Not My Best Day

On Thursday morning, I woke with a scratchy throat and some tightness in my chest. From there, it was destined to be the sort of day that starts poorly and goes steadily downhill.

On that day, I was not a good AP mom. I was not a good any kind of mom.

I had ten quiet moments to myself to make my bed and feed my cat before both kids were awake and bouncing off the walls.

On a usual day, I like to get up, shower and dress before my children wake up, and on a really good day, I've also eaten something and spent some time on the Internet. Being dressed and ready to go, even if it's in my gym clothes, helps me to handle their early morning energy easier.

Only on this day, here were both kids awake and raring to go, and I was still groggy and unshowered, not to mention not feeling well.

Three beverage spills, two tantrums and one time out later, I decided we had to get out of the house and head to the pool. I asked the kids to please start picking up their toys so we could get ready to go, and my son immediately bopped his sister on the head and earned himself another time out. Right after that, my daughter informed me, "No. I'm not going to do it." And I lost it. As I went stomping into the living room to tell my stubborn daughter that she needed to take off her slippers and start putting her dolls away NOW, I leaned over to scoop up a loose toy and....it happened. One of those freak things. A tiny stray piece of wood that was on the floor was suddenly and painfully jammed up under my fingernail, all the way to the cuticle. It felt like fire. I couldn't get it out on my own, so I placed a hysterical phone call to my husband, then shaking and crying, bundled both kids into the car and drove to the nearest urgent care center.

In the waiting room, I was short with my kids. While waiting for a nurse to bring me an ice pack, my son told me that he wanted to sit in his sister's chair and she wouldn't move. It's difficult to feel sympathy over a silly sibling squabble when you're fighting back tears of pain, your finger is swollen to the size of a sausage and your entire hand is throbbing. "Figure it out on your own," I snapped. "There are eight other empty chairs, pick one and sit in it."

It continued in the exam room. As I played the guilt game with my kids--the pool would have been more fun, right? So next time do what I say and pick up your toys--a little voice in my head was saying, "Stop talking to your kids that way." I was not feeling loving and I was not being respectful.

Eventually, the doctor showed up, numbed my finger and cut off part of my fingernail to remove the stick. In the absence of pain, I started to feel some remorse for my behavior that day. Having had some time to reflect on it, I came to the following conclusions. Please understand that I am not trying to make excuses for my behavior; rather, I'd like to identify the reasons my day was so horrible so I can avoid them in the future.

**My morning routine was thrown off. I am a creature of habit, and even one tiny thing throwing off my expectations for my day can send me into a tailspin. I can work on this by being more flexible and looking more closely at my priorities. Is it really the end of the world if the carpet doesn't get vacuumed?

**I was under the weather. Everything in life, except maybe sleeping, is harder when you don't feel well. I need to give myself a break. Our shining parenting moments rarely happen in the middle of an Urgent Care center while suffering from acute pain and distress.

**Both kids were overtired. A tired child is a cranky child, and both of mine had not slept well the night before and rose earlier than usual. I need to cut them a little slack too.

**My older child is in a phase where he questions everything and tests every limit. My younger child is feeding off of him and establishing her own independence. The younger one is also old enough to have the communication skills to fight with her brother. This is probably the biggest one. I already know that I have a temper, and an easy way to make it flare is for someone to purposely and willfully ignore my instructions. In addition, I have a very low tolerance for sibling rivalry. Listening to an argument over something as absurd as whose socks are whiter makes my blood pressure go up and my good sense drain away. I need to focus on the fact that, despite what it sometimes feels like, my kids don't bicker with each other to make me crazy, they're just being normal siblings. Putting them in charge of their own relationship has helped somewhat. They know that of they can't come to a mutual conclusion on their own and need me to mediate, there will be consequences, and they usually don't like them. I just need to find a way to tune out the racket while they figure it out.

Out of my terrible day came a good lesson for all of us.

For me, it's easy to be a great mom when the kids are behaving and everyone is healthy and well rested and the day is going as planned. It's not so easy when a person is sick or tired or has a tree limb jammed under her fingernail.

For my kids, they saw that even moms have bad days and they learned that there are consequences for their behavior. (In this case, not picking up the toys caused mom to turn into a crazy crying woman who made everyone go to the doctor for impromptu surgery.) And when we talked about it later, they realized that it's okay to have a bad day--as long as you apologize to all those you were nasty to at the end of it.

How about you? What are your triggers and how do you make up for a bad day?

