Do you remember Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man? Remember the catch phrase: “We can rebuild him…we have the technology.†Well, my wife may have met her “Six Million Dollar†labeler/organizing tool, the Brother P-touch Electronic Labeling System. And, she may have actually fallen in love with it. Well, that’s what it seems like …
Continue reading Label My Wife In Love With The Brother P-touch Labeleradamkeats
My wife has a favorite appliance: The Brother P-Touch Labeler.*  (Not what you were thinking was it?) For some odd reason, she really loves to label things in our home. Every container in our pantry (see: The Pantry Gets A Makeover) is labeled and if she could, she would have a Container Store credit card.  She really has …
Continue reading The Brother P-Touch Labeler: The First Tool You Need To Get OrganizedFriday, August 31, 2012 is the final dinner at Charlie Trotters. Â I’ve been following the countdown all week…the Web site has a convenient countdown clock and the Chicago Tribune has been running a long series by Mark Caro leading up to tonight’s final dinner, $250 per person I remember the first time I walked into …
Continue reading The Final Dinner at Charlie Trotters
I don’t know exactly how to put this year’s Father’s Day feelings into words. The day was special…filled with all the usual cards and fun gifts that are easily anticipated. But one aspect stood out and that was the note my 8-year-old daughter wrote to me “from” my father. You see…my dad died in April …
Continue reading My little girl has the biggest heartI’m lucky that in my professional travels, I have a chance to work with and meet so many wonderful people. Â In February, while attending the Blissdom Conference in Nashville, I was fortunate enough to have a few minutes to meet and talk with singer Chris Mann. At the time…Chris was one of dozens of contestants …
Continue reading Vote for Chris Mann on The Voice Tonight!I’ve been thinking all week about a movie I saw on Monday night at the recommendation of my friend Clay Hebert and I still haven’t fully reconciled what I saw, heard and how to interpret the constant thoughts it’s generated. Transcendent Man is a documentary directed by Barry Ptolemy chronicling “the life and controversial ideas of luminary …
Continue reading Transcendent Man: A Look at Futurist Ray Kurzweil (Review)Some of my favorite childhood memories surround the fantasy of being a super hero. Spinning webs from your wrist as Spiderman, flying and x-ray vision of Superman. So I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a few toys from Mattel connected to June’s release Green Lantern. My daughter, the Harry Potter-loving, dress-up …
Continue reading Green Lantern Colassal Cannon Review
I love CostCo. I love getting a deal and I love that their deals cover everything from electronics to apparel, from books to food to a pack of batteries so large I never think we’ll go through them all (we always do). I love their return policy as well…in short, it’s satisfaction guaranteed. Always (ok, …
Continue reading My CostCo Love Affair…and My New Traeger SmokerIt’s Masters Thursday and that means it’s the day I miss my father more than any other day of the year. More than his birthday (and more than mine). More than the day he died 10 years ago (how can it be 10 years?!?) You see…my dad loved golf. Loved to play it. Loved to …
Continue reading Masters Thursday is When I Miss My Dad the MostI was intimately struck by a piece of news last week that, although covered by everyone from the New York Times and Washington Post (who first reported the news) is getting far less buzz than the revolution in Egypt, the political hubub in Madison, Wisconsin and who’s going to be the big winner at this …
Continue reading Be An Organ Donor TodayI’ve been reading this great book, a real-life love story called The Motion of the Ocean by Janna Cawrse. It’s the story of a now-married couple, the journey it took them to get there and the adventure of abandoning their lives for a 17,000 mile sail around the Pacific Ocean in a leaky boat. I’m …
Continue reading Pink and Blue TasksAn open letter to Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL: Dear Roger: We’ve never met…but you’re welcome to stop by to say hello at any of the Chicago Bears home games. Â You’ll find me in the stats booth (always warm, dry and comfortable) on level A at Soldier Field, one door north of the main …
Continue reading Time to Change a Thanksgiving TraditionI’ve long admired Michael Ruhlman’s writing. From his first-hand experience learning what it takes to become a CIA trained chef in The Soul of a Chef (my favorite) to his work with Thomas Keller on The French Laundry cookbook, he puts you in the kitchen and lets you live the experience as he has. So …
