A Ranking of Godiva’s New Single-Origin Chocolates, According to My Nephew — Taste Test

(Image credit: Joseph Campbell)

My 8-year-old nephew is all knees and elbows and protruding ribs. This is partly due to the fact that he’s 8 and growing an inch every day, it seems, but also because he’s a finicky eater. This is not to say he doesn’t like to eat, but rather that he’s extremely picky.

He gives nuts of any kind a hard pass and he prefers his burger to be cheese-free, but loves fried calamari and pickled onions. Go figure. He also tries to sneak sips of my sister’s morning coffee and brother-in-law’s beer whenever he can.

His repertoire is constantly expanding — shrimp and clams fra diavolo is a current favorite and he’s recently discovered cappuccino ice cream — but there’s one food that will always be number one. And that is chocolate.

That’s why I recruited him to try out Godiva’s new line of single-origin chocolate bars, G by Godiva.

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How I Use Costco and My Freezer for a Month of Breakfast Sandwiches — A Month of Breakfast

Bulking up the freezer with breakfast options is one of the secrets to successful meal planning. Costco and an afternoon of cooking is the secret to making freezer breakfasts to last my family a month.

Here’s how a trip to Costco and one afternoon of work can save breakfast — one freezer sandwich at a time.

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piri piri chicken

piri piri chicken + potatoes + tomato salad My favorite part of our trip to Portugal is that it was almost accidental. Like we have done almost every summer, in the spring we began looking for a house to rent on one fork or another of Long Island because it us. Frustrated by prices and lack of appealing inventory (“which kid should stay in the dark basement bedroom where we won’t hear their screams?” is definitely the conversation every parent wants to have before forking over more than a month’s rent for the honor) our friends confessed that they couldn’t stop thinking about going somewhere like Spain and Portugal, where we could rent a villa for significantly less money and, you know, go see another part of the world. I said yes. My husband said “but 8 hours on a plane with a baby!” and “she’s going to burst into flames on a beach!” (referring to me passing on my unfortunate pallor to our youngest) and then I starting getting all insufferably philosophical about how this is our life and we have two kids and we either learn how to take big vacations with them or we’re never going to see all the places we want to see in our lifetime … and then I said “you can totally blame me if this is terrible.” And somehow that did the trick. Let me know when you want me to write that marital advice book, okay? what you'll use We regret nothing and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the fact I didn’t make dinner once wasn’t part of the charm. We’d manage breakfast and lunch at home but found the restaurants to be very kid-friendly, almost all having an official or unofficial children’s menu.* Plus, there was a natural kindness and patience with children that is less the norm here — you know when you’re waiting for the check and everyone is tired and your kid is about to scream their head off on your shoulder and then they start giggling because a stranger behind you is making faces at them? That was every day. Continue reading

These Tuna Tostadas Will Make You Forget All About Taco Tuesday — Delicious Links

(Image credit: Domesticate Me)

When it comes to Mexican food, tacos typically get all the love and glory (I mean, they have a whole day dedicated to them each week), but tostadas are worthy of your attention, too. Essentially just an open-faced taco, the tostada features a crispy corn tortilla base and plenty of delicious toppings like grilled tuna, mashed avocado, and black bean-mango salsa.

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