Jan About Town

My son is an “As Seen on TV” addict..

He knows the “ShamWow” commercial by heart ….”ShamWow holds 12 times its weight in liquid!”
“Mom, you could clean up a whole puddle of milk in one swoop.  Look! You just throw it in the laundry!”

We NEED The Perfect Brownie maker (the one that makes every piece its own ‘corner’). The commercial comes on….”Yum, 18 chocolatey brownies sliced all at once!” …and he stops mid Lego-building and stares like Carol Anne in Poltergeist..

But wait- there’s more…

If he had his way, the entire family would sit around watching infomercials, wearing Snuggies and polishing Buffalo Gold Piece coins.

An advertisement for KidzBop always gets a squeal.

TV: “Today’s Biggest Songs, Sung By Kids For Kids…So What! I’m still a Rock Star! La, La, LaLa, La..”

Me: “OMG…they’re on #17!! How could we possibly have missed out on numbers 3-16?”

TV: “Only $18.98, plus $6 shipping and handling.”

Me: “What? I thought they gave those things away in Kids Meals!”

Even his everyday conversation sounds like a pre-paid commercial.
“Hey mom, there are these cool things, Fun Sliders, I think….Like if it’s raining outside and you can’t do anything…”

Every now and then I hear him humming jingles, mumbling phrases from commercials..or asking questions like “Is Wendy’s really better than fast food?”

You too could get this kind of entertainment…for the low, low price of TOO MUCH TV.

8 o’clock on Halloween night, my son pours his ghoulishly delicious loot onto my living room floor.
“149 pieces!” he proclaims, evidence of his hard work as a trick-or-treater.
Normally, a wave of nauseousness, then fear, would have washed over me…but instead I smile and say, “Enjoy!”, because I know not all that candy will stay in my house.
C’mon, admit it. How many of you have loaded Easter baskets with leftover Halloween candy? It’s just too much candy for one household to house.  For my son, the mixture of costumes and candy represents a legal “wild things romp”.  While the night of dashing to doors and darting across driveways collecting candy is ridiculously satisfying, the outcome, 150 pieces of candy, is overindulgent.

So three years ago, I finally figured out how to enjoy all that candy by sharing it with others who don’t often get the feeling of “splurge”.  I dreamed up PINATA BOUNTY.
We stuff as many turkey pinatas (yes, they make turkey pinatas!!) as the donated candy will fill. In 2010, this was 20 pinatas!
Then, I deliver them to area shelters, missions, children’s homes, etc..for their Thanksgiving celebrations.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It feels so good to ‘give gratitude’.
So in the spirit of “Freely ye have received, Freely give” I hope to make Thanksgiving a “splurge” for some local children, by sharing a bounty of candy.

Here’s a list of the agencies that received festive pinatas in 2011:  Helping Hands Mission, Raleigh Rescue Mission, W.E. Mangum Child Development Center, Salvation Army, The Wrenn House, Interact, Women’s Center of Wake County, Second Round Youth House, Boys & Girls Club (seven individual groups!), and The Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen.

Won’t you contribute? You can still hit a 50% candy sale and donate a bag or ten. You can donate $5 to help buy the pinatas. Store managers…how about donating all Halloween candy that doesn’t sell by the end of this week? (what happens to it anyway?) Regular supporters are Whole Foods of Cary and Fresh Market of Cary and Walgreens of Apex has contributed in the past.
Drop me an email to contribute! JanAboutTown@gmail.com

You’ll love this clever & delicious treat and Earth Day, is a perfect excuse to make them!

Earth Balls – They are the one thing I make that gets loud cheers from Hubby, Two-ton Toddler, AND 7yr old Picky McPickster. They are my rabbit in the hat. A healthy (shhh!), cute, yummy, clever, perfectly bite-sized treat.

How about if I add that they are chocolate AND no-bake? Did I hook you yet?

Here is the simple and perfectly-flexible-for-the-most-creative-people* recipe:

(adapted from Whole Foods Market Cookbook recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
1/2 cup semisweet MINI chocolate chips
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (or any finely chopped nuts)

How To

Mix the peanut butter, honey and cocoa powder until well combined.

Stir in the raisins and 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Place the remaining coconut, sesame seeds and nuts/sunflower seeds into 3 separate bowls.

Scoop small heaps of the peanut mixture from the bowl; roll into 1 1/4-inch balls.

Then roll each ball in the different toppings: coconut, sesame seeds and chopped nuts.You can even mix some of them.

*I often choose to leave some chocolate chips out of the mixture and roll them in more chips at the end.

When I’m feeling like a really special mommy, I roll them in sprinkles.

On Earth Day- I roll them in green and blue sprinkles, or coconut dyed green!

Arrange the balls on a plate, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

One of my favorite springtime traditions growing up was when the Spring Arts & Crafts festival came to downtown St. Augustine.

