MommyCoddle

a good 20 minutes

I stepped outside with my camera yesterday, while I waited for the grill to get hot. Within just a short window of time, maybe twenty minutes, I was able to capture little snapshots of our life. I love looking at them today, and realizing all the activity that can happen in just a short span of time. Sometimes, it's nice to capture it and hold it together all in one place....for me they tell a story. And they remind me of little benchmarks in time-- the ducklings daily excursion outside, the last chicken--who keeps close to the house, a new technique for swinging, an upgrade from nakedness to underwear, the agony that is sharing the swing with your little sister, a patient favorite kitten, a rare, still moment between two four-legged friends.....

What stories could you tell, if you captured a good twenty minutes today?

the ivy that is poison

I took one for the team last week. I attacked a fence row teeming with poison ivy.

My husband reacts violently to the littlest exposure, breaking out in red, oozing welts that usually land him in the walk-in clinic begging for a shot of steroids. So in one overly-productive day last week, I took on the project, saint that I am.

It is said that pride cometh before the fall, and I have to admit to being a teensy bit arrogant about my seeming immunity to poison ivy.

"I've touched it with my bare hands and never gotten a single bump."
"I just don't get poison ivy. Ever."
"I have no memories of ever having poison ivy anywhere."
"I don't need to wash up. I don't get poison ivy, remember??"

Hello, pride. Good to meet you.

I have poison ivy. 

In odd places.

On the underside of my nose.
Around my waist. (I guess I was wearing my falling down jeans that day?)
On the front sides of my shoulders. (was I hiking up my short sleeves?)
In the middle of my shins. (hmmm. i was wearing long pants)
Along the side of my neck.

And then of course, the typical forearm--elbow to wrist-- outbreak as well.

Emma looked at me yesterday and said, "Mom. You know you should really do something about all that poison ivy before the wedding on Friday."

Yeah, great, Emma. Thanks.

So while I'm not covered in oozing welts, I'm left with a body pocked with small bumps and patches of raised, itchy red skin. It could be worse. I'm telling myself how fun it is to discover where the next patch will break out.  And I'm seriously considering a wardrobe change for next weekend's big family wedding. Turtleneck and long pants, anyone?

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The winner of the Little Alouette Giveaway is:

Michelle who said:

I want to WIN! I live in Ohio as well.

Michelle: please send me an email (in the about molly page) with your shipping info, and I"ll pass it on to Amy!

Show & Tell : Little Alouette

 

Amy is one of those blogging friends who seems to have been part of my "neighborhood" for as long as I can remember. I couldn't put a finger on the point when she and I became blogging pals, but I'm so glad we have. Not only is she a complete sweetheart, she and her husband are the genius team behind one of my favorite shops, Little Alouette.

My children have the privilege of having a set of Little Alouette shakey blocks in our collection. They are one of those toys that are equally fun to play with and look at. There is something about the sweetness and beauty of wooden toys that can never be duplicated in the world of plastic. And LittleAlouette toys have a simplicity and style that I love. They are classics.

 

A few months ago, Little Alouette was one of etsy's featured sellers. As I was reading the article this morning to be sure I had all my facts straight about Amy :) , I had to share a few words from the write-up because it is a good story:

Over a decade ago a handsome British boy and an Ohio lass met and fell madly in love at first site in a sleepy university town. The boy was a classically trained master carpenter and the girl a writer with a bit of wanderlust. They worked together creatively through the years on many projects involving woodworking as they restored and remodeled homes together. The boy taught his love about trees on their land in the country and how to use power tools and the girl read poems to him while they worked. They started a journey of following their bliss and eventually brought two wee ones into the world and began creating wooden toys for them. They decided to share these wee wooden toys with the world and Little Alouette was born over hot steaming mugs of cocoa in the winter of 2007.

We are Joe and Amy Sharp of Worthington, Ohio.