Continue reading We Became Human Because We Started to Cook & BaconFriday and Saturday is the kickoff of the second annual BlogHer Food 2010 in San Francisco. In all, more than 300 food bloggers are expected to gather to share recipes, swap culinary creation photography tips and of course, eat and meet with some of their favorite food brands. Though I’m attending for work (disclosure: several …
Continue reading BlogHer Food 2010: Dads Cook Too!Unless you’re a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan, the end of Monday night’s Bears/Packers game was a gem to watch. With :04 to go, and the score tied at 17, Robbie Gould kicked a field goal to put the Bears up 20-17, en route to a 3-0 start. But that of course left the Packers …
Continue reading So how do you score that play?I’ve long been a fan of homemade ice cream. Not homemade in the store…homemade in my home. It’s really one of the easiest recipes to make…as long as you keep the ice cream maker in your freezer, you’re always ready to go. But what about something a bit lower in fat? Say a popsicle? Every …
Continue reading Instant PopsiclesAs Father’s Day 2010 approaches and my daughter nears her 7th birthday, I’ve been thinking about the story of Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old California teenager who recently tried to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. She didn’t make it (a storm broke her mast and she had to be rescued in …
Continue reading How Old is Old Enough?I have a confession to make: my name is Adam and I photograph my food. All the time. At home and in restaurants, whether I cooked it myself or paid for a team of others to labor over a hot stove. I photograph the simple (pasta with pesto) and the complex (recipes with 14 ingredients, …
Continue reading I Photograph FoodOne of the differentiators between the American Girl dolls and others has always been their stories.  The dolls, from Kaya the Native American to Rebecca Rubin, the Jewish immigrant, gives a depth of character to these dolls that separate these toys from the others in any toy aisle. Now, Mattel is tackling the issue of …
Continue reading Meet Gwen Thompson: The $95 Homeless American Girl DollI’m the cook in our house. Whether it’s an elegant gourmet meal or hamburgers and hot dogs, my wife is not ashamed to say that I do all the cooking. For my daughter, who’s approaching six, making ice cream is something she’s always loved and now it’s something we can easily take out of the …
Continue reading You Scream. I Scream. We All Scream for Ice Cream!I saw this photo on the Chicago Tribune‘s Web site today, taken this morning by AP photographer Susan Walsh and couldn’t help but think that of all the heaps of congratulations our new president will get today, as a father, nothing will probably mean more to him than this.
Continue reading The Ultimate Dad Photo From Today's InaugurationSome of you might know the name of blogger Dave Armano – he has a vast social network, is a regular contributor to AdAge and a frequent speaker at interactive and social media conferences. Tonight, I watched Dave do something pretty amazing. With a short blog post and a tweet to alert the thousands folks …
Continue reading Digital Storytelling Gets a Boost from Dave ArmanoToday’s the day my wife and I learned that leaving the TV on in the morning while we get dressed for work is leaving quite an impression on our 5-year-old daughter – and we’re going to have to change our morning habits. You see, for several months, our daughter has wanted a dog for the …
Continue reading It Could Be Worse: She Could Want a Pony.One of the things I love the most about my job – the travel – also has a huge downside as a dad. Whether it’s a day-trip that begins with waking up at 4:30 a.m. and then not getting home until after 9 p.m. or a multi-day trek across time zones, I miss those daily …
Continue reading Gift Ideas and Travel Tips from DadsGreat segment on NPR this morning about how as the U.S. financial system implodes around us, Americans could be turning to video games to take their mind off their troubles, much the same way that we turned to $0.05 movies during the great depression. While movie tickets sold have been flat for about the last …
Continue reading Today's Video Games are Yesterday's Movies?Gay parenting is getting a lot of ink this week. First, new dad Clay Aiken was on the cover of People Magazine with his new son Parker, next to the headline, “Yes, I’m gay.†Today, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a non-partisangroup dedicated to improving adoption practices nationwide, released a study that concluded that …
Continue reading Gay Adoptions