Game Day

As the college football season approaches the home stretch, I'm thinking about all the fun we had getting to go to a home game this season.

A couple of Saturdays ago I took Zack to his first ever University of Texas Longhorn Football game at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium! A momentous event, to be sure. His daddy was playing in the Alumni band, which gave us an opportunity to buy tickets. Our seats were separate from his, but we ended up getting to sit with him after all.

It was not only Alumni Band day, but also the day chosen to honor Veterans. It was also my first time to be in the stadium now that it seats over 100,000 people. I found the traditions of the game, the pregame show, and all the honoring done surprisingly emotional. It meant a lot to me that every time uniformed military personnel were shown on the jumbo-tron (even just candid shots), people cheered.

I think one reason I'm just a strident convert to UT Football (people are often surprised to learn that I didn't go to school at UT, but University of Arizona - though I'll never waver in my allegiance to U of A basketball!) is the richness and intensity of the football tradition. I love the songs, the band, the flips, the cannon shots, everything. We had a great time. Zack said his favorite thing was getting to play Daddy's trumpet at the game, but I think his first taste of cotton candy had to have been a close second!

It's Good to Have Friends

The scale on this photo is not coming through. See that spoon? Its a very large buffet spoon. Meaning that even though it doesn't show, that Turkey Pot Pie is gigantic.

A few days ago a gentleman from church called and said that his business had been so so he'd been doing a lot of cooking and would like to give us a Turkey Pot Pie. He even brought it over. We aren't ill and we don't have a newborn and things are just normal right now, but it was still so nice to recieve a homemade dinner. The portion missing is what all four of us ate for dinner, so we have lots of leftovers for lunches and probably one more dinner!

It's times like this that make me so grateful for the extended family formed by a shared faith, and for the kindness of others.

My First Risotto

I'm so proud (*little tear*).

I was thrilled that my first attempt at risotto came out well! I used Ina Garten's recipe for Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash from Barefoot Contessa Family Style. It was easy to follow, so maybe that's where things went right. I even sprung for the saffron (I had prepared myself, expecting it to be pricey, but I was still a little taken aback. Although, I have enough for four recipes, so if I continue to use it, it's not that bad). I had chosen not to buy chicken stock, remembering that I had a large container of homemade stock in the freezer, but when I went to thaw it, no stock at all. I had forgotten that I had used that for a giant vat of tortilla soup my mom and I made when she was here. So James had to make an emergency stop on the way home for stock-in-a-box, which I'm sure doesn't have as much flavor as real stock, but it all turned out beautifully. My family was given very clear signals that they should be enthusiastic on the result, and they seemed happy to comply.

Kentuky Wonders

We got to harvest green beans from the garden this week. Picturesque scene, yes? Just to keep it real, let me share James' words:

"We got to harvest over a POUND of the toughest green beans I've ever eaten!"

I think we got busy and neglected them on the vine too long because they didn't quite live up to our high hopes for the homegrown produce! (Or, it could have been the cook. No, no, surely not...)

Sammy

Just sharing a photo today! Back with more another day.

Basil

My fingernails are stained black, but I'm not complaining! Well, I was complaining. It took forever.

We pulled the basil plants out of the garden this weekend and I pulled off all the leaves, blanched them, pureed them with oil, and put them in the freezer. Most of the steps went very quickly, but taking the leaves off all the tough, overgrown stems was very time-consuming, just because there were so many. The sink was completely full of basil - in the picture they are covered in water but not floating: it's solid packed basil leaves all the way through. They pureed way (way) down so there isn't a crazy amount to store.

I'm excited that we'll have this base for pesto or seasonings in the chillier months to come!

Halloween at our house

I'm loving looking at the Halloween pictures at your houses; I had to share these from ours.

Sammy was a train engineer with overalls and an engineer hat and a coal bucket to put his treats in. It was a nice costume because it was easy to wear and didn't have any parts to cover his face or trip him up. He looked cute, though not very costumed, I guess.

