Category Archives: Home Ec.

Last updated by suzlipman at April 12, 2022.

Happy Pi Day! Celebrate with Games and .. Pie!

Posted on March 12, 2019 | 1 comment

I first learned about Pi Day when my daughter was in Middle School. I wondered where this day had been my whole life! Now a global tradition almost 30 years old, Pi Day is best celebrated at 1:59 p.m. on March 14 to match the first few digits of the number Pi (and the extent of most people’s memorization, 3.14159), with a pie, of course – savory or dessert version.

Math moment: What is Pi anyway? Ahem – Pi is the number expressing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It’s used in engineering, science and statistics and begins with 3.14 and goes on into infinity. It’s also captured a lot of people’s imaginations. The record for Longest Pi Recitation belongs to Japan’s Akira Hawaguchi, who recited from memory an astounding 100,000 digits over 16+ hours. How is that even possible?? (Here are some tips for memorizing pi.) A teen holds the North American record.

It seems Pi Day as we know it didn’t catch on until about 30 years ago, when it was begun at the San Francisco Exploratorium. Now it is celebrated around the world. Try some of these Pi Day games and activities from the Exploratorium, where Pi Day began!

I’ve gathered a few pies to help you celebrate. It seems like a more fun way to mark the day than memorizing digits. But, to each his or her own!

Pictured, at top, Pillsbury’s Triple Berry Pi Day Pie.

From the Gourmand Mom comes everything from Pumpkin Coconut Pie to Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie.

This is my own recipe for Classic Apple Pie. You could add a Pi symbol in crust (or cut out a Pi symbol) to the top of this, or any, pie.

Seeking something savory? This Shitake, Leek and Chicken Sausage Pie comes from Pie Maven. And, of course, pizza pie is always a possibility!

When I think of Pie Mavens, I think of my friend Leah Brooks and her stunning and sometimes unexpected fruit pies, like apple with thyme or double lemon blueberry, or her chocolate cream, pumpkin, lattice-topped cherry, or perfect pecan pies!

This one from Serious Eats may take the, uh, cake. It is made in the shape of the pi sign!

Happy Pi Day!

Photos: Pillsbury, Orlando News Center, Serious Eats

Image: allisonweiss.tumblr.com

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Posted in Butter and Egg, Celebrations, Education, Holidays, Home Ec., Recipes

Tagged Apple Pie, Dessert, Exploratorium, Food, Holiday Baking, How to Memorize Pi, Math Activities, Pi, Pi Day, Pi Day Activities, Pi Day Celebration, Pie Recipes, Recipes, Savory Pies

How to Host a Holiday Cookie Exchange

Posted on December 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

Even bakers who turn out beautiful cookies year-round seem to particularly relish baking them at holiday time. At a cookie exchange, each guest brings a large batch of his/her favorite holiday cookie, and each guest returns with a few of each type. Cookie exchanges define win-win: They’re fun and festive events that provide warm tradition in both the baking and the gathering–and then there are all the yummy cookies you take home! I’ve been a happy guest at my local Girl Scout Leader Cookie Exchange for many years.

Hosting? Here’s how:

Send Your Invites

Invite enough people to ensure a variety of cookies, but still work within your space. Although there are usually close to 30 people at the cookie exchange I attend, cookie swaps can work with 10-12 guests as well. Instruct each attendee to bring 4 dozen homemade cookies and a large container in which to take their cookies home. Ask people to bring copies of their recipes, or start a group email message after the party to share them. Cookie exchanges can work at various times of day. Mine occurs at 7 pm, so that guests arrive after dinner. If the party is earlier in the day, consider having some filling or savory treats on hand.

Prepare Your Space

While one long table is best for a cookie exchange, a counter or several small tables will work. Remove chairs and arrange the table/s so that people can walk all around them as they gather their cookies. Have some pretty platters on hand, for guests to place their cookies on, or ask people to arrive with serving dishes. Provide wax paper sheets, so people can line their containers and separate the layers of cookies. Have pens and index or tented paper cards handy, so guests can write the names of their cookies, and perhaps their names, so others can know which recipes they’ll want to collect.

Line Up Your Guests

When you’re ready, have guests form a single line and prepare to travel around the table, picking up one cookie from each plate as they pass. If you have a lot of guests, have them join the back of the line between each trip around the table.

