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It's 6:08 pm, Hugo's asleep and I'm nursing a bottle of beer and Googling "how do you know if you have a spirited child". It's been that kind of week.

Deep breath.

But it's Friday and in a few hours my husband will be here and tomorrow we're giving Max the tour of Hugo's future daycare (less than two months before he starts!) and tomorrow night we are getting dressed up and going out for a fancy dinner just because and so all is well. Besides, now I can ask Hugo to make the sounds of an owl, a monkey, a lion, a cat, a dog, a cow and a horse and he complies with gusto and his adorable, crooked smile. (The owl is my very favorite – if I ever manage to catch it on film, I shall post it here and force you poor people to watch to it over and over again.)

Elsewhere,

A lovely excerpt on a fantastic used cookbook store in Pasadena from this book.

Made me laugh: the secret to food blogging.  

Made me cry: On dinner diaries and the passage of time.

Grandmothers and their signature dish, photographed by Gabriele Galimberti.

Do you need a life-affirming cooking video? Watch (and read) this.

And finally, Ruth Reichl loathes honey and other secrets of the NYTimes restaurant critics.

Have a good weekend, folks!

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14 responses to “Friday Link Love”

  1. RA Avatar

    Oh, I love love the photos of the grandmas! Thanks for all of these great links.
    By the way, I usually hate link lists because they are so uninformative (example: “Doesn’t THIS look fun?” where THIS is the word linked), so I usually glaze over and click away. Yours are not like that, and I really appreciate it.

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  2. Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate Avatar

    I like the grandmas too! Although I’m not entirely sure that grandmas cooking bison pot roasts is entirely representative of Canada. I sure know neither of my grandmothers made that for me!

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  3. Patricia Avatar
    Patricia

    I agree with you, RA! 🙂

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  4. Dani Avatar
    Dani

    yes, the grandma series is wonderful! Made me nostalgic for my own grandma’s food…

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  5. Melinda Avatar

    Happy Weekend, Luisa!

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  6. Ksneddonuk@yahoo.so.uk Avatar
    Ksneddonuk@yahoo.so.uk

    I would think you’d be more worried if a wee boy wasn’t climbing up the bookshelves or sprinting down the hall! But you’d be less knack erred! Seeing the photo of Max and Hugo on the pavement, made me think back to July when me, my husband and youngest son were on holiday in Berlin. We stayed near Olivaer Platz, the lime trees were out and we had a great time. Each night we found somewhere nice to eat in the neighbourhood after a hard day of tourism!
    About the Grandmas…..caterpillars in tomato sauce would be a hard sell in the West wouldn’t it.

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  7. talley Avatar

    These links are fabulous. The grandmothers are adorable, but note-to-self be cautious when dining in the Cayman Islands (iguana!) and Malawi (caterpillar!). And the piece about Beck and his mac & cheese was so so great, dirt – sticks – rocks – running!
    When Alice was two weeks old I was convinced she was a spirited baby as per Tracy Hogg’s The Baby Whisperer and prepared myself for an energetic and demanding little lady, but what I’ve decided is that every little one is spirited at times and it would be dull if they weren’t.
    Have a great weekend with your boys!

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  8. Dani Avatar
    Dani

    Oh yes, and the NYT videos are great! The way the critics talk about their dining guests is hilarious… And I can’t stop thinking about what Ruth Reichl said of women dining alone being treated badly in the 90s. I wonder how much this has changed, as she says.

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  9. Luisa Avatar

    Thanks, you two!

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  10. Mary Avatar
    Mary

    Hi Luisa,
    I agree with “RA” above…I love that your links give some indication as to what I am going to be looking at. I really appreciate it.
    And yes, I loved, loved, loved, the grandmother’s links. Fantastic!
    Oh…and Saving the Season…love the book. My sweet husband saw it at the library and brought it home knowing I would enjoy it. I’ve put it on my Christmas list. 🙂 It’s the best preserving book I have ever read. And when he talks about the copper jam making pan…oh my!…how I would love one of those.
    Love,
    Mary

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  11. Leah Avatar

    Great links — just spent 15 minutes spiraling about on several websites. Thanks for being descriptive and for sharing. Hope the new daycare is lovely. The animal sounds sound hilarious.

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  12. Annie Avatar
    Annie

    Spirited indeed! Right there with you (a month ahead with my youngest, actually), whose teacher asked me this afternoon, “What did he do this weekend?” before relaying his classroom-furniture-climbing escapades. “Nothing compared to home,” I said. Hey, at least with all that chasing we have a reason to go for a bit more plum crumble!

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  13. Robin Avatar

    I did same:) Great websites just to hang around during evening:)

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  14. Terry Covington Avatar
    Terry Covington

    My daughters are in their 20s now, but all 3 were spirited and highly energetic — but not with attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity. They were simply healthy, normal kids who bounded out of bed in the morning ready to go and kept me running all day. It was exhausting at times, and tried my patience at times, but all worth it in the end as they have turned into lovely, compassionate people who work hard and enjoy new experiences. I raised them mostly by myself, so can empathize with how long a day can be when you are working and child-rearing. It is nice your husband can be there on the weekends, but I’m sure some days seem very long. Even so, long days turn into fast years. It’s cliche’; but so true. Enjoy your lovely boy, as I know you do. I really smiled hearing about his animal sounds; so cute! My oldest daughter was given two books about animals when she was little and we still have them, all dog-eared and adored. My girls had so many books; it was wonderful.

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