Revelry Review: Two Kisses for Maddy

A few years ago, I was introduced to Matt Logelin's blog via Glamour.com's Storked! blog. With tears streaming down my face, I spent a few hours reading back posts from the blog, which details Matt's life after his wife died just one day after giving birth to their daughter, Madeline.

At first, Matt's choppy, short sentences, laden with curse words, gripped me with the way that they painted the portrait of a first-time Dad reeling from the grief of an unthinkable and life-changing tragedy. What made me keep reading was being able to watch from afar as Matt and Maddy made new memories together. Over the course of the last three years, I've read with envy about Matt's around-the-world adventures, most with Maddy in tow, the grueling process of writing a book on his experience, and on finding love again.

Last week, his book, Two Kisses for Maddy, was released. I read it in about two hours.

Even though I knew how the story ended, I still cried and laughed and marveled at the life that Matt and Maddy have created. The book seemed to fill in the spaces between the blog posts. Two Kisses for Maddy is incredibly sad, very brave and ultimately hopeful. Read it--but not without some tissues nearby.

Delicious Dishes: Jesse Edition

Now that Jesse no longer has to study for the MCAT every day, he has decided that he is going to start cooking for us one night a week. Last Friday night, he made this: a Southwestern chowder from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. This book uses well-known, easy-to-find and cheap ingredients to make yummy dishes. I appreciate being reminded that vegan food can be quick, cheap and healthy. There is a sidebar "Splurge a Little" section that tells you ways you can kick the dish up a bit by adding a few things here or there. This one suggested adding diced avocado on top of the soup. You don't have to ask me twice to add avocado! Mmm. Overall, this was a really good, healthy dinner that I can see us making over and over again as a weeknight staple. And a special thanks to my Love for making us dinner!

Tiny.

Meet my cousin's new baby girl. Such tiny little hands. She was just four days old here, which makes her the littlest human I've ever had the chance to hold. Holding a new life puts so much into perspective.

Delicious Dishes: Summer Squash Soup

Every spring and summer, I have an obssessive love affair with zucchini. Last year I think Jesse was at the point where he was going to kill me if I brought even one more zucchini into the apartment. Since it's been awhile, the Summer Squash Soup was the first recipe that caught my eye when I got Heidi Swanson's beautiful and inspiring new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.

The price of this book is worth it for this recipe alone. A delicious mix of ingredients that include yellow squash, zucchini, Thai red curry paste and coconut milk, it's topped with tofu croutons. Jesse proclaimed that it was one of the best soups I've ever made (and, since I am a soup fanatic, you can be sure that I've forced him to try a ton of them over the course of our relationship). Best of all, it came together in about a half hour, so it's a perfect weeknight dish.