I’m on a quest to create 5 Meals a la Mom (me) that my kids will grow up with, (hopefully) love and want to pass on to their littles. I’ve got my (or the Barefoot Contessa’s slightly revised) Chicken Picatta in the bag and this is my official 2nd recipe. Tried and true, I’ve been making this one for a few years now. I hadn’t had it in over year since I was off the shellfish while prego and nursing- so happy to be back in clams. This recipe is super easy and molto delicioso! Courtesy of the 2 Frankies from Frankies Spuntino in Brooklyn, if you enjoy pasta and clams, you’ll love this one. I amended it a bit here and there and add a splash of white wine in the pan while steaming the clams. The most fun part is seeing the little clams open up. It always looks like they’re flashing you a big grin- this is the part I think the kiddos will love.

How You Make It:

1.  Cook the tagliatelle until al dente in a large pot of boiling and generously salted water. Drain well.

2.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large and deep skillet. Add the chopped garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook over medium to high heat while stirring until the garlic is lightly browned- 1 to 2 minutes. Add the clams, water and wine. Cover and simmer until the clams open and are just cooked through- 5 to 8 minutes. Discard any clams that don’t open.

3.  Add the drained tagliatelle and parsley to the clams in the skillet. Generously season with pepper. Toss over medium to high heat just until the spaghetti absorbs the juices- 1 minute.

4.  Serve pasta with clams in bowls right away.

5.  Voila and Cin Cin!

We drank an Alsatian white with this dish mostly because it was staring at me and I couldn’t wait any longer to try it. Not the best pairing- too steely for the clams. I recommend pairing with something a bit heavier, like a Sicilian white. Planeta’s La Segreta Bianco 2011 IGT pairs perfectly with this dish. Always a crowd pleaser and at a great price (around 12 bucks), this is one of my go to wines.

For a perfect pairing:

Smiley, Happy Clams! This is my favorite part:

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My mind is a bit of a jumble today as I scrambled to make my 8am train from NY back to DC. Made it. Did get on the wrong train, but it’s all good- headed to the same place. Whew. This is what 9 month old twins do to a 37 year old brain and I even had the night off.

A few random thoughts for the day:

1. Tick Tock, Ya Don’t Stop

You gotta love NYC Cabbies. I left my friend’s West Village abode at 7:43, hailed a taxi and was inside Penn Station at 7:49. Yes. In DC, the cabbies operate on an entirely different clock. You actually have to ask them to make it snappy. NYC cabbies- for all their faults- know what time it is.

2. Motown Mary

While zipping through Penn Station trying to grab a last minute latte and NY bagel, I spotted my pal Ariana Debose all dressed up as a young Mary Wilson, smiling down at me. Well, lookie-loo I thought, there she is, Little Miss Broadway. At 22, she’s on her 2nd Broadway show with a giant poster splattered all over NYC to boot. Hooray and go girl. More from Miss Ari later this month as she gives us a sneak peak into her Motown world working with legend Berry Gordy and costume fittings with Project Runway favorite and Motown designer, Emilio Sosa.

4. The Crib Dibbler

Need I say more? We gave this to my friend Katy last night at her baby shower as a gag gift. She stared at it for about 2 seconds before saying (1/2 laughing 1/2 horrified), “Is this for real?” Pretty funny. There’s a whole slew of prank boxed gifts here. I love a good prank.

5. “Hey, Twitter Twat-WTF!”

Lastly, let’s talk about House of Cards.

I’m probably the last person on the planet that’s watching this series to STILL be watching. I couldn’t subscribe to the binge viewing that is sweeping the nation. Not because I don’t want to, but because I’m literally too tired to. My twin-induced octogenarian sleep habits prohibit me from staying lucid past 9:30. Sad, right? Well, what can I say- the bebes are still not sleeping all the way through the night. Well, one of them is, but alas… In any case, I am on the early bird special so after I get the bebes to bed, I’m good for an episode of Jeopardy and 1 episode of House of Cards. I know, so dorky right!

I have to say, I am really digging it. It took me a few episodes in to really get hooked. I didn’t really know who I was rooting for as the characters all seemed really cold and unlikeable but the onion has started to peel its layers and I am Team Claire all the way. Robin Wright’s portrayal is nuanced, calculated and vulnerable all at once. I’m kind of in love with her. The best lines of the series though have to be the words that come out of Janine Skorsky’s mouth. My favorite line of the series to date “Hey, Twitter Twat- WTF!” Now, that’s good writing.

