Take advantage of summer’s relaxed schedule and bring the kids into the kitchen for some life(style) changing fun! When they realize how easy it is to create a fresh, healthy meal, they’ll wave goodbye to drive-thru cravings. Plus, it will be a fun change for you and a great way to recruit some all-year kitchen help.

Here are 10 simple ways to get the kids in the kitchen:

1. Involve them in planning. Ask the kids to help you create the week’s menu, but be willing to go along with their requests, especially in the beginning. If they choose chicken nuggets and pizza every day, so be it. Meet them where they are at. They will love the chance to make the decisions and you can almost always find healthy recipes for all of their favorites. Once you’ve established a routine and sustained excitement on their part, you can introduce new foods and more variety.

2. Go surfing. The Internet is the world’s biggest recipe box. Pull up a few chairs to the computer desk and search together for fun new recipes or healthy alternatives to their not-so-healthy favorites.

3. Take them to the store. Prepare your shopping list and load up the kids. Let them be involved in selecting the ingredients from the store shelves and farmers markets. Take the opportunity to teach them how to select ripe produce, and comparison shop for the best prices. Let them cut coupons and participate in the checkout process as well.

4. Manage, don’t micro-manage. Look for simple steps and tasks that you can delegate to the kids without much looking over their shoulders. They will enjoy the sense of independence, and if it freaks you out to let them choose mismatched dinner plates or peel a carrot imperfectly, well, then this exercise will be good for you too!

5. Recipe 101. Help the kids read and understand a recipe. Teach them that each recipe is kind of like a science experiment–follow the instructions and BOOM! you’ve made something original. This is a life skill they’ll need, so don’t wait until the summer before they leave for college. Take the time now.

6. Get creative. One of the most important kitchen skills you can teach your kids is creativity and adaptation. Once you’ve mastered a recipe together, talk about new ways to prepare it. Show them how changing a few spices or ingredients will create a whole new recipe, one they invent themselves!

7. Host a dinner party. Instead of inviting your friends over for a dinner party, why not let the kids invite theirs? Work together to plan and prepare a menu they’ll be excited to share. Let them show off their mad kitchen skillz to their friends. Who knows, you may start a new trend!

8. Play Iron Chef. Make a family challenge, Iron Chef style. Divide into teams and reveal a secret ingredient that must be included in each recipe. One team makes dinner, one team makes dessert, and everybody wins.

9. Turn up the tunes. Every kitchen needs some good music. Plug in the iPod and let your kids play DJ during preparation and cleanup. The kitchen has always been your turf, so help them feel more at home with some of their familiar favorites playing in the background.

10. Oooh and ahhh! Nothing keeps a weary cook going like compliments and praise. Let them know how much you love the food and appreciate their help. They’ll be begging to help again, guaranteed!

What are your ideas for getting kids in the kitchen? Do share!

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You already know the basics. You’ve got your lemonade, cups, and hand-made posters ready to go, but here are a few more helpful tips to make your next lemonade stand outstanding!

• Cleanliness is key: A good soap-and-water scrub of hands and faces is top priority for the kids. Nobody wants smudgy finger prints on their cup!
• Location, location, location: Look for a spot near a semi-busy road, preferably near a stop sign, where the stand can be seen well in advance. This is good for safety reasons and also gives customers some time to check the change in their pockets. If the kids need adult supervision, bring a chair and a book to read, but keep a little distance to let them feel grownup.
• The price is right: Lemonade is inexpensive to make, so you don’t have to charge much to turn a profit. I recommend 25-50 cents per cup. Most people can scramble up that much change, plus it keeps the money part simple for the cashier. (Funny side note: I approached a lemonade stand recently and was shocked to see the kids were charging $1.50 per cup. Whoa! I didn’t have enough cash with me, so I avoided turning down the street!)
• Ice, ice, baby: Nobody wants a cup of warm lemonade, no matter how cute your kids are. Make your lemonade extra concentrated, then supplement it with lots of ice. The flavor will balance almost immediately, and your cold lemonade will keep your customers happy and refreshed.
• Change is good: Use a large jar to keep the money in. Empty the coins from your wallet into the jar to give the kids a head start on earnings and a way to make change for customers.
• Customer service: Let the lemonade stand be a chance to practice good manners and good business. Remind the kids to say thank you (by name when possible) and be accommodating if a customer doesn’t have exact or enough change.
• Keep it clean: Have a trash can or garbage bag nearby for used cups and napkins.
• Extra, extra: For older kids, think about offering some extras at the stand, such as homemade cookies or sweetened berries to add into the lemonade for an extra charge, of course.
• Give back: Before they begin, talk to the kids about donating some of their earnings to a good cause, such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand, an organization that raises money for childhood cancer research. It can add a level of excitement and meaning to the afternoon. You can learn more about donating here. (And remember, if you decide to donate some proceeds, be sure to include that on your posters to inspire generous tips!)
• This calls for an encore: After a successful afternoon, do yourself a favor by cleaning your equipment and then keeping it stored together for another hot afternoon.

Any other lemonade stand tips to share? Leave it in a comment!

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You know what they say, the rest is history.