**Crossposted at API Speaks.

Intruder

When my husband bought our house 9 years ago, the backyard was mostly grass (or weeds masquerading as grass) and there was no fence. Frequently, a large groundhog used to show up and sit in the grass/weeds-masquerading-as-grass and then waddle off elsewhere. I thought it was cute. Then it had babies and I thought the babies were cute because they looked like guinea pigs. We all got a lot of entertainment out of the sight of the momma groundhog running around in the street, transporting her babies like cats do--by the scruff of the neck.

By then, our yard was fenced and we had turned a lot of the grass into flower beds and the groundhogs dug holes all over the place and ate all my flowers and stopped being cute and started being little bastards.

Animal control said we could rent a trap and catch it, but they were always out of traps. Besides, someone else in the neighborhood tried it, and the groundhog wouldn't go near the thing. Another neighbor put down rat poison to try to kill them, but that didn't work either. I'm against poison anyway; it might kill a few rats, but more likely someone's cat or dog will get ahold of it and die a grisly death.

The situation was resolved when the property behind us was sold to a developer who built expensive townhomes on it, and during the construction process, the groundhogs burrow was uprooted and they moved. That was 4 or 5 years ago.

Just this past Sunday, I was peeking through the blinds on the deck door upstairs when I spotted an animal, and for a split second, my heart stopped because I thought it was the world's largest rat.

Baltimore DOES grow rats big, but this was just a groundhog. Not as big as the original, but just as able to dig a large hole under the fence.

Filling the hole is pointless, because it just digs a new one. It ate my daisies. Luckily, the violets are finished blooming for the year, or those would have been lunch too. I suspect it is living under my neighbor's deck. Maybe this is one of the baby hogs and it has returned to it's ancestral home to spawn more baby hogs. Wait...that's salmon.

In the meantime, we're looking for ways to encourage it to move. It knocked over our trash cans at 1AM the other night. And actually, now that I think about it, I haven't seen it since then either. Maybe it heard Jameson yowling and decided it didn't like the neighborhood.



I KNEW he was good for something!

Retaining School Skills Over Summer Vacation With Sherlock

Any mom who has ever walked into a toy store knows that sinking feeling that comes from too many choices and not enough information. That's why, in recent years, I've gone mostly to one locally owned toy store when I needed a gift, because the staff is knowledgeable about children and the stock in the store. (Plus, they gift wrap.) However, if you're not in Baltimore, you can't visit this store, but you can turn to the Internet.

Ebeanstalk is a toy website dedicated to selecting good, safe learning toys that are age appropriate. Unlike many websites that allow user reviews after a toy has been purchased, Ebeanstalk tests all the toys BEFORE they make it to the website, and that's where moms like me come in.

When I agreed to be a toy tester for Ebeanstalk, I knew there was a toy on the way, but I didn't know what it was or which child it was for. So I was pleased to see the toy that they sent, which is a card game called Sherlock, from Playroom Entertainment, who makes great educational toys. This toy is for my 5-year-old.

Like many parents, I was a little worried about my preschooler retaining the skills he learned over summer vacation. With this game, I feel like he is still learning, while also having fun.

The game is a modified version of Memory, requiring the players to not only remember what cards are hidden where, but to utilize number recognition and directional signals as well. The first time we played it, I had to refer to the directions a few times to figure out what happened next, but we quickly got the hang of it.

The cards themselves are heavy duty and don't bend easily, and the storage box is small, a plus when you live in a small home with limited storage. The pictures, directional arrows and numbers are easy to see. My 5-year-old enjoyed this game immensely and has asked to play it every day.

The game is over when one of the players collects six cards. When we had more than two players, the game dragged on a little and my son seemed to lose interest, but when we modified the directions (the winner needs to collect 4 cards instead), the game came in under the 15 minute playing time listed on the packaging.

The Sherlock game helps teach my preschooler about taking turns, teamwork (he and his father worked together during one playing session), and reinforced his skills of recognizing and describing objects, numbers and directional arrows. He enjoyed the challenge of trying to remember what object was hidden where, and I enjoyed seeing him reasoning to figure out the correct answer.

The Sherlock game was provided for me at no cost, but I would definitely purchase it.

Visit Ebeanstalk for this great game and many others!

Maureen's First Ponytail

One of the things I looked forward to most about having a girl, besides dressing her in pink and painting her toenails, was doing cute things with her hair.