Any random thoughts flooding your brain today? Do tell…

{Images: wired.com, stuartwilde.com}

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How much is too much? Coffee, I mean. Ever since the bebes have been strictly on the bottle, I have been on a coffee crazed binge. Well, let’s be honest- I’ve been on an Bialetti-brewed Illy and expensive artisanal coffee shop hipster-decorated latte binge. Delicious- yes. Wallet friendly- no. Healthy- probably not so much. I’m pushing 4 cups a day. I don’t know, everyone’s got their vice right? Mine is maybe one or two too many cups of delicious coffee, oh and dark chocolate. And not just a teeny feminine square per day, but sometimes nearly half a bar. Stop the insanity. Some things are just too good to give up. This all while I’m trying to lose the baby weight- right. But really, how much IS too much? What do you think? What is a sane amount of coffee per day? How many cups do you have? Please do tell.

(Above, a cup from one of my favorite local coffee spots, Northside Social. They use Counter Culture Coffee and boy can they brew a mean cup. I’ve actually caught myself “Mmmmm-ing” aloud. Embarrasing. The food is also great (especially the Spinach, Egg and Vermont Cheddar sandwich on an IPA roll) with a wine bar to boot from 5pm on. Check it out if you’re near DC.)

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In a company memo leaked to the press last Friday, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer bans all work from home. In an effort to increase productivity and corporate culture, Yahoo believes this is the way of their future. Puke.

As you have all probably read or heard elsewhere, this has caused a huge uproar. Even Sir Richard Branson chimed in with 2 tweets:

“Perplexed by Yahoo! stopping remote working. Give people the freedom of where to work & they will excel.”

&

“Work isn’t 9-5 anymore, the world is connected. Remote working is more effective than ever.”

I agree with Branson. Hey, everyone needs to do what’s best for their business but this sets a pretty big example and we’ve come so far in terms of celebrating different ways of getting the job done. Not only moms and dads but all working people with more flexibility are afforded a better work/life balance that in most cases leads to more productivity. As long as we are getting the job done, why does it need to be between 9am and 5pm?

A straight ban says a lot especially coming from the woman who cut her own maternity leave short taking only two weeks. Ay yi yi. Hey, that’s how she rolls, I get it. It’s just that most of us don’t and we don’t want to. Which is not to say that we’re not incredibly hard working.

So, is Ms. Mayer sending us back in time? We’ve been there before. We all saw how that worked out for Diane Keaton in Baby Boom. She clearly made the better choice with the veterinarian and the baby food business- go J.C.! To each his own and that’s the point. We should celebrate individuality, not try to press people together and corporately homogenize them. We’re so past that. Aren’t we? What do you think?

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Around this time last year when I was prego, I read Pamela Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bébé. While I did take issue with some of the author’s thoughts as I thought them a bit lofty and unrealistic, I largely found it to be a good read and pretty useful. The main theme and lesson I took from the book is the idea that by teaching your children the art of patience, you are ultimately helping them in their life’s journey.  It does make sense. ‘Tis a virtue, that patience- it sure is.

In any case, one of the chapters focused on the French yogurt cake, gâteau au yaourt. This is supposedly the first thing a French child learns to bake by his or herself due to the simple ingredients and easy instructions. I thought it might be fun to take a crack at it seeing as I am usually altogether oven-challenged myself. If a 3 year old French kid can do this, surely so can I. We’ll see. We are off to NY on a mini road trip to see family and play with cousins. This would be a fun recipe to tackle with my nieces. In the meantime, here is the recipe via Clotilde Dusoulier’s Chocolate and Zucchini. I’ve always been a fan of her blog and she’s a Frenchie, so it must be authentic.

What are your plans for the weekend? As always, Cin Cin and Enjoy!

Gâteau au Yaourt

recipe: Chocolate and Zucchini

- 2 eggs
- 250ml (1 cup) whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (if you use two 125ml or 4oz tubs, you can use them to measure out the rest of the ingredients)
- 200g (1 cup) sugar (you can use an empty tub of yogurt and measure the equivalent of 2 yogurt tubs if you used the 125ml or 4oz kind)
- 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil (or a bit less than 1 yogurt tub)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 4 yogurt tubs)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- a good pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste/extract
- 1 tablespoon light rum

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F), line the bottom of a round 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and rum. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together — don’t overwork the dough. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

{Image Credit: Penny Klett at Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen}

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One of my best girls, Amy Har-Even is Volatizing’s newest international contributor. She has been an expat in Hong Kong for the past 5 years where she lives with her family. Amy is a mom of 3 young girls, a writer and former copy editor for Elle Decor and a children’s wear designer with her own label, Ribbon Candy. Inspried by batik fabrics found in Bali, she designs the cutest little dresses for little principessas- seriously the cutest. She just gave birth to her third little one so she has put her business on hold for a minute, but we’ll see more Ribbon Candy delights soon. Amy is hilarious and has such a unique perspective and take on the world. She and I have logged in some serious time together and I love watching the world go by with her. I’m so happy that she is going to play with us. Stay tuned for more reports from Amy Abroad.

