When I was a kid, I only remember being a guest at a handful of birthday parties. And, though my memories have faded, I only recall a few parties for my own birthdays. There was that one when I was in kindergarten or first grade – but I think I only remember the snapshot moment when a photo was taken, with me and my other 6 year old friends dressed in our 70s-era polyester. I can recall a birthday party at Burger King, either for me or my brother. Parties at the BK were in high demand. I mean, where else can you be crowned royalty for an hour?

Parties just were not something we did routinely. Money – or rather, the lack thereof – probably had a lot to do with the scarcity of parties, but it also just wasn’t the Thing To Do as it is now. This weekend it seemed the party circuit jumped into full swing here. Each of my children had a party to attend over the course of the two days, which means they both came home completely exhausted, crashing from their sugar-high.

The trend here is to have birthday parties at one of the gymnastics and sports centers in town. You know the kind of place – they have big gymnastics mats and equipment in one room, a rockwall in the back, a three-story jungle gym in one corner, a bouncy house room, and a series of rooms along the sides for the two dozen or so parties held each weekend day. Our center has even added a pool for pool parties and swim lessons.

I must confess, I don’t like going to these birthday parties. I try to send my husband whenever possible. While the children have a fantastic time with their school friends, the parents often stand around awkwardly, smiling politely at each other. The moms who know each other huddle in a corner, talking about people none of the rest of us know. Occasionally a dad will be there, but the dads stick with each other and don’t branch out too much. We hover around our children as they play in the jungle gym, holding their stray socks and hair bands, listening out for cries of pain from a fall or an accidental elbow to the nose.

The whole experience would be a lot better if the punch were spiked. Just a thought.

So, Saturday I sent my husband and Oliver to a 4-year old’s birthday party while I stayed home with Madeline. We only had an hour and a half to spend without the boys, so what did we do? We cooked. Well, we made bacon.

Pretty darn good bacon, I might add.

Yield: 4 servings

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Spiced Maple Roasted Bacon

If you like a bit of heat, use 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. If you want to tone it a little, decrease the cayenne to 1/8 teaspoon.

Ingredients:

8 slices center cut bacon
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place oven rack in center.

Lay the strips of bacon on a cooking rack placed inside a sheet pan. Roast for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, mix together in a small bowl the maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and ground cinnamon.

When the bacon has completed cooking, baste the slices with the maple syrup mixture. Roast for another 4 minutes.

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As my children have constantly reminded me over the last couple of weeks, another holiday is right around the corner. It seems like they are always counting down to the next holiday that either brings with it sweet treats, presents, or days off from school.

But who am I kidding? I look forward to those special days, too.

Easter is on April 24th this year, and I am very ready to spend the day with my family. We have a relatively new Easter tradition of heading out to my folks’ house for an Easter egg hunt. We’ll wake up early that day and watch the kids run to see what the Easter Bunny has brought. Without fail, he brings a new cuddly stuffed rabbit for each child. And, without fail, he brings candy. The Easter Bunny has tried sneaking actual hard-boiled eggs into the baskets, but the eggs get ignored, and I get an egg salad sandwich the next day. Thank goodness I like egg salad. Later that morning, we’ll head out to my parents’ place, the kids with their emptied-out baskets in hand, all ready to fill them with colorful plastic, jelly bean-filled eggs.

And my favorite part — Easter dinner. Our menu isn’t set yet, but in keeping with tradition, the menu will definitely feature a ham as the main dish.

Recently, some very nice people at Pepperidge Farm contacted me with a challenge. Which I accepted. The challenge? My task is to help families enjoy an elevated experience when gathering for special occasion meals – like the Easter dinner.

Which, by the way, is April 24.

So, I’m asking you to help me with this challenge. What tips do you have for making holiday dinners special? Do you break out the fine china? Serve drinks in crystal goblets? Make a special dish? Please share with me all of your special occasion dinner secrets in the comments.

I have a confession. When I’m at work, I often buy my lunch. I rarely bring a packed lunch.

Like, maybe once a month.

I’m not proud of this. A packed lunch is better for so many reasons. First and foremost, I can save a decent amount of money if I prepare my lunch at home and bring it with me to work. One day I paid close to $6 for a pile of tuna on top of some lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. A huge rip off.  I was almost embarrassed.

Another huge advantage of bringing my lunch to work is that I know exactly what is going into my food. I use good quality ingredients at home, so I won’t have to worry about whether that tuna has been sitting out a while, or how clean those transparent slices of tomato are.

So, what’s my excuse? The usual. I blame a lack of time. Between getting myself dressed and helping my husband get the kids dressed and out the door in the mornings, I just don’t have any extra minutes to spare. I could make my lunch the night before, but again, I don’t make time to do so. I’d rather read my Kindle. Or sleep.

I’m lazy. It comes down to that.

I’m going to make an effort to change, though. I’m tired of giving all of my money to the hospital cafeteria and the local Subway. I’d like to expand my limited packed-lunch repertoire. I’m going to start with this recipe from Molly Wizenberg that was in the April 2011 issue of Bon Appétit. I tweaked it a tad by adding some chopped preserved lemon, and it was a simple, yet flavor-packed, no-cook lunch. The beauty of it as a packed lunch is that it keeps well and can be eaten cold or at room temperature.

But, will you help me out? I’d love to hear other suggestions on the wonderful, healthy lunches that you all bring to work. Because I know you do. You’re better at this kind of thing than I am.

Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Fresh Herbs

This recipe is from Molly Wizenberg and was in the April 2011 issue of Bon Appétit. I barely tweaked it by adding some preserved lemon to bump up the flavor profile. Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1 15 to 16 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine the chickpeas, basil, parsley, lemon juice, preserved lemon, olive oil, and minced garlic in a medium bowl. Add grated Parmesan cheese and toss gently to combine all ingredients. Season to taste with Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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