Got a package of puff pastry in the freezer? How about some hot dogs and/or potatoes? Your New Year’s Eve is made, my friend. Last year was the first time we let Harry stay up until real-deal midnight. Before then we’d always fudged things by a couple hours (doing so this year? check out Netflix’s new offering, an on-demand, faux countdown featuring King Julien the lemur). But Harry’s gotten too old to be fooled by such chicanery, plus he takes after his night-owl father so staying up...| Debbie Koenig, Writer
I’m sneaky. I never miss a chance to encourage Harry to eat new foods, but I don’t want him to notice. So at least one night of Hanukkah and maybe again at Christmas, he’ll get a gift that’s subtly food-related. This year it’s The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook—even if we never wind up baking Cauldron Cakes, he’ll read it in bed as if it were a real-deal HP book. He’ll dream about food, and someday, someday… Ahem. If you’ve been blessed with a kid who says, “No thank y...| Debbie Koenig, Writer
Do you know what you’re looking at? Only the cutest thing you’ll see on a Thanksgiving table this year. They’re pumpkin rolls that look like pumpkins, and are actually made with pumpkin. For stems I used broken pretzel pieces, to keep them nut-free. Yes. That’s right. I can take no credit for these, not the recipe nor the shape. All I can do is pat myself on the back for baking them three years in a row, and tell you that since I pulled this year’s double-batch out of the oven...| Debbie Koenig, Writer
Yeah, we’re having one of those. Again. We’ll be celebrating the holiday with a handful of other food writers and their families, so it’s bound to be impressive—but also unfamiliar to Harry and, I imagine, intimidating. I expect my child to eat almost nothing from the vast array food on offer. I’m not stressing about it, though, since over the years I’ve learned a few tricks to keep our picky eater Thanksgiving legitimately enjoyable. I share eight of my best ones over at Mom.me t...| Debbie Koenig, Writer