Happy Halloween!

We've survived Hurricane Sandy. Not sure I'll survive Hurricane F&P inside my house. F's school is closed for the rest of the week and there are good chances that P's school will do the same. The city is in total chaos. But we were very lucky and our region was not affected.

Since all our Halloween plans have been cancelled for the day, we are now trying to find alternatives. Most of the traditional parties in the city have been cancelled as well. The best bet would be to do the trick-or-treat in the building, but the kids are not very excited about this alternative. We may head to one of F's friend's building or we may try, like we did last year, East 78th street.

Anyway, Halloween started early this morning. The kids decided to wear their costumes as soon as they woke up. This year P decided to be the lion he didn't want to be last year and was happily roaring all around the apartment.

Since we were forced to stay at home during the last few days, we baked and decorated some Halloween cookies that F was suppose to give to his friends at school today. We'll have to postpone that. In the meantime, take a look at the cute cards that we ordered from Meema Design for this Halloween.

Hurricane Sandy: How to help!

Not everyone was as lucky as we were. 

So if you want to help, here are nice options to do so: 

• To volunteer send an e-mail to: nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with your name, e-mail address and borough. Someone will contact you.
• The red cross is also looking for volunteers and donations: http://www.nyredcross.org
• Another way to volunteer: http://newyorkcares.org
• Volunteer sign-up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG5JTldNeTRMTFhPTVFYWE1rYl9CWnc6MQ#gid=0
• Other ways to donate: 
• https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/disaster; 
• http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org; 
• http://www.thethinredline.org/relief-fund.html; 
• http://feedingamerica.org; 
• http://www.worldvision.org; 
• http://%20www.savethechildren.org
• To register for assistance: http://www.disasterassistance.gov

There are also other ways to help out locally. If you live close to a shelter, check if they are in need of clothes or toys for the kids. Some of them had to flee their houses and didn't have time to take their belongings with them. I'm still looking around my neighborhood, but a friend has already told me that in the upper west side, there is a shelter at Louis Brandeis high school (west 84th street), where there are kids between 3 and 10 years that would very much appreciate anything to distract them (crayons, paper, stickers, toys, books, etc) and there is another one at Hunter College.

List of shelters in New York: http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/hurricane_shelters.html

If you hear of any other ways to help, please let me know, so that I can keep updating this post and we can try to reach out as many people as we can. 

Thanks!

The Weekender - Colorful fall

I haven't made up my mind yet on wether spring is my favorite season in New York or fall is the winner. Both seasons are so colorful. It's like living inside a painting. And biking in the middle of all those changing colors is absolutely priceless.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheese factory in Manhattan

How cool is that? While you're choosing your cheeses, you can take a look at how some of them were just made at this new branch of the Seattle based cheese store Beecher's in the Flatiron district. 

The shop offers a wide variety of American artisan cheeses and charcuterie. There's also a cafe where you can buy freshly made sandwiches or just have a cup of coffee. And a restaurant downstairs called "The Cellar" (haven't tried it, so can't tell you wether is good or not, but it seems nice).

Cooking with Children: Easy Apple cake

Last weekend we went apple picking and returned home with 10lbs of apples. So we decided to try a very very easy apple cake recipe that came in one of the kids' French magazine. It is a really easy and fun recipe to do with the kids.

So put on your apron and write it down (or print it out):

You will need:

• 3 apples
• 3 eggs
• 125gr of butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

Instructions:

• Peel and cut the apple in small cubes 
• Mix together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl 
• Add the butter, the flour, baking powder and finally the apples. Mix everything well (you should have a very sticky dough). To make it more fun, you can ask the kids to mix everything with their hands. We did it and that's why we don't have pictures of the other steps.
• Cover your baking pan (I chose a square one) with a baking sheet
• Bake for 40min in the oven, previously heated at 360F.

I thought the cake was a little too sweet for my taste. So I would maybe put a little less sugar next time.

Hope you like it!

Book of the week: One

Let's reintroduce this section with a very nice book that P received for his birthday recently.

One, by Kathryn Otoshi is a great book for young children. It has simple but really nice pictures and it's a simple story. It teaches them about colors, counting but also, in a very subtle way, to respect other people differences.

Thanks Fernanda for the great gift!

Farming in New York

About a month ago, we took the kids to Stone Barns Farm. Like many other farms in the region, they offer educational programs for kids and adults and hands on farming experiences. On that day, the kids participated in the "Gardening" program and picked-up some fresh carrots. There's also an egg collecting program or a cooking class for kids (they pick their vegetables and then cook them). The kids had a really great time. They loved their "gardening" experience. They had a chance to breathe some fresh air, run around, see some animals and enjoy nature. 

The farm is lovely and is located at only 45 minutes drive from Manhattan. There's a nice restaurant onsite (Blue Hill at Stone Barns), but it's not recommended to go with young children, since they only serve multi-course menus. The coffee shop - Blue Hill cafe - serves light snacks and fresh baked goods. I would have liked to have an intermediate option, though. We are not huge fans of doing pic-nics and we missed being able to sit at a table and have a good (even if simple) meal, especially with those great surroundings. 

***

There are many other farms that offer different kind of activities according to the season. Last weekend we also went apple and pumpkin picking at Hank's farm in Southampton. 

I think it's a great way to teach children about farming, especially when it involves seasonal, fresh and local products. You can even cut your own Christmas Tree if you want!

Coming soon: an easy easy apple pie to cook with kids!