Consider Other Foods, Decor and Activities

Cookie exchanges are pretty festive on their own, but that doesn’t stop my host extraordinaire, Mimi, from going all-out with holiday decorations; drinks such as coffee, hot cider and punch; and an ornament exchange game to boot. Here are some other fun holiday games and Christmas games.

Choose a Great Recipe of Your Own

Should you want to contribute a cookie to the mix, try one of these:

Easy Christmas Cookies from Martha Stewart

Three Great Christmas Cookies (including the Spritz cookies I grew up making) and My Favorite Orange with Sweet Orange Glaze from Slow Family

Greek Melomakarona Cookies (another favorite of mine) from Food.com

Shopping for kitchen accessories to make the perfect cookies? You’ll find what you need for reasonable prices at Target.com. Through Dec. 24, use promo code KITCHEN and get an additional 25% off Target kitchen items!

Happy Holidays!

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

This post contains affiliate links.

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Personalize Your Baking with Fun Cookie Cutters

Posted on June 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

I love anything that let’s you customize your projects, so when I saw these special cookie cutters from Chicago Metallic, I immediately bought the set. They are so much fun to use!

There are three generous cookie shapes with grooves to fit the letters, which follow the same principle of old printing presses – letters get placed into the grooves backward, in order to print the messages in the right direction.

There was more than enough of every letter. In addition, the set comes with some ready-made strips of common phrases, like Happy, Birthday, Congrats, Holiday, Welcome, From and Love You.

I had been wanting to send my college-age daughter a last care package for the year, so I celebrated the end of the school year and the beginning of summer in cookies. I used the recipe that came with the cutters, and it made a simple, thick, buttery sugar cookie that stood up to shipping. I’m sure I’ll experiment with other recipes and sayings, because this was so much fun – and most appreciated. I think they’d make terrific cookies for holidays or any occasion. For children’s birthday parties, you could surprise guests with personalized cookies, as a simple party favor (that will surely be appreciated). For an older group, cookies could serve as placeholders.

Photos: Susan Sachs Lipman

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12 Fun Family Activities for Screen-Free Week

Posted on May 5, 2014 | 1 comment

When I speak to families about slowing down and enjoying family time, one of the things that comes up over and over is screen time. Screens dominate many of our lives, often to a greater degree than we wish. While many of us parents can attest to the addictive nature of technology, we struggle with ways to reduce it in our children’s lives.

It is perhaps a bonus, then, that the wonderful Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has proclaimed May 5-11 to be Screen-Free Week. Sometimes this kind of added incentive is all we need to inspire us to action. More than once, parents have told me that their children’s favorite memories include episodes of family game nights by fire- or candlelight during power outages. You can create your own “power outage” by participating in Screen-Free Week. And, even if you don’t go completely screen-free, you might want to pledge an hour or so a day or night to have some good screen-free fun. Who knows? That fun might just become a habit or your own favorite family memory.

Here are 12 ways to celebrate Screen Free Week:

Make a Paper Boat and sail it in a creek, pond or bathtub.

Make a Bird Feeder. Our local birds have gone nuts for ours and we plan to make more.

Make easy Wreaths, Crowns and Baskets to celebrate May Day and spring.

Enjoy Loom and Finger Weaving. You can do this anywhere!

Keep a Moon Diary as a way of observing the night sky.

Slow your pace and have a Cloud Race.

Get a jump on summer by making S’Mores. Camp under the stars if it’s warm enough.

Start a Backyard Garden.

Bake your own Soft Pretzels. These are really easy and fun.

Play a different fun board game every night. We like Boggle, Sorry, Taboo, Pictionary, Scrabble, Mancala, Masterpiece, Monopoly and Hi-Ho Cherry O.

Discover The Joy of Quiet.

And, if you’re really missing your screen? Make your own Shoebox TV!

You’ll need:

Shoebox or a square-shaped box and lid
Cardboard tubes, from paper towels, foil or plastic wrap, or wooden dowels
4-10 pieces of printer paper (8 ½ x 11”)
Drawing materials
Scissors, craft knife and tape

Cut a large opening for the TV screen into the bottom of the box, leaving an even border of 1” or more all around.

Holding the box horizontally, cut two holes on the top, each about 2” the side and 2” back from the cut-out section. Your dowels or cardboard tubes should fit into the holes.

Cut two bottom holes that line up with the top ones.

Cut the cardboard tubes, if necessary, so that about ½ “ sticks out on the bottom and 1-2” on top.

