You can read Joel Stein’s Time article here.
(Click on the video at your own discretion.)
I myself, am slightly lightheaded after viewing it. Joel’s quips are amusing - but I think I’ve lost my appetite.
All I can say is, that’s the first time I saw what that disposable organ looks like.
I was busy with a brand new baby both times mine was delivered and I intentionally averted my eyes.
I really just didn’t need to see it.
Our birthing class instructor told us her nurse held up her placenta and asked her if she’d like to thank it before it went on it’s way.
She said she waved politely and said. “Um, thank you.”
Any related stories to share?

Time to start thinking Father’s Day ideas. Even though the grass is so dry these days it doesn’t need a cut - these are a cute cupcake idea for the lawn ranger in your life.
You can find the recipe here from Family Fun magazine.

Do you have any Father’s Day inspiration, creative ideas or traditions to share?

With one photo I am simultaneously intrigued, impressed and grossed out.

How’d they do that?
You simply stick dry spaghetti noodles through the hot dogs and then boil them.
Simple. Genius!

Kids love spaghetti.

Kids love hot dogs.

But seeing the spaghetti squirm out the hot dogs is sooo.. wormy.

So….Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop.

What do you think? Will this be on your table tonight?

(Hat tip to my friend Laura, for the link and photo courtesy of myplumpudding.blogspot.com)

You know how sometimes you read a travel story on your hometown and you think - what? How could they pick Cafe A over Cafe B? What morons! Why did they feature that tired, touristy horror that no local ever steps foot in? What about the hidden gems? Did they even talk to anyone who actually lives here?

Well, when Rachael Ray came to the Twin Cities, she didn’t make that mistake. Right after the obligatory shot of the spoon and cherry, she headed to United Noodles, a hard-to-find Asian supermarket hidden away in an industrial complex by the light rail in the Seward neighborhood. It also has a hole-in-the-wall deli which happens to be my favorite place for noodles with the girls on weekends.

Zoe and Maya and I stumbled on the link to Rachael’s “Tasty Travels” segment on the UnitedNoodles web site last weekend. We watched, rapt.

Zoe, 5, is a foodie who loves Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain with equal passion. When I was home on maternity leave during those long winter months with Maya, we (Zoe, me, my visiting mom from Malaysia) watched endless segments of Rachael’s 30-minute Meals on demand.

When it comes to cooking, I am a resolute non-measurer (my husband is the opposite) and Rachael’s exhortations to “Eyeball it!” suited me just fine. As did her cheerful and unapologetic use of ready washed and cut greens and other handy short-cuts.

But wow, how I wish she’d not taken so many short-cuts with her United Noodles segment. (more…)

My Swedish grandmother’s signature Christmas cookie was called Pepparkokar - a snappy little ginger cookie - sprinkled with pearl sugar or parlsokar (dang, where’s my umlaut key when I need it?) They were what Christmas tasted like.

I read this article on the front page on Thanksgiving. It’s about a grandmother who passed down her recipes, secrets, and techniques to the next generation - and it made me feel a pang of regret. I wish we had a roll up your sleeves and roll out the dough Pepparkakor 101 session before grandma became too ill. My grandmother told my mother the key technique to her Pepparkokar during her last days. “Roll them thin,” she said, “paper thin.” My mom and aunt are trying to keep the recipe going. I’m going to attempt to learn along with them when we go home for the holidays. I admit - I’m intimidated by the recipe. The pressure to do her proud is too much for me to do without a support system.

Well, this past weekend I turned on my Chrismix playlist on the old iPod and tried a new ginger cookie recipe along with Ben. I experimented with a thicker and more succulent gingerbread recipe that a friend shared with me recently. (Gingerbread Snowflakes recipe here) We made a floury mess, rolled out the dough and did cut-outs with some good ‘ol Vince Guiraldi in the background. Ben loved it. The cookies turned out so fabulous I don’t think they need any icing. Perhaps we just found our own little recipe to become a tradition and pass down.

Trying to sneak some dough.

BTW: If you are looking for more ideas and inspiration for cookie recipes - Taste staffers Lee Svitak Dean and Rick Nelson just launched a holiday cookie blog called the Cookie Exchange. They are featuring a cookie recipe a day through the holiday season. Check it out here: COOKIE EXCHANGE.

Do you have a sentimental cookie favorite you make each year? Or what cookies do you find easy to create with the little ones? Do share.