From the experts at L’Occitane

Now that all your holiday shopping is done (riiiiight…), the only thing left is wrapping the gifts. Personally we’re partial to this stellar wrapping paper but since it won’t be produced until next year we’ve turned to the experts at L’Occitane, known for their impeccable (and gratis!) holiday wrapping, to find out how to wrap our holiday packages in the perfect French manner.

Step 1: Layer half sheets of color one tissue paper on top of color two tissue paper

Step 2: Place product centered on the edge of the paper

Step 3: Roll it tightly

Step 4: Tuck the ends of the tissue so that about ½” of color one is showing, fold it twice to get a soft edge

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If there’s one thing we know for sure it’s that the best way to get our little ones to eat healthier foods is to get them engaged in the cooking process. To that end we near jumped out of our seat with excitement when we read about Back to The Roots. Not only is the kit fun, but it’s fruitful! In as little as 10 days you can grow up to 1.5 lbs of pearl oyster mushrooms right in the kit’s box – no muss, no fuss, and best of all no mess.

The DIY kit gets you started with everything you need and the spores last for months before [...]

Let’s get cooking…

We decided to venture out of our American/French comfort zone and take a Thai cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). ICE is a fantastic place where professionals, novices, and people just like us (aka are curious about expanding their culinary repertoire so they can have quick alternatives to chicken and potatoes…), can go and learn in an engaging, laid-back, fun setting.  Interestingly, in speaking with an ICE alumni, Claire Handleman, who has traveled extensively in Thailand we found out that the Thai dishes we have here in the US usually have flavor profiles that are completely muted down when compared with the authentic fare. Handleman told us that she “almost never find restaurants that use as much fish sauce or chili as their true forms do. Dishes here are much milder, more coconut-y, usually sweeter versions of the original dish. But for dishes that exist here that don’t exist there, I can’t think of any. It’s usually just a “version of”…” Here are some other fun facts we picked-up thanks to Andy Nusser, the chef/owner of Casa Mono, who let us in our Thai cooking class [...]

Perfect for holiday entertaining

There are no two ways about it – as much as we love the holidays, they’re stressful. This year, in between figuring out how and when we’re going to deal with the kids’ holiday wish lists, we’ll be having a number of family members and friends over for cocktail parties and dinners. That famous quote from A Tale of Two Cities, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” has never rung more true. That said, if years of entertaining has taught us anything it’s that good wine and hors d’oeuvres can go a long way.

Thanks to Trader Joe’s and the Food Network we’ve got our hors d’oeuvres down pat and now, thanks to Ravenswood, known for its zinfandels, we’ve got wines that dovetail perfectly with our edible delights as well. We tested out two of their most notable bottles– Ravenswood Pickberry red blend and Icon blend – with alumns from Cornell’s famed Hotel School (which entails taking rigorous wine courses), and they both passed with flying colors. In fact, the words “exceptional” were uttered. The Sonoma wines are fantastic, aromatic options for holiday 2011, but they can be enjoyed any time in the next decade (15 years for the Pickberry) if you happen to buy one too many bottles (though we have a feeling given their enticing flavor profile, that won’t happen).

Thank goodness [...]

Formulated without the dirty stuff

When dealing with out little ones baby smooth, but unfortunately very sensitive skin, it’s imperative that we opt for non-irritating laundry detergents – and Tide just ain’t gonna cut it. We also want to opt for planet-friendly (dirty ingredients have no place in cleaning products!) and eye pleasing (what can we say, we’re aesthetes and don’t want to have to hide our products under our sinks!), detergents. Fulfilling all three criteria is Vaska’s all-natural patented Herbatergent (made with real lavender!). It’s created with a hypoallergenic formula that uses natural herbal cleaning agents to wash clothes effectively while not harming the planet or delicate skin.

When we need detergents for very specific purposes however – i.e. our kids’ wet swim trunks or our own dripping-wet gym clothes – it’s hard to top the specially formulated one from Roux Maison. While they’ve got an Essential Detergent for our every day needs, they’ve also got Sport, Delicate, and Swimwear ones, all of which are highly concentrated, hypo-allergenic, and packaged in BPA-free bottles.

Last, but certainly not least, how can one talk about cleaning anything without giving a shout-out to Method. Not only is the brand super affordable, they’re a pioneer [...]