family
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Old Chicago Culinary Institute Cookbook
The other day I was looking through the massive Chicago Culinary Institute cookbook I inherited from my mom. I think the cookbook’s about 50 years old. Even if a lot of the recipes are dated (um, meats gelled in aspic? Peanut butter/mayo/pickle sandwich, anyone?)it’s fun to look through. This spun sugar doesn’t look messy at…
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Grateful for Flats
Today I took Eldest to see the musical ASSASSINS at the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. It was really good. Solid cast. We decided we liked the guy playing John Wilkes Booth the best (Booth is sort of the star anyway, the guy egging everybody else on) and also decided he is much better looking…
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Mommy Groups: The Power and the Glory
I gave Jeanine Cummins a blurb for her new novel, The Crooked Branch, which just released. It is an excellent, entertaining book, funny and dark in parts (with lots about the Irish potato famine) which everybody should immediately buy and read. You should also pick up THE OUTSIDE BOY (which I just recommended to my…
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Star Trek Blanket
The day before yesterday, I dreamed we bought a sectional sofa and I bought Star Trek pillows for Cadillac. (Always old Star Trek, never Next Gen). The next day, I walked into the fabric store and saw Star Trek fleece 40% off. COINCIDENCE? It’s NEVER a coincidence. Thus, it was imperative that I make Cadillac…
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Merry Christmas!
It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve just washed the incense out of my hair. Sitting in the front pew of a Catholic Christmas Eve mass can be dangerous. I like Christmas Eve mass the best, because we always sing Angels We Have Heard on High. I was in the high school choir and we had to…
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Girl Kitty
A few months ago, we began to experience a rat problem. They lived in the bush behind our house, the morning glory that wraps the fence. Morning glory is the devil’s plant– it’s related to poison oak, so it can give you a rash; and if you leave torn shoots on the ground, it will…
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Gil Webber Killed Santa Claus
Little Girl has been asking for a Gil Webber doll. Again. I can’t believe I’m posting about Gil Webber twice on one blog. To recap, we looked for one around Easter, and despite the best efforts of me, three Target stores, Toys R Us and the Mattel helpline, not a one could be found. These…
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What I’ve Been Doing
Life sure gets busy this time of year. We’re just settling into our back-to-school schedules and have something going on nearly every day. On Monday, Eldest and I started our cake decorating class, where we learned how to use Wilton Tip #18 (star). On Tuesday we saw the first preview of Yoshimi Battles the Pink…
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Women on Target
I have to admit, I am a little bit afraid of guns. I want them far away from me. But I also thought it would be theoretically fun to shoot at clay targets and the like. When I saw a flier for a class called Women on Target, which pairs women with mentors for a…
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The Writer and the Whale: An Overactive Imagination
After Cadillac and I got back from our trip, I regaled the kids with tall tales about Cadillac. My kids’ motto, like the X-Files, is, “I WANT to Believe.” They love hearing stories and sometimes believe them, even if they are far-fetched. And they often add onto them, spinning them into Paul Bunyan-Babe the Blue…
MARGARET DILLOWAY 