Decide on a story you want to tell that primarily uses pictures.

Place the paper horizontally (cutting, if necessary, to fit the tube length) and draw one picture on each page, adding words, if desired. Leave at least 1” on each paper edge and at least 2” on the left edge of the first picture and the right edge of the last picture.

Lay the pictures out, left to right, in the order they will appear. Turn them over and, keeping the order, run a piece of tape down each back seam where two pictures come together.

Tape each end of the paper story scroll around a tube or dowel and roll on the back sides of the scroll, so that the paper image is at the front of the tubes and the paper is tight and sized to the box.

Place the tubes into the holes and place the lid on the back. Decorate the front of the TV, if desired.

Gently turn the tubes to make the pictures move.

Slow Tip: You can also use images from magazines or comic-books to create your story.

You can make multiple story scrolls and change them through the back of the box. In doing so, you’ll join nearly every ancient civilization in telling stories using scrolls, starting with the Egyptians, who created them on papyrus.

The Shoebox TV craft is adapted from Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which contains 300+ more ways to enjoy screen-free family fun.

You might enjoy these related posts from Slow Family Online:

Eight Fun Things to Do While It’s Still Summer

Six Fun Family Activities to Enjoy This Weekend

Hooray for Low-Tech Toys

Graphic: Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, Photos: Susan Sachs Lipman

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Posted in Butter and Egg, Crafts, Deck Garden, Home Ec., Nature, Slow News, The Great Outdoors

Tagged Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, Childhood, Crafts, Family, Games, Nature Activities, Parenting, Play, Screen Free Week

Holiday and Everyday Cranberry Pear Jam

Posted on December 18, 2013 | 1 comment

Cranberries and pears are both such delicious and evocative fall and winter fruits that I was thrilled to find a jam recipe that combined them as wonderfully as this one. It’s sweet, with a little bite, and with its wonderful color, makes a fabulous spread or gift at holiday time or anytime. Making jam is one of my favorite family kitchen projects. It combines science, tradition, and the supreme satisfaction of the entire canning process, which lets you transform fruit into jam, before pleasingly pouring it into glass jars. My simple and delicious recipe for cranberry pear jam requires only four ingredients. It comes from Food in Jars, which is a great source for all things canning. Make it before the cranberries disappear for the season.

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

My Favorite Orange Cookie with Sweet Orange Glaze

Posted on November 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

These are my new hands-down favorite cookies to bake (and eat) – Orange cookies with sweet orange glaze from Brown Eyed Baker. I brought these cookies to barbecues over the summer and I believe they will be just as popular during holiday gatherings in winter. They’re delicious and sweet, with a texture that offers both softness and crunch and a vibrant citrus taste, even without the frosting. The frosting, which I first successfully added, complete with sprinkles, at the suggestion of my daughter Anna, gives them even more of a yummy, sweet orange taste.

Enjoy with milk, coffee or your drink of choice!

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

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Happy Summer! Easy Summer Solstice Cupcakes

Posted on June 19, 2013 | 2 comments

Updated for 2014 – Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer season, is upon us June 21 this year, at ~~05:04~~ 10:51 Universal Time, or ~~1:04~~ 3:51 am on the U.S.’ east coast, ~~10:04 pm, June 20~~, 6:51 am on the west. Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, it can be marked by Midsummer festivals, especially in Scandinavia, where people celebrate with maypoles that honor nature’s bounty and bonfires that recall the heat and warmth of the sun. Still other cultures have solstice rituals that honor the sun, the feminine and the masculine.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, my family often attends a summer solstice celebration at Muir Beach, hosted by the Muir Woods National Monument park rangers. We enjoy a bonfire, nature storytelling and campfire songs, and a ritual walk around the fire, holding stalks of sweet flowers and herbs, and then throwing them into the fire, to greet the new season and also let go of anything that no longer serves us.

View more photos of summer solstice at Muir Beach.

An easy way to celebrate Summer Solstice, whether your gathering is a large one or a cozy one, is to make Summer Solstice Cupcakes. This recipe comes from the terrific book, Circle Round:

Just as Winter Solstice gives birth to the light, Summer Solstice, with its day that never seems to end, holds the seeds of darkness. We discover darkness in the bits of chocolate concealed inside this sunny cupcake.

1/2 C butter (one stick) softened in the summer sun
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2 C flour, sifted first and then measured
pinch of salt
2 t. baking powder
1 C milk
1 C chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir in. Follow with 1/2 cup milk, then the other half of the flour mixture and the rest of the milk. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use paper liners, or grease and flour cupcake tins. Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 375′ oven.

