Category Archives: Fun

Bread and Butter | Henderson Restaurant Review

17 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in Fun

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Does anyone know where Bakery Addicts Annonymous is?  Hi, my name is RockStarMomLV, and I am totally addicted to Bread and Butter.  No, not actual bread and butter, I’m talking about the cool little bakery that just opened up off of Eastern and Summit Ridge Heights a few months ago.

I first learned about Bread and Butter through a fellow blogger and high school alumna, A Daily Scoop, who posted about a bakery her friend, Chris, was opening in the Anthem area.  Little by little, I started hearing talk about Bread and Butter and how amazing it was.  The icing on the cinnamon bun for me was that “her friend Chris” was actually Chris Herrin, former Executive Pastry Chef at the well-known restaurant located at the Venetian Hotel on the Strip, which also happens to be one of my favorite brunch spots, Bouchon.  Wha Wha What?!?! That was it. I had to go.

I took my mom for lunch there a few weeks back.  We both ordered the Butternut Squash Soup and the Ham and Cheese on a Pretzel Roll.  We hardly came up for air, and I wanted to try one of each of everything they had.  I started talking about it to friends and on FaceBook, and would learn of items tried and loved, so naturally, I had to try them, too!  Pastrami sandwich on rye…AH-mazing! Peanut Butter and Jelly brioche…Hands Off!  Get your own! Three bean and pork chili…even the twins couldn’t stop eating it for their lunch. Needlesstosay, I don’t think you could wrong with anything you choose off their menu or from their baked goods.

How can you pass up these Hostess cupcakes? You can't!

I was so enamored with the food, that I failed to actually soak in the ambiance. So, twist my arm, I had to go back, again.  The decor is very simple.  In fact it reminds me of a blend between the new fad of DIY (Do It Yourself) with their hand stamped brown bags, coffee cups and chalkboard signs, and a welcoming feel of actually walking into someone’s home on their farm where they just collected fresh eggs, milked the cow, baked their own bread, roasted their own coffee beans, and invited you in to sit and enjoy.  There is a complimentary dish of breads and homemade jams to nosh on while you wait for your order.  As well as a collection of over 16 different brands of rootbeers, and quite a few with all natural ingredients.  My biggest find so far has been the Choffy they brew.  The only restaurant in Las Vegas, so far, to feature this interesting new concept of brewing cocoa beans and drinking it like a coffee. Apparently, it’s full of antioxidents and other healthy stuff and was created by a local Henderson man.  (For more info on Choffy, click here).  I can’t take all the credit for the find, during one of my visits, a friendly lady in line introduced me to the drink.  She even offered to let me try hers since they were brewing the last of it.  In fact, she drove in from Lake Las Vegas to specifically visit Bread and Butter and try the Choffy.  Pretty sweet!

So hard to choose! I liked the Dang! Butterscotch Rootbeer and the Olde Rhode Island Molasses

What I especially love about Bread and Butter is their enthusiasm to make everything “from scratch”.  Everything, and I mean everything, is made on-site, from scratch, with the highest quality ingredients available, everyday.  You can instantly tell from the taste and the feel and the look of every item they create with such care for their craft.  They are bakers, and they are damn good at it. What I also love is their support in buying local.  The coffee beans are purchased from local roasters, Colorado River Coffee Roasters, based out of Boulder City. Teas are bought from Bloomin’ Desert Herb Farm, in Henderson, where they grow and harvest their own leaves.  And, any product that calls for honey comes from Annsley Naturals Southwest.  Most of these products can be found at the Fresh 52 Farmer’s Markets around town.  And of course, there is the Choffy, by local Henderson company, Drink Choffy.

 

I, personally, would like to thank Chris Herrin for taking a chance, trusting his talents and opening a fantastic neighborhood bakery.  The staff and the service is impressive in itself.  Warm, welcoming, friendly and quick.  I wish Bread and Butter much success and  encourage all my readers to experience this awesome find.

Bread and Butter is located at 10940 South Eastern Ave., Henderson, NV 89052.  Their hours of operation are Sunday-Saturday, 7am-2pm.  Like them on FaceBook!

Bread and Butter is now taking orders for Thanksgiving Day including Pies, Rolls/Breads and Cranberry Jam.  Pre-order yours now by calling 702.675.3300.  I already ordered mine!

This review was written based strictly on my experience.  Bread and Butter did not provide me with money or free items to write such a review.  All words are 100% mine and true.

Candy Schneider | The Smith Center

12 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Fun

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this post.  Over the summer, I had the opportunity (thanks to RockStarMommy, Ashley Massi) to meet with the VP of Education and Outreach for The Smith Center of the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Candy Schneider.

Seriously, if you have any love for the arts, culture and education in our community, you should personally write her a thank you note.  For the past 25+ years, she has worked diligently in the Clark County School District, not only as an educator, but also as an advocate to enhance our children’s (as well as our own if you went to school here) education and future.  For those who scoff and say, “Vegas has no community.  There is little to no education efforts made by the school district to increase our schools’ involvement in arts and culture.” I beg to differ.  After listening to all Candy talk humbly about her accomplishments and introduction of programs into our school system, especially the lower income schools who rarely have these types of opportunites, I wanted to jump across the desk and hug her and cry at the same time.

