a peek inside the fishbowl

Walden is a garden gnome who will be spending his summer wandering around Westboro. He’s busy packing his bags and making a travel plan right now and will be embarking on his journey very soon. Once THAT happens you’ll have the opportunity to follow his progress in a few different ways – most notably – right here. More to come. :)

Our kids pretty much grew up with Arthur. He was in our living room so often (along with his little sister D.W. of course!) that he was practically a member of our family. And it wasn’t just Arthur on TV. We had stacks of Arthur books too. And Arthur toys!

So when it comes time to plan birthday parties, it’s easy to see how a favourite character can be made a part of the special day. Imagine being able to surprise your son or daughter with a personalized video birthday invitation… starring a favourite character like Johnny Test:

Now can you imagine a Johnny Test fan sending it to fellow fans? And being able to include a photograph of your child in it too? AND HELLO BELCHING PLANT! Sheer awesome. And you know what? Kids remember this kind of stuff! This is why I’m really excited to welcome a new and innovative patron to the Fishbowl today: PercyVites!

PercyVites lets you create cool personalized video invitations featuring your child’s favourite cartoon character. It’s a special little thing for the birthday girl or boy, but it’s more than that. It’s also a great way for mom (or dad, of course) to manage the RSVPs and other party details. For example, you can add invitees, communicate with them, provide maps, and more.

Read more about PercyVites on their website, and take a minute to watch the video for more info!

What else do you need to know… well:

• Your child’s photo can be embedded directly into a video with their favourite character. And new characters are being added all the time and will appeal to a broad range of ages and stages.
• Prices range from $0.69-$2.99 each depending on the individual character and product.
• Invitations can be used for any type of event.
• Thank yous can be used for any type of messaging, and they provide a fun and teachable moment about thanking people too.
• Photo compilations can be used for birthdays or as a fun way to share your family photos with friends and relatives, near or far!

Myself: I really like the personalized video thank you. It’s short and sweet, and keeping to the party theme!

Pretty fun right? And Arthur’s coming soon! :)

PercyVites is on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Follow them on your preferred social media channel for inside scoop, news about character releases, and helpful party-related tidbits as well.

This may be old news to some of you, but I just discovered how to keep fresh cilantro (a.k.a. coriander) from dissolving into a swampy mess in our veggie drawer.

How long have I been cooking for myself? Twenty years? More? Every bunch of cilantro inevitably wilted and rotted, turning into soggy mush way before I had the chance to use it all. Compounding the problem was the fact that cilantro is sold in large bunches and recipes often call for small amounts. Of course I could make batches upon batches of cilantro pesto (or freeze it – you can freeze cilantro in ice cube trays for stews and things), but I was never motivated to do so.

Well, I am a changed woman. My cilantro now stays fresh for several weeks. WEEKS PEOPLE. This is good news for many reasons. It saves money and time, but more importantly it saves my sanity. I cannot tell you how much I hate wasting food. Wasting food is bad.

By spending a few minutes on newly-purchased bunches of this fragrant herb I can feed my cilantro-lovin’ self for much longer now. And that, my friends, makes me happy.

And so without further ado, here is the BEST way to store cilantro…

First, remove the elastic band. This is where most of the rotting action occurs. In fact, you should remove the bands off all of your produce before you put it away.

Thoroughly wash the cilantro and let drain in a colander for a few minutes.

Grab a long section of paper towel (5 or 6 pieces or so) and lay it out on the counter. Gently separate the smaller bunches and spread out the cilantro, like this:

Take the time to remove all the squashed, discoloured, and rotting leaves. Many will be concentrated in the middle of each little bunch. If you are serious about keeping your cilantro around for more than a week, do not skip this step. Rotting begets rotting!

The paper towel will absorb a lot of the moisture, but I like to dab the leaves a bit and dry them off. Here’s the thing, you shouldn’t put fresh herbs in the fridge when they are sopping wet. You are heading to mushville if you do that.

Starting from one of the paper towel ends, gently roll up the cilantro. You are creating a CILANTRO ROLL, like this:

Once it’s rolled up all you need to do is tuck it into a plastic bag. It fits into a milk bag perfectly. (Canadians will know what I’m talking about here.) You don’t need to secure the end of the bag, I think a little bit of air is a good thing.  Just put it in the fridge as is. The next time you need cilantro, it’s all ready for you! Just unroll a bit and take what you need.

My mission is to help at least ONE person save their cilantro from turning into a soggy rotting mess, so if this information helped you at all, please let me know!

p.s. This is almost as exciting as my perpetual green onions! I love saving money in the kitchen, don’t you?