Weekly Roundup: 3.26.11

I can’t believe it’s the end of March and I’ve been in the middle of a huge blizzard in Lake Tahoe. At the end of March!

Usually, when 2Chili and I roll into town, the skies dry up and the snow turns to sheet ice. This time, we had the opposite effect: so much snow that most of the ski areas actually closed on Thursday and Friday.

Happily, we managed to get in some good fun at one of the few areas that was open yesterday. It dumped snow all day, and I was schooled by the very swift and light-on-his feet 2Chili. Nevertheless, I managed to float my way through 3 feet of fresh powder mostly unscathed! What a day!

Skiing aside, here are some interesting links from the past week:

• Tips for New Bloggers – Choosing Raw. I thought this was a great write up about things to keep in mind for new bloggers. While this blog is new, I have written my “Angela’s Random Musings” blog for about five-and-a-half years, but have been reading blogs for longer than that. I have to admit, Gena nailed one of my number one pet peeve of bloggers:  poor spelling and grammar. If I read a blog and there are clear errors (not just innocent typos which happen to everyone), I usually just move along.
• Soaking Whole Grains – Good Food Health. We all know we should eat whole grains (and no, “whole grain” Trix or Fruit Loops do not count!), but, I honestly didn’t know that whole grains really require soaking to be best digested. This is from the blog of our CSA, Full Circle Farm.
• DIY Cooking Handbook – New York Times. This handbook could maybe could be called “DIY Handbook to making your own sauces, spreads, and unique condiments,” but it’s pretty interesting. I’m probably not going to make Kimchi or Tesa, but perhaps chocolate-hazelnut paste or maple vinegar might be on my list…
• HELP: 10 Tips for Picky Eaters – ZestyCook. This one hits home! Like Zesty’s son, 2Chili is also very fond of Kraft Dinner (and ketchup on said mac ‘n cheese, of course). These tips from Zesty are good, and many of them I have already employed around our house. The biggest one I could add is simply to serve what you want to serve. All I ask from 2Chili is he try whatever it is I’m serving. If he genuinely doesn’t like it, out comes the Kraft Dinner. It’s an agreement that works for us!

I hope you’re having a good weekend! Happy Spring!