Monthly Archives: March 2017

Brussel Sprouts that you’ll love but your child will probably still hate …

Posted in Cooking, Friday Food by

… but then they’ll remember you making them THIS way when they’re healthy(ish) adults and want to make them the same way you did.

Growing up I was not a fan of Brussel sprouts. I think I had them once and they were covered in so much cheese sauce that you couldn’t even taste them. I was indeed your typical child and refused to eat them during festive meals.

Then a couple weeks ago Kyle suggested we try roasting them. We need more vegetable variety in our lives, so I figured I’d give it a shot. They turned out great roasted and while Kyle and I really like them, in pure small-child fashion Isla and Norah refused to eat them.

Regardless, I’m going to share my super east method and recipe because I’m actually excited about this one and when one gets excited over Brussel sprouts, you blog that shiz ;)

So, after Preheating your oven to 400°C, wash and trim the ends of the sprouts, removing any funky leaves. Cut them in half length-wise and put them in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle on some salt & pepper, then drizzle on about 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and toss everything together until the sprouts are evenly coated. Lay them out on a lined cookie sheet (either aluminum foil or parchment, I didn’t notice a difference) cut side down.

Sprouts

Toss them in the oven and let them roast for about 30 minutes, and then you should have nicely caramelized Brussel sprouts that are actually delicious and nothing like the ones you had as a kid.

20170315_174528

No cheese sauce needed here, I swear! I’m now addicted to Brussel sprouts.

 

Tiny Happy Tuesday II

Posted in Tiny Happy Tuesday by

tiny-happy-tuesday

  • Embracing this perpetual winter by meeting up with friends and heading to the tobogganing hill with the kids.
  • Finding old photos and schoolwork of mine and laughing with love at my adolescence.
  • Finishing a DIY project and not only loving the finished product, but having Isla love it as well.
  • Isla passed her swimming lessons yesterday! This is actually a huge happy because she had to repeat the class from last year, so I’ve extra proud of her for working hard and listening to her teacher.
  • Spring Break starts next week for our district and while we’re “only” in preschool twice a week for half days, I think Isla could use a break. Between that, dance class, and swimming lessons, I think she’s starting to get a little worn down. There will be plenty of relaxing happening, that’s for sure.

That’s it for me today. What’s making you happy?

What I’m Reading: The Nest

Posted in Book Review, Books, What I'm Reading by

25781157From the bookjacket:
A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the future they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

My review: 
I picked up The Nest on a bit of a whim/because it was on sale after hearing some pretty decent reviews about it. Who doesn’t love a story about a dysfunctional family?

So yes, the Plumbs are certainly dysfunctional, but I would hardly say that they’re testing the power of family. The Plumbs, in my opinion, are nothing but of snivelling, whiny WASPy-types with a sense of entitlement. How ironic that they put all of their eggs in this one financial basket they call “the Nest” only to have it fail.

Beware for beyond lay spoilers!