With a good percentage of the nation blanketed in snow, I thought now would be the perfect time to share my recipe for delicious hot cocoa for four. My family topped off many a snow day with this treat.
In a saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa with ½ cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Add about ¼ cup of water and stir over low heat until smooth. Add 4 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon of almond extract and a ¼ teaspoon of salt. Taste and add more sugar if you want it sweeter.
And, of course, don't forget to add mini marshmallows or whipped cream.
Like a ghost, she’s haunted us for decades — the “perfect” mom. She sports a chic wardrobe, cooks healthy food her kids actually eat, excels in the boardroom, and still schedules couple time with her husband. She never loses her cool and has all the answers. Of course, like a ghost, there’s very little evidence she even exists.
On TV, he was Dr. Jason Seaver, the lovable dad-next-door on Growing Pains. Who knew he had great real-life stories about fatherhood, too? Continue reading
The only thing worse than being a tween who is the victim of the class Queen Bee is being the mom of that tormented tween. In her bestselling book Queen Bees & Wannabes, first published in 2002 (you might know it as the basis for the movie Mean Girls), Rosiland Wiseman provided insight into the often cruel world of cliques and gossip. Continue reading
Help your son get lost in a book with these titles.
Learning to read is a thrilling achievement, but not every kid blossoms into a bibliophile. Boys are often reluctant readers, and I’m often asked by their parents to suggest books that are especially appealing to guys. In general, boys gravitate toward male themes, especially stories that feature a hero or historical character whose exploits were "really true." Humor (especially the kind that makes Mom cringe) is always a hit with boys — even some adult boys I know — and, of course, books that cater to a particular sport or hobby or music genre can do the trick. Below are some of my favorites, along with titles that my friends at the Scholastic Book Fairs tell me are especially popular. Even if your son is reading on his own, make a point of reading together or reading to him; Nick and I spent a wonderful August reading Phillip Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" series. We still talk about those wonderful books.
The memories I have of watching classic musicals on TV with my kids are some of the sweetest. It wasn’t always easy to entice Maddie and Nick to watch an "old movie," (don’t underestimate the seductive power of freshly popped popcorn), but it was worth the effort because I know those nights are ones they’ll remember with as much fondness as I do. Here are the movies we liked most: Continue reading
My now almost-grown-up kids have been playing Guess Who?since they were kindergartners. They began by asking questions in a straight-forward, age appropriate way ("Does your person have a mouse-stash?"), and then learned to refine their queries in order to narrow down their choices ("Does your person have facial hair?"). Well into their teens, they still enjoyed our now-faded and probably incomplete set . By now their questions were highly evolved - or devolved, depending on your point of view: "Does your person look like he just got dumped by his girlfriend?" "If your person stuck his head out of a moving car, would he beat himself to death with his lips?" Some of their other favorites fell into the frat-boy humor category, but provided many hours of laughs - and years of "in" jokes they assumed I didn’t understand. Continue reading
With a good percentage of the nation blanketed in snow, I thought now would be the perfect time to share my recipe for delicious hot cocoa for four. My family topped off many a snow day with this treat.