Zack was a cowboy. He had a perfectly adorable fireman costume already but he really, really, really wanted to be a cowboy. I felt like a big sucker giving in, especially since I have always been uncomfortable with the idea of toy guns (our family hunts- I am not anti-gun, I'm just not sure guns need to be toys). Everything besides the guns and the hat was stuff we already had (including the vest, which is a dress vest turned inside out). He has loved this costume so much that I really can't be sorry about it.

Both boys wore their costumes to storytime at the library on Wednesday, then Zack wore his to school on Thursday, then we did the Trick or Treating thing on Saturday. Each day we ended up running errands to which they wore their costumes. And in between, Zack has still been wearing his costume and playing cowboy. He showed up first thing in his morning with his guns shoved in the waistband of his pajama shorts, and didn't let them go all day long. I tried to redeem the gun thing a little by getting a bunch of cowboy books at the library so that we could have a thematically educational experience, but that didn't change that I let my son go to multiple stores with his toy guns. I really had to wonder what alien had taken over my body as he sat in the big part of the basket at Costco and shot elderly men as they snacked on samples (the elderly men were generally amused).

Why is he so crazy about guns? James and I have talked about this a lot. It's not easily explainable from our activities or habits. But then, as far as we can tell, all the little boys are crazy about guns. And look at the really cool movies for adults - they all have guns or something like them. I guess kids have a keen sense of the same thing that everyone else has about what's cool.

Whatever the reason, this cowboy costume was a big hit at our house, and I don't think the fun will pass as quickly as Halloween did!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Let the holiday season begin!

(You knew it was already November, right? I'm not sure how it happened, but apparently it did.)

My mom made my three-pound bag of fresh cranberries into one of my favorites: cranberry cookies! These babies are so tasty. And now I have a fabulous supply.

Chino Caponata

Do you find eggplant a challenging veggie to cook? I do.

It took me a long time to find an eggplant recipe I really loved. This one fits the bill! Sometimes I even find myself craving the rich smoky flavor. It's from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee, a cookbook I have consistently found I can count on when I need something interesting to do with a certain vegetable. If only it had pictures too!

I promised this recipe to a friend a week or so ago and then forgot to send it. So, I'll share it here with a recommendation for this excellent cookbook! She also gives menu suggestions including this and her other recipes.

Chino Caponata
Karen says: "My Chino Caponata has been evolving for twenty years. It began as a Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce, took on the influence of a French ratatouille, and I finally named it Chino Caponata when it acquired Italian overtones. Lusty and unbelievably versatile, I use it as an appetizer with Toast Rounds (page 47), as a side dish, a part of a buffet, and as a topping for pasta.
This recipe can easily be doubled, but be sure to fry the eggplant in two batches to ensure proper charring - the secret to its intense, smoky taste."

Yields 3 1/4 cups; serves 8-12 as an hors d'oeuvre or as part of an antipasto, 6 as a side dish [I serve it as a main dish with brown rice, in which case it serves 4]

Preparation time: 40 minutes, plus 1 hour to let the eggplant rest after salting; Cooking time: 10 minutes
----------------------------------------------------
1 medium eggplant (approx 1 pound)
1 teaspoon salt
Seasoning Sauce:
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce, preferably homemade
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or other vinegar -- your choice
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons medium-dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 cup chopped Spanish onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, roasted
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 tablespoon small capers, drained

1. Trim off the ends of the eggplant and discard. Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes. Toss with the salt and set aside for 1 hour.

2. Rinse the eggplant cubes under running water. Let them drain in a colander for 10 minutes; blot well between paper towels.

3. Prepare the seasoning sauce by combining the tomato sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sherry, and chili oil. Set aside.

4. Place a 12-inch wok or iron skillet over high heat until it smokes, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of the peanut oil. Immediately add the eggplant cubes. Stir every couple of minutes and press down repeatedly on the eggplant with the back of a spatula to aid scorching. Cook for approximately 5 minutes over high heat until the eggplant is soft and well-charred. Remove the eggplant from the pan.

