calgon take me away....even if it's just to Stamford

Hmmm, so on Tuesday two weeks ago, that was my bicycle resting at the top of a hill in Sicily...

....and that afternoon I'd gone to an agriturismo olive oil tasting, before hopping back on my bike and riding to a castle. What a difference two weeks makes!! I haven't had time to write a post about the trip, or the simple meals I've been whipping up back here, because I'm still playing nurse until both of my children are healthy again.

But, I have a special treat for my readers!

Whether you have the luxury to zip off to Italy for a much anticipated vacation, or just need a few hours this coming weekend to remember what it's like to be a carefree adult, I have 8 pairs of tickets to the Buick/FOOD & WINE magazine culinary event in Stamford, CT this weekend. If you would like the chance to go to this demonstration and tasting event, please leave a comment below telling me, hmmm... how about you tell me your favorite family vacation. (Since a vacation sounds really good right about now...even if there's not a chance of it happening. Still, a girl can plan ahead, and next time we'll bring the whole family on our getaway.)

OK, so here's the fine print about the give-away:

You have until 8pm (EST) Wednesday evening, November 9th, 2011 to leave a comment here on this post, or on the meals in a snap facebook page. I will use random.org to pick the winners, sometime after 8pm, when the kids are tucked in. You may enter a comment in both places, doubling your chances or receiving tickets. Winners must be 21 years of age, and present a driver's license, since there's a wine tasting component to the event. (This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?!)

Guests will have the opportunity to attend full cooking demonstrations and sample several dishes, while also getting a first-hand look at Buick’s 2012 line-up. Guests may attend the event one of five different time slots: Saturday, November 12 from 11:00am – 2:00pm; 2:30pm – 5:30pm; or 6:00pm – 9:00pm. Or, Sunday, November 13 from 12:00pm – 3:00pm or 3:30pm – 6:30pm.

Guests will experience the following discovery sessions:

Cooking Demonstration with FOOD & WINE Best New Chef 2007 Gavin Kaysen, Executive Chef at Café Boulud in New York City and James Beard “Rising Star Chef” award winner

Pastry Demonstration with Chef Ben Roche, Executive Pastry Chef of Moto in Chicago, Ill., and Co-Host of “Future Foods” on Discovery’s Planet Green Network

Buick Test Drives, featuring the new Regal Turbo, Lacrosse and Enclave

Wine Tasting with Michael Green

Cooking Demonstration and Sampling with Celebrity Chef Michael Psilakis, owner of several New York City restaurants, including Kefi and Fish Tag; Psilakis has competed on The Food Network's "Iron Chef America" and was named FOOD & WINE Best New Chef 2008 and Bon Appétit’s Chef of the Year 2008.

For every guest, Buick will make a donation to The FEED Foundation, in support of its efforts to create good products to help feed the world’s hungry, one bag at a time. "

If this sounds like a fun way to spend 3 hours with your spouse, partner, or friend this weekend then line up a sitter and go ahead and leave a comment letting me know your favorite family vacation. Remember, you can leave a comment here, or on the blog's facebook page, or both!

happy?

Spring is here! The sun is shining again, tulips and daffodils have popped up everywhere and the supermarkets have beautiful artichokes and asparagus. Those of you who have been reading my posts as of late know that I have done my own little reawakening. Finally, I don't feel so much like a frumpy mama bear. I have lost the baby weight (never mind that my youngest is now 4), have more energy, am happier, and [drum roll] a friend who came by for tea last week actually went so far as to say I am glowing. (I swear, I didn't pay her to say that.)

