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    Spinach Puffs Recipe from Delish.com

    If you love baked spinach dip, you will love these baked puff pastries. They’re filled with a mixture of sautéed onion, garlic,  spinach, and cream cheese and baked inside little puff pastry cups in a muffin tin. 

    Ingredients:Yields 9 Spinach Puffs

    1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil1/3 c. onion, finely choppedKosher salt2 cloves garlic, minced4 oz. cream cheese, softened2 eggs, divided1 (10 oz.) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped2 tsp. lemon zestFreshly ground black pepperCooking sprayAll-purpose flour, for rolling puff pastry1 sheet from 1 (17.3 oz. ) package puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator

    Directions: 

    In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more. Remove from heat.In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese and 1 egg. Stir in garlic-onion mixture, spinach, feta, dill, and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.Grease 9 cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry sheet to a 12” square. Cut into 9 smaller squares, each about 4” wide. Ease each puff pastry square into a greased muffin cup, letting the corners hang over the sides. Add about 2½ tablespoons of filling to the center of each. Fold in pastry corners to meet in the center over the filling and pinch together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or freeze for 15 minutes).Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to center position and preheat the oven to 400°.Beat remaining egg in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon water and brush on top of the chilled pastry. Bake until puffed and golden brown on the bottom, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before lifting out of the muffin tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Recipe and photo courtesy of Delish.com

    Photo: Andrew Bui; Food Styling: Justin Sullivan

    Click here to subscribe for even more delicious recipes from Delish.com. More

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    Holiday Traditions and Special Recipes

    by Sheryl Pidgeon

    Since my kids were little, we’ve taken to the kitchen each Chanukah to create marshmallow dreidels. Turns out the tradition has continued even now that my kids are young adults. Not only are they fun to make and delicious to eat, but they also make a great dessert display at our annual Chanukah party! 

    Marshmallow Driedels from The Pidgeon Family

    Marshmallows form the dreidels’ bodies, chocolate kisses serve as the tips, and pretzel sticks act as the knobs. A quick dip in melted white or milk chocolate provides a surface for colorful sprinkles.

    Ingredients:

    One bag of marshmallows

    One bag of thin pretzel sticks

    One bag of Hershey’s Kisses

    One package white chocolate chips

    One package milk, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

    Assorted Sprinkles

    Directions:

    Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper.

    Using a separate microwave-safe bowl for each type, melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

    Spear each marshmallow with a pretzel stick, making sure it goes about 3/4 of the way into the marshmallow. Using the pretzel stick as a handle, dip one of your treats into the chocolate so that it is completely coated.  Adhere a Hershey’s Kiss to the other end of the marshmallow.  Place on lined baking sheet and decorate with sprinkles.

    Put the marshmallow dreidels in the fridge for 10 minutes before serving.

    Enjoy! More

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    Holiday Traditions and Recipes from Good Life Family to You!

    Temperatures are cooling down, the days are starting to get shorter, and the holiday season is just around the corner. The best part of the year is finally upon us! 

    Besides the school break, delicious food, and gift-giving, what is it that makes this time of year so special? Why is it that our fondest family memories can be traced back to this time of year? The answer is simple: Traditions. Elf on the shelf? Christmas cookies left out for Santa? Potato pancakes and the dreidel game? The festive rituals we carry out year after year surrounded by our loved ones bring us together and create ever-lasting memories. 

    With the holidays approaching once again, it’s the perfect time to acknowledge and appreciate these special moments.

    Our staff has put together some of our favorite recipe traditions and will be sharing them with you in the weeks to come.

    And, we’d love to hear from you, too! Send your traditions and recipes to: Tricia White, Managing Editor atTricia@goodlifefamilymag.com.

    Recipe #1: The Donahue Family

    “Holidays would not be complete in our home without Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake.”– Beth Donahue, Creative Director, Good Life Family Magazine 

    BOURBON PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE 

    Adapted by the Donahues 

    CRUST:3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs1/4 cup light brown sugar1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 

    FILLING:1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin3 large eggs, beaten1/2 cup light brown sugar2 tablespoons heavy cream1 teaspoon vanilla1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon1/2 cup granulated sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1/2 teaspoon salt3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature 

    TOPPING:2 cups sour cream2 tablespoons granulated sugar1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon 

    Stir together crust ingredients until combined well. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill crust 1 hour. 

    Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream, vanilla and bourbon until combined. In a separate bowl, stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, then add pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth. 

    Pour the filling into crust, smoothing the top. Place the springform pan into a shallow baking pan and bake at 350°F until center is just set, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool 5 minutes. 

