Newsy! I Cook, Therefore I Care + Falafel + Wolf Hall & Catherine The Great (v.12)
September 1st, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Newsy! hopes you enjoy this Moment of Awwww brought to you by Jules Older– who thinks his grandcritters are pretty awwwwesome!
Consider this:
I Cook, Therefore I Care
When I have a friend in need – possibly due to a health crisis, a kid crisis, a work crisis or some other kind of crisis – I cook. It feels satisfying and right to make something good and nourishing or good and sweet to help make life a tiny bit better for someone I care about. So right now, I’m cooking. Today it’s matzo ball soup. The puffy balls are dancing around in simmering chicken broth, bumping up against bright orange circles of carrots. Earlier in the week, I delivered still-warm gluten-free chocolate chip banana bread with homemade strawberry jam. Another night: I pulled vegetarian eggrolls straight out of oven and onto a plate, covered it with foil and drove as quickly as I could to my friend’s house so the eggrolls would stay crispy and crunchy. Read more
Newsy! Pen Pals Forever + Strawberry Freezer Jam + Secondhand Souls (v.11)
August 24th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Pen Pals Forever: A Lasting Friendship Born of Pen and Paper
When I was nine years old and growing up in Dunedin, New Zealand, an international pen pal program connected me with a fellow nine-year-old named Lisa in Chicago. Even though our handwritten letters took two weeks to cross hemispheres and international date lines to arrive, we became dedicated pen pals. We shared stories about our families, our pets, our hobbies, our friends. We sent each other photos, capturing our goofy grins when we lost teeth in the 70s and my oversize glasses and her oversize hair in the 80s. Eventually, in our early teens, Lisa and I lost touch. Read more
Newsy! Screen Almighty (Part Two) + Artichoke Parmesan Dip + Symphony for the City of the Dead (v.10)
August 3rd, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Screen Almighty (Part Two):
In Which I Download A New App and Holy Hell Ensues
A friend and I were out for dinner last week and, as almost always happens when I get together with another mom, the conversation turns to our mounting frustration with kids on screens. We agree that Pokemon Go has not assuaged our concerns about excessive screen time, even if our kids are now breathing fresh air as they stare blindly into their phones. Equally unreassuring: the all-new “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” week-long summer camp promising 10-14 year olds “instruction on how to play the game safely, friendship, swimming, and most importantly: catching them all!” Read more
Newsy! Bone Broth Blues + Cinnamon Applesauce Muffins + The One and Only Ivan & Half Brother (v.9)
July 27th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Bone Broth Blues
My good pal, whom I’ll call Janet, has been making bone broth for years, thanks to friends of hers who supply her with bones from their small herd of organically raised cows. After listening to Janet rave about this curative concoction, I decided to accept her offer of a few bones and brew some broth myself. (Note to reader: I regularly make chicken stock, and I have no idea if or why it’s considered inferior to the bovine variety. But based on how much Whole Foods et al. charges for beef-based bone broth, mine is either sadly lacking something or we’re all buying a load of hooey. Perhaps literally. Just saying.) Read more
Newsy! Screen Almighty + Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas + We Are Not Ourselves (v.8)
July 19th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Screen Almighty
Screens are ruining my life.
Specifically, they’re wreaking havoc on my family life. Despite my very best intentions, my kids are addicted to screens, and I can’t seem to do a damn thing about it.
That eye-roll you just gave, about me not being able to do anything about it? I used to do that, too. When my boys were younger, we’d hang out with older kids (family friends, cousins) who’d spend entire meals, evenings or outings staring blindly into their screens. Read more
Newsy! Resolutions, Redux + Roasted Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup + Burnt Shadows (v.7)
July 12th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Resolutions, Redux.
Note: This Newsy! is an edited version of my very first issue. Enjoy! (And if you’ve already read it, you’ve just saved yourself a few extra minutes to do … something else!)
Since launching Newsy!, some curious folks have asked what inspired me to start writing Ideas + Recipes + Books And More! By way of any answer, I’ve decided to share a version of the very first Newsy! I created back in May. It was a beta issue of sorts and thus, very few people saw it. (If you were one of the few, you can stop reading. Right now.) But it does explain how I got here from there. And in this case, “there” is (or was) January 1st, 2016. That’s the day I wrote myself this note:
In 2016 I will:
- Be bold
- Be generous
- Find my voice
Newsy! Has Your Family Tried A Pound Of Milk + Two Tasty Toppings + The True Deceiver (v.6)
June 30th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Has Your Family Tried A Pound Of Milk?
It’s a hot Sunday morning, and we’re driving with the boys to play a round of miniature golf (see Forced Family Fun). My husband turns on NPR, and the deep, resonant voice of our favorite Garrison Keillor fills the car. Knowing that he’s about to retire from A Prairie Home Companion after more than forty years of broadcasting, we listen even more attentively than usual. Garrison Keillor, my husband and I agree, is a genius. Read more
Newsy! After Orlando, We’re “Reeling” Once Again + Classic Cheese Scones + The Crossover (v.5)
June 21st, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
After Orlando, We’re “Reeling” Once Again
I hate crying on the treadmill at the gym. I’m already red-faced and gasping from my workout, so things get pretty ugly when tears are added to the mix. Plus, no Kleenex, so, yeah, lots of snot.
I know I’m not the only one who cried watching the news this week. I’ve been reading about Orlando’s nightclub carnage in my local paper, and I’ve tracked the unfolding horror on NPR, too. But when I became a mom nearly 14 years ago, I stopped watching the news. If I did see clips from the current news cycle – about shootings, earthquakes, airplane crashes, house fires and anything, anything to do with children suffering – I was in for a sleepless, anxiety filled night. Read more
Newsy! Hey, Graduates! Smell Your Lunch Meat + Nut Seed Coconut Crunch + The Orphan Master’s Son (v.4)
June 16th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Hey, Graduates! Smell Your Lunch Meat.
Chances are, by the time you read this, my son will have graduated from 8th grade. Now, there will be some amongst you who say, meh, 8th grade, no big deal. Part of me totally gets that. When I graduated about a hundred years ago from “intermediate school” in New Zealand, the only celebration I remember was destroying the red kilt I’d worn daily for two years as part of my school uniform. I know for some people, the idea of celebrating 8th grade is just one more example of the “Show Up. Get A Medal” mentality ascribed to Millennials (and the subsequent “iGeneration” kids) these days. Read more
Newsy! Walk Like A Teenager + Crockpot Chicken Green Chili Verde + The Bone People (v.3)
June 9th, 2016
willowwrite@gmail.com
Consider this:
Walk Like A Teenager
Last weekend, my husband and I set out for a walk with our dog and our almost-fourteen-year-old son (the almost-twelve-year-old had escaped – I use that word deliberately – to meet a friend just moments before). It was a warm sunny Sunday, the perfect opportunity for some F.F.F.: Forced Family Fun.
If you live with a teen, I bet you’re familiar with Forced Family Fun. It’s a concept rooted in parents’ intellectual understanding that time is fleeting (and flying) and our emotional need to make happy memories, build familial bonds, offer sage advice (subtly, of course) and parent as perfectly as possible. For teens participating in mandatory F.F.F., it’s your basic W.I.E.: Worst Idea Ever. Read more