5. Return the wok to a high heat and add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil. Add the onion and fry, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute more. Add the charred eggplant and seasoning sauce and stir until the sauce has been absorbed, about 1 minute. Add the roasted pepper, oregano, and capers and stir for a few seconds before removing from the heat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Can be prepared up to 5 days in advance. Keep refrigerated. Return to room
temperature before serving.

To the Water

You know how everyone says how your kids will shock you by being so different? Well, in most things, my boys are very similar. Their sleeping patterns have been the same (both as infants and as toddlers), their eating habits have been the same (both in nursing and in baby food and now in table food), they are both entertained by really similar things (like books and buses) and they are both quite social.

But looking through the beach pics from our annual October weekend in Port Aransas has me thinking about how different my boys are when it comes to the water. As a young toddler, Zack was very nervous about the ocean. As he grew older, he alternated between timidity and outright fear. He especially did not like the feeling that waves were continually coming closer to him. I think this year, at five years old, was the first year he was really comfortable running in and out of the shallows, filling up the buckets with water.

Sammy, on the other hand, at one and a half years old was already perfectly delighted with the water. He was most fascinated by the little shell creatures that appeared as the water receded and then burrowed themselves back down into the sand, but he was also tickled that his feet became buried in sand as the water swirled around them. He giggled when the waves covered him to his waist and pointed to all the bubbles. He didn't show any of the trepidation that we expected. It made for a very easy and fun time on the beach!

Let's just ride last weekend's wave, shall we?

This was part of last weekend's scene.

This weekend's scene had bloody noses, scraped faces and knees, teeth knocked back into the mouth and all-together too much bleeding. There were some really fun moments this weekend, but I'm not sure they were captured on film. From last weekend we've got plenty of great beach pics, so I'm going to focus on those for a bit. Now that my mom is visiting, we've got more good fun coming, for sure!

Surefire Path to Cuteness

Just stick a baby in some household item. Hard to go wrong.

The USS Lexington

While we didn't have a chance to go tour replicas of Columbus' ships, we did spend a day (or as much of a day as one could expect with an 18 month old) aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII era aircraft carrier which has been converted into a museum.

Zack was extremely excited about seeing the ship. We had really talked it up - partly because we wanted him to enjoy it but partly out of concern that he would freak out about being on a ship. You see, lately he has a lot of fears about things being unsteady. He has never liked any feeling of instability, even as a young toddler - although he would happily climb higher than my head, he would freak out if he was turned upside down. More recently, he's refused to get in a canoe and been afraid his ceiling fan would fall on him. He even asked that we take things downstairs because he thought they were too heavy for upstairs and would cause our house to collapse (not sure what's up with that one). Then, after we read some stories and information about the Titanic, I was just sure it was going to cause our planned Lexington trip to fail. I had this vision of him crying and refusing to go on board (right after we bought the tickets, no doubt) for fear it wasn't "stable". Hence all the talking up of the Lexington. When he talked to his grandmother about the Titanic and the Lexington in the same conversation, I was standing behind him saying, "And wasn't it very safe and very stable on the Lexington, Grandma?" while nodding vigorously out of his view to indicate she should say it was. I guess it worked because he was thrilled with the whole experience.

It's interesting how steep some of the stairs and low some of the ceilings are! But most of the fun was to be had above the hangar deck - the main deck where most of the "museum-y" stuff is - on the flight deck - the top of the ship where planes take off and land. It was a windy day and the winds on the flight deck felt like it might just knock us over. The kids love wind, so they were in heaven running around. They also loved looking around at the planes and trying the simulators - the ship held 200 planes when it was in service! We loved climbing up to the bridge with all its buttons and dials and big wheels, and also seeing the mechanism that catches the planes. The historical information on the ship's namesake and WWII service was spread out through the lower decks and gave a lot of interesting stories about that time, the ship and related vessels. James and I liked the history, but Zack of course breezed by most of it. In every area, he was ready to move on before everyone else, then me (because I'm not as much of a museum-sign-reader as someone else in my family), and then James at the end, craning his neck to read every word before he had to leave one room for the next one. By the time Sammy had enough of everything, we made it through the whole ship. It was a great experience and one we'll want to do again when the kids are older.