The whole family would load up for a day in downtown perusing the handmade treasures for sale. Dad always loved the wood-carved stuff; In the early years, I remember Mom getting macrame plant holders and these amazing candles that were rainbow-colored, shaped like a cauldron and smelled delicious; My sis always sniffed out the jewelry and my brother was too eager to help guide me to the purchase I wanted to make: Confetti Eggs.  Oh, those delicate little containers ready to burst with confetti fun! It may be my romantic memory, but I still picture them as colorful and pretty as a stained-glass window.  Of course, they had a much more robust and hard-core purpose: to be thrown, cracked, shattered and splattered….specifically, over someone’s head!

Last Easter, I stopped reminiscing… and resurrected the Confetti Egg.  Times have changed so my confetti eggs are “green”, made with bird seed instead of paper, and not nearly as pretty as I remember (apparently whoever made them was painfully artistic), but I’m working on that.

Watch this video to see my assistant demonstrating the first steps to making “Green Confetti Smashing Eggs” – to be used to make your guests squeal and giggle at your next springtime party:

Click here to watch an “Egg Blowing” How To

After you’ve blown out all the eggs, die them as you traditionally would. We added a little extra sparkle…

Fill each egg with bird seed and plug the opening with a cotton ball. (If you want to be more advanced, cut out a small square of tissue paper and glue it over the opening instead)

Pass ‘em out at the next party…and enjoy!

Out here in the suburbs we have few worries.  Sure there are money issues, job worries, challenging kids, balancing family time…but generally we gotta go looking for trouble- it doesn’t easily find us. Things can be so good in fact, that we could take them for granted.

One of the things I’m grateful for is good neighbors. We watch each others’ kids, we share food from our cupboards, we check on each others’ dogs and take long walks together. And every month or so we celebrate each others birthdays by going to lunch.

This week, for my birthday, I decided to push my friends outside our suburb lunch box. The restaurant I chose to take them to was a soup kitchen. Instead of getting treated to lunch, I planned on serving others- with my friends’ help.

In my never-ending quest to express compassion, I had been researching volunteer opportunities.  One group I stumbled upon gave me an idea that made my eyes sparkle.  A group of 6-8 was needed… to serve lunch to those in need.

The Church of The Good Shepherd in downtown Raleigh is home to a Soup Kitchen, called The Shepherd’s Table, which serves a free, warm lunch to anyone who walks in the door- no questions asked- Monday through Friday, year round.  Lunch is completely volunteer run- from food preparation to serving.  Anyone above the age of 13 can sign up to help.

It makes me feel alive to step outside my comfort-zone and I really wanted to do this- but it’s easier when you’re not alone.  I announced my birthday wish and to my delight my girlfriends eagerly jumped on board.

A group must sign up, sometimes months in advance, to work. We coordinated our schedules, everyone blocking out the day before my birthday as our date ‘To Serve’.

The Shepherd’s Table is a well-oiled machine. Five of us marched in that February morning wide-eyed and willing. We were instructed to wash up and don aprons. Then a group of 20 or so of us joined hands and were lead in prayer. Next, kitchen assignments were handed out: One person would scoop salad, another was on hot dish duty; one person offers soup, while another hands out dessert, and so on.

We started our tasks quietly and humbly.  Each of us noting how good it felt to look each person served that day in the eye- with respect.  By the end of the hour we found ourselves happily chatting and comfortably helping where needed. It was incredibly fulfilling.  We signed up to serve our next lunch at the Shepherd’s Table before we even left that afternoon.

Is serving in a soup kitchen a novel idea?  No.  Val, our team leader that day, has served every Tuesday for the past 15 years.  Brian, my “soup boss” (I was in charge of serving soup) is a 5 year Shepherd’s Table veteran.  But are the number of us who could be doing this self-less work actually doing it?  No.

I charge you to fill up one of the volunteer dates on the calendar next month.   CLICK HERE and sign up TO SERVE.

Our pint-sized Picasso asked if he could teach an art class to his friends, just like the one he’s been attending. “All my friends ask me to draw pictures for them,” he pronounced, “They’ll definitely want to take my class!” After about 2 seconds of thought (my brainstorms are always awaiting an entrance) I told him he could- If he’d consider using his class to raise money for a good cause. He was up for that idea immediately, so we had a thorough discussion on groups we’d like to help.

Troupe’s choice: Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue. Our Ziggy came from NRGRR just 9 months ago.   Ziggy was found wandering, a stray. He will now always have a home with us. While Ziggy’s story is a typical one, not all rescues wander straight into loving arms during puppyhood.

Our Bayou  was rescued from a dog-fighting ring. He was being used as training bait. He wouldn’t make eye contact with us for the first year. Bayou went on to live 12 healthy and happy years with us- often renamed as “By-me” or “Velcro”.

This sweet boy, James (who is up for adoption), was found bumping into a barbed wire fence. He had not been cared for, and had lost his site because of illness. So you see why our son is determined to help the Golden Rescue and dogs like these.

