Pororo Gift Pack Giveaway

Pororo is getting the movie star treatment, with a 103-minute DVD release in the United States, featuring the vocal talents of Drake Bell, Rob Schneider and Jon Heder. To celebrate, I’m hosting a gift pack giveaway that includes the movie, toys, a backpack and more! #WinWithJae

Chris Hadfield’s “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life On Earth”

One of my most popular columns was on Commander Chris Hadfield. You know — the Canadian astronaut who sang “Space Oddity.” In space! He has a book out called “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth” and I’ve teamed up with his publisher (Little, Brown & Co.) to give away two books. I’ve read it, and I enjoyed it very much. I think you will, too. #WinWithJae

The Boy Scouts

Our local Boy Scout troop could’ve had an opportunity to learn that there are repercussions to their actions; and that sometimes, the worst action is in pretending that a wrong never happened. Instead, they learned that if they deny something enough, they can get away with being cruel to youngsters and disrespecting members of their community.

Tomato tarte

I don’t really know what a tomato tarte is. I’ve never eaten one before, and I’ve never made one, either. But the other night, I had nothing ready for dinner. We had been planning on going out to eat. But then my husband had to stay at work longer than anticipated; I was sick (literally — thank you, allergies!) and tired of eating leftovers; and I had a small child who was (rightfully) complaining that he was hungry.

Was Miley Cyrus really that offensive?

I thought that all the hoopla surrounding Miley Cyrus’ performance with Robin Thicke on this past weekend’s Video Music Awards would’ve died down by now. But, it hasn’t. And while there has been some fantastic commentary about the meaning of their performance (as it relates to sexism and racism), I was disappointed to see that the majority of comments boiled down to this: Miley Cyrus is a little slut with a flabby rearend.

Christa Wells’ new CD “Feed Your Soul”

A long time ago, when I was a teenager, I was on a roll winning contests. I won tickets to see Culture Club in concert. I was selected for a hair and makeup makeover. I won albums and boxes of chocolate. But, the biggest prize I won was a trip to San Diego to see the Knack (of “My Sharona” fame). #WinWithJae

Summer meals and memories

This has been our go-to dinner as of late. And so much of it is from our garden. We had a delicious caprese salad with our homegrown tomatoes (nothing like them!) and basil, fresh mozzarella and my balsamic vinegarette drizzled on top. The kid and I made pizza dough in our bread machine, and it tastes so much better than the dough we used to buy from Trader Joe’s.