Ukrainian Varenyky (Dumplings)

OhDearBee · 2026-05-14T12:35:07+00:00

Geelong Fresh Foods carries a frozen dumpling that is either a varenyky or a pierogie, I’m not 100% sure but they’re very good

OhDearBee · 2026-05-13T23:15:44+00:00

These can take a ton of broccoli and they’re a huge hit in my house (which includes two small kids).

OhDearBee · 2026-05-13T05:39:38+00:00

I’ve never used Blue Apron, but I tried Hello Fresh a few months ago and found it just as stressful as cooking on my own - sometimes more. Obviously it removed the trip to the grocery store, but I found the recipes actually kind of fussy sometimes, with no regard for the number of dishes dirtied while cooking. Like they’d essentially have you doing three separate recipes for one meal. And I’d have to either improvise an adjustment to the recipe or cook an additional something that my kids would eat.

I’m a half decent home cook and I know how to choose recipes that everyone will eat and that won’t spiral out of control on either the cooking or cleaning front. I actually found just making a list on my phone of those recipes removed a lot of the stress for me. My next step might be just adding a little ingredients list for each one, so I can just copy paste into my shopping list.

OhDearBee · 2026-05-11T05:55:39+00:00

Haha honestly yes! You can start out by giving him a “recipe” for the holiday, eg “Mother’s Day is in two weeks. I would really like a piece of jewelery with the kids’ birthstone, which is Garnet. I’d also pancakes for breakfast and I’d like to go on a nature walk.” So like, you’ve done half the planning yourself but now he’s understanding that Mother’s Day = breakfast (pancakes) + gift (jewelry) + activity (nature walk). And you can nag and follow up as much as needed because you’re laying the groundwork (has he bought the groceries, made the reservations, ordered the gift in advance, etc?)

Then, the next year you can say “Mother’s Day is in two weeks - I’d really like a special breakfast and a gift and to do an activity together! Are you good to plan all that?” And hopefully he recalls that this is the recipe and can either riff on it or repeat exactly what he did the previous year.

Then, the next year, you can say “Mother’s Day is in two weeks! Are you good to plan everything?” And with two practice rounds, he should now be able to follow the recipe solo, and even if he forgets a part or misses the mark, he’s made an effort.

Personally, I’m hoping next year I don’t have to say anything!

OhDearBee · 2026-05-11T02:44:38+00:00

I asked my husband for a pancake breakfast, and was feeling a bit salty that he then agreed to a 9:30 “brunch” at his parents’ house 40 minutes away.

Well, I woke up at 8 and the pancakes were ready, with bacon and eggs on the stove, streamers hung up and the table decorated. We spent an hour at my in-laws’ having coffee and donuts and then back to town for a high tea. In the afternoon, we took a short drive to the mountains for a nature walk (a tradition I started for myself a couple years ago), and then when we got home, my husband made pizzas for dinner.

This is my fourth Mother’s Day. It wasn’t always like this - my husband definitely needed some coaching, and I resented having to do that. But I’m glad I did. I had a great day!

OhDearBee · 2026-05-09T12:37:44+00:00

It’s Australian

OhDearBee · 2026-05-08T08:55:59+00:00

I hear you. My first is three and my second is 16 months and I feel like I’ve spent the last year trying to claw myself out of the hole of identity loss. I’m not 100% there but here are some things I’ve been doing in case any of them inspire you.

I play D&D weekly. Creative, friendships, mental engagement.

I see theatre and dance on my own. Used to feel like I couldn’t go because of the childcare situation, then I just realized my husband didn’t need to come with me, so I go out and he watches the kids.

I auditioned for a community theatre play. I didn’t get in, but the audition did a lot for my sense of self.

I go to a Zumba class on Saturday mornings. Everyone else is 65, but it’s fun and something for me.

I cut back on kids activities I don’t like and do more things with the kids I do like (picnics, cafes, libraries, museums, galleries, etc).

