Showing posts with label Mario Batali. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mario Batali. Show all posts

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Fun bits and pieces - Keeping kids busy during cocktail hour, Large eggs or x-large eggs in recipes, bunny and porch garden

Here is a fun thing to do if you have a pea gravel patio and a dinner party where you have kids as well as adults in attendance. I throw beads, shells, marbles and little plastic toys into the patio. It doesn’t matter if they stay out in the weather or if they get mixed up in the patio pebbles. The more mixed in the better. While the adults are having cocktails and conversation the kids are busy treasure hunting. At the end of the evening I let them choose one "found treasure" to bring home with them. They love it and it works like a charm!



Ever wonder what the difference is between a large egg and an extra large egg. Here it is. I heard Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) say that she only uses extra large eggs in her recipes. It would be good to find out if a recipe used regular, large or extra large eggs when it was invented. I heard Mario Batali say on “The Chew” that he uses large eggs in his recipes. Something to wonder about indeed.



I visited Mom the other day and we met Jane who lives on the same floor. She is an organic gardener and once had a large garden when she lived in a house. Now that she lives in an apartment she still gardens only it's a patio garden. Jane uses organic soil and even waters with bottled water. She grows mostly flowers and herbs. Once a gardener always a gardener.



One last thing. I saw this cute little fellow while I was walking home from the gym. He lives in a grassy area between the gym, a parking garage and an assisted living facility. Little wonders never cease to amaze me.