    Whisk together topping ingredients. Spread on top of cheesecake and bake for 5 more minutes. Cool completely in springform pan on a rack. 

    Chill, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours. Remove side of pan and bring to room temperature before serving. Garnish with pecan halves. 

    Watch for more holiday traditions recipes in the weeks to come! More

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    Early Childhood Development (Ages 0-3) – Child and Family Blog

    Early Childhood Development (Ages 0-3) – Child and Family Bloghttps://childandfamilyblog.com Transforming new research on cognitive, social & emotional development and family dynamics into policy and practice.Fri, 14 May 2021 09:32:46 +0000en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.2New parent during the COVID-19 pandemic? There is a simple way to make meaningful connections with your babyhttps://childandfamilyblog.com/making-meaningful-connection-with-baby-in-pandemic/ Fri, 14 May 2021 […] More

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    Cinnamon French Toast Casserole

    This is the perfect breakfast casserole to prepare for an early brunch gathering because it rests overnight! Simply put it in the oven to bake the next morning and voila! You have a delicious casserole hot and ready to enjoy. Serve with maple syrup, berries, sprinkles of confectioner’s sugar, or all of the above! 

    Time: 55 minutes

    Yield: 10 servings

    Ingredients

    Casserole:• 1 pound loaf sourdough or french bread • 8 large eggs • 2 cups of 2% or whole milk • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Topping: • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar • 2 teaspoon cinnamon • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces 

    Directions

    Step 1

    Lightly grease your casserole dish or spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

    Step 2

    Slice your bread into 1-2 inch cubes and distribute along the bottom of the dish. 

    Step 3

    In a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine eggs with milk, cream, sugars, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the casserole dish. It is important that all of the bread is wet. 

    Step 4

    Cover the casserole dish and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 6 hours or, ideally, overnight. 

    Step 5

    You may make the topping right before baking, or it can be made ahead and stored overnight. To make the topping, combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter until a crumble begins to form. This should resemble a streusel. 

    Step 6

    Once you are ready to bake your casserole, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

    Step 7

    Evenly distribute streusel topping over the casserole. 

    Step 8

    If you desire a moist consistency, bake for 45 minutes. If you desire a firm casserole with less moisture, bake for 1 hour. Remove the casserole from the oven and serve warm. More

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    New parent during the COVID-19 pandemic? There is a simple way to make meaningful connections with your baby

    Around this time last year, an inexorable force swept into people’s lives. It upended everything — relationships, friendships, routines, work life, independence, and sense of control. In this respect, the COVID-19 pandemic has similarities to another dramatic event — becoming a parent. And just like the pandemic, nothing quite prepares you for it. For all those who became parents in the last year, these two realties have collided. New parents have been left without many of the usual support networks that help support them through the early days. Those networks include their own parents, parent-baby groups, informal social networks, and in-person postnatal and breastfeeding support groups. Added to all this is the constant threat from a life-threatening virus. “We hope it is a comfort to know that there is something simple and easy to do together, safely and in the comfort of home, that lays positive foundations for the developing brain.” It is too soon to say what effect these extraordinary circumstances will have on babies born during the pandemic, but the effect on parents is already being felt. Numerous studies show that parents have found lockdowns extremely hard emotionally, and that the strain they are under has affected their ability to parent, which has consequences for children. The lockdowns have been linked to an increase in parental anxiety, depression, and hostility. And the pandemic has put women at increased risk of anxiety and depression in the perinatal period. At the same time, increased parental support has been shown to help decrease stress associated with the pandemic. The brunt of this burden has fallen on certain groups, including single parents and low-income families. Because of this, it is vital that new parents receive additional support at this difficult time, especially in terms of their mental health. There are some very simple, intuitive ways parents can work on laying the foundations for their children’s development from the very early days. One of the simplest of these is to pick up a book and read together. Plenty of evidence shows how important it is to read with children, not least for their cognitive development and vocabulary. In one study, both the quality of the books and the amount of reading time starting at six months were important predictors of literacy and vocabulary four years later. New parents might be surprised to learn that a shared activity like reading promotes a kind of back-and-forth interaction between child and caregiver that can trigger a chain reaction of long-lasting beneficial effects, and that these interactions might also help reduce the stress parents are feeling. Adults who interact sensitively with a child — for instance, reading or singing, looking at the same things, and copying sounds and faces — help children feel safe and secure. In turn, these feelings can help children cope better in challenging situations later on — something we know is important during the pandemic. These interactions also encourage children to explore more, which helps them develop problem-solving skills. All this builds to the kind of learning and development that prepares children for big steps in life, like starting school. This cascade of development is supported by the science of early learning, which shows that parents and caregivers lay the foundation for secure caregiver-child attachment relationships, which help children develop the ability to focus and pay attention, remember instructions, and demonstrate self-control (also called executive function). Positive caregiver-child interactions also help children develop social-emotional skills, such as cooperating and playing well with others, and managing feelings appropriately. Together, secure relationships and strong social-emotional and executive function skills in children are related to resilience and school readiness. “New parents might be surprised to learn that a shared activity like reading or singing together promotes a kind of back-and-forth interaction between child and caregiver that can trigger a chain reaction of long-lasting beneficial effects.” The children are not the only ones who benefit. Positive and engaging interactions between children and the adults in their lives are also good for the adults, helping them become more confident caregivers. Reading to children may also help with parental stress and even depression. It can feel strange to read books to very young babies. Even without a pandemic, the early days of parenthood can be overwhelming and it can be hard for parents to know what they should be doing, especially given the deluge of parenting advice. Parents also underestimate just how early the care they provide has long-term impacts on their children’s development. For instance, in one survey, parents said they believed what they did started to make a difference at six months, but we know that the impact starts from birth. At a time when uncertainty abounds, especially for new parents, we hope it is a comfort to know that there is something simple and easy to do together, safely and in the comfort of home. And that the simple back and forth that reading and rhyming creates can extend beyond the pages of the book and lay positive foundations for the developing brain that last for many years. More

