Ten of The Best

A few things that are too good to not recommend . . .

1. Best dinner recipe: This recipe for Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. I tried 10 new recipes over the past month, and this one is the winner! Uses fresh ingredients -- so healthy and delicious.

2. Best dessert for the moment: This recipe for Yummy Peach Dessert. We make it almost every year when peaches are in season, and it always hits the spot. Maybe I'm just in a peach mood this year, but fresh peaches (especially paired with a graham cracker crust and cream cheesy goodness) are SO good.

3. Best children's book at the moment: Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss. I get such a kick out of reading this one aloud. And it has a great message, for any of you who are feeling down in the dumps. There is always somebody worse off than you! Read my full review here.

4. Best way to get 20 minutes of peace without someone asking me a million questions: The Wee Sing and Learn series of board books + CDs (we request them from our library). Henry is mesmerized by these just as much, if not more so than he is mesmerized by Diego DVDs. He will sit at the kitchen table by the CD player, following along with the songs in his board book. He sings along. He enthusiastically answers the quiz questions asked by the children on the CD. And he does it all by himself! Such a lifesaver for me, all without adding extra screen time to our day (Thanks, Mary & Jack).

5. Best audiobook: Angela's Ashes, read by the author, Frank McCourt. Ben and I listened to this book at the same time, and it has been one of the great highlights of our year. It is compelling, witty, and heartrending. And McCourt's Irish accent is phenomenal (which is why you MUST listen to this rather than read it).

6. Best new discovery: Probably you have already discovered it. But on the chance that you haven't, I thought it was worth mentioning that Pandora has changed our lives over the past 6 months. It is a website that creates free, online, custom radio stations for you. You just type in the name of a band or artist you like, and it creates a station for you based on similar artists. No more stupid radio stations! No more listening to music you don't like! If it gives you a song you don't like, you can tell it so and it will never play it again. You can mix up different artists. There are pretty much no commercials. Why did no one tell me about this sooner? (Thanks, Shug). Some stations for you to try: Oren Lavie/Sondre Lerche, Regina Spektor, Ben Kweller, Cute is What We Aim For/Copeland.

7. Best new CD: Regina Spektor's Far. It is beautiful, bold, and stirring. A tad bit more mainstream than her older albums, which I don't consider to be a bad thing in Spektor's case. It is also better than Begin to Hope by a couple of notches, in my opinion. Henry has picked up on it quickly, commenting often that "blue is the color of our planet from far, far away," and asking "Why is no one laughing at God?" If you trust Henry's taste (and you should), you will like this (Thanks, Brittany).

8. Best old (2006) CD: Cute is What We Aim For's The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch. I popped this CD in last week and was like, "Dang, this is good. Amazingly good." SO many awesome, edgy, upbeat songs on that album. They just keep shooting 'em out, one after the other. Mmmm hmmmm. Try it (Thanks, Brady & Tanner).

9. Best Miracle Worker: Tilex Mold & Mildew Cleaner. Maybe some of you don't live in Boston where humidity reigns. Maybe some of you have decent ventilation in your bathroom. Maybe some of you are better at cleaning your shower than me. If you are not any of those people and you have had yucky black mold accumulate along the corners of your shower or even on your bathroom ceiling or miscellaneous items in your sticky basement, then this product is for you (I should get paid for this). I have spent hours scrubbing at the caulking in my bathroom and haven't seen any difference in the mold. And then . . . I sprayed the Tilex on, waited five minutes, and it magically disappeared. I kid you not. Maybe you all knew about this a long time ago. Let's just say cleaning is not my forté. I'm working on it.

10. Best Popsicles: Popsicle brand Mighty Minis with "Slow-Melt" Technology. Okay, so I realize these might not be for everyone. I heard a rumor that some people have kids that eat a lot of food, and they eat it fast. My children, on the other hand, refuse almost every food and then still manage to spend at least 3 hours a day sitting at the table eating. Hence, the perfect combination: teeny tiny popsicles (2-3 bites' worth) that don't melt all over the place in the 15 minutes it takes my boys to eat them. Genius! And I like to think they are easing Ellis through his teething pain (my nurse recommended popsicles). Try them, unless your kids are the eating type (most kids could probably eat the whole box in one sitting. Not mine!).