And I love their words about their creative process:

Each product is made by hand and usually all the wood is surrounded by cups of tea, laughing children, and disco music so each product will come to you infused with love and bliss! We use locally sourced Ohio timber and only finish our products with certified organic flax seed oil.

Seriously. I've been telling my husband that if I can't have a bandsaw, then I'll just settle for a jigsaw. Reading about Joe and Amy's process makes me think I need to put it on my birthday list again this year. 

If you haven't been introduced to LittleAlouette be sure to take a few moments to check out their shop. And after my Lotta Jansdotter giveaway last week, I know a lot of you are shopping for baby gifts--for yourself or for people you know. And if you are "people I know" and you're having a baby soon...don't look, unless you want to spoil the surprise. 

And guess what? Amy has graciously offered to give one mommycoddle reader one of her Harper the Hippo teethers! yay. You know the drill, leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway. I'll announce the random winner on Sunday!

Happy Weekend, friends!

ONE simple question, no. 7

Sometimes it's hard to be five. Especially when your older sister is off gallivanting and swimming and having who knows what kind of fun with a friend, and you're stuck at home with your boring old mom, and your little sister who repeats everything you say and fights you for the tree swing.

This is when the mantra begins, "What can I do that's FUN?!?"

If you asked my mother, I'm sure she'd back me up on the fact that I tended to be the perpetually bored child. Especially on Sundays. But my boredom, if I recall correctly, usually led to good things like puttering down at the stream or walking around the house with a tape recorder--reading the newspaper and writing my own radio ads--many of which involved a flushing of the toilet and lots of hushed giggling in the background.

I believe boredom is a good thing for children to experience. Because it often leads to amazing bouts of creativity.

However, it only seems like karma that Mary would be asking me the same question I'm sure I hounded my mom with for many, many years and many, many lazy Sunday afternoons.

Yesterday, I saved the day with painting en plein air. It did the trick and got us through a tough patch of boredom until Dan got home from work and Emma returned from her playdate. (only to drown her sister in stories of how much fun she had. Thanks, Em.)

But I believe it is good for a parent to have a boredom busting arsenal.

So here's my simple question for today:

How do you answer the "What can I do for fun?" question? What activities are in your boredom busting arsenal? What ideas do you throw out to your children in hopes that they'll latch on to one? Between all of you creative mamas, I think it will be a great resource for all of us to share our ideas.

Here's to a boredom-induced, creative summer!

how to hang laundry on the line (and a few other things)

So, while we're talking about great things our grandmothers have passed down to us, it occurred to me yesterday, as I hung a late-afternoon load of laundry on the line, that it was my grandmother who taught me the most efficient way to hang laundry on the clothesline. And not to be a laundry-line-know-it-all, but when I see other people's pictures of their clothes hanging out, I realize not everyone knows this wee bit of insight that makes all the difference.

I love hanging clothes on the line. I've overcome my distaste for stiff jeans and crunchy towels. But I'm also married to the dryer police. Though I've been known to hang out laundry in my mittens, I think my husband would like to see one of those Amish-esque laundry lines running from our upstairs window out to a tall corner of the barn. (He'd also probably like to go to work in a horse drawn buggy, but that's another story....) When he hears the dryer running, it's like he hears money and dollars bills banging around inside, shrinking and shrivelling up into nothingness.

(I snapped my clothesline last week. And now it is a saggy mess. One of these days, I'll upgrade to something a little more permanent. In the meantime, this one gets the job done.)

I remember the first day I hung my laundry out on my grandmother's line. It was when we were living on her farm, while we made the transition to our new life in Maryland. She was coming in from morning Mass and stopped to talk to me while I draped shirts and pants over the line and stuck on a few pins.

She stopped me and told me I needed to figure out which way the wind was blowing. (On her laundry line, there's a little piece of string tied to one end. I don't know if this was meant to tell wind direction or not, but that is what I used it for.) Once you determine which way the wind is blowing you hang the clothes up so that they are open to the wind. This means only pinning one side of your clothes. As the wind blows, it will fill up and flow through your clothing.