And then Maureen was born pretty much bald and stayed pretty much bald for most of her first year. When she did eventually grow some hair, it came in super curly, like her daddy's, so there wasn't much I could do with it, other than keep it tangle-free.

She's going on three now and her hair is still super curly, but it's long enough that she can wear a headband (I like the stretchy ones best, they stay in well), and this week she also sported her first ponytail. It's still really little, but because of the curls, it's poofy.

Here she is at dinner time.

The side view.

Sunflowers

Johnny is really into gardening and plants and is quite the help in the yard. Last year, he and John planted pumpkins, and this year they chose mammoth sunflowers.

This part of the yard is still a work in progress, but the sunflowers are really growing well. Here is Johnny with the only one that is blooming so far. It happens to be the smallest one, the tallest one didn't fit in the picture.

It's been fun to look out the back door every morning and see overnight progress!

Kindergarten Is The New First Grade: Why We Are Redshirting Our Son

In a previous post, I mentioned that Johnny's first year of preschool came with a very important goal. The cut off for kindergarten in our state is September 1st and Johnny's birthday is September 2nd. Since he is only one day past the cutoff, he falls into a group of children that could be eligible for "early admission," so we had a decision to make.

Within a few months of starting preschool, our answer was obvious. He will be five years old in two months, and he'll start kindergarten in fall of 2010 at age six.

Redshirting is a term that originally referred to holding a college athlete back from playing in a regular season to allow for an extra year to grow and practice, thus encouraging success. The term is now used to refer to the practice of holding back an age-eligible child from kindergarten for a year, either for physical growth, social or emotional development, or catching up academically.

After much reading, talking to other parents and discussions with Johnny's teachers and pediatrician, we're confident that the decision we have made is the right one for our son. However, we've been questioned about it, so here are the reasons behind our actions.

It's not a childcare problem for us, because I'm mostly at home with the kids anyway. Even if we did start Johnny this fall, I'd still have Maureen at home with me.

All of the schools that we are considering sending him to are full day programs. While my brother and I both attended full day kindergarten, we also had naptime. Kids now have unstructured time in which they can put their heads down if they are tired, but the days of an hour of naptime after lunch are long gone. While I do want him to attend full day kindergarten, I'd rather he do it at age 6 instead of age 5.

Kindergarten is simply harder than it used to be. Many of the activities that Johnny did at preschool this past year were teaching skills that used to be taught in first grade. He would be fine attending the kindergarten I went to all those years ago, but the kindergarten that he will experience is vastly different. According to his preschool teacher, many young kindergartners struggle with the material. In order to address this, most school districts have moved the cutoff date for entry. When I was five, the cutoff was December 31st. It's now September 1st and some states have even moved to a late May cutoff. As a result, the kids are older and more able to handle the material, but there are still a group of kids that are on the young side and may struggle. I suspect that by Christmas, Johnny will be ready for kindergarten. If I was inclined, I could push him this summer to be ready by this fall. But why? So he can start at the "right" age? Once he starts full time school, he'll be there for the next 13 years of his life, not counting college. So what's the rush? What's one more year at home with mom?

Developmentally, Johnny is right where he should be for an almost five-year-old. If he started school this fall, some of his classmates would be 9, 10, 11 months older than him, or some even more than a year older. Why should he be compared to kids that much older?

According to his preschool teacher, as a whole, older students tend to be leaders, while the younger children are the followers. Not that being a follower is something to be ashamed of, and not everyone can be a leader. Some people are just born followers. But in observing Johnny with other kids, one thing is obvious. When he's with older kids, he's a follower. He hangs back and watches to see what they do first, before joining in. When he is one of the older kids, he is the one taking charge, setting the pace, making decisions. We feel that by waiting a year, he will develop according to his natural inclination. There is a big difference between being a follower because that's the way a person is, and being a follower because you're overshadowed by other, more confident people.

While Johnny has never been a shy child and makes friends wherever he goes, he could use an extra year to develop a little more self control and the ability to concentrate, skills that will help him in the more rigorous academic atmosphere when he does start school.

Finally, he does need more time to work on his fine motor skills. I've read many an article that says the focus on academic success in kindergarten had led to a group of children who can read earlier than ever, but that don't know how to use scissors. Johnny was never the kind of kid who wanted to sit and color or do crafts, so I didn't push it. Now, approaching the school age years, he is more interested in those activities, but his fine motor skills need more developing. Blame it on being a first time mom, that it never occurred to me that there are ways of developing those skills that don't involve coloring or crafts, and many of them are activities that Maureen enjoys now.