The Nina

Zack has taken a recent interest in Christopher Columbus. I'm sure what started it. I think maybe he thought the rhyme was fun, but then when a reference to Columbus' sailing showed up in his reference book about pirates, he was drawn in to listening to more information.

We found a variety of picture books about him at the library that we've been enjoying. Columbus is an interesting figure, in that much about him is heroic, and much... well, not so much. It's been a learning experience on the Mommy side of things too. If today had more time in it, I'd like to write more about that. Too bad today is already stretched a little thin.

Anyway, we were at the coast this weekend and discovered that they have full size replicas of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria on display in Corpus Christi. They are accurate all the way down to the forests in which the wood for the ships was cut. They were even built in Spain and sailed here (I think in the 1990s). We didn't have time to go to the museum where you can tour the Pinta and the Santa Maria in dry dock, but we did pop down to see the Nina. It's a lot smaller than I expected! You can see from that "No Trespassing" sign that shows up in both photos that these pictures are showing the whole ship. Not the size of vessel I would imagine for an ocean crossing of unknown length and difficulty! We'll be continuing to learn about this, and maybe we'll get back down to Corpus soon to tour the other two ships.

Still Trying

Just so you know, I haven't given up on the bread mix!

I can't let go of the idea of having a bunch of these in the pantry with the dry goods already mixed and all I would have to do is add a fizzy beverage, stir and bake!

I keep making trial versions; they are good but they still aren't great. I have an idea for the next batch...

Boys and Books

These boys love books. I'm really, really glad. Their grandparents (both sets) deserve a hefty amount of credit for spending time reading with them, but it may be in their blood too. Even the little one is getting in on the book-action.

I'm not sure how well it shows in the picture collage, but sometimes we find Zack has sequestered himself in a little hidey-hole, especially when there's a lot of background noise.

I'm enjoying trying to snap some boys and books pictures. I especially find myself running for the camera when they are reading together. That's a sight to warm a mother's heart!

Garlic-head, that's me

I have a friend, April, who is a toxicologist. She's a lot of other cool things too - like a computer programmer, a great cook and more - but because of the advanced toxicology degree and her interest in the subject, she's got a lot of interesting information about medications and such. A while ago, I thought I was coming down with something and really needed not to get sick. She said to eat a clove of raw garlic - once a day or so - because it has antibiotic and antiviral properties. I eat a lot of cooked garlic, but she said it has to be raw or it doesn't have the illness-fighting effect.

I proceeded to actually chew up an entire clove of raw garlic.

As soon as I did it, I realized one of the other things April is: very funny. I was immediately siezed with the conviction that I'd been had: the garlic thing had to be a trick to convince me to do something crazy like eat a whole clove of raw garlic! I called her and said, "OH, I FELL FOR IT!" I was convinced that I'd been a giant, garlic-flavored sucker. But, it turns out - no joke. The garlic thing is real and scientific and all that. And I think it works. However, it isn't very pleasant.

Well, now all that has been remedied. April, who is also the FrooGal Foodie, has shared one of her recipes that I love. It is for a Lebanese Garlic Sauce (similar to Greek "skordalia" if you happen to be familiar with that - I wasn't). She has been making it for a while and it used to be a hassle - I wasn't willing to try it myself, I just ate hers whenever she made it. But now, the recipe has been perfected and it's super-easy. I made a batch this week and it was not only simple but delicious! The texture is somewhere between that of hummus and mayonnaise and the flavor is sharp in the best possible way.

Here's the problem: I'm eating it all. I started with about one and a half heads of garlic (equivalent to the 22-25 cloves called for in the recipe) and got about a cup and a half of thick sauce. That was Friday night and by Monday snacktime, I had just about polished it off. I've been eating it on veggies and on chips and... well, with a spoon. The only reason it isn't gone completely is that I couldn't bring myself to have none left, so I put the last couple of bites back in the fridge (I do that a lot - drives my mother crazy when she visits). I guess when I buy more garlic, I'll eat those last bites and make another batch.

Garlic has got to be oozing from my pores by now, but it's soooo good that I can't stop. Must be addicting. And even if no one can stand to come near me, at least I should be really healthy.