In the process of figuring out ways to jibe my needs with my family's needs I have done a bit of reading. Two books, in particular, really resonated and have helped me to be more calm and focused on what is truly important to me at this life stage. The first, I cracked in the New Year. Since reading Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I have given it to several friends who agree that it's fabulous. The second, Sara Avant Stover's new book, The Way of the Happy Woman, is so thoughtful and calming. She is actually coming to New Canaan Library on May 9th and leading a mini retreat at Saraswati on May 14th. I know a lot of you reading this are my friends scattered across the U.S. and beyond so here are the other places you can catch her if you'd like to hear her speak or go to one of her workshops. I am excited to send a copy of Sara's book to one of you who might like to read it as well. Simply leave a comment below letting me know something you have done to bring more happiness into your busy life. I will choose a winner on Monday!

and the table talk winners are...

Good thing there's another snow delay so I can let the winners know before the school bus comes. Phew. (Note hint of major sarcasm as I watch the snowflakes outside coming down progressively harder and harder since I started counting the winners...)

Anyway, let's forget about this latest flurry and get on to official business. As chosen by random.org, the winners from those who left comments here were numbers 5 (Meredith) and 3 (Jennifer M). And from the Meals in a Snap FB page the winners are #12 (Ninorah Fernandes-Brookshire) and #163 (Elissa Ashwood). Note to self: counting up from the first "liker" in the FB page was sort of a logistical nightmare. Nothing two cups of coffee couldn't fix, but I'd love any suggestions you all may have for a more efficient counting system for the next give-away. (I have a few great books and an exciting ticket give-away up my sleeve!)

I am not sure whether each of you is local or faraway, so I will send you a message via FB to see where you'd like this little gift mailed! I hope it inspires some good conversations around your dinner table. Enjoy!

table talk

Because of the soup bounty from Monday’s swap, I really didn’t need to cook much this week. That was good because between two snow days and the boys’ tag-teaming sick days, I did not catch a break last week. Those of you on the facebook page know that I did still manage to bake not one-- but two-- big batches of cookies. Other than that, we enjoyed a lot of soup.

Assuming everyone goes back to school on Monday, I’ll get back to jotting down some fabulously simple, healthful recipes for those who want some inspiration. Until then, why don’t we do a little give-away!!

The notion of family dinners has been a hot button topic lately. So, say you’ve got the meal made (or assembled, or picked up), and you’ve got everyone at the table. I don’t know about you, but I am the solo parent at the kid’s dinner hour on weekdays and if I try to ask about school, I get a lot of “I don’t knows”. So, when I saw these little matchbox-sized “Box of Questions” at our local variety store I thought they were brilliant. Each matchbox-sized box has 21 different questions, and they are things like:

Where is the coziest spot in your home?
What do you think is the greatest invention of all time? and
Do you have a family rule that is unfair? If so, how would you change it and why?

I am not really sure why they say age 6+, unless they’re afraid small children might eat the cards? Anyway, I think they’re perfect for any age child and I have four of these little boxes to give away, and will mail them anywhere in the U.S. There are two ways to enter:

Two winners will be randomly chosen from those who “like” the Meals in a Snap facebook page. So hop on over and “like” the site, if you haven’t already!

Two winners will be randomly chosen from the comments section here. Simply leave a comment here letting me know your favorite, go-to family meal.

For double the chances to win, you are welcome to enter in both places! But hurry, this contest only runs from today, January 22nd at 10am ET through Monday, January 24th at 11:59pm ET. (Winners will be contacted Tuesday morning for their mailing address.) Enjoy!!

And the winners are...

Julie in St. Louis has won the drawing for the 4 pinwheel plates...

and Whitney in New Canaan will be riding away with the 4 bicycle plates!

Thank you to everyone who answered the questionnaire. I truly appreciate your feedback and ideas for making Full Plate posts even better.

p.s. Sorry to those of you who subscribe and were re-sent the empanada post from back in January. While I do like those empanadas, that wasn't supposed to be re-sent months later!!

Chance to win a 4-pack of these fabulous summer-themed sectioned plates!

In anticipation of some possible changes to and new features on Full Plate, I’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to complete this brief, 10 question survey about Full Plate.

