If you are in the Silicon Valley area please take note of these upcoming special events:
- April 11—100 Island Drive, Palo Alto 9am-3pm. Check out the Hip Kids Boutique in Palo Alto. I've gone to every one of these trunk shows and scored great deals ($120 jackets for $10--New stuff at thift prices.) on cute clothes for my kids. It's a charity event with the designers donating part of their proceeds to the Alliance for Climate Change. $3 minimum donation at the door.(I will post specifics like the list of designers participating closer to the date.)
- April 19— The Silicon Valley Moms are hosting a BONE MARROW DRIVE. It's quick and painless (no blood involved), please stop by especially if you are multicultural/mixed-race. Those donors are most needed.
In other news:
- MOMocrats Say NO to George Bush's War in Iraq. Five years. It's been five years, people.
- Dads.Alltop.com now open for biz. Go check out your faves, and if you aren't listed, bug Guy on Twitter. He loves that.
Good stuff:
- Susan Brown's Baby skincare products: They sent me some samples and I've been using them on my girls. My girls swam twice a week all winter long (3 months and counting) in a heavily chlorinated pool. I have struggled to find soaps and lotions that won't dry out their sensitive skin. I shower them up as soon as they get out of the pool to try and get all the yucky chlorine off their skin. After trying all sorts of things, I am in love with Susan Brown's Baby Foaming Shampoo and Body Wash and Botanical Body and Massage Oil. The foam is perfect to take to the gym, and the body oil is hydrating without being greasy. Both are formulated for sensitive (rash-prone) skin like my girls have. Now, if anyone has any rec's for shampoo, I need it. My kids' hair is like straw.
- Green & Blacks organic chocolate. They sent me some recently and wow. It's delicious. We tried some dark chocolate along with tawny port, but I asked them for some specific wine pairing suggestions because: chocolate and booze. Micah Carr Hill, head of taste suggests the following.
“The one thing to bear in mind when matching wine to desserts is that it is best to choose a wine that is as sweet, if not sweeter, than the food, otherwise the wine is likely to be overpowered by what you are eating and seem unpleasantly sharp.
However, chocolate does not always go well with traditional sweet wines such as Sauternes, and as chocolate is often married with cherries, raisins, dates, and other such fruits, it often makes sense to match them with drinks that have similar flavors. For example, a chocolate dessert with raspberry would go well with a raspberry liqueur like Framboise or raspberry beer from Belgium.
Lighter desserts made with white and milk chocolate work well with a fresh, spritzy, grapey Moscato d’ Asti or a slightly heavier Orange Muscat (especially if they contain orange). Belgian cherry or raspberry beers would also be good.
Desserts are made with a dark chocolate demand a richer and fuller wine such as a Black Muscat or a sweet Italian Recioto, made from partially dried red wine grapes. You could also try a vin douz naturel, which is a type of French wine that is made from partially fermented wine and local brandy, such as Rivesaltes, Banyuls, or Maury. A port, Ruby or Tawny, an Australian Liqueur Muscat, or even one of the sweeter Madeiras (Malmsey or Bual) would also be good choices.
If you’re serving a savory dish such as a mole, you need a weighty red wine to cope with the range of rich flavors kicking about. A big Syrah, Shiraz, or Zinfandel would cope as would a big Italian red such as an Amarone or Barolo.
Stouts, porters, and dark beers made from chocolate malts (they have been highly roasted) are also good companions as is black coffee, irrespective of whether there is coffee in the recipe or not."
So pick up some chocolate and have a chocolate tasting party. Maybe for Easter dinner dessert?