Check out the Garlic Sauce Recipe, complete with references to scientific studies about antibiotic and antiviral benefits!

Update: I gave the last bites to my hubby who thought he was getting sick (he says it worked), so I immediately made a new batch. But, maybe because the garlic heads were bigger, it turned out way too strong. I thought the first batch was strong, but it was enjoyably so. The second batch, wow. It wasn't working for me. So, after a consultation with April, I added another recipe's worth of lemon juice and salt, more oil (didn't measure, just streamed some in), and blended it again. The texture is still great and now the flavor is right on the money. I'm back to eating it like a crazy person.

We Can Be Taught

(It seemed like a shame to have a pictureless post so I'm including gratuitous cute picture.)

Sometimes I find current events a little discouraging. I've mentioned before that my ideas seem to run opposite to those on both sides of most debates. And too often I just don't know what to think. But, in watching a recent show that had some Vietnam War era flashbacks, I've realized something about this country. We didn't learn a lot of things one would hope for but we did learn something. Nobody is aiming their anger or disapproval at individual soldiers. The times of spitting on a veteran in a wheelchair are gone. The lesson - the shame at what went before and the determination not to repeat it - is etched deeply into our culture.

And that leads me to an encouraging conclusion: We can be taught. Our national consciousness can learn - as a whole, and across the political spectrum. I like that.

Friday Favorite: Kitchen Tongs

For the longest time, I only used a spatula for sauteing. I'm not sure why I got these kitchen tongs - I think I wanted to feel chef-y. I guess it worked, because now they are one of my favorite kitchen tools! I use them for lifting and turning pieces of meat, turning over veggies as I saute, and holding a hot item steady for slicing. They are really practical.

This pair has all the characteristics valuable in tongs: sturdy, scalloped points to help you grip large items, a stay-cool material on the handle, and a locking catch that keeps them closed in the drawer.

If you are adding a pair to your kitchen, check out Cook's Illustrated's Tong Recommendations. It's a good bang for not much buck.

Here's my favorite simple preparation for asparagus. Call me crazy, but I think they taste better when cut before cooking. I have no idea why this would be (ideas, cooking-science folks?). You can definitely avoid a stringy texture by cooking them this way, which is something that tends to turn kids off from asparagus.

Sauteed Asparagus
1 T olive oil
dried thai chilis, to taste (my grocery has these next to the garlic - very inexpensive)
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
coarse salt
squeeze of lemon juice and grated Parmesan for garnish, if desired

1. Heat oil and chilis in a large skillet. Cook the chilis a few minutes to let the flavor infuse the oil (leave them whole if you want flavor without heat).
2. Turn up the heat and add the asparagus. They should sizzle and cook without liquid pooling in the pan - that way they will be sauteed rather than boiled. Cook until tender, allowing a little brown (not black) char to form on a few edges of the asparagus. This gives a sweeter flavor.
3. Finish with salt to taste and serve!
Sometimes I squeeze some flavor-brightening fresh lemon juice on top, in which case I add a little grated Parmesan to balance it out.

Happy Fifth!

It is hard for me to process that I am the mother of a FIVE year old!

Zack had a Biscuit Brothers Birthday, complete with concert-ticket invitations, guitar-shaped cake, farm-type food, bandanna-fabric napkins and shoebox banjos. If you don't know the Biscuit Brothers, they have a locally filmed PBS show about a musical farm. It is about elements of music, introduces classical pieces, and has a lot of fun folk music. Zack really loves them. We went and saw them in concert, and then saw them again on location where they film.

The concert invitations were really fun. I was a little overwhelmed with the thought of making them, so my sister designed them for me, then I printed them, embossed the No. 005 (for the fifth birthday) and added perforations to create a ticket stub look. Hey, she'll make them for you too!

We served ham and biscuit mini-sandwiches in a big chicken-wire basket, fruit, veggies and herb dip, and deviled eggs. What's more farm-like than deviled eggs, right? James had the idea to make the guitar strings into the Happy Birthday writing. I really thought that made the cake.

