Somerville, Mass – We don’t get to go to Finland this summer, so we decided we better host our own summer solstice celebration. I wrote to my Finnish family get advice on exactly what this should entail. The Finns wrote back: “Midsummer…
Heritage Night
Somerville, Mass – Question: When is going to school like a trip around the world? Answer: When it’s Heritage Night This event was organized by the PTA and the arts council at the twins’ school. The tag line was…
Christmas – Here vs There
Somerville, Mass – The twins brought home a worksheet from school that we were supposed to fill out and return. Some of the questions included: My family members come from these countries ____________________________________ During the holidays, we celebrate _______________________________________________ A special…
Fine Dining for Second Graders
Brooklyn, New York – For fun, the New York Times Magazine took a group of second-graders to a fancy French restaurant in Brooklyn. There, the chef Daniel Boulud prepared a special, seven-course tasting menu, designed especially for young palates. Not…
Honey Pot Hill
Stow, Mass – This is an annual trip (which you can read about here and here), but honestly, every year it’s a completely new experience. I never know what to expect: Will the kids dare to venture into the hedge maze? Will they…
World Food for Kids: USSR Edition
Moscow, Russia – Contrary to what you might think, Moscow is an amazing food city. Its cosmopolitan character is reflected in its restaurants, which run the gamut from cheap Lebanese street food to gourmet French fare. When in Moscow, we…
World Food for Kids: The Amsterdam Edition
Amsterdam, Netherlands – Daddio and I have had some lovely, delicious and romantic dinners while on work-ation (without twins) in Amsterdam. But we are here for more than a week, so we can’t go out for fancy meals all the…
Bliny
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.…