Somerville, Mass – This weekend we hosted our second annual party celebrating Maslenitsa, the Russian festival that bids farewell (perhaps prematurely) to winter. And before anyone calls me on it, I’m aware that we were a week early, but my…
42 Finnish Foods
Somerville, Mass – Let me preface this by saying that 42 is a pretty big number when it comes to Finnish foods. And “desperately need” are strong words, even if it is an attempt at funny by Buzz Feed. But…
New Books
Somerville, Mass – Before I was a travel writer, I worked as a program administrator for an environmental research program at Harvard. I’ll never forget the day that a box of brand new, hot-off-the-presses books showed up at our office.…
The Food Book Mini
Somerville, Mass – This little red book showed up on my doorstep. It’s “A Journey Through the Great Cuisines of the World.” You know… France, Italy, China… Hungary…? Well, this book may be mini, but it covers the cuisines of…
Nature Boys
Kirkkonummi, Finland – Have you been wondering what we have been up to? Daddio and I have been busy hanging out in archives, conducting interviews and treating people to expensive, tax-deductible meals. The twins have been attending an English-language daycare…
World Food for Kids
Parents remain ever hopeful as we strive to introduce different foods into our children’s diets. Whether your family is travelling the world, or just looking for a little variety in your home kitchen, international cuisine can be a source of…
Strawberry Picking
Northborough, Massachusetts – On a picture-perfect sunny Saturday, we took the twins to the strawberry patch. As I have written about before, we have had some success with apple picking and blueberry picking, so why not strawberries? The twins were…
Chinatown & Mooncakes
Boston, Massachusetts – On a previous visit to Chinatown, I had lunch at the awesome Vietnamese restaurant Xinh Xinh, and at the next table there was a family with a toddler who was shoveling in the pho as if it were…
Maslenitsa
Call me optimistic. Or hopeful. Or perhaps desperate. But this weekend we bid farewell to winter, celebrating the ancient Russian end-of-winter festival, Maslenitsa. This ancient pagan ritual was sort of co-opted by the Christians, so it morphed into a pre-Lenten…
Maple Sugar Madness
Topsfield, Massachusetts – Our friends A and J are really good at involving their kids in outdoor activities, like farm visits and nature walks. Last summer, they talked us into going blueberry picking, which I never would have dared, but…