Our craft was just right for a small group. If it had been any more kids, I would have had to do more prep ahead of time, but as it was they did their own while I demonstrated, making one for Sammy. The idea was an imitation of a cigar-box guitar, but without the tobacco smell or power tools. We used shoeboxes with a hole in the front and at the end, plus some sturdy doubled cardboard for the handle. The rubber bands just wrap around the box rather than going up the neck of the guitar. Once we added those bridges (cut from a dowel), the sound was surprisingly good for just some rubber bands.

And the soundtrack for the party was really, really easy to select.

Happy Birthday to Zack!

Huh. I really am obsessed with soup.

But I'm not just obsessed with soup. I'm also obsessed with red peppers. And avocados. At least my interests are broad.

Our new Sprouts has had red peppers and avocados at great prices and the best thing about it is that the quality has been so good. I sprung for a dozen of the peppers and roasted those beauties under the broiler (so that I could do several at a time). Then I peeled and sliced them and froze them away for later. I feel so rich.

I'm wondering about freezing the avocado. You can buy frozen guacamole. Maybe if I peeled and halved them and tossed them in lime juice. Has anyone tried this? Do I need to borrow a vacuum sealer to make it work?

This roasted red pepper soup was so good. Too bad I didn't follow the recipe or even write down what I did. I'll probably never recreate it.

p.s. Yes, that is (another) trial homemade bread mix in the background. It's good, but not fabulous. I shall endeavor to persevere. A tough job, but someone's got to do it!

I command you to do as you please

Zack has learned the secret of getting Sammy to do what he tells him: Wait until Sammy starts to do something, then, Quick! tell him to do that very thing.

At least they are playing together - two boys laughing is a really good sound.

More Fun with Cardmaking

Continuing (a little later than promised!) about card making: I am really enjoying this branch of crafting lately. The projects are small enough to accomplish in one sitting, and depending on how fancy you want to be, they don't have to take that many supplies.

Check out these two projects that Neelam designed and we got to make ourselves.

The first used a great technique of coloring directly on a stamp with markers. That way, in one stamping, we could get multiple colors. The coloring was a little hard to see what should be where - I think I could get better with practice.

The second used an outline stamp and then a blender pen to watercolor inside, plus inking of the edges of a die-cut shape. One think I really liked about this is that the branch by itself looks like bamboo, but it still goes with these graphic flowers. I like seeing unexpected things that look good together.

Fun with Cardmaking

I had so much fun at my card-making party last weekend! Neelam, the consultant who conducted the workshop, demonstrated some technique-heavy ideas that I thought were really great. I was so inspired.

Want to see? Today I'll show what she made, and tomorrow what we made ourselves under her direction.

The paper was heat embossed with sparkly embossing powder- this is such a striking effect, even more glittery in person than I could capture here. Then the sparkly paper was cut with a die cutting machine to create this lattice. I got to keep all the scraps - hello glittery creations!

This was done on an pressure embossing plate in the same machine as was used for the die cuts. The butterfly has a rhinestone brad in the center, which also serves to keep the wings up from the paper surface - clever!Is this guy adorable or what? Neelam colored him using regular stamp pad ink and a blending pen. Seeing the blending pen work was most exciting to me - I love the artistic options this technique gives! And isn't this little guy super cute??

Potato Leek Soup

Well if it doesn't quite feel like fall outside yet, I can at least cook like it's fall: soup! I bought two gigantic leeks; one went into a frittata and the other languished in the fridge. I finally killed two birds by using up the last of some potatoes and the beautiful giant leek. The preparation took me a little longer than I expected, but I liked the extra veggies in it.

Potato Leek Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 stalks celery, with leaves, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 - 2 leeks, white and light green parts
2 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 cups Chicken Stock
2 dried bay leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary (left whole - not chopped)
2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sharp cheddar and chopped scallions, for garnish

1. Bring potatoes and herbs in chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce to a low simmer.
2. Saute celery, leeks, shallots, and garlic in olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Cook on medium-low heat until very soft but not brown, about 20 minutes.
2. Add leek mixture to potatoes. Cook until potatoes are very tender, about 20 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and rosemary and discard.
3. Puree half of the soup and add back to the pot. Slowly stir in milk and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot garnished with cheese and scallions.