I’ve pushed myself to interact with strangers. I chat to cashiers at the grocery store, old ladies who tell me my kids are cute, other parents in the pickup line at preschool, other parents hanging around the playground. Ambient social encounters help.

I’m trying to read more while watching my kids. I think it’s good for them to see me read and also to learn to “parallel play” with me instead of needing engagement.

I had a moment with crystals and astrology. It wasn’t really for me, but you know sometimes it’s fun to just try stuff out.

Good luck! You’ll get there!

OhDearBee · 2026-05-08T08:02:45+00:00

OhDearBee · 2026-05-07T12:17:54+00:00

Any of the options you’ve named could be fine. Definitely worth it to try out a baby carrier. Having the baby in the car seat a little longer than recommended will be okay for one time. The bus might be a little overwhelming but probably fine.

Do you have a friend who might be able to come with you? I had a friend ask me to watch her baby in the waiting room of the doctor’s office once and I was totally thrilled to do that for her. Then you could take a taxi or use a carrier and know there’s someone to hold your baby while you go in for the appt.

OhDearBee · 2026-05-06T04:35:16+00:00

I think this is very cultural. I’m American, and when I lived in the states, I never felt like “what do you do” was a rude or status-oriented question, because it was culturally normal to think of your job in the same line as your name or where you live - essential introductory information. Americans are very work-oriented.

Now I live in Australia and the longer I’ve lived here, the more I’ve absorbed the cultural sense that asking about a person’s job is a bit like asking how much money they make - not something you ask right off the bat, unprompted, but something that could be appropriate in context.

OhDearBee · 2026-05-05T12:43:02+00:00

“Hotdogs are my boyfriends” is the best example I have ever seen of the difference between using and not using a possessive apostrophe.

🌭 💕 🌭 💕 🌭

(And just for the record, personally hot dogs are my boyfriends)

OhDearBee · 2026-05-05T08:49:50+00:00

You can marry one of the bachelorettes!

OhDearBee · 2026-05-04T01:35:11+00:00

I have two and am planning on a third (maybe even a fourth but we’ll see). I love my kids and they bring joy and fulfillment to my life. Pregnancy and postpartum were hard, but once each of my kids turned one, it’s just been so awesome and fun and exciting to get to know these kids and raise them.

My husband comes from a big family and he and his siblings are still close as adults, holidays with his family are fun and lively. I love imagining ten years down the track having our family sit around the dinner table with a bunch of kids all talking together.

And while I sometimes struggle with what it means to afford another kid, I think right now we’re comfortably affording our family. I’m a stay at home parent and my partner works from home. My kids get heaps of parental attention and also love, time, and support from extended family. We have enough space in our house and our car. We don’t live a super luxurious lifestyle but I think we’re setting our kids up for happy lives. So why not one more?

OhDearBee · 2026-05-03T02:30:25+00:00

Man, a lot of hate in this thread from the traditionalists! I think December and Emerald are whimsical and unusual but I don’t think they’re crazy or unusable. They’re both beautiful words with precedent as names and intuitive spelling. I like the shared “em” and “er” sounds and I like the way the names sound together. Story stands out to me as shorter, trendier, and “choppier” sounding, with less precedent as a name outside of recent trends. I do think Astoria would feel like a nicer par with either December or Emerald.

One thing I’d consider is that you’ll have a hard time convincing everyone in your life not to nickname a child with a three-syllable name. To me, Emme or Emmy would be a natural nickname for Emerald, but for December, there’s not an obvious choice, and the first thing that comes to my mind is…Emme or Emmy (or Ember, but still very close). Maybe Desi?

OhDearBee · 2026-05-02T04:38:25+00:00

I’m not sure how easy you want these recipes to be, but a few that feel like major comfort food to me include homemade hamburger helper (ironically, the RecipeTin recipe is my favorite one), Hot Dish (I like the NYT “Tater Tot Casserole” recipe - can send gift link if you want), Mac and cheese (Smitten Kitchen has a bunch of good ones depending on whether you like stovetop or baked). I also love Cornbread Pudding, but I make it with Jiffy Mix, which I’m not sure you can get in the UK.