To thank you, at the bottom of the survey you have a chance to enter your name in a drawing for a 4-pack of these sectioned plates, perfect for summer! (The fine print: The winner will get to choose between 4 bicycle plates, 4 pinwheel plates, or 2 of each. I will choose the winner using random.org. The winning number generated will correspond with that number respondent on the questionnaire. So, it's all fair game! )

Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to share what you like about Full Plate, and what you'd like to see included in Full Plate posts going forward!

And the winner is.....

And the winner is….. Full Plate! Thank you to Cobie, from New Canaan, who came up with this clever multi-tasking name. Not only did she brainstorm the name, but she’s got a fabulous tag line to go along with it that I’ll unveil with the new site. I am very excited to run with her idea. Stay tuned for a pic of her winning what will be nothing short of a Publisher’s Clearinghouse-style house call…only more exciting because it will involve food.

I’ve got to get busy switching things around, but I’ll make it as seamless as I can for all of you. Not sure when I’ll find the “free time” to do this, so we’ll stay mom-a-licious until the babysitting fairy falls from the sky and grants me a couple hours a day without a kid on my lap as I type.

For those curious about the breakdown of the votes, here’s how things panned out:
Full Plate – 27 votes
Grateful Platefull – 17 votes
Fairfield County Momalicious – 7 votes
Momalicious Fairfield County – 7 votes
Mom-a-licious Fairfield County – 7 votes
Fairfield County Mom-a-licious – 4 votes
GastroMom – 0 votes

And, I did not forget about the drawing for a prize for all of you who voted. Since it’s looking like a rainy afternoon, writing all the names down and drawing a lucky winner is going to be our afternoon project around here!

Thank you again, Cobie, for your creative and spot on new business name!

To be "Mom-a-licious" or not?

I am mom-a-licious. I am not mom-a-licious every day, but I’d say I rank up there 4-5 days a week. That name makes me smile, not because I am snarky but because it reminds me that I am a mom, first and foremost these days, but I also need to stay humorous, healthy, grounded, happy and svelte. The name encapsulates that goal and is light-hearted. That said the website and business surrounding healthy motherhood is already claimed by Domenica Catelli.

When I originally started this blog, the goal was to share recipes and some neat finds/ideas with my local friends and cooking lesson clients. The blog address was free, so I snatched it up and started writing away! But in the little over two months I have been writing this blog, it has logged over 4,000 visitors and it’s clear based upon the emails you all have sent me that my audience is much broader than Fairfield County, and broader than my immediate friends.

With preschool on the horizon, I am muddling through what I want this blog to evolve into. My primary job will always be my children, and I am thankful that I have the luxury to keep it that way—at least for now! But requests for cooking lessons keep coming in, and I have a head full of ideas of things that can help make being a mom more healthy, fun and inspiring for all of us. The problem is, if I am going to grow this business I think I need to back-up and re-name it. While I love mom-a-licious, Domenica claimed it first, and it’s her name. I need to come up with a name that captures the spirit of my blog, but that I can call my own.

Hopefully my technological skills are up to snuff for this part... If you’d like to help re-name the business or give me feedback on this blog, simply click on the following survey. It should just take a couple of minutes and your feedback will be so helpful.

Here’s the fun part: If I choose your name for the blog and accompanying cooking lessons, the prize is a 2-hour cooking lesson in your home (see the fine print below…). So pour yourself a glass of wine and get those creative juices flowing!

The fine print about the re-naming contest: survey responses will be accepted until June 10, 2009 (so don't dally!); in the event that more than one person submits the same winning name I will have my oldest child randomly draw a winner (trust me, he'll be insanely excited about this honor); winner must live within a 30-minute drive of New Canaan, CT; cooking lesson is for one or two people; lesson to be scheduled on a mutually agreed upon weekend or evening during July or September, 2009; winner has the option of a 1-hour grocery shopping trip + 1-hour in-home cooking lesson OR 2-hour in-home cooking lesson; groceries not included; groceries can be purchased by me and reimbursed or a shopping list can be provided.

May the best mom win!