Someone asked me about the possibility of Johnny being bored if he starts a year later, and I think that's a valid concern. But I also think it's a lot easier to find ways to challenge a child that is advanced academically than it is to navigate the system to find help for a child that is struggling.

The real kicker was the many, many conversations I have had with other moms. While many have told me that they started their child at age 5 and wished they had waited a year, no one has ever told me that they waited a year and then regretted it.

So, there you have it, the reasons behind our decision to "redshirt" our son.

Has anyone else ever been in this position, and how did you handle it?

Conclusion and Finale: The Kraft Foods/Sam's Club Two Week Dinner Planner

Over the past two weeks, my family tested the Kraft Foods/Sam's Club Two Week Dinner Planner. By utilizing a menu plan created by Kraft and one stop shopping at Sam's Club, families can cut down on trips to the store, save money, and have more time to spend together, while also eating home cooked meals.

Our experience has been a positive one, and some of the meals were so well received that they will go into our "favorites" category.

The pros of the program are as follows:

**All the recipes were easy to follow, easy to shop for, and quick to prepare. Even an inexperienced cook who "can't boil water" should be able to make this food.
**All the recipes tasted good, although some were better than others.
**Most of the ingredients were easy to store and most recipes contained ingredients that were either freezer-friendly or that lasted for awhile in the fridge or pantry. I made the recipes containing fresh ingredients first, so the food wouldn't spoil.
**The recipes were all family/kid friendly. Even my picky preschooler ate most of the meals without being prompted.
**The recipes were all easy to alter to make them healthier, or to tailor to the particular tastes of my family.

The cons were as follows:

**You're responsible for planning and providing side dishes, as the meal planner does not include those.
**Not enough fresh produce, or a wide variety of produce.
**Most of the meals contained some kind of meat, usually chicken or ground beef. I'd like to see more vegetarian options, or recipes containing pork.
**Shopping in bulk may mean you end up with a giant package of something you might never use again, even though the meal plan only requires a small amount.

My husband and I both chose the Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves as our favorite recipe, and his runner up was the Quick Pasta Carbonara. We both chose the Di Giorno Pizza With BLT Topping as our least favorite. It tasted fine, but he felt that it wasn't anything special, and I thought it was the hardest recipe to make healthier because it was a jazzed up frozen pizza. However, it is perfectly adequate for a hurried evening or a night when mom just doesn't feel like putting a lot of effort into cooking dinner.

Interested in trying out the Kraft Foods/Sam's Club Two Week Meal Planner?

WHAT TO DO:
1. If you're not already a Sam's Club member, use the store locator to find a location near you. Sam's Club Locator

2. Get the meals here. This download will provide you with recipes for all fourteen recipes and a complete shopping list to take to the store with you. Sam's Club members can also create a personalized cookbook by clicking on the link on this page.

3. Take a look at the shopping list provided, make any notes to personalize the menu for your family, then head out to shop!

If you missed Part One, my introduction to the Two Week Meal Planner, you can read the details and get some tips here.

**GIVEAWAY**

As an added bonus, I have two prizes to give away to lucky winners.

The first prize is a Sam's Club Guest Membership, valued at 40 dollars, and the second is a gift card to Sam's Club, also for 40 dollars.

To enter, leave me a comment telling me what your biggest dinner challenge is and how you think Kraft and Sam's Club can help you overcome it. For example, my biggest challenge used to be deciding what to make, but planning menus is advance eliminated that problem. My current problem is trying to cook dinner during the "witching hour," when my kids are tired and cranky and hovering on the edge of meltdown. Having quick and easy meals that don't require a lot of my attention helps.

Be sure to mention in your comment which drawing you are entering. You may enter both, but you must leave two comments. I also need a valid email address to contact winners. This contest will be open for one week. I will choose and notify the winners on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

**Edited to add--Congratulations to Toni, the winner of the Sam's Club membership and to Dipti Shah, the winner of the Sam's Club gift card!

I was one of five bloggers selected by Kraft Foods to work on the Kraft Foods and Sam’s Club Two Week Dinner Planner program. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program which includes my trip to Sam’s Club, my interactions/experience with the two week dinner planner and my posts about my experience. I have also been compensated for the food purchased for the two week dinner planner. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

Yesterday morning, the kids and I hopped on a bus and rode downtown to attend a promotion at Port Discovery for the Got Milk? campaign. While I'm critical of a lot of marketing (and you all know how I feel about certain food additives), I think the milk campaign is well done. What better way to convince people to drink milk than with healthy, beautiful celebs sporting milk mustaches? My family already drinks a lot of milk, but I was interested to read more about it.