There wasn't much wind blowing when I took yesterday's photographs, but you can see how my pillowcases are filling with the breeze in this older picture from my grandmother's laundry line.

It is remarkable how quickly your clothes will dry. It really makes a difference. Especially when you are trying to get multiple loads on the line in one day, or you're married to the dryer police chief--who is also very good at taking clothes off the line and folding them. :)

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In other news:

**you must stop by Nancy's blog and read about the new home for two of Black Walnut's kittens.

**edited to add: Anke! How did I miss your blog?? You can see the other kitten, now named "Sweetie" who found a home with Anke. Details on her blog! Oh the wonders of blogging.....

**here is an interesting article from Food Woolf on how to help your local dairy farmer. I'll be interested to hear my husband's perspective on the article. He works in the ag industry and Horizon is one of his major customers. When I complain about the price of milk, he says it's good for the farmer that the price is high. Apparently there are rumors that a local dairy may start home delivery. I'd be the first to sign up.

**a few weeks ago, I introduced my children to the sweetness that is a Wendy's frosty. They'd never had one before. But Amy at MomAdvice makes her own at home.

**And lastly, a very thought-provoking, stir up your thoughts about schooling, blog post at Wild Parenting. (via simplemom)

my last recipe box

I find myself wondering when that pit in my stomach will disappear in those moments when I realize my grandmother is no longer just around the corner, putting on soup at her kitchen stove, deadheading the roses along the driveway, or balancing her checkbook in the back living room. There are days that life just happens and the fact that she is missing from it, seems to be part of what's normal. And then there are days where her absences brings a tightness to my throat and a welling of tears in my eyes. Or days that I forget she is gone and I catch myself thinking that we should head there for lunch, or stop by to tell her there are three ducklings taking up residence in our downstairs bathroom once again, because I know she'll laugh and be excited for the girls.

A few weekends ago, my cousins and I sat in my living room, enjoying a glass of wine together and reminiscing. I made the comment that while I was thankful her passing was quick, and not a long, drawn-out decline, it also made it difficult for me to grasp it all. It was too easy to remember her healthy, strong, and just fine. Wasn't it just last week that we were sitting together on the bench under the Sweet Gum tree? Or checking in with each other to see who needed cat food from the feed mill?

Last week, I sat in the kitchen with her big wooden recipe box in front of me. I was looking for a few family-favorite recipes. Of course, pouring over your grandmother's recipe box is not exactly the best thing to do to lift your spirits, but there was still a sweetness to it all. The greasy recipe cards typed up on a typewriter, the little slips of paper with her handwriting-- recipes from Terry, NancyAnn, Paige....

Judging by the recipe box and the recipes inside, I can tell my grandmother has had this for a really long time. I'm guessing it's been the recipe box that's been sitting on her counter for as long as any can remember.

When I went home that afternoon, to file away my copied recipes, I remembered that I'd had it on my mind lately to organize my recipe box. I have a recipe box on top of my stove full of a some favorite recipes, as well as some I've never tried, some I've clipped from magazines. And I also have a stack of notecards scattered in a drawer. And  a file folder of recipes stashed between the cookbooks on my shelf. And a few blowing around the top of my dresser upstairs.

I decided it's time to start my last recipe box. The one that will sit on my counter for as long as anyone can remember.

Several months ago, I bought myself a new recipe box with this in mind. But it has been sitting empty on my countertop. After going through my grandmother's recipe box, I realized how much of her is inside that box. Her handwriting. Her favorites. My favorites. Family favorites.

So I'm slowly cooking and baking my way through my disorganized, mismatched collection of recipes. When something is a standard, a classic in my kitchen, I move it to it's new, final home. Eventually, I hope to have my own recipe box full of recipes--tattered and splotched from years of use. That they'll become our family favorites. Passed down. Collected. Copied. Loved.