One of Amy’s little cuties decked out for Chinese New Year in her traditional cheongsam dress.

Chinese New Year
by Amy Har-Even

It’s that time of year, when Hong Kong empties of expats and fills with mainland
Chinese tourists, here to buy luxury goods and take pictures of my blond
daughters. Those of us expats who didn’t think to book a vacation a year ago
for this week do our part by dressing our girls in cheongsams and our boys in
Chinese pajamas and wandering around town to check out the local color.

And that color is RED. For Christmas, the decorations could not be more of an
eyesore: tacky North Pole snowscapes dreamed up by people who’ve likely
never seen snow, they hew to the aesthetic that can only be described as More
is more. But for Chinese New Year—the real deal out here, obviously—Hong
Kong is significantly less tarted up and, though never subtle, the trimmings are
often lovely. That onslaught of red (lai see money envelopes, lanterns, flags and
banners galore) is tempered by the sudden preponderance of cherry blossoms
and calamansi plants—dark green bushes covered with tiny oranges—helping
the city put on a pretty face for the holiday.

And Chinese New Year would not be complete without a few deafening lion
dances. No one would blame you for thinking you’d entered a war zone if you
weren’t expecting the banging and clanging that accompanies the young men
and their brilliantly painted lion as they roam the streets, even the small villages,
nearly waking the dead with their fireworks-caliber pitch. All in all it adds up to a
fantastically festive week and by far my favorite of the Chinese holidays.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

{Photos by Amy Har-Even}

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A super cute last minute idea for Valentine cards. Scratch and See! These are adorable and super easy.

Here’s What You Need: 

Pink Posterboard or Construction Paper
Camera
Photo Printer (or your local FedEx Office)
White Crayon
Dish Soap
Red Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush- medium size
Card stock
Double sided tape
Gold Glitter Pen

Here’s How You Do It: 

1. Cut out a big heart from pink poster board or construction paper.

2. Using red acrylic paint, pain a cute message, like “Kisses 25 cents” or “I Love You!”
Natalia draws block letters and lets her kids paint in.

3. Take a photo of your little with the painted heart.

4. Print and mount on card stock with double sided tape (or you can print directly onto card stock).

5. Color over heart with a very thick layer of white crayon.

6. Paint over crayoned heart with mix: 1 part dish soap and 2 parts red acrylic paint.

7. You can add another message with a fun pen like a gold glitter pen. Natalia writes, “Valentine, you scratch my heart!”, giving the card recipients a little clue that they should scratch away at the heart.

8. Mail or give your Valentine to some lucky recipients.

9. Voilá! A super cute Scratch and See Valentine. Clever.

{Photos by Natalia Goldman}

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Our Clever Girl has concocted a baked Crayon Valentine Necklace for the little ones. So fun and easy, this is a great project to make with your minis. Ever the ambitious one, she and her kids are making these necklaces for her kids’ entire preschool classes. You could try that too or just make them together for your family or a couple of your bambino’s friends.

Here’s What You Need:

a bucket of crayons
cord for the necklace
Tekton letter and number stamp set found here
hammer
drill
silicon heart baking mold found here 
knife
little hands to help you make these beauties

Here’s What You Do:

1. Carve down the side of the crayon with a knife for an easy to peel off.

2. Peel the crayons. This is when the kids jump in and have a Peeling Party.

3. Break up the crayons into smaller pieces.

4. Throw crayons into a silicon heart baking mold. Make sure it is a silicone mold. With hard molds, the crayons will stick. You can switch out your silicone molds  for dinosaur or star crayon masterpieces on other occasions.
The side that touches the silicone remains shiny and smooth. The exposed back side is bumpy but Natalia says,”who cares”. I agree.

5. Bake 225deg until melt. About 10 min.

6. Cool.

7. Stamp the names of your kiddos or their friends with the tekton letter set using a hammer.

8. Drill a hole at the top for the cord to pass through with a drill.

9. Loop any type of strong cord through and tie to create the necklace. Natalia just used whatever leftover scrap cord she found in her cupboard.

10. Tada- A Creative Crayon Valentine Necklace for you and yours.

Thanks Clever Girl!

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Ahh January. As we head into February and burrow in for the chill of winter, I am loving the neutral palette with a hint of sparkle and a waft of chimney smoke (in a pre-packaged candle- if only I had my own chimney).