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    What makes us human? How minds develop through social interactions

    Just how social we are as a species is made even more evident by the COVID-19 lockdowns that have restricted our everyday social interactions and affected our physical and mental health. Social engagement influences us at an even more fundamental level because it is crucial to the formation of human thinking and minds. We address this issue in What Makes Us Human? How Minds Develop Through Social Interactions. In the words of a 9-year-old, the question is, “How do you go from a bunch of cells to something that thinks?” How are we as humans able to explore such questions about our own origins and the workings of our minds? Humans are intrigued by the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, but a puzzle unfolding right before our eyes is how intelligence develops in our homes as babies start to communicate and then understand the world in ways that adults simply take for granted. In our book, we develop and justify the idea that the essential aspects of being human arise through our relations with other people. To understand these processes and the way human intellect develops, it is essential to look closely at the nature of communication in infancy and childhood, with which much of our thinking is intricately entwined. To explore the complexities of human language, we begin by describing the rich social and emotional niches in which human babies develop and the forms of interaction on which communication is based emerge. We develop and justify the idea that the essential aspects of being human arise through our relations with other people. Have you ever considered why human infants are born so helpless that they must be cared for over many years, yet they develop such powerful ways of thinking? Our answer to this question follows a historical tradition that suggests that this helplessness is an important factor in the development of human thinking. This is because the need for constant care in the early years necessarily produces a social context in which complex human skills develop. Although the infant is unable to fend for herself, she is born with a host of evolved biological characteristics that draw her into engagement with others. For example, typically developing babies are interested in looking at human eyes, which are particularly striking compared to the eyes of other primates because the dark center is surrounded by contrasting white sclera. Such attentiveness to eyes may be interpreted as indicating babies’ apparent interest in other people, and this interest is typically reciprocated by parents, who love to engage with their infants. This bidirectional process of attentiveness promotes the infant’s development. Initially, this consists of staring into the eyes of a caregiver, or cuddling into the caregiver for comfort, but these early and simple skills soon develop into more complex abilities like smiling or cooing. These new forms of interaction elicit even more positive experiences because they are so rewarding for parents. This repeated daily social interaction between infants and their parents becomes increasingly coordinated, which reflects early forms of communication. For instance, when a baby reaches her arms toward her parent, the meaning of this action — a desire to be held — is clear to the parent, who typically picks up the baby. Through experiencing this response to her reaching, the baby learns to anticipate this outcome of her reaching action. That is, she comes to grasp the meaning that her action has for others and then she gradually learns to communicate this desire intentionally. This is a crucial change in ways of interacting, not seen to such an extent in other species that lack an extended period of helplessness: The baby becomes aware of the meaning in the interaction and can then anticipate the response and communicate intentionally. Later, she can learn to add words such as up or uppy to these sorts of shared social routines. Other acts, such as mutually sharing a toy with a caregiver or gesturing in a specific way, develop in a similar fashion as their meaning emerges within shared patterns of interaction. Beginning at about 10 to 12 months, babies typically start to point, but not in a sophisticated way. It takes a lot of experience to realize that successful pointing involves the pointer gesturing to the object and checking that the receiver is following the line of the point. It also requires the receiver to identify what is being pointed to and why their attention is being drawn to it. The hard-won reading of these sorts of gestures reveals the origins and nature of children’s understanding of other people. It shows how a grasp of simple experiences like reaching to be picked up facilitates further interaction in which children develop yet more complex communicative and social skills. These are concrete examples of how increasingly sophisticated human thinking and minds emerge as communication develops in everyday interaction, a fact that makes their significance easy to overlook. They are instances of the sort of mundane interactions on which human ways of being and thinking are based. The