Lotta winners

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winners of the Lotta book. My mom was in town all day yesterday for blogging lessons. It was a lot of fun teaching her the in's and out's of blogging. Now that the glazed look of information overload has worn off, I think she's really excited to join in.

Here are the two winners of the Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby book. Please send me an email (you can find it on the "About Molly" page) with your mailing address and I'll pass it on to Chronicle Books:

Jennifer who said:

Oh, what a cool giveaway.

Amy(My Land) who said:

Ooh, this looks like a good one! Count me in, please.

ONE simple question, no. 6

This weather has me all confused. This morning as I put on jeans and a pair of long sleeves, I actually thought about starting a small fire in the woodstove and wondered where my knitting bag was. What?! It's June 18th! Hardly time to be thinking about sticky, hot wool and kindling for the woodstove.

But before I know it, I'll be dripping in sweat, swearing at our lack of air-conditioning and feeling faint at the idea of turning on a stove or standing over a bubbling pot.

Over the past few months I've become quite attached to the idea of preparing dinner ahead of time--whether it be in the slow cooker, or my lovely red dutch oven, a Christmas gift from my mother. Nothing makes me feel more organized and in control of my afternoons than having dinner slowly cooking away, with just a few last-minute preps to get dinner on the table. Some of my least-glamorous parenting moments come in that wacky hour or so before Dan gets home from work, and I'm scrambling to get dinner on the table.

So in the spirit of  keeping the temperatures low in the kitchen, and freeing up more time to enjoy the perks of summer, I'd love it if you'd share your favorite go-to "make ahead" meal. It can be a slow-cooker recipe. A dutch oven recipe. A freeze ahead of time, bake later recipe. Anything to keep the temperatures low and savor the summer, which seems to be slipping through my fingers. (Sandy, I hope you'll share some of the recipes you sent me in your email!)

Show & Tell: Lotta Jansdotter Simple Sewing for Baby

I was so excited to get a copy of Lotta Jansdotter's most recent book called, Simple Sewing for Baby . If you've seen anything by Lotta Jansdotter--her other books, her website, you know her work has a simple, practical and stylish aesthetic. I have always been inspired by her simple designs and straight-forward approach to making things.

In the foreward, Lotta talks about the reasons that drove her to put together this craft book--the same reasons that I believe drive most of us to create handmade toys and clothes for our own children, and others:

I realized that there isn't all that much cool or original stuff for somebody who doesn't like pink or light blue and doesn't want bows or duckies plastered on everything. Okay, there are some things....but they will set you back an arm and a leg, and I just can't let myself spend that kind of money on something that will be used for only a few months."

Let me just say, the book is everything you'd expect it to be. Amazing projects, clear directions, beautiful photographs and illustrations. I often find myself picking up craft books, only to find that I'm interested in maybe two or three projects inside. But this is a book where I find myself wanting to try each project.

Whether you're expecting a baby, wishing for a baby, have a baby, have a friend with a baby, want to convince a friend to have a baby, or need a great shower gift--this book is lovely and inspired.

And you can pretty much guarantee that the first project on my sewing table, will be a pair of the simple bloomers. Maybe, if I can't convince a certain toddler to wear diapers and clothes, I can at least talk her into a cute pair of bloomers.

*The book has 24 projects for toddlers to newborns. Patterns are included in a front pocket inside the book.

And guess what? I have TWO copies to giveaway. Thank you, Chronicle Books! You know the drill--leave a comment, I'll pick the two random winners on Friday!

Ruby is home.

Ruby is home. A little skinny. A little squirmy. A little medicated. But very happy. And very loved. In fact, if possible, I think we might love her more now, for all she's been through.

Thank you for your outpouring of concern and care for Ruby and our family. It warmed our hearts.