Library Confession

I currently have 56 items checked out.

Does that seem like a lot?

Local Review: Extreme Fun

For the day of Zack's birthday, James stayed home from work and we chose "something fun" to do. Zack got to choose between Enchanted Rock, the Austin Zoo, the San Antonio Zoo and a bouncy place. He chose the bouncy place. The last time we were at the closer one, Goin' Bananas, I noticed signs saying the parents had to stay off the bouncers. I'm not sure if that's something they enforce, but James wanted to play with Zack, so we decided to go check out another place, Extreme Fun, in northwest Austin, near 183 and Anderson Mill.

We had a great time. There were lots of big bouncers and a foam pit, which is always great fun. By way of review, I'll say that I like the other bounce places a little better. The bouncers here were all lined up one next to one another, which seems not as interesting and fun as running through the connected rooms. Also, the toddler area is very small and empty - really just three or four toy items. At Goin' Bananas, Sammy had been enchanted with all the play kitchens and tables, but there wasn't anything like that. The price at Extreme Fun is similar to the other places. It was also quite clean - even after running around in our socks, they were clean afterward (except for the bits of foam from the foam pit). It may have been due to the timing (a weekday morning), but it was not at all crowded; in fact for a little while we were the only ones there. That makes it really easy to keep track of our kids, but Zack would have preferred kids to play with.

I think we'll be at Goin' Bananas next time, but we did have a lot of fun!

Turns out it's the tenth time...

...that's the charm. Or, at least I'm hoping so.

Thinking it would be the fifth service call that would fix my new range from Sears was laughably optimistic.

After the parts problems - both incorrect and damaged - I made a series of phone calls, with much waiting on hold and being shuffled about and sent to other numbers. I requested that, since no solution was in sight for the parts issues, my range be just replaced with a new one. They agreed pretty easily, which was nice.

We scheduled the delivery. This requires you to choose a day in which you can be home all day, because they won't give you a two hour window until 7pm the night before the delivery. Thus, I couldn't choose any days in which I had any plans that couldn't be changed. Once they give you the automated call for your two hour window, they will not - no matter how much you beg - pick a different two hour window: "It's all automated, ma'am, we don't have any access to make those kinds of changes. Would you like to reschedule for another day?"

However nice and cooperative everyone was, I can't really give them much credit for it. The first range arrived damaged - bashed in at the back corner where the gas connection is. This was not discovered until my current range, which was working (with the gas manifold held together inside with twist-ties), was disconnected and moved out to the street. The delivery people wanted to know if I wanted to just accept the damaged one and see. Uuuuhhhhh, NO. A bashed in gas-line corner does not sound like a good bet. So they brought the old one back in and reinstalled it.

I then had to set a new (home all day) delivery date. They assured me the range would be pre-inspected to make absolutely sure it was undamaged. But, when it arrived, it was damaged in the exact same way. I was quite suspicious of the similarities but they assured me it couldn't be the same range because all the packaging was factory-sealed. Of course, that means no one pre-inspected it. The delivery people told me they never open them until they get to the customer and won't ever open them until they get to the customer. They also said "Oh, yeah, it's always damaged in that spot - they pick them up wrong in the warehouse." *Sigh* At least I made them open it before they disconnected mine again and set it out in the street.

So I set another delivery date. If you are getting bored of this story, there's some variety here: they never came. When they missed their delivery window, I called and was told I wasn't going to be able to get a new range because I hadn't had enough service calls. "Five? Five isn't enough service calls?", I shrieked. He "did some checking" and came back to say that "since only two service calls were recorded..." I had to interrupt and say that this had all been approved, I had the two hour delivery window, I just wanted to know why they hadn't shown up. In that case, he'd check with delivery. He came back and said they were running late but would definitely be there. An hour later, an operator called me. She had the delivery man on the line saying that he would be late and would I like to reschedule? I declined to reschedule. They then proceeded