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes.

Because of the sweetness of the cake and chips, these don’t need frosting, but you can certainly add it, in a solid color or a cheery sun or flower design.

This is a great explanation of how Summer Solstice works. Happy Winter Solstice to those in the Southern Hemisphere, who are marking the lengthening days. Perhaps chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate chips are in order?

Happy Solstice to all!

Photos: Susan Sachs Lipman

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Posted in Butter and Egg, Celebrations, Community, Holidays, Home Ec., Recipes, Seasons

Tagged Marin, Muir Beach, Solstice, Solstice Celebration, Solstice Cupcakes, Summer, Summer Solstice

Host a Kid-Friendly Kentucky Derby Party

Posted on May 1, 2013 | 5 comments

I have long had a deep and unexplained connection to the Kentucky Derby, culminating in actually getting to attend “Derby” in 1983. Horse racing is a grand and beautiful tradition which caps each year with the “Run for the Roses” on the first Saturday in May and the succeeding two races in horse racing’s Triple Crown. What do I love about the Kentucky Derby? The pomp and ceremony, the hats!, the sing-along of My Old Kentucky Home, the traditional juleps and foods, the perceived smell of Kentucky bluegrass, the beauty of horse country, the dedication of trainers, jockeys and owners, the history of “The Sport of Kings”, the spring in which it occurs, the trumpets that herald the start of the race, the breathless announcers (“and they’re off ..”), the names of horses and the fact that in some places you can bet on them, and of course the race itself: 1 1/4 miles, just over 2 minutes, of blistering thoroughbred beauty.

While I don’t watch a lot of TV, I love event TV and of course, involving my family in the event in kid-friendly ways, which we enjoyed for our Super Bowl party and our Oscar party and during the Summer Olympics. There are many ways to involve kids in a Derby party as well.

Have everyone wear a fun Derby hat, the more outrageous the better. Have a few hats for those who come without one.

Dress up in spring dresses, suits with bow ties, and gloves.

Write the names of all the Derby horses on slips of paper. Put slips of paper in a hat and have everyone draw one or more to root for. If you like, add a friendly wager of $1 or so to the pot for each horse and distribute the pot based on Win, Place and Show percentages (such as 10% for Win, 6% for Place and 4% for Show.)

Teach older kids some math by displaying a board with the names of the horses and the morning odds. Discuss how those odds impact the winnings.

Make and decorate with tissue-paper flowers in spring colors or Derby-rose-red.

Everyone loves dainty, fun and kid-friendly finger sandwiches.

Make and serve yummy blueberry corn muffins.

Bake and serve soft pretzels so people can feel like they are at Churchill Downs.

Derby parties call for a classic pecan pie.

Mint juleps have been a mainstay of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby for nearly a century. Make kids’ versions with lemonade and mint.

Have a superb Derby Day, and may the best horse win!

You might like these other Slow Family posts:

The Roses of Sonoma

Photo Friday: Gather ye Rosebuds

Celebrate May Day with Floral Wreaths, Crowns and Baskets

Photos: The Polo House, Now You Know, New Braunfels Feed, Boston.com MyRecipes.com, Jeffrey Snyder

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Posted in Butter and Egg, Celebrations, Crafts, Field Trip, Home Ec., Odes

Tagged Blueberry Muffin, Horse Racing, Horseracing, Kentucky, Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Derby Hats, Kentucky Derby Party, Kid-Friendly Kentucky Derby, Mint Julep, Mint Julep Recipe, Party, Pecan Pie, Pecan Pie Recipe, Tea Sandwiches

12 Fun Family Activities for Screen Free Week

Posted on April 29, 2013 | 4 comments

It is perhaps a bonus, then, that the wonderful Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has proclaimed April 29 – May 5 to be Screen-Free Week. Sometimes this kind of added incentive is all we need to inspire us to action. More than once, parents have told me that their children’s favorite memories include episodes of family game nights by fire- or candlelight during power outages. You can create your own “power outage” by participating in Screen-Free Week. And, even if you don’t go completely screen-free, you might want to pledge an hour or so a day or night to have some good screen-free fun. Who knows? That fun might just become a habit or your own favorite family memory.

Here are 12 ways to celebrate Screen Free Week:

Make a Paper Boat and sail it in a creek, pond or bathtub.