(photo by katie pertiet)

Now if someone could just explain how you keep an 11 week old puppy quiet and sedentary for two weeks while she recovers......

pray for ruby

Yesterday afternoon, Dan was working outside, while the girls and I were in the house, in various stages of "getting ready for naps." Ruby had fallen asleep under the car and Dan backed it up, unaware that she was under it, sleeping in the dark shadows. We aren't sure exactly what happened. She wasn't completely run over, but must have been somehow pinched by the tire.

We took her straight to the vet, even though she was able to walk. But we could tell she was in shock. The news was grave--she had internal bleeding in and around her lungs and was in critical condition. We left her at the vet and returned home to pray and wait.

While one vet remained "hopeful", the night shift vet had a much more tragic outlook and seemed to be preparing us for the worst.

We went to bed, and I watched the hours tick by, thankful for one more hour passing without any bad news. The phone finally did ring in the middle of the night--the vet--needing permission to draw some of the blood and fluid off of her lungs.

I managed to get a few unsettled hours of sleep around dawn, as I waited until 6:30, the time I was supposed to call and get the next report.

The news was better. Encouraging. Ruby was awake, "acting like a puppy", but still having a hard time breathing. The outlook is much better. And a few things we were waiting to hear about--which could have been very serious--have all come out clear. Can I say that I have never been so excited to find out that my dog went the bathroom??!

It sounds like Ruby will be home tomorrow morning. She'll be slowly weaned off oxygen and then monitored. Her body will have to take care of itself, and heal itself. The rest is up to her.

I know some people would probably scoff at the expense and trouble we are going through for this little 11 week old puppy. But our family has been through enough loss this spring, to face it one more time. As my husband said to me, when I called him from the vet office, weeping over the "estimate" in front of me, that I was to sign my name to, "She's too good of a dog to just let die." She's already made an indelible mark on each member of our family--even the four-footed one, who comes to the car door, every time we drive in, looking for his new little pal.

I covet your thoughts and prayers for sweet little Ruby--for her continued healing and swift return home to her family.

Thank you, friends.
xo.

The grocery challenge wrap-up

I think it's taken me so long to write this post because I've been so overwhelmed by everyone's response to this challenge. It definitely got a lot of you thinking, as it did for me. Many of you are 'old pros' at what I attempted last week, some of you are daily grocery-store shoppers and couldn't imagine not going for a whole week. I get that, too.

I don't think I'll bore you with a week's worth of menu plans and "what we ate" lists. There were some definite highlights of the week, like lunch on Wednesday. When I reached in to the fridge for my leftover chicken from the night before, with big plans of chicken salad swirling around in my head. Only to realize that a certain man of the house had squirreled away all the chicken in his lunch. It even warranted a desperate call to his work, "You took ALL the chicken??!!! What are WE supposed to have for lunch???!!" He was sorry, he didn't realize there was so much in the container. blah. blah. blah. It's amazing how grumpy you can get over a few pieces of chicken when you're making every morsel count.

After I collapsed prostrate on the kitchen floor, weeping over the lost breasts of tender white chicken (not really--they weren't tender... No seriously. I didn't collapse.) I did one of those electricity-wasting moves of standing in front of the open refrigerator door waiting for food enlightenment to ascend on my soul.

And it did. In the form of leftover Orzo--one little box sure makes a lot. Some Ranch dressing--which makes everything edible for my children. And a few pieces of bacon--which makes everything taste good. We rounded off the meal with a can of soup and a few carrots hiding in the vegetable drawer. My children gobbled and proclaimed it their favorite meal, ever. (They tend to get dramatic when they're hungry.)

So, in a nutshell, here is what I learned this week:

* there is a lot of food in my pantry. especially a lot of side dishes--rices, beans, hearty grains. I need to use them in my meals more frequently.

* when you know you can't run to the grocery store as soon as you are out of something, you are more careful with portion sizes and waste. I offered less food at every meal. And carefully saved any bit that was leftover.

