Snow trip

Our wee lassies hadn't ever seen real, live, snow up close, tiny little Californians that they are. Which is pretty shameful when you consider their mama is a Michigander and their father is from a family of Ulster Scots.

It became very clear, Something Needed to Be Done!

Miles and I took the kids to play in the snow last weekend. We got a room in the John Muir Lodge, geared up and went to frolic in the white stuff. Even me!

Jonathan and Emmanuel joined us and a splendid time was had by all.

My most favorite time of the year

My nails are broken & dirty, my jeans are muddy, I have a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my backside, and I have wood chips in my hair. Today, I have used a keyboard, a Kitchen Aid, a shovel and a hatchet.

I'm so happy.

It's bare root season!

Early spring is the time of year when I'm just giddy with anticipation. Ah, the joy of cruising the rose bins at the nurseries, selecting new bushes for my collection. The sheer pleasure of perusing the glossy seed catalogues (a.k.a. "garden porn") The gratification of a well-pruned fruit tree. The thrill of imagining the front garden as a riot of flowers and fruit and sweet scents. The delightful chore of deciding what will be included in our organic veggie garden.

I gotta go plant something....

What a difference a plate makes

So, regular readers will remember the bet I have going with Miles. If I can get into my vintage cocktail dress by our anniversary (May 11), he'll take me to House of Prime Rib in San Francisco for dinner.

Now, I need to lose some serious tonnage before I can get into the peacock dress. Losing weight always seems such a battle doomed to fail for me. But I have discovered a very useful technique in the battle of the bulge!

Small plates.

Yup. Just by using a small plate, you eat less.

I will confess right now; I LOVE to eat. And I love to cook. Often, I have excused my less-than-trim figure by saying, "Never trust a skinny cook!" But let's cut through the bullshit. I'm over- weight. I'm at risk for diabetes. I have young children. I need to take care of myself, so I can take care of my family.

Having hear about this diet trick, I've been keeping my eye out for small plates on the cheap. I found 'em last weekend at Target. 8 salad plates for 7 bucks. The first time the whole family used them was t'other night when I made baked macaroni-n-cheese. A little back story: whenever I make this, we all eat like pigs. Everyone has seconds, and even thirds. It's (pardon my ego) really good stuff. Usually, we eat 90% of the casserole and the kids almost come to blows over the small amount of leftovers.

This time, on the small plates, the family only ate half of the casserole.

I'm just amazed. Without thinking about it, we all ate noticeably less, merely by using a smaller plates.

I think I'm on to something....