So it is, that an art class was born!

15 students attended and $43 was collected for the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue!

We had no idea we knew so many fantastic artists!  Introducing: An Ornament Still Life.

When I was 6,7,8 years old I was making mud pies, sifting through my mom’s scarf drawer and building forts out of the sofa.

Now, I know these activities are still going on today (‘cuz I have two fort-building-mud-pie-makers myself) but a whole new world of adventure has opened up since I was a kid.

After-school activities have taken on a life of their own and with the introduction of “year round school”, camp is no longer an annual event, it’s a daily one.

I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. I am now teaching “Junior Meteorology” to curious, inventive, bright-eyed elementary kids- and I love it!

In this highly-interactive camp kids are learning how to be observant; How to really notice things, like the sky’s current color, the shapes of changing clouds and the direction of the wind. These are the foundational steps to predicting weather. Doesn’t everyone really want this power for themselves?

It’s two days, six hours worth of hands-on answers to things like: Why do we not call them “Cold Air Balloons”?

Who calls what a “Willy Willy”?  Which one could fit inside Apex- a hurricane or a tornado?  And, What does the “Freezing Line” mean for our sledding chances?

There’s lots of movement, lots of mess and lots of laughing. By the end of camp, my mini-meteorologists are poised as public speakers and confidently tackling physics concepts.

Don’t you know someone who would fit right in with us?  Tell them about our upcoming session:

December 14th & 16th
Tues/Thurs 9:30-12:30

All classes are held at Kidocio on Highway 64 in Apex.

Register HERE.

Click here to view a gallery of previous “Junior Meteorology” classes.

Thanks to Walgreens of Apex, Whole Foods of Cary and others…we’re at it again! Filling pinatas to share at local Thanksgiving celebrations hosting children, including The Helping Hands Mission, The Wrenn House, Interact and The Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake county.

Over the past few years, when my parents each turned 70, our family blew it out with a big bash for each.

First, a rented house on the Outer Banks for Dad’s celebration, then a ‘Cruzan Reunion’ in St. Croix for mom’s blowout.

So when the calendar comes around to late summer, I crave family, sun, sand …and celebratory food!

Courtesy of my sun & fun loving sister-in-law, Here’s a Seafood Paella to knock your socks off-  best served up to a large group of kin!

Seafood Paella

20 calms, scrubbed

20 mussels, scrubbed and debearded

1/4 cup olive oil

10 chicken pieces (drumsticks or thighs)

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 lb chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices

4 to 5 cups of Bomba, Calasparra, or Valencia rice

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 (32 oz) container chicken broth

1/4 to 1/2 tsp saffron threads

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2  lb green beans* (or 1 1/2 cups frozen sweet peas, aded last 15 minutes of cooking)

6 to 8 cups water

20 prawns, peeled if desired

Discard opened, cracked or heavy clams and mussels. Set aside.

Heat oil in  a 17 inch paella pan. Add chicken and cook over medium coals, until chicken is golden and juices run clear. Add garlic and onion and cook until crisp- tender. Add chorizo and cook until thoroughly heated. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until grains are coated with oil. Add tomato, chicken broth, saffron threads, wine and green beans. Bring to a slow boil. Cook 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional water as needed. Add seafood and cook 15 more minutes, or until prawns turn pink and clams and mussels open.  Yield: 10 servings.

*Rowdy crowd, optional, but preferred.

I wanted to change things up this year…to mark my son’s 7th birthday in a more unique- okay, I’ll be honest-  less stressful & more fulfilling way.  For our son, being social and 7 means tons of friends and thus, attending lots of birthday adventures.  He may not have had his fill of ‘jumpy places’, but I had.  Plus, I had thought of a way around stuffing gift baggies and addressing invitations – We’d go away!  Out of town…to a place little boys dream of- Great Wolf Lodge.  My son quickly agreed to forgo a party and pile ‘o gifts for a wacky weekend in the water.  My cleverness was just beginning.  Troupe has two close friends whose birthdays are within the same week as his…and more importantly, I like their moms’ a lot.  I chatted up my girlfriends (moms to the two other boys) about the Great Wolf “Birthday Bash” idea- and they loved it.  So, a two-night stay, in a hotel room that easily fit the six of us, was split by three families as gifts to their eldest celebrating sons.  We left husbands and younger siblings -woot! – and checked ourselves in for a weekend of fun. Five turns down the “Howling Tornado” later my girlfriends and I were ready to book our next stay.  We’d each brought a book, and two of us even stuffed workout clothes in our bags.  I’m happy to report the only time I was still enough to read, was when my head hit the bed at night and I got more exercise darting up and down four flights of stairs chasing “Magi-Quest” clues than I’ll EVER get on a treadmill.  I love kids’ birthday parties!

Click to watch: Keeping Up With The Joneses at The NC Museum of Art