* I took more control in my kitchen. No more cupboard-diving by little girls. I tended to control and watch each thing that was eaten--which often led to healthier choices.

* I had plenty of food to get by for the week. Some of this was due to the fact that I had skipped a dinner the week before and had some of the supplies leftover. But I also found a few things buried in my freezer that I didn't know were still in there.

* I did not eat the deer sausage. But I will. For fear of receiving a lashing with a wet noodle from many of you. :)

* for me, the hardest part was when I wasn't in the mood to be creative. I have grown accustomed to my planned-out meals and some evenings, I just longed for something easy and planned to throw together. I didn't want to do the mish-mash, make-it-work kind of meal. When I whined about this over the phone to Emily, she reminded me, "Well, technically, you could have opened up your cupboards and freezer and made a plan with what you had at the beginning of the week." Oh yeah. I could have.

All in all, it was a great experience. There were a few low points. A few moments where I was really, really tempted to sneak off to the store. But I didn't. And I don't think my children, who suddenly became the grocery-store police, would have allowed it.

Though I haven't admitted it to my husband yet--who tried to get me to go another week on the challenge--I kind of wonder if I couldn't make this an every-other-week, kind of deal. I wonder if I could do a big shop one week, and the following week get by with a budget of about $50 for the farmers' market, fresh veggies and dairy? Hmmm...something new for me to think about.

If you played along or if you thought about food spending and using what you have this week, will you share your thoughts, observations? I'd love to hear.

Mouse in the house (and winners!)

I'm going to tell you the winners of the last Show & Tell giveaway, but first I'm going to make you sit through a ridiculous amount of pictures of kittens. Well, one kitten, actually.



This would be "Mouse", named by the girls. When these kittens were born, I had no intention of keeping any of them. Then we lost Rosie. So I let Emma keep a replacement.



And then, well....just look at this face? Mouse won us over. He's the chubbiest little, fur-ball, stumpy-legged, stick-straight tail of a kitten you could imagine. And my children have mauled him and loved all over him so much that he puts up with anything and has a knack for falling asleep anywhere.

Yesterday, I walked out onto the mudroom to find him flat out on the ground. I called to him. He didn't move. I picked him up, he opened one eye and closed it again. I had visions of Elizabeth squeezing the breath out of him and I was witnessing his last moments. I picked him up again, gave him a nudge. He opened his eyes, looked at me, then passed out again. His head began to loll to the side and I thought, "this is it." But no, he's fine. Apparently, he's just a sound sleeper and obviously takes nap time very seriously.







The rest of the kittens have all found perfect homes, all through the wonders of blogging. I'll tell you more about that soon.

I also owe you a wrap-up report about my grocery challenge. That is coming later today, I hope. My mothering duties started ridiculously early this morning thanks to one rumble of thunder.

Meanwhile HERE are the winners! Please send me an email (you'll find a link to it on my About page) and I'll pass your info on and get those VeggiChops to you right away! Congratulations!

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molli said...

this looks like it's the perfect size! I love my chopper, but it doesn't hold very much and I always have to find a place to plug it in. I like that this one is 'person powered' - my arms could always use a work out! :)

sarah

We won't have berries for a few more weeks and then I'll be making jam. Wish I could find a freezer jam that is more berry and less sugar.

How to say yes

I walked in to the guest room a few weeks ago to find Emma on her knees, on the floor, hunched over something. She was obviously working quietly and intently, and secretively. I stepped closer and she looked up.

In front of her on the floor was a whole battery of off-limits items from my craft stash--sewing scissors, expensive yarn, scraps of fabric, rubber stamp pads, good heavy papers and permanent markers.

I felt my blood boil. "EMMA!!! WHAT are you doing??! These are my things!"

"I had this idea.", she said with a defeated sigh.

I was still upset. This had been happening a lot lately. The sneaking off while I was occupied elsewhere in the house. The getting in to things that normally require supervision. Craft stuff. Food from the pantry. Gardening tools. Things that stay inside the house being dragged outside.