Make a Bird Feeder. Our local birds have gone nuts for ours and we plan to make more.

Make easy Wreaths, Crowns and Baskets to celebrate May Day.

Enjoy Loom and Finger Weaving. You can do this anywhere!

Keep a Moon Diary as a way of observing the night sky.

Slow your pace and have a Cloud Race.

Get a jump on summer by making S’Mores. Camp under the stars if it’s warm enough.

Start a Backyard Garden.

Bake your own Soft Pretzels. These are really easy and fun.

Play a different fun board game every night. We like Boggle, Sorry, Taboo, Pictionary, Scrabble, Mancala, Masterpiece, Monopoly and Hi-Ho Cherry O.

Discover The Joy of Quiet.

And, if you’re really missing your screen? Make your own Shoebox TV!

You’ll need:

Cut a large opening for the TV screen into the bottom of the box, leaving an even border of 1” or more all around.

Holding the box horizontally, cut two holes on the top, each about 2” the side and 2” back from the cut-out section. Your dowels or cardboard tubes should fit into the holes.

Cut two bottom holes that line up with the top ones.

Cut the cardboard tubes, if necessary, so that about ½ “ sticks out on the bottom and 1-2” on top.

Decide on a story you want to tell that primarily uses pictures.

Lay the pictures out, left to right, in the order they will appear. Turn them over and, keeping the order, run a piece of tape down each back seam where two pictures come together.

Place the tubes into the holes and place the lid on the back. Decorate the front of the TV, if desired.

Gently turn the tubes to make the pictures move.

Slow Tip: You can also use images from magazines or comic-books to create your story.

The Shoebox TV craft is adapted from Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which contains 300+ more ways to enjoy screen-free family fun.

Related posts from Slow Family Online:

Eight Fun Things to Do While It’s Still Summer

Six Fun Family Activities to Enjoy This Weekend

Hooray for Low-Tech Toys

Graphic: Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, Photos: Susan Sachs Lipman

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4 Comments

Posted in Butter and Egg, Crafts, Deck Garden, Home Ec., Nature, Slow News, The Great Outdoors

Tagged Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, Childhood, Crafts, Family, Games, Nature Activities, Parenting, Play, Screen Free Week

Host a Valentine Tea Party

Posted on February 1, 2013 | 3 comments

Many children adore the ritual and whimsy of both pretend and real tea parties, and this seems at no time truer than at Valentine’s Day, when we’ve made valentines for loved ones while enjoying finger sandwiches and sipping “tea”. Teas can also add ritual and fun to winter holidays, birthdays, May Day or Mother’s Day or a summer day. Crafts are a nice addition to tea — if not valentines, then perhaps May Day crowns, or fairy or flower crafts. Games work well for tea, too (board or pretend.) Tea parties are a great way to involve multiple families or generations or to make an everyday gathering more special.

Collect teacups, saucers, and plates in advance (the more mismatched the better!) They can often be found inexpensively at secondhand stores, flea markets, and garage sales. Disposable cups can also be found at party stores, or glue small rhinestones to plastic cups with dots of glue. (Place cups on a towel so they don’t roll, glue a few rhinestones on and let dry, then turn the cup a quarter turn and glue more rhinestones on.)

You may want to have guests bring a special teddy bear or doll or invite them to dress up for taking tea in hats and gloves. The table, too, might be set with a favorite or antique tablecloth or doilies.

Tea Sandwiches

Tea sandwiches come in an endless variety to suit many tastes.

You’ll need:

Thinly sliced white bread
Sharp knife or cookie cutters
Sandwich ingredients (see below)

Cut the crusts off the bread and cut each slice into two triangles, or cut into large shapes, such as flowers, using a cookie cutter. (If using a cookie cutter, note that some sandwiches are better assembled before cutting.)

Spread one bread slice with filling and top with the second slice of bread, or serve open-faced.

Sandwich fillings to try:

Peanut butter and jelly
Cream cheese and jelly
Cream cheese and cucumber slices
Peanut or apple butter and honey or Nutella
Tuna, egg, or chicken salad
Cheese and butter
Lunch meat and cheese or mayonnaise

Looking for more ideas?
Serve open-face sandwiches (or minibagels) by spreading them with cream cheese or other spread and decorating with sprinkles. Or Substitute animal or other crackers, or cucumber rounds, for the bread to make especially tiny sandwiches.