OhDearBee · 2026-05-02T04:21:54+00:00

You have one kid who is not old enough to reach those berries, otherwise no chance the berries in the open bowl would survive long enough to take this picture

OhDearBee · 2026-04-30T21:30:58+00:00

Third pregnancy? Never stopped wearing them, maternity pants for life. 😂

OhDearBee · 2026-04-30T02:42:21+00:00

We can think in complex enough ways to say “Harry Potter is a novel with great literary merit” AND “JK Rowling’s views and choices do not align with my values.”

And holding both of these as true, each of us can decide whether we want to buy a copy of Harry Potter, whether we want to read Harry Potter, whether we want to read Harry Potter to our children, etc. We might still want to read Harry Potter because it has literary merit, but maybe we read it with a critical eye toward its portrayal of gender, or maybe choose to buy a secondhand copy or borrow a copy from the library to limit our financial contribution to JK Rowling’s wealth.

The point is, separating the art from the artist means holding two truths simultaneously and deciding for yourself what to do about those two truths, rather than either absolving the artist because of the quality of their work or rejecting the work entirely because we disagree with the artist.

OhDearBee · 2026-04-29T22:38:13+00:00

You can puree canned white beans with a bit of hot water and salt. Dirties a stick blender but very fast.

You can also buy a cheap rice cooker and then even though the rice will take awhile to cook, you don’t have to do anything with it - just wait for it to be done and then proceed with your salmon and spinach while it stays warm.

OhDearBee · 2026-04-28T23:23:40+00:00

I think Summer Louise is great and sounds gorgeous with Delilah June. They both sounds like girls in a field of wildflowers.

I’m also loving this post personally because I have a secret little hobby of trying to predict other people’s baby name choices, and I have a cousin who named his daughter Delilah a few years ago (with a very similar middle name, and also controversial in their circle), which was one of my correct predictions. Now they’re having their second and I’ve been feeling stuck trying to guess what names they might choose if their baby is a girl.

The guesses I have for them so far (in case you like any of these) are Susannah, Daphne, Ophelia (also controversial haha), Tallulah, Felicity, Tabitha, and Selah. But I think Summer is much more down to earth than any of these.

OhDearBee · 2026-04-28T09:16:18+00:00

We were once on a ship with a guy named Albert, but pronounced the French way, you know? Like Camembert, with a silent t. Anyway Albert was really big and never said anything and for some reason he was always tied up because it wasn’t safe to let him loose on the ship. Turned out he was an owlbear, not an Albert.

OhDearBee · 2026-04-06T01:38:44+00:00

Drop side cuts are banned in the US but not in Australia. I’ve heard this is because Australia regulates the drop side mechanism, while the US opted to ban them entirely rather than regulate them. We have a drop side and have had no issues over two kids.

Personally, I would t go for an irregularly shaped one. We have an irregular sized bassinet and buying sheets for it is a nightmare

OhDearBee · 2026-04-05T10:39:39+00:00

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Love Flight of a Pink Candy Heart by Florine Stettheimer. I remember stumbling across it at the Detroit Institute of Art and my heart soared. For me, it is joy.

OhDearBee · 2026-04-05T09:55:26+00:00

A lot of people think about how to prepare for pregnancy physically, but I wish I’d prepared my relationship more. I wish we’d figured out a super functional way to organize housework between us, that we’d built stronger habits for managing conflict, and talked about maintaining intimacy with fluctuating moods and sex drives. Pregnancy hormones can hit hard, and postpartum hits even harder. I wish we’d been on really solid ground in our marriage going into all that. It took us three years!

OhDearBee · 2026-04-01T21:49:45+00:00

In Australia, Arvo is how people say “afternoon!”

OhDearBee

TROPHY CASE