Blog Posts by The Succulent Wife

Orabrush - Tame Your Tongue and Your Breadth [19 Oct 2010 | Leave a Comment | ]

You have probably run across these Orabrush videos already. They are a brilliant example of marketing work that actually engages viewers, creates a brand name and produces sales. The adorably snarky humor used in the Orabrush videos is a clever way to deal with the very unappealing subject of bad breadth and tongue cleaning. Gag.

Whether or not you have seen these videos, thought the actor goofy but endearing (his name is Austin Craig) and bought the product, you should know about the very serious (read in a deep, low voice) importance of tongue cleaning and scraping. Indeed, I first learned about this from my yoga/Pilates/all-things-wellbeing teacher, Ki at the Ki-Atsu Institute . She taught me about all the Ayurvedic daily cleansing rituals . I have been cleaning my tongue ever since and cannot fathom going through my day without doing first doing this. Yuck.

Yuck is the operative word when

As mentioned in the first of seven articles on our tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes, this article features the easiest soup recipe that you will ever make. You will be feeling guilty by how a-three-year-old-could-do-this easy it is to prepare. But if you don't tell, everyone will think you're a genius. This Tomato Consommé is the perfect fall soup with its tangy flavors, yet it is light enough to complement your Thanksgiving feast without stuffing your guests before the main event.

As far back as I can remember, my mother has made this soup as the perfect starter to our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. I have no idea where she found this recipe but I consider it one of my favorites. Each time she served this soup, my mother was inevitably asked for the recipe. She would always laugh at the guest's expression when she shared its three only ingredients. I would like to come up with a succulent name for it, such as Harvest Tomato Soup or Autumn Consommé, but my mother always called

Korean black garlicI'm an admitted spice junkie. I look for unusual spices whenever I travel - and have a love affair with many of them (like the sumac mentionedhere) until I discover new, succulent flavors and am infatuated all over again. Black Garlic has been the latest of my paramours.

After reading about Black Garlic, which has been lauded as the new savory ingredient-of-the-moment of chefs in five star restaurants, I had to, bien sûr, find out more about it.

I found Black Garlic at my favorite spice merchant, the Spice House (lucky you, they sell online). Roxanne, the lovely spice assistant told me more about this umami imparting ingredient. It's hard to relate Black Garlic to… garlic. The texture is soft and chewy. The color is a copper-y black. And the taste is sweet & savory.The garlic is grown and processed in Korea and is made by fermenting

Every year for Halloween, after we are done with the kids' trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, we have a few (adult) neighbors over for some grown-up treats. I like to decorate for Halloween, not only for the kids but also so that us old fogies (too old to dress in the French maid costume, but too young to ignore the day) can also have some fun on this "holiday". So this year, to complement my standby Halloween decorations, I thought I'd add these festive discoveries to enhance the spookiness of our get-together.

Halloween zombie cupcake kit2	Cupcakes are great for portion control (as if this even matters on this particular day) and these Halloween and Zombie Cupcake Kits are perfect for our event. So adorable that I think I might also bring a tray to my daughter's class. The kits can be ordered in time for Halloween at LayerCakeShop.com for $12.00.
Halloween placemat2	I also found these felt Spider Placemats at World Market (aka Cost Plus)More... and thought that they would

Let me just say that, in most cases, I believe that gift cards are the lamest, sorriest form of gift giving. A gift card is a complete cop-out of a gift and in the end, only reflects on the givers lack of creativity, thought, consideration, mindfulness…

BUT, even with all that condemnation, I also have to admit that there is room for gift cards in the gift giving protocol. Like to our kids away in college or starting life in their first jobs, to family members and friends in need of a little "extra", and to teachers - all of whom can use the cards to add a little spending pizzazz to their everyday.

It's in this context that I am mentioning the Friendgiftr service. With Friendgiftr, you can buy gift cards through the website or through social networking sites like Facebook, iGoogle, MySpace, etc… This is, after all, where students - and most of us now - "live" and spend most of our time.

Friendgiftr merchants

Friendgiftr offers cards from over 125 different merchants in amounts from $10

It's the beginning of the school year and many kids - as well as their parents - are dreading the return. Because of bullying.

Though the issue seems to have corrected itself in the last months of the last school year, my daughter was the subject of bullying and nasty rumors in the eighth grade. We had just moved to the area and she was one of a handful of new kids in the middle school of 800+. Not a "misfit" by any definition, being the "new kid" was still enough to make her a target.

The bullying and rumors started a couple of months within the school year. But I only started taking note that something was dreadfully wrong in December when my daughter was in a consistently somber mood and we noticed severe behavior change. Over time, she finally told us what was happening, of course forbidding us to talk to her teachers as she did not want to be seen as a tattletale. Still, the situation was serious enough that I called the school, who was completely ineffective in handling the problem. Eventually, my daughter's assertiveness and rebuttal to her attackers made an her undesirable target. The bullies moved on. But, who was their next victim?

So, when the publicist of Jodee Blanco 's book, Please Stop Laughing at Me , offered to send a copy, I quickly said yes, eager to read about the author's own story and see what recommendations she might have…

Andrea Stein started Girl Mogul as a t-shirt company in 2007 when she realized that today's girls needed an alternative to diva and princess tees. The company's popular blog has since grown to become an online community dedicated to encouraging tween girls' (ages 9 to 12) success. The site - and the community encourages our daughters to dream big and reach for the stars.

As the parent of a now 13 year old daughter, I can tell you - from very recent experience - that the tween years can be challenging as this is when girls observe their sweet-baby-girl status being shunned in favor of more "grown up" expectations. Girl Mogul provides role models to tweens, encouraging them to dream big, with consideration for the possibilities of becoming scientists, CEOs, world leaders, mothers… Because the ambition of becoming a princess or a diva is just so passé.

It is hard to believe that is was 16 years ago next weekend that my husband's company transferred him to the United States. It was truly an exciting move from the cold Canadian north to sunny Southern California. My mother was quite worried about my expatriate status, since I was a not-so-young mom with a two year old. Every call home, my mother would ask, "Have you met any new friends yet?" So finally, and mostly to appease her, I joined the local Newcomers Club. This is where I met my dearest friend, Anne-Marie. Not only was she also Canadian (from Montreal, Quebec) and had just moved to the area six months earlier but, she was also my age (okay, I am a year older), married to a Canadian and also had a two year old son (our boys are one month apart). What is truly amazing about this friendship is that not only are we BFFs (and now succulent wives), but our sons and husbands are great friends also. How rare is that? As expats, our two families decided to start our own Thanksgiving