but I could never make it properly no matter how many times Lisa walked me through it over the phone.

This has always been a source of frustration for me, so when we visited Todd and Lisa Thanksgiving weekend, I watched her make it and took very detailed notes. I am happy to report that I have now made Baba Rice twice and was successful both times. Woot!

And now I am sharing with you. Enjoy.

Baba Rice
2-1/2 cups Uncle Ben's rice (the brand is important here, so don't try to get all fancy. You need the original Uncle Ben's converted rice)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
5 cups chicken broth
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb. dill
1 Tb Spike seasoning or summer savory (Chubritza is the Bulgarian word for this)
1 tsp chicken bouillion paste (I use that Better than Bouillion stuff from the supermarket)
1/4 cup canola oil 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put the rice in a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Add the celery, onion, broth and spices. Break the bouillion paste up into smaller pieces and distribute throughout the dish. Pour in the oil and mix everything well. Cover the pan with foil and place into the oven for an hour. Remove from the oven and mix up a bit with a fork. Enjoy!

Gift Ideas for Kids Who Love Cooking

A friend of mine sent me a tweet the other day asking for non-gimmicky gift ideas for kids who love to cook. I was a kid who loved to cook, and both Dylan and Max follow in my foot steps, so I had a lot of fun coming up with some fun ideas and figured I'd share them here too.

A Personalized Chef's Hat and Apron
In the picture above, Dylan is wearing the set that my mom got her a couple of years ago for Hanukkah. She loves it! Her name is embroidered under the apron pocket.
(Edited to add: The above hat/apron is actually from MICHAEL'S mom. Dylan has a pink set from MY mom.) 

A Subscription to a Food Magazine
I taught myself to cook watching cooking shows (Frugal Gourmet was my FAVORITE) and reading food magazines. For kids who are ages 9 and above, a food magazine is a great idea. If they are anything like me, they'll instantly start cutting out all of the recipes that they want to make someday.

A Blank Recipe Book
I still have the recipe book that I got as a kid. It has recipes that I cut out and glued and handwritten recipes that I got from my mom.

Cooking Classes
We have a lot of options for kids cooking classes here in Chicago because it's a big city, but I think these types of programs are really starting to spread, so do some research. Maybe you can even find a local food blogger or private chef who will do private lessons in your home.