Posts under ‘Family’

It’s Thanksgiving here at Chez Inadvertent, and there’s much to be grateful for.
My parents arrived Tuesday night to celebrate the holidays here, and we’ve been making our way around to various eating and drinking establishments that are favorites of mine: Shan Dong for dumplings, The Trappist for Belgian-style brews, Café Madrid for tortilla Español and [...]

I decided this Thanksgiving will not be traditional. Why serve turkey, for example, when I live just a block or so from excellent Peking duck? Why serve green bean casserole when I can serve garlicky Romano beans with rosemary, every ingredient of which will be grown or produced within 100 miles of here? Why serve [...]

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Chase Ledebur, my cousin Kären’s son. Chase has been gardening this summer for the first time at home, and I wanted you to hear from this wonderful and talented 12-year-old in his very own words.

Hi, I’m Chase - welcome to my garden. This is the [...]

On my way out to Oakland from Iowa, I made a stop in Grand Junction, Colorado, at my cousin’s house. She and her son Chase had planted their first vegetable garden in a beautiful raised bed off one side of the house. Tomatoes, squash, basil, oregano – the garden was still filled with seedlings when [...]

My parents and I tried something a little different over the holidays this year — we celebrated in New York City. We hit all the typical requirements of Christmas in New York: the Rockettes, FAO Schwartz, Rockefeller Center, the New York City Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker — but also included plenty of unexpected stops [...]

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
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‘Tis the season for giving, for celebrating with family, for passing around all manner of good feelings. And since ‘tis the season, in Iowa, for digging out from an ice storm, I’ll take any warmth I can get!
But recently, my cousin Katherine passed along a truly warm and wonderful honor in my direction: The Nice [...]

Our family Thanksgiving menu is a little bit of a moving target. Turkey? Check. Stuffing? Check. Cranberry sauce? Check.
But sometimes the sweet potatoes show up roasted, sometimes mashed, sometimes in a pie. Some years, mashed potatoes make an appearance, other years, we save them for another meal. This year, steamed broccoli made the menu.
Yes, steamed [...]

One of the things that surprised me when I moved to Iowa — and oh, there were plenty of things that surprised me — was how many apple orchards there are around here.
My parents live in Adams County, Pennsylvania, home to apple orchards that dot the landscape as you drive down country roads, and that’s [...]

Every time I visit my parents, there’s a little pile of things to read on my bed when I arrive—a conglomeration of programs from my mother’s concerts, news clippings, and other things my parents think I should read or see.
(I can hear my Dad right now…”Things your mother thinks you should read or see!)
This past [...]