If you’re in Oakland, you can revisit the past with us this weekend at Saturday’s A’s game. We’re turning back the clock with the Oakland A’s on June 26th, serving up our famous cookies at the umpires meeting at home plate for old time’s sake. We’re also surprising a lucky section of fans with free cookies. That’s what we call a guaranteed win.

If you’re in the Oakland area, we hope to see you there!

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That’s Aly Starbuck there. She’s one of the smart cookies.

Let’s zoom in for the close up, shall we?

So adorable!

We caught wind of this story and it thrilled us because we love teachers. And we love smart little creative cookies who do nice things for their teachers. So, we decided to surprise all of them with some gourmet goodies. Rumor has it that it took three students to carry this basket of cookies and brownies down the hall to the classroom.

But wait, the story gets sweeter. Much to our delight, we got our own surprise a few days later–hand-written cards and pictures from Ms. Parker’s class, thanking us for the surprise. It brightened the entire office!

Kindness begets kindness begets kindness begets kindness. It’s quite simple, isn’t it?

A big Thank You to Ms. Parker and her entire first grade class of smart cookies at Viewmont Elementary School! Keep up the good work.

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Need an incentive? How about a 15% discount at mrsfields.com? Use code 1HE2 at checkout.

Need an idea? How about this Big Cookie Cake? How could you go wrong with this?

Mother's Day Big Cookie Cake

Need a giveaway? There’s a giveaway going on right now with Kami at No Biggie. Check out her fabulous blog and enter to win one of our gifts for Mother’s Day.

Need a dogsitter? Sorry. Can’t help you there, champ.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Everywhere you turn, you feel as if you’ve wandered into a beautiful painting. The gardeners and landscape designers (a good portion of which are volunteer) do an amazing job. The landscape is at times perfectly tailored, and other times it celebrates the beauty of the natural landscape.

Once the country home and personal gardens of Pierre du Pont, the 1050 acres, 20 indoor gardens and 20 outdoor gardens are now beautifully preserved and open to the public. There isn’t a time of year that it isn’t worth visiting (the holiday displays are amazing), but those tulips put on quite a show!

Find more information, including hours and ticket prices here.

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Logo Cookies

Nurses Week is coming up, May 6-12, 2010, so mark your calendar now. Whether you’re a grateful doctor, office manager, or patient, we’ve got a collection of gifts to thank these selfless givers.

While we’re on the subject, here’s something fun that landed in my inbox:

Top 10 Reasons to Become a Nurse

1. It pays better than fast food, though the hours aren’t quite as good.

2. Fashionable white shoes and flattering uniforms.

3. Needles: It’s better to give than receive.

4. Reassuring patients that the bleeding always stops…eventually.

5. Exposure to rare, exotic, and exciting new diseases!

6. New and interesting aromas.

7. Working with courteous and infallible doctors who always leave clear orders in perfectly legible handwriting.

8. Doing enough charting to navigate around the world.

9. Celebrating holidays with all of your friends, at work.

10. Getting the chance to know that you make a difference. Every single day.

Check back for more gift ideas for Nurses Week in the coming days!

In other news, did you watch The Office last night? There was a surprise mention of Mrs. Fields! If you missed it, check out the zany episode here. (Mrs. Fields is mentioned around 10:00.)

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Tasteful Trio & Tray

Our Tasteful Trio & Tray is delicious, decorative, and useful for organization. Delicious, decorative, and useful? Three of Mom’s favorite words.

Pretty Petals Trunk

I can’t say enough about our Pretty Petals Trunk. It’s just so….adorable! The gift box has magnetic enclosures (again, a nice decorative organizer) and scrumptious handfuls of our bite-sized cookies. This gift is perfect to mom or grandma from the kids.

More for Mom Tin

Of course, you can’t go wrong with one of our signature tins, dressed up with a Mother’s Day greeting. It’s a simply perfect gift for no-fuss moms. I love no-fuss moms.

Mom's Heart Box

Mom’s Heart Box is one of my favorites. Everything about it is feminine, flowery, and filled with the taste of bakery-fresh goodness. I think your mother-in-law would love it. And then she will love you. And we all want that, right?

But wait, there’s something for you. Because we love our blog readers, we’re offering a 10% early bird discount on any of our Mother’s Day gifts. Use code 1HEM at checkout. (Code is good until Friday, April 23.)

Shop our entire Mother’s Day collection here, browse our catalog online here, or order your own catalog here.

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Delights by the Dozen Basket

Don’t forget–Administrative Professional’s Day is April 21st, 2010! In honor of all the hardworking men and women out there known as administrative professionals, administrative assistants, and secretaries, I’m giving away a gorgeous gift basket filled with 100 Nibblers^® bite-sized cookies (by my calculations, that’s plenty to share) to an administrative professional that you nominate.

All you have to do is leave a comment, nominating the admin who deserves your thanks and why. I’ll select a random winner and have the gift shipped right to the office with your greeting on April 21st!

And of course, our previous offer still stands: use code 1EEA at checkout and receive 10% off your online purchase!

(One entry per person, please. Comments will be accepted until midnight, Wednesday, April 14th. Winner will be chosen randomly and announced via email, lest we spoil the surprise!)

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