It was making me crazy. Didn't my children understand any boundaries? Didn't they realize they couldn't get into anything and everything, whenever they pleased?

I questioned her further, "Why didn't you just ask?"

"Because I knew you'd say no. You always say no."

And there it was. I was confronted with the truth. Or at least what felt like the truth to her.

Now obviously, I don't say no all the time. But sometimes, I think my pile of "no's" far outweighs my pile of "yes". In fact it could easily bury the pile of yes. Sometimes the no's come from exhaustion--the not wanting to make another mess, the not wanting to break open all the paints or get out the sewing machine, the not wanting to fill another sink with dishes, the not wanting to hike to the stream and carry home dirty toddlers and ten pounds of streambed in a metal bucket.

And sometimes, I catch myself saying no because I think that's what I'm supposed to say. It's what parents do. That somehow I'm teaching them some life skill--to wait, to be patient, that you don't always get your way. And then I find myself thinking, "Now wait. Why did I say no to that?"

And I also realized in some odd way, my barrage of 'no's' was driving Emma to deception. She had ideas and plans that were burning inside of her. Things she had to try. Experiments she had to concoct. Recipes she had to make. She needed to bring these ideas in her head to fruition. And sometimes, the supplies she had at her disposal--some watercolor paints, construction paper, a pair of tiny right-handed scissors, just wouldn't cut it. And more often than not, when she brought her plans before the queen of the house, she was shot down before she even got started.

You've heard me say it a hundred times before, this job of parenting is a continual learning process. And once again, I've learned a lesson. I'm not saying all my no's have magically become a yes--I'm not planning to let Emma float Elizabeth down the stream on an inner tube anytime soon. However, my no doesn't come as quickly these days.

I don't want her to give up on me. To think she has me figured out. To decide that I'm always a no. I want to say yes sometimes. More times. I want to surprise her. I want to follow through on a few of those crazy ideas and see just where that idea takes us. I want her to tell me everything because she knows I'll be just as excited and curious and creative as she is.

I'll say no, when a no is what's really called for. But more than that, I want to be a yes.

Show & Tell: my new favorite kitchen gadget

To me, this seems like the perfect "Show & Tell" as we happily slip in to strawberry season. Yesterday I gave it a workout on two batches of jam and it gave me the most perfect, slightly chunky strawberries--which is how I love my jam.

And I should probably thank Courtney as well, who turned me on to this nifty little kitchen gadget when we were having a discussion about crying over chopped onions.

Today's Show & Tell is called the Chef'n VeggiChop. It is a small kitchen chopper that requires no electricity and quickly chops, dices with the pull of a cord. It's like starting a lawn mower (but easier) or working out on a rowing machine (but much more fun).

I got my VeggiChop just over a week ago, and I've found tons of uses for it. I've made fresh salsa by throwing all the ingredients right into the chopping bowl, chopped nuts and veggies for a salad and used it to make strawberry jam. It is simple and fun to use. Simple (and safe) enough, that I'm completely comfortable with Emma and Mary using it--as long as they remember to keep their hands on the lid, so it doesn't send puree'd veggies everywhere.

I've always been the kind of person to shy away from extra gadgets in the kitchen--I don't like them cluttering up my limited counter space and it's hard to find a convenient place to store them where I'll actually get them out and use them.

But I've hardly put away this little gadget--it goes from use, to the dishwasher and back to my counter as part of lunch or dinner prep.

And with all these great summer fruits and veggies just weeks away from emerging from our gardens, I imagine it will be getting even more use. I'm seeing lots of batches of pesto in my future....

Check out this quick demo to see exactly how the chopper works.

And guess what?? Thanks to the generous folks at Chef'n I have TWO VeggiChops to giveaway.  You know the drill--leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. I'll choose and announce two random winners on Sunday.