Thanksgiving in our family has evolved over the years to become a holiday hosted by my dad and stepmom who married four years ago over Thanksgiving weekend, a few short years after each lost their own spouses to cancer. Together, they have built a home to host our newly blended family including six children (plus…
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Best Birthday Brownies
It’s hard to believe my oldest baby turns 8 today! We celebrated over the weekend with a sleepunder party. Think all the best parts of a sleepover (pajamas, movie, games, popcorn, ice cream sundaes, flash light tag) but then got to send the girls home to bed for a good night’s sleep. I found these…
Rosh Hashanah Traditions Old and New
This year marks the fourteenth year that my husband and I have hosted Rosh Hashanah together. Our tradition started in Boston, where I was in grad school at the time. It was too hard to fly back to be with our families in the middle of the week with our busy schedules so we gathered…
What’s on my Rosh Hashanah Menu
I don’t usually post my menus before an event but I am so excited about this year’s Rosh Hashanah dishes that I wanted to share before the holiday in the hopes it inspires others to try something new. I’ll be tripling most of the recipes but like all good Jewish mothers woke up this morning…
The Road to a Wedding Cake!
A wedding cake was never on my bucket list of culinary accomplishments. However, I was so touched and honored when my greatest mentor, whom I’ve worked closely with throughout my entire professional career, asked if I’d make her wedding cake. I of course jumped at the opportunity and welcomed the challenge. Baking for big occasions…
Three Cookie Recipes Connecting Families and Generations
We just celebrated three major events this past weekend in Chicago with my family. The birth of my nephew Bernie, my dad’s 70th Birthday, and the baby naming of my niece Maeve. For me, these gatherings are always a way to bring together past and present and as with most Jewish celebrations involve spreads of…
A Garden Tea Party in Celebration of Friendship (Menu and Tips Included!)
One of the greatest joys of my thirties has been the new friendships that come along with being a mom. There is something so special about the bond formed over shared parenting and life experiences. I’ve been lucky to meet some amazing women over the years in Brooklyn who happen to have kids around the…
A ‘Sip and See’ reminds me why the chance to see, even in short fleeting moments, matters.
I just returned from a very brief overnight trip to Minneapolis where I flew in with my sister to surprise our brother and sister-in-law for our new niece, Maeve’s ‘Sip and See’. My sister-in-law grew up in Minneapolis and her mom’s close friends started this wonderful tradition of hosting Sip and Sees for their children’s…
Why Everyone Needs a Book Club
I had the pleasure of hosting my bookclub this past week. Playing host to this group of women is not a role I take lightly and hence revel in the opportunity to plan, cook and dote on my friends when it’s my turn to host. Let me be very clear though that hosting is just…
New Traditions: A Blended Family Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up my family would travel from Chicago to Tucson where my Dad’s extended family gathered around my Great Aunt Liz’s home to spend the holiday. I have such vivid memories of pulling through her gravel driveway once we arrived and walking straight through her back…
Bedford Balabusta 