Cocktailian Eric Alperin’s Southside Royale is a refreshing champagne cocktail that’s just the ticket for the winter doldrums. If you have read this blog, you know I am always in the mood for anything bubbly and especially in January. Gin, simple syrup, a splash of fresh lime juice, champagne and a sprig of mint make this cocktail a zippy delight.

I just picked up some of these pehr tea towels for a recent dinner party. I love the print and the neutral palette- good with any season and every table.

How much do you love this print? It’s all I can do not to buy it. Budgeting is a… well, you know. Thomas Hammer M10 print at One Kings Lane through Friday.

I recently re-zhuzhed my makeup and added this Naked Basics shadow palette. Love it.

I pretty much wear these everyday. They are pretty with an edge, I feel kind of tough wearing them- which I love- and they go with everything. Loren Hope Isis studs.

“Bent-backed tulips, smoldering chimney smoke, dried vines and brick walls”- with a description like that, I had to buy this. In the high priced world of luxury candles, this one’s a steal at $14.95. I am a fan. Tatine’s Tisane candles come in a few different scents and the thick votive is reusable. And they burn clean- a must now that I’ve got these littles crawling around. I found them at my favorite shop here in Alexandria, Red Barn Mercantile. I can’t walk in there without buying something. I love to support local business, what can I say.

Always a fan of Heather Moore’s textile designs at skinnylaminx, I love her Mini laMinx line as well. The Orla dress pays homage to Orla Kiely’s lovely stem pattern. Not that your Mini can wear this now but spring is not far off… I hope.

And lastly, how much do you love this room! It’s the perfect spot for a private dinner party. A group of us are throwing my friend Katy, of Katystyle, her baby shower here in this lovely room at ISA in Brooklyn, scouted by my stylist pal Erin. Very much looking forward to it- it will be dreamy and candlelight for her chic shower.

How does January inspire you? What are you eating, drinking, wearing? What are some of your favorite things during these wintery days?

{Image Credit: Southside Royale photo by Dave Lauridsen}

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My friends and I recently got into a discussion about our photos being held hostage on our iPhones, to print or not to print and in general, just what to do with all of them. One friend keeps a family blog where she uploads favorite moments for posterity, others print and make photo books and some (me) just keep their photos forever locked away on their phones and in iPhoto. Here a couple of unique ideas.

Some of you may have seen A Beautiful Mess’ DIY Instax Wallpaper post last week. The image of the gorgeous wallpaper has been pinned like crazy and is seriously inspired. While I love it, I don’t know that I’ll get around to making it anytime soon- although it is filed away for a future project. I love the size of the Instax wide photos too and that the photos actually come from an instant camera. The idea is pretty awesome. Find the Fujifilm and camera here, it’s already on my Amazon wish list.

In the meantime, my friend Amy sent me a photo of her little Instawall in her home office. This is a very simple DIY idea for those of you wanting the look without the time to put into printing wallpaper. I’m stealing this idea pronto. So simple and cute. Amy just used double stick tape to attach to her wall in a neat grid. She lives in Hong Kong so the humidity has made the edges curl up a bit which I think makes it look even cooler. Print out your Instagrams on your home printer or via Prinstagram in either 2.5 x 2.5 mini squares or 4 x 4 squares. Such a cute and stylish way to personalize your space. Thanks Am!

Groovebook is another easy (and cheap) printing option. For $2.99 you can upload up to 100 photos per month and Groovebook will send you your photo book with perforated pages for easy tearing. There seems to be no catch except that you need to remember to utilize it every month as you will be charged the $2.99. Email reminders are sent out as your print date approaches. If you’re into the printed photo, there is now no excuse not to print and make books with something this easy. It may not be the most amazing quality but for convenience and posterity, it is a good option.

And for those, not looking to print but keep it digital, Amy found this great resource for creating a photo calendar/journal of your littles or family- Tinybeans. An easy way to keep a photo journal and record of your littles’ milestones or whatever you wish. Upload photos daily or however often you like. Very cool, as a longtime city dweller with no storage space for boxes of photos and photo books, this is totally my speed.

Flayvr looks to be an interesting organizational app for your photos and videos as well. It automatically organizes media by event and date. Fortune Magazine point to Flayvr as being one of seven apps to watch in 2013. Read the CNN money article here. It’s free as well, I just downloaded it and will try it out. It looks pretty cool. To quote one of my favorite heroines, Annie Warbucks, “I think I’m gonna like it here.”

{Image Credit: DIY Instax Wallpaper photo by A Beautiful Mess, Instawall photo by Amy Har-Even}

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