Curious Little Chef

Apparently for Freida, the most exciting and cherished activity in our house at the moment is working in the kitchen. She's been up at the counter-top with me all month long; I can't even scramble an egg without her tugging at the step-stool! At first I was really annoyed at myself for letting her join me so much culinarily - I was annoyed for not having foreseen that making dinner would take double the time with her up there in the action. But after a while I realized that not only is all the kitchen exploration a great sensory, tactile, and fine-motor skill activity, but that it is actually quite beneficial having her cook with me. Believe it or not, I can swear that having a kid help cook the food will up the odds of them actually consuming it by a significant amount! When she was put in charge of wiping the dirt off the fresh mushrooms, she  not only tried them at dinnertime; but liked them! After rinsing the beans and barley together in a colander, she spit out the white bean from her soup as usual, but when I said "it's the beans you washed, remember?", she gave it another go! I'm honestly quite shocked at how much we both benefit from our little cooking sessions. Gone are the days of finding some form of entertainment for her so that I can dinner in the over... preparing, assembling, and cooking dinner is the entertainment! And she has turned out to be quite the useful sous chef!!

Our only issue was on the chopping block: the knife. The extent of her frustration at smashed tomatos and crumbling mushrooms got me looking into other options. A bit of searching landed me on a company called Curious Chef. They've created a line of very well-thought-out kitchen tools for kids. With a few recurring features, such as rubber grips on the handles and streamlined safety precautions, this line of tools really seems to deliver; geared for a broad range of jr. chefs, no matter the kitchen experience (or lack thereof).

I'll definitely be ordering some of their serrated knives. They are officially safe for children 5 years and up, but I think I'm going to try these out with Freida (while supervising her, of course!), though they may be a little too big for her tiny little hands... I'll keep you posted on how they work out for us in our "test kitchen".

Curious Chef Knives (set of 3), $8.99

Rip + Tatter: Shredded Seating

Cardboard furniture has been on the uprise even before WALL-E programed the masses green. I posted about a cardboard highchair, a foldable play-space, and Freida's cardboard Sukkah (+ other green goodies) before, but this paper shredder is apparently the ultimate in regard to "furniture". Rip + Tatter is from designer Pete Oyler (I love his Cricket Bench), and while it looks like it can take the term biodegradable to a brand spankin' new place (i.e. your living room); word has it (Oyler's word!) that the prototypes have been acclimating in their "Brooklyn test nurseries" for a year, and they remain remarkably intact!

These totally play-up my recent pull toward industrial themed furniture - you can't exactly give kids concrete, steel, and mango wood - but this cardboard messiness is totally appropriate! Brings shabby-chic to a whole new level - the playroom!

Rip + Tatter, $55

Skip Hop & Hoot!

Skip*Hop has been producing adorable and functional baby favorites for a while now (I previously posted about this great storage bin). I've always been rather fond of their wipes case, and their palette plate, but right now I'm falling for this little blue owl! This backpack has been around for a while...

The tableware line was just released this week.

And these faux-leather weighted bookends were immediately wish-listed!! :)

Chai Tea Latte: The Anti-coffee

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of a chai tea latte in my For the Love of Winter post, and got some questions as to what "that foamy tea" was.

Chai (or, Masala Chai) is a sweet and aromatic black tea originating from India. It's traditionally made of Assam or Darjeeling tea, spiced with star anise, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, fennel and ginger. Today, chai tea is consumed worldwide primarily for the taste, but the spices used in chai tea, as well as the brewed tea itself, have long been used in Eastern medicine; believed to be a powerfully natural anti-oxidant, stress reliever, mood elevator, immune and circulatory system stimulant and breath freshener. This stuff really delivers! I lived on Chai Tea lattes during my pregnancy with Freida when I opted to forgo coffee consumption. It lent me a fair amount of caffeine to get me through those pregnancy days, and now I really enjoy using it in the evenings when I'm in the mood of a "coffee break" sans late-night jitters.

You can use Organic Chai Tea bags, or you can go with the Original Oregon Chai Tea Latte boxed beverage. The boxed version is super delicious, but loaded with sugar. If you use the tea bags you can add a teaspoon of honey or even some calorie free sweetener. A "chai tea latte" is basically made up of 1 part chai tea, 1 part steamed/frothed milk. You can use any kind of milk you want, just froth it until it is hot and foamy.

Even Freida enjoys taking little sips of this sweet and spicy foam.

(I'm sure she likes to fantasize she's finally allowed to drink some coffee...)

Hot Trend: Matryoshka

This Babushka sure got a modern makeover!! Being seeing an overload of Matryoshka themed gimmicks on the market - some may be a bit more cuter than the next, but either way, these are most definitely not your Bubby's russian nesting dolls! 1. Ninja/Robot 2. Play Quilt + Wooden Teether 3. Babushkups

4. Bento Box 5. Bath Mat 6. Measuring Cups

7. Tape 8. Modern Graphics 9. Crochet Pattern PDF

10. Stamps 11. DIY 12. Gift Tags

13. Throw Pillow 14. Pantone 15. Buttons

16. Tea for Two 17. Nesting Birds 18. Pepper Grinder

I think the whole theme is really fun and charming, don't you?

(For those of you ladies skilled in needle-work - those crochet PDF's would be so lovely made with a rattle inside. What an adorable handmade baby gift!!)