Renaissance life in a post-modern world
Posted in Cleaning and Organizing on Apr 30th, 2008
I would like to talk about a modest area of most homes: the bathroom. Do not underestimate the power these diminutive areas have to add comfort and refinement to your home. These pint-sized rooms communicate a powerful message about your housekeeping. Even more, the condition of the bathroom illustrates your concern for the comfort and well-being of your family [...]
Posted in Recipes on Apr 28th, 2008
I love to transform my menus with the changing seasons. French Onion Soup and Beef Bourguignonne give way to lighter fares such as grilled chicken (in so many different arrangements), bright salads, and delightful desserts.
I would like to share with you one of my favorite warm-weather recipes: Balsamic Chicken with Cilantro. I have served variations [...]
Posted in Cleaning and Organizing on Apr 25th, 2008
Wikipedia defines a still life as:
“A work of art depicting inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, plants and natural substances like rocks) or man-made (drinking glasses . . .).”
It has been suggested (the source eludes me at the moment…) that our refrigerators should exemplify a still life. This would be lovely!
At first glance, this [...]
Posted in Recipes on Apr 22nd, 2008
I really enjoy cooking. I love to rifle through cooking magazines and cook books. I dream of spending time at some fabulous cooking school in France. For now, I look forward to the planning, shopping and preparing of meals for my family. They are a terrific audience. At every meal I can count on nine [...]
Posted in Cleaning and Organizing on Apr 21st, 2008
I love spring. After being under a shroud of snow for so long, it’s exciting to experience a fresh world again! I look forward to gardening, grilling outside, and even washing my windows.
Spring is a time to reassess the physical nature of your home. The first step to creating a lovely, pleasant atmosphere is to [...]
Posted in Recipes on Apr 18th, 2008
I strive to create a home that is characterized by peace, order and beauty. On Fridays, I tend to look back and see a week punctuated by incomplete work, things I should have accomplished that I did not, and things that I should not have said that I did. The latter is where I tend to err most frequently. [...]
Posted in Family and Children on Apr 17th, 2008
Tone is an author’s attitude toward her work or audience. It may be formal, informal, sad, satirical, humorous or serious. This tone creates the mood of the entire piece. The mood created from the tone is the prevailing feeling or the emotional state of mind throughout the work. Tone is fluid and thus can change [...]
I am not a fan of kid food. I have never relished the thought of preparing or serving gummy worms in pudding. An appetite for delicious, healthful meals should be nurtured throughout a child’s life. They certainly enjoy great food in a beautiful setting as well as adults do!
A Happy Meal at our house does [...]
Posted in Family and Children on Apr 12th, 2008
I am often amused by the preconceived ideas some have about our life at home with nine children. Concern has been raised that we might be overwhelmed with chaos, clutter and crayon marked walls, not necessarily in that order. This supposedly all occurs as we serve our family non-descript casseroles and fish sticks on a regular basis. What [...]
