Happy National Pie Day!

It was brought to my attention that today January 23rd 2010 is National Pie Day...Google apparently didn't get the memo since I don't see any cute dancing pies spelling out their header today....can you hear me rolling my eyes?

In honor of this little holiday I did make some pies, but went a little non traditional with the style and crust. I chose to do more a sweet tart crust rather than a plain boring pie crust, dry and no flavor right? I had some cherry filling, not the compotey kind, but the no sugar added kind. Dolled that up and broke out my mini tart dishes.

Here's how it went down and what we ended up with. Enjoy!

Belated Friday & Fabulous: The Food of France: A Journey for Food Lovers

So I am a little late.... that's my style. Not to mention I missed last week entirely. Blame it on the Army. ;)

This weeks Friday Fabulous is a beautiful French cookbook I bought for Steve that was probably secretly meant for me. I bought it for the photographs and ended up falling in love with the simplicity of this extremely sophisticated book.

The Food of France: A Journey for Food Lovers....

You can purchase it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Food-France-Journey-Lovers/dp/155285681X

Friday & Fabulous! Fabulously American Made.

*happy new year*

ok let's just cut to the chase. long before I was a new mom I had a very strong opinion on the quality of of baby and childrens items, how poorly they are made and where/how they are made. having traveled to the very areas where these items are manufactured definitely didn't ease my concerns. My other issue was the lack of imagination many kids have today, and it isn't their fault. Between the rapid advance of technology and the demands that modern every day life throws at us parents... extra help from half human toys can be harmlessly welcomed. I'm not a doctor, a therapist or teacher... but common sense is common sense. When children can't make do with a few rocks and some dirt like we did, alarm bells should go off. It has nothing to do with humans advancing and everything to do with excess. Kind of ironic since this blog focuses at times on features of excess!

After shutting my brain off and letting Sofie play with whatever toys she wanted regardless of where they came from- I sacrificed her safety and am now taking charge.

This weeks Friday & Fabulous in 2010 is dedicated to Fabulously American made toy companies and retailers that will only sell American made products. On top of taking the question mark out of what could possible be lingering in those toxic toys, you are supporting American business. International trade is an amazing thing and I am all about big business but now we are close to completely destroying something my grandparents literally bled for and I as an American am embarassed. It's out of control and time we start giving back to our country and ourselves. EVEN if it means missing that blue light special.

Back to basics people... you will proudly end up with a generation of kids way more advanced than any computer will ever make them. And they will actually work hard for the excess we've shoved down their throats.

Here are some companies to check out:
Toys of USA
http://www.toysofusa.com/

Amerikid
http://amerikid.com/

Linwood Inc.
http://www.lindenwoodinc.com/index.html


Maple Landmark Woodcraft
http://www.maplelandmark.com/

Holgate Toys
http://www.holgatetoy.com/Default.aspx

American Plastic Toy Company
http://www.americanplastictoys.com/

Shop For America
http://www.shopforamerica.com/home.php?cat=4&storeid=sfa