Representatives from several local dairies were present, handing out samples. The low-fat chocolate was my favorite, while Maureen preferred the white milk. We also sampled banana smoothies, and I had a health assessment done.

A registered dietitian was there, and after entering my weight, age and height into a handheld device, I held onto it and it somehow calculated my body fat percentage. I also had my blood pressure taken. Then the dietitian charted my results.

Having an outside view of my health was helpful, because I tend to be pretty hard on myself when it comes to being fit and healthy. While I exercise regularly and can see some changes in my body, sometimes I get frustrated when it feels like nothing is happening and the number on the scale isn't budging. So I was pleased to see that my BMI is firmly in the normal range and that my body fat percentage was also healthy. It makes me feel like all the hours I've spent sweating at the gym are worth it. I was also very interested to see how the numbers for men differ from those for women. For example, a woman in the 20-39 age range has a low body fat percentage if she's under 21%. That number, for a man of the same age, falls into the high range; a man only has low body fat if he's under 8%.

We also got the chance to take our very own Milk Mustache picture. The foam didn't stick to any of our lips well, but I still think it's a cute picture. I also had to crouch a little so Johnny fit into the picture, so Christie Brinkley's head is cut off and all you can see are her boobs, which my husband thought was a riot.

Any milk drinkers in your family?

Images From Ocean City 2009

Last week, we spent a few days at the beach. The weather was great, and we really enjoyed our stay! Some photos from our trip...

Maureen with John. We attempted to get a family photo, but as usual, it was elusive.

Me with both kids. You can't really tell from this photo exactly how fried I was.

Little pink toes in the sand. Next to a discarded cigarette. Nice, huh? Come on, people! Throw your trash in the CAN!

Little Miss Curly Girl. Again, neither kid was interested in going anywhere near the water.


Sand surfing.

Since he never went in the water, Johnny spent most of his beach time covered up. Which is a good thing, really, when you consider that he has my fair skin and I got burnt to a crisp.

Surfin' USA.


I checked in online one time, and the rest of the time, I didn't even think about Twitter, Facebook or blogging. It was a pleasure to lie in the sun in the hot sand and watch the kids play and they loved having so many family members around to play with. We had a lovely time!

Progress Report: Kraft Foods/Sam's Club Two Week Dinner Planner

One week into my family's test drive of the Kraft/Sam's Club Two Week Dinner Planner, things are going well. It's been a pleasure to have the ingredients for dinner already in my freezer/cabinets/fridge, and the recipes have all gone over well with my family, even my picky four-year-old.

Here are a couple of the recipes we have tried, and our opinions.

Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves
This recipe was incredibly easy to prep, especially since the cheese was pre-shredded. I substituted whole wheat crackers to increase the amount of fiber. Cooking the meatloaves in muffin cups decreases the cooking time by 15-20 minutes. If you're using really lean meat, make sure to coat the muffin cups well. I used canola oil, but I also used lean ground beef and had a hard time getting the loaves out of the cups without leaving half the meat behind. This meal was delicious, but next time I will probably cook it in a traditional loaf pan and increase the cooking time. Both my kids ate this meatloaf, never suspecting that there was salsa/tomatoes mixed in. I used a mild salsa. You can leave the additional cheese off the top for kids who don't like their food touching. I served it with green beans and salads.

Crispy Santa Fe Chicken
This recipe made use of frozen chicken breasts, which were supposed to be thawed ahead of time. I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer the night before, so I defrosted them partially using my microwave, and then prepared the recipe with the chicken still a little frozen. It worked well this way! I also subbed whole grain crackers for the Saltines. Keep an eye on the coating to make sure it doesn't get too brown, I set off the smoke alarm when I pulled the baking pan out to add the salsa and cheese, even though nothing was burning. I served this with steamed edamame, sliced melon and tomato and mozzarella salad.

South-of-the-Border Chicken And Pasta Skillet
I took the ingredients for this recipe to the beach for a short family vacation and tripled it to feed seventeen people. I also served salad, sliced watermelon, steamed mixed veggies and strawberry lemonade (below). Every person thought it was delicious and ate heartily and there were still plenty of leftovers for dinner the following day. It was fast, easy and tasty. My dish didn't look much like the picture on my printout, but that might have something to do with my printer cartridge. You can vary the intensity of the salsa you use to suit the tastes of your family. I used whole grain pasta to make this dish a little healthier.

Berry Lemonade Coolers
This drink was incredibly refreshing after a long day on the beach! Using a lemonade mix makes the prep fast and easy. The recipe calls for strawberries, water and drink mix to be mixed in a blender, but I wasn't about to take a blender to the beach. Instead, I microwaved the frozen berries until soft, then used a wire whisk to mash them before adding the water and drink mix. This chunky version worked well and was well received by my dinner companions. I also made these drinks to go with our Fourth of July steaks and corn on the cob. If you're looking for a yummy drink to serve a crowd, I'd definitely recommend this.

Overall, we've been very happy with the program so far. I do have to say that having ingredients for two weeks worth of meals in the house and ready to go has been a big plus, planning wise, but it also hasn't kept me out of the store. Sam's doesn't carry the kind of cereal bars my kids eat, and we've had to pop in for milk too. We go through a lot of milk, but any more than two gallons at a time in the fridge is a squeeze, plus I had to buy fresh fruit and produce to get us through the weekend, and certain kinds of summer fruit only stay fresh for a few days.

While my kids have eaten the meals happily, my husband flipped through the meal planner and wondered if there was a southwest theme to the meals. Six of the fourteen meals are titled as southwest or fiesta or santa fe, etc, and families that don't like Mexican cheese and salsa might not be as pleased with the meals as we are.

I've also found it easy to tweak the meals to make them healthier, such as swapping Saltines for whole wheat crackers, using whole-grain pasta, and replacing some cream cheese with plain fat-free yogurt. However, I found Sam's to be a little short on options when it came to healthier or lighter foods. For example, the price on the Philadelphia cream cheese was great, but it only came in the full fat version. We always use light or fat-free cream cheese.

In addition, I feel the meal planner is a little light on fresh produce, especially since Sam's has a produce section. The meal planner doesn't provide for side dishes either, so I supplemented with additional steamed vegetables and fresh fruit or salads. Serving additional foods alongside the main dish can also stretch how far it goes. The pasta dish I made at the beach originally feeds 4 people, I tripled it, added salads and two sides and fed 17 people with leftovers.

Interested in trying out the Kraft Foods/Sam's Club Two Week Meal Planner?

WHAT TO DO:
1. If you're not already a Sam's Club member, use the store locator to find a location near you. Sam's Club Locator

2. Get the meals here. This download will provide you with recipes for all fourteen recipes and a complete shopping list to take to the store with you. Sam's Club members can also create a personalized cookbook by clicking on the link on this page.

3. Take a look at the shopping list provided, make any notes to personalize the menu for your family, then head out to shop!

If you missed Part One, my introduction to the Two Week Meal Planner, you can read the details and get some tips here.

Questions? Leave a comment! Don't forget to stay tuned for some fun prizes coming soon.

I was one of five bloggers selected by Kraft Foods to work on the Kraft Foods and Sam’s Club Two Week Dinner Planner program. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program which includes my trip to Sam’s Club, my interactions/experience with the two week dinner planner and my posts about my experience. I have also been compensated for the food purchased for the two week dinner planner. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

Happy 70th Birthday, Old Bay!

Some years ago, my husband went to Chicago on a trip for work, and ordered shrimp one night for dinner. Except when they came, something wasn't quite right and it took a minute to figure out what it was. No Old Bay. So many hundreds of miles from Baltimore, it was strange to see a dish traditionally seasoned with Old Bay at home arrive naked.

Born in Baltimore 70 years ago, Old Bay is synonymous with crabs and seafood and the taste is deliciously unique. If you order shrimp here, it WILL come with Old Bay on it!

To celebrate the anniversary, I have a Basket Of The Bay to give away. One lucky winner will win a container of Old Bay seasoning, an Old Bay beach towel and beach bag, a seafood steamer bag, a keychain with bottle opener, a temporary Old Bay tattoo and some great new recipes. Don't forget to also check the website for some wonderful ways to use Old Bay.

This contest will be open for one week. To enter, leave a comment and tell me your favorite way to use Old Bay, or if you've never used it, a way you'd like to try it. The contest closes at midnight on Friday, July 10th, and I'll choose and notify the winner on Saturday, July 11th. Please be sure to leave an email address to contact you, or you can email me at greatwallsofbaltimore (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Good Luck!

edited to add: Congrats to Reading Coach, she is the winner of this great contest