My sister Sarah and I hosted a baby shower for our sister Libby last Sunday. Mom-and-Dad-to-be have decided on a sock monkey theme for the nursery, so we just had to build off of that for the shower. We did the luncheon table in brown with red and white polka dot napkins. Fruit and veggies were served in coordinating baskets, and the rest on white platters. You can’t go wrong with white platters; they always look great, especially against bold or rich solid colored tablecloths.

At first, before we knew about Libby’s wonderful sock monkey nursery, I thought we’d do a tea party. But there was a little problem—the guest of honor doesn’t like tea fare!  When we host parties at home Libby always sneaks to the kids table to see what they are eating, so we felt a comfort food menu was in order.

We wanted the food to be easy to eat while visiting, so we decided most the menu would be finger food. Sarah works for a wonderful gourmet food shop in Alameda called Culina, so they prepared a batch of fried chicken drumettes.  Sarah then prepped an eye-popping assortment of vegetables for the crudités, it was stunning!

We made mac and cheese from scratch, wrapped cocktail sausages in puff pastry and made egg salad sandwiches as well. A basket of strawberries satisfied the sweet tooth until it was time for dessert.

We extended the mini-portions to the dessert table too. Instead of serving a cake, we opted for a more bite-size approach. We did make cupcakes, but just the mini-size: red velvet with cream cheese frosting on a tiered wire stand, and a plate of chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting on another plate.

If you weren’t in the mood for cupcakes, we also had chocolate chip cookies on hand. We took a cue from Amy Atlas and Mom filled petite popcorn boxes with caramel corn.

Candy buffets are all the rage, but you really have to be hosting a huge event to make it worthwhile. Instead we did a candy tray with movie theatre candy, and filled little take-away boxes with the remainder for party favors. All the treats had a nostalgic feel to them, inspired by the sock monkeys on the table.

So, it’s a food blog so I blogged about the food, but the best part of the shower was catching up with family and meeting the new babies and toddlers—it was a day of little ones! In about a month we’ll have another little one to welcome, I can’t wait to meet him!

I mention his book in the TV Diet article—but it’s worth its own posting. If you haven’t already, head to your local bookstore and pick up Michael Pollan’s Food Rules.  It is not a diet book, it is an “eater’s manual” with wonderful suggestions that address these three questions: what should I eat (eat food), what kind of food should I eat (mostly plants) and how much should I eat (not too much).

That’s it. No complex plans or systems. Just the kind of advice our grandmothers probably heeded. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but so simple and well written that some of the rules are sure to stick. My older daughter and I went through the book and picked some rules for us to follow as a family; ones that would involve all the family. I think every month we’ll add a few new ones to focus on. But for February we chose the following:

#7 Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third grader cannot pronounce.

#12 Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.

#32 Don’t overlook the oily little fishes

#51 Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.

#60 Treat treats as treats.

 Have you been following the Olympics? It’s been a wonderful one to watch, the Canadian’s really did a wonderful job welcoming the world to their amazing country. Even though we share a lot in common with our neighbors to our north, Canada is it own distinct country with its own distinct culture—and in some cases, distinct desserts. Take the Nanaimo bar, for instance. It’s a triple layer no-bake bar that was created in a town in British Columbia. I can’t think of an equivalent in the US, if anything, it reminds me of sweets I’ve had in the UK. Here is my version of the Nanaimo Bar for an article I did for a classically Canadian meal for education.com. It might be a fun meal to make the night of the closing ceremonies.

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/serve-classically-canadian-meal-olympics/

And here is just the Nanaimo Bar recipe:

Nanaimo Bars

Makes 18 mini -bars.

If you haven’t heard of these super sweet treats yet, odds are you’ll be hearing more about them in the upcoming weeks, as they are the point of pride of the town of Nanaimo, British Columbia. Though not traditionally in the recipe, we’ve added a little cream cheese to help balance the powdered sugar of the filling. Just omit the cream cheese if your sweet tooth prefers the real deal.

These dessert bars are extremely sweet, so it’s best to cut the pan into 9 bars, and then halve those for a total of 18 petite bars.

What You Need:

For the base layer

• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup toasted almonds, chopped
• ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

For the filling

• 4 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla pudding mix powder
• 1  2/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

For the top layer

• 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

What You Do:

1. Set up a bain marie. (Take a saucepan and pour in about two inches water. Find a heat proof bowl that will fit snuggly on top of the saucepan. The base of the bowl should not touch the water.)  Melt the butter in the bowl, and then add the sugar and cocoa, stirring to dissolve. Add the egg and stir constantly as the mixture thickens. Remove from heat.
2. Pour in the crumbs, almonds and coconut and stir to combine. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 brownie pan. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
3. To make the filling, set up a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add the softened butter, cream, pudding mix powder, powdered sugar and cream cheese and beat on medium speed until light and well combined.
4. Using a small offset spatula, spread  the filling over the base layer. Refrigerate while preparing the chocolate topping.
5. To make the topping set up a bain marie over medium low heat and add the chopped chocolate and butter to the bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly so that it is not hot to the touch but still fluid.
6. Pour the cooled chocolate over the filling. Working again with a small offset spatula, quickly spread the glaze to entirely cover the layer of filling.
7. Refrigerate until hardened, cut into bars, and serve.

I’d like to share an article I just wrote for education.com about putting your kids on a diet—a tv diet that is.  A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior conducted by UC Davis examined the commercials running on 12 networks during the weekday afternoon and Saturday morning hours, the times when children would be most likely to be watching. Out of 5,724 commercials recorded, 1,162 were food-related. And of those, 70% were advertisements for fast-food, junk food and soda; 34% were for places that sell or products that are considered ''food on the run.”

Those numbers really concern me. Because it shapes our kids ideas of what is normal. If kids are watching a lot of tv, and thus a lot of commercials where other kids are downing soda and seem happy and healthy and popular, how could kids not associate soda as a “good thing.” Sure, at home we can talk about how this is not true, but still, talk about mixed messages. So in the article I include what I hope are helpful ways to curb your child’s exposure to junk food commercials.

I’m not anti-tv, just as I’m not anti-treat. But I’m a big believer in the maxim “everything in moderation.” In our house we watch videos and a little pbs kids when it’s time to unwind, and it seems to work for us. What works for you? I'd love to hear. Here is the link to the article if you’d like to find out more about the study, or a few ideas on how to put the whole family on a tv diet.

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/put-child-diet/

Some folks were stuck in stormy Sonoma County last week; I was entertaining close friends at my summer house in Provence. Okay, I don't have a summer house in Provence, but I do have a copy of the Kaari Meng's French General Handmade Soirees: Simple Projects for Special Occasions. And so I spent a good amount of my reading time last week just drooling over the pictures of the exquisitely photographed dinner parties she created, all with a French flare. Meng has an amazing eye for detail, effortlessly blending vintage linens, flatware and dishes to create tablescapes that transport you to magical places--like my imaginary mas in Menerbes.

We can save our centimes for a French retreat but for now we work with what we have: a petite backyard (petite just sounds so much prettier than small, don't you think?). I long for larger yard, one with a huge potager and plenty of room for the kids to roam, but I'll say one thing about small backyards: they are easy to transform. We'll have summer parties with white lights strung through our mulberry trees and with a few good friends and lots of good food, well, who could want anything else?

Meng's book provides some remarkable "grown up" craft ideas but no recipes (for which I've read some critical reviews) but imo the lack of recipes isn't that much of a detriment. Although now I can't wait to host a Moules Frites fete in the early fall--is it too early to start planning?