After thanking her profusely for her commitment to our children, their education and their future, I asked her if she would submit a list of her Top 10 favorite children’s books to share with my RockStarMomLV readers.  When she was pulling them off her bookshelf without hesitating, I was impressed that I had not heard of more than half of them.  Since I wanted to know, I figured you would, too!  Being a dedicated educator, she couldn’t just give me 10, so she added a bonus one for your enjoyment!

  1. Art & Max by David Wiesner
  2. ZerO  by Kathryn Otoshi
  3. Otis by Loren Long
  4. The Jazz Fly by Mathew Gollub and Illustrated by Karen Hanke
  5. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf and Illustrated by Lane Smith
  6. The Gruffalo by Julia Donalson and pictures Axel Scheffler
  7. And the Cow Said Moo! by Mildred Phillips and Illustrated by Sonja Lamut
  8. Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
  9. llama llama red pajama by Anne Dewdney
  10. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe
  11. Frindle by Andrew Clements and illustrated by Brian Selznick

Transitioning Your Toddler from Bottle to Sippy Cup

12 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Fun

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Ah…sippy cups.  The dilemma, the choices, the aggravation, the thousands of Disney themed plastic cups littering your cupboards.  The once designated area for your beautiful wedding dishes is now overwhelmed with 8 different styles…some with valves, some with straws, some that have no parts but leak all over the place.  Which one do you choose and how do you make that transition?

As a mom of 4, one would think that I would be the expert on this.  But, alas, my twins are ready to bag the bottle and move on to the sippy, and I’m at a loss as to how to get them to the Start line for toddler-hood.  Maybe deep down inside, I just don’t want them to make that transition yet.  They look like babies to me with their little “bas” hanging out of their mouths.  I love how their entire demeanor changes when they get that fix.  Relaxation washes over their little faces, and all the tension in their little baby world is released once that nipple is popped into their mouths. Once they start with the sippy, then they’ll be walking, then talking, next thing I know they’re pushing me around in a wheelchair feeding me a bottle with milk in it.  Yeah, maybe it’s me who’s not ready.

My husband is hot on my trail though to make that transition.  He’s also the same guy that forced all my babies out of our room at 3 months.  OUT!  Which, in reality, was probably for the best.  He keeps us on task with this kind of stuff. Since I’m tired of the entire contents of my kiddie cabinet falling on my head every time I open it, I’ve decided to buy the stainless steel style like I by my big kids. They are low maintenance, stay cleaner longer, and are eco friendly. Meaning I won’t need to purchase 100 of them.   I love them.  As I was scouring the millions of options available on the web, and not sure which ones to invest my money in, it dawned on me to check in with my favorite moms over at Mighty Nest.  I shot Might Nest expert, Tracy Zeidler, an email in regards to this topic, asking her which one she would pick.  Just so happens Tracy is experiencing the same exact dilemma with her 13 month old daughter.

Here is what Tracy had to say about her top 3 choices, all available on Mighty Nest: 

Fogo Sippy Cups

We’ve had the best luck with the Foogo by Thermos. It has handles, making it easy to hold, a soft silicone spout perfect for teething mouths (they won’t be able to scratch it up or cause much damage un-like ones with hard plastic spouts).  Plus, they can use it for awhile (my co-worker’s 3 year old still asks for it!)  It is light-weight compared to other stainless steel sippy cups, but slightly heavier than plastic ones.  I also like that it has a removable valve – we started off without the valve which meant lots of spilling but I thought it was easier for my daughter to learn to use it.  We just started adding in the valve last week (and sometimes we still remove it if she’s too tired and getting frustrated, particularly at night) but its nice to have that flexibility.  And finally, its insulated so it will keep milk (and other contents) cold for awhile.

Safe Sippy 2My second choice would be the Safe Sippy 2. It almost seems too long/tall for my daughter to maneuver but my friend with 16 month old twins says her boys love it. I do like that it can be both a straw cup and a sippy cup so you can use it for a long time. http://mightynest.com/shop/baby-kid-gear/sippy-cups/safe-sippy-2

Life Factory Glass BottlesWe used the Lifefactory baby bottles so we tried their sippy adapter, as well.  It’s a great choice if you already have the baby bottles, but it hasn’t been my favorite for a transition cup. It’s a little hard for her to hold because it doesn’t have any handles.  She can grip the silicone but it’s still a little clumsy without handles  and she inevitably drops it with a bang.  It’s durable and hasn’t broken but not ideal for us for a sippy at this stage.  Although, I do love that its glass so I’m hopeful that as her motor skills advance she’ll be able to use it in the future.

Thanks, Tracy!  Normally, I would have to put this in the disclaimer, but I’m going ahead and telling you all, I have purchased the Safe Sippy 2, with my own funds to try out on the boys.  I already own the Kleen Kanteen Kid Kanteen Sippy (which is also a top seller at Mighty Nest).  My next purchase is to try out the Foogo by Thermos.  I will address my discoveries and the winner in my next post, as I am willing to bet, if Tracy and I were both exploring our options on the same topic, many of you are as well.

If you want to try some, too, Mighty Nest is running a special promotion through the month of October and everything is 10% off!  Use this promo code at checkout: MNSeal10

OK, so now I know which sippys to try, I need some sage advice on how to get the babies to actually drink out of them.  Holla back RockStarMommies!  I know you’ve got some great tips to share with all of us!  Leave your comment below…share the love!

What tips do you have to successfully ween babies from bottles to sippy cups?