use of words is an extension of earlier communication with gestures. Language gradually becomes part of the way thinking can take place. Initially, the baby’s words refer to objects and actions in the here and now, but gradually they can be applied to experiences not directly perceptible – for example, toddlers can relate what happened at preschool or make up a story about an imaginary character. More sophisticated forms of social understanding emerge when children gradually master the language skills needed to talk about human activity in psychological terms. Most toddlers articulate what they want with words by age two, and soon afterwards use words like think and know to show that they are aware that they and the people around them are influenced by their own thoughts and motivations. By acquiring the ability to talk about the psychological world, children can begin to reflect on themselves and others in these ways. From the perspective we have developed here, morality emerges at the level of interaction as children learn to coordinate their daily activities with others in relationships of mutual affection and respect. These interactions based on equality are well suited for reaching mutual understanding because they require children to listen to others and explain themselves. This allows them to coordinate conflicts and develop a practical morality in their interaction with equals. A further step is to begin to articulate what was first implicit in their activity, which then makes reflection possible. In this way, children become able to articulate and reflect on their initially practical ways of interacting with others. Moral notions such as fairness and justice do not have their source in biology alone, nor are they pre-existing and passed on from a previous generation to be imposed on children. Instead, they arise through particular forms of cooperative interaction among equals based on mutual affection and respect. To understand the way human intellect develops it is essential to look closely at the nature of communication in infancy and childhood, with which much of our thinking is intricately entwined. Of course, explaining the origins of human thinking is controversial and not everyone will agree with our account. In our book, we compare our developmental account, which is grounded in the processes of social interaction, with two competing explanations for human thinking: that it is either simply determined by biology or that the computer makes a good metaphor for the human mind. First, we show that although biological factors are crucial in structuring the developmental system in which human skills emerge, the claim that thinking is determined by genes is incompatible with work in biology over the last 50 years. Research in genetics and developmental neurobiology highlights that we must consider the complex developmental system in which multiple levels of biology and environment interact with each other to drive the individual’s development. Key aspects of human thinking, although based on neural activity, emerge only at the level of the person interacting with others. Second, the claim that thinking can be likened to computation is based on a flawed assumption that meaning is fixed, as it is in a computer. Instead, as we illustrate, human communication is rooted in shared ways of interacting. This is also why current approaches to artificial intelligence that attempt to model human intelligence are based on the wrong foundation. Revealing the flaws in these two general approaches to human psychological development supports our argument that human communication and thinking emerges within interaction with others in a developmental system in which biological and social levels are thoroughly interwoven. We trace this development by beginning as gestures emerge in early interaction, leading to language and then to human forms of thinking. Header photo: Gigin Krishnan. Creative Commons.  More

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    Honeydew Jalapeño Margarita

    If you’re rounding up the sassiest – and most delicious – spins on the margarita for upcoming Cinco de Mayo festivities, check out this El Pepino from La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Created by the historic hotel’s F & B Director John Cuviello and Beverage Manager Sara Davis, this refreshing cocktail has just the right balance of sweetness and spice. 

    La Fonda on the Plaza’s El Pepino

    Serving Size: 1 Drink

    Ingredients:

    3 jalapeño slices, muddled1.5 oz. blanco tequila.75 oz. orange liqueur1 oz honeydew jalapeño shrub1 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juiceTajin seasoning and lime wedge for rimAdditional lime wedge for garnish

    Directions:

    Run a lime wedge around the rim of a cocktail glass and dip it into Tajin seasoning. Fill glass with ice.Combine tequila, orange liqueur, honeydew jalapeño shrub, and fresh-squeezed lime juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.Shake and strain into prepared glass. Garnish with lime wedge and enjoy.

    Recipe courtesy of La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Created by the historic hotel’s F & B Director John Cuviello and Beverage Manager Sara Davis.  More