Monthly Archive for May, 2009

Comfort Food? Pass the Cream of Mushroom Soup!

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

My husband knows when I’ve had a bad day at work.  When he walks in the door to find me watching Cash Cab on television while making tater-tot casserole, he knows to stand back. And to pour a glass of wine.

Whether it’s a bad day at work, a cranky client or a pissed off family member, I can count on comfort food to make me feel better. I just dig through my mom’s recipe box to find some good, old fashioned Midwestern food.  Green bean casserole, hashbrown potato casserole, broccoli casserole, and (my personal favorite) tater tot casserole are bound to make me feel better.

And what is the common ingredient in all these foods?!  You got it, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup. I always keep a can of the creamy goodness in my pantry. You can’t make a good casserole without the soup!

I love talking about my personal comfort food, so i jumped at the chance to read and talk about the new book from Kate Jacobs called “Comfort Food.”  The author says this about the book: “Comfort Food is about the power of food to bring people together and the joys of savoring every bite of life.”  How great is that?

This book also gives you a behind-the-scenes look at network cooking shows. If you are a fan of cooking shows, like my personal favorites Top Chef and Chopped, you will enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of a celebrity chef!  (Oh, if I could only have job — and looks — of Padma Lakshmi. I’d be in heaven!)

Food is such a part of my life, and this Iowa transplant always bonds over Midwestern food with other Midwesterners-turned-Californians.  Just this weekend, I met a woman from Ohio and we bonded over fried chicken, mashed potatoes and greens beans with bacon.  Sigh, I get hungry (and happy) just thinking about the food my mom made!

No matter where you grew your roots, there is always a special recipe of comfort food to calm your fears, fill your belly and warm your soul. What is your favorite comfort food?

– LTV Mom

This post was inspired by Silicon Valley Moms Blog book club selection Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs.  USA Today calls the book, “The kind of book you rush home to finish.”

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on May 27, 2009
in Books, Food and Laptop Television
. 6 Comments

CBS Reports with Katie Couric: Children of the Recession

Katie Couric

Katie Couric

News about the recession is everywhere.  We watch it on TV, and read about it online and in print.  Journalists spend hours trying to explain how we got here, what’s next, and how to fit the massive economic problems we face as a country.  All the doom-and-gloom has me worried about my family, my job, my house, my retirement fund, and my future. Well, it took a journalist, the one-and-only Katie Couric, to make me stop thinking about my world and start thinking about the innocent people who truly suffer during the recession: our children.

We all know Katie Couric as the anchor of CBS Evening News, but you might not know she also has a YouTube channel, keeps a Twitter handle, and writes for NYC Moms Blog.  Katie’s recent blog post and upcoming series on “Children of the Recession” made me stop and take a breath, and then inspired me to want to raise awareness of how kids are being affected by this very grown-up crisis.  Here are staggering statistics Katie reported in her blog post and in her upcoming series:

  • Since this recession began sixteen months ago, one million children have lost their health insurance as their parents lose their jobs. [LTV Mom: What are the long-term affects of these one million children skipping wellness exams and dentist appointments year after year?]
  • A CBS poll found that 56% of parents surveyed have discussed the economy with their kids, and half of all the parents have discussed their own family’s financial situation. [LTV Mom: I come from a very tight-lipped family, but this seems so important and obvious.  I need advice to teach the basics of "economics" to my four-year-old.]
  • The poll found that 21% of parents said they are now buying generic brands and less expensive food items for their children. [LTV Mom: Is it safe to assume these kids are now eating over-processed, super-fatty and unhealthy foods?  Now see bullet one about no healthcare.]

You can learn more about how American kids are affected by the recession as the Early Show and the CBS Evening News feature stories all this week.  Please watch and encourage others to watch.  Let’s talk about what we learn, and then explore how we can help.

I also can confirm that Katie Couric is passionate about this topic. In fact, she invited writers from the Silicon Valley Moms Group to join her and her team to discuss the upcoming series and to explore how she can keep the series going throughout the upcoming months.  During our hour-long call, Katie wanted to hear what is happening in our hometowns, learn about our experiences, listen to our frustrations, and praise those who are helping children through this time.

I happily shared information about a San Francisco Bay Area organization called Shelter Network that provides housing and support services that create opportunities for homeless families and individuals to re-establish self-sufficiency and to return to permanent homes of their own.  Shelter Network is more than “a cot and a hot” — they teach life skills, they do the leg-work to get families back in homes, and they keep children with their parents as the families get back on their feet.

I have been inspired to get off the couch — and perhaps turn off the laptop AND the television — to help the children in the San Francisco Bay Area and across the country.  Please join me.

– LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on May 21, 2009
in Current Affairs
. 8 Comments

The Alzheimer’s Project on HBO

First Lady Maria Shriver

Calif. First Lady Maria Shriver

Maria Shriver calls it “an unprecedented television event” and “television at its best.”  As a mom who spends hours writing about unimportant television, it is my honor to raise awareness of the new documentary called “The Alzheimer’s Project” which begins on HBO starting May 10, 2009.

Last week, writers from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog network were invited to join a private conference call with California First Lady Maria Shriver, who is raising awareness of the disease and the impact on patients and dedicated caregivers.  Ms. Shriver appears in the four-part HBO documentary to help parents explain the effects of the disease to their children.

Maria Shriver is no stranger to the issue; in fact, she wrote the book called “What’s happening to Grandpa?” when her father, Sargent Shriver, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago.  She speaks with conviction, passion and reality. Not only was I moved by her, but also by the story she shares:

  • Alzheimer’s claims a new victim every 70 seconds.
  • 70 percent of patients are living at home.
  • 76 percent of caregivers are (uncompensated) women, many of whom also have small children in the home.
  • Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is overwhelming — financially, personally and spiritually.
  • Alzheimer’s could bankrupt the American healthcare system as we know it.
  • This is a family disease, and there are no survivors.

The part of Ms. Shriver’s story that struck me the most — and has stayed with me for days — is this: Alzheimer’s is an old person’s disease, but a young person’s burden.  I never thought of it that way. As our parents are getting older, many will become ill.  It will become our challenge to take care of them both physically and financially, regardless of healthcare aid that is available or not available.  Equally important, we need to solve the health and financial issues of Alzheimer’s before my generation goes from caregivers to patients. As Ms. Shriver said, “we don’t want our children to spend their lives — or their life savings — taking care of us.”

The documentary will appear on HBO or on-demand for everyone to see. For more information, click HERE.

To learn more about Alzheimer’s, visit the Alzheimer’s Association web site or call 1-800-272-3900 (24 hours a day).

– LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on May 11, 2009
in Current Affairs, Laptop Television and Trying to be Cool
. 2 Comments