Strawberry season comes to a close

Stealing strawberries from our yard has become a family tradition of sorts.

Picking berries after we get home from daycare has been an easy activity for the kids. They love the thrill of the hunt and poking among the green leaves to find the tiny red strawberries nestled underneath. And they love the taste even more.

You see, even though we start out with three separate containers for picking, only a drop or two of juice will actually grace the bottoms of the containers before we return inside. More often than not, those berries just go straight to their mouths. I really can't complain...except for the whole eating the leaves bit that the youngest has developed is just a bit too wierd for my tastes.

While I love that they're interested, I'd love to try a strawberry or two this year. Sadly, it's just too late.

I know I should be thrilled that we're still getting strawberries this late in the year. That thrill, though, will soon be gone. I'm watching the forecast, and we'll hit below freezing in just a few short days. Those last few flowers and snow-white berries just don't stand a chance.

Goodbyn: Our Saturday snack solution (a review)

Saturdays on the go are inevitably punctuated by the panic of it being 11:45 and the kids haven't yet been fed. Seeing that they're happily on an 11:15 a.m. lunch schedule at daycare, an early lunch and nap attempts are just part of the routine. But there are weekend days we just need an exception to the rule.

When errands are planned en masse, it typically means racing around the kitchen to grab a few granola bars and sippy cups to hopefully tide them over. I know it doesn't always work, but I can tell you it's tough to pack fresh fruits, accepted vegetables, crackers that won't crumble or other foods into a snack bag.

And then I was approached to review the Goodbyn, a lunchbox made of recycled plastics that's pre-divided into containers for your meal. While the makers promise significant savings from avoiding the heaps of Ziploc bags over the school year, I know that packing lunches are at least a few years away for me. But I'll tell you, it does work for my family's needs.

The Goodbyn is a little challenging to use at first - there's multiple pressure points to snap the lid shut, as opposed to having it hinged - and takes a bit of finessing to get it right. And the amount of food included is huge. I have a hard time seeing that a young elementary-school student, which it's obviously aimed for, could (or should) eat as much as it holds.

To give you a sense on the size, you can hold:

• the 8-oz. bottle that comes with it (or several cheese sticks, for the parents of preschoolers)
• two pints of blueberries from the farmers market or a trial or single-serving size box of cereal
• three or four granola bars
• several handfuls of dried fruit, crackers, etc., in the small spaces
• and still have room for more.

We've happily fed three kids out of the box during an outing this weekend and have made a meal for two as a "picnic" in the park.

Of course, the budding artist would love to customize it in the 200 or so stickers included in the set (and hidden from interested fingers at this point).

The cost seems a bit high on the surface - about $30 retail - but if you offset it by the cost of toss-away containers and baggies accumulated over the course of a year, you'd easily come out ahead. Not to mention have a few less dishes to wash, and you can recycle the whole thing once your kid is too "cool" for it next fall.

Disclaimer: In the name of full disclosure, yes, I received a free sample from the makers of Goodbyn to test. But you probably realized that anyway.

Soap's on!

For a toddler who's suddenly obsessed with lining things up, nothing seems cooler than lines of multicolored, scented soap at the farmers market.

For a full 20 minutes on Saturday, I watched as the little guy brought one bar after another up to his nose, then carefully placed them back down in a train-like line. A near-meltdown occurred when I tried to coax him away from the table. The owner was amused, chuckled and tucked away her card in the bag when I broke down and placed an order.

Her parting gift? Two slivers of soap, one for each child.

My guy proudly clenched that soap in his fist as we trotted around the market, occasionally catching a sniff of his bar. We had an nearly incident-free morning, until I began to drive away.

"Moooommmm!" I heard in that whiny drawl, strung out as only a tattle-telling kid can do. "He ate the soap!"

Dang. It's bad enough we had to call poison control a few weeks ago because he ate my deoderant. (And, I might add, not only the "powder fresh" but also the "shower clean" varieties!) Now we had to call the poor soap lady, who was thinking she's getting an order and instead was peppered with questions on what actually in those bars. Thankfully, we had no health issues as a result.

Some parents threaten to wash their child's mouth out with soap. Ain't going to work in my home.

Going handmade this holiday season? Start now!

Handmade holiday gifts - it's surprising that they didn't take off much last year, following the gas crisis, the credit crisis, etc.

This year, though, the idea seems to be everywhere - from a host of environmental blogs to Paula Deen's Christmas magazine.

If you're a shopping slacker, the key to remember is you can't start most presents on Dec. 23. You have to plan ahead.

Crunchy Chicken recently had a discussion on this topic, and the readers posted some very creative ideas, including:

• gift certificates to a CSA
• market bags made from repurposed denim jeans
• buying vintage

Determined to make gifts on your own? Check out sites like www.oneprettything.com, or if you're looking for other ideas, check out last year's posts:

• Easy hand-sewn gifts
• For man's best friend
• For the chef in the family
• Gifts in a jar
• Painted mugs (pack with the gift of choice - chocolates, coffees, etc.)
• Photo gifts
• Quick from the kitchen ideas
• Spa baskets
• Snowman kits
• Wrapping ideas

Not the crafty type? That is completely OK. There are plenty of people who are willing to sell handmade goods that you can pull together for a holiday gift. Check your farmers markets for vinagrettes, sauces, soaps or candles; visit the multitude of holiday fairs; or check out etsy for ideas from small business owners.
Of course, the one gift idea I can't beat - or ever dream to replicate - is from Abbie at Farmer's Daughter:

my then-boyfriend (now husband) gave me a 4-poster cherry bed that he built
on Christmas Eve, then proposed on Christmas morning.

If only all of our gifts had such meaning!

Graham crackers for dinner

Graham crackers for dinner. It's not something one normally thinks of (unless of course, you're 4 years old).

Graham crackers for a snack before dinner? Sure. For lunch? Sure, I'll confess: I have caved on occasion and just served graham cracker and peanut butter sandwiches. As part of the main course for dinner? Not so much.

But the other night, I was stumped. I had some random items and no idea what to do with them.

I started out with some mahi mahi, which I'd splurged (OK, got as a steal) on at the grocery store. I had no idea how to cook it, and googled some recipes.

Then I came up with Oven Baked Mahi Mahi With Orange and Graham Cracker Crust. Having stumbled across some graham crackers that were feeling their age (going a bit stale), I was sold.

You can read the original recipe here, but I had to adapt given my pantry limitations and a few customers of discerning tastes.

Here's what I came up with.

Ingredients
3 pieces mahi mahi
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

For Marinade
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons coriander, chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Add all ingredients for marinade and marinade fish for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, combine orange zest, brown sugar, lemon juice, orange juice and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly mixed.

Coat fish with graham cracker mixture and place on non-stick baking tray.

Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminium foil and place in oven and let bake for 20-25 mins until tender and cooked thoroughly.

The verdict? Surprisingly good. One gobbled up the topping, the other loved the fish. (So in reality, it worked out.)

But what really got the kids excited was the Peach Cobbler I whipped up after the farmers market. I sliced up our peaches (about four), supplemented with a drained can of peaches, and topped in a casserole dish with 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, a few tablespoons of butter, a bit of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of oatmeal and some cinammon. (And as I am writing this, I know understand my high blood sugar later!) I microwaved it for seven minutes. It was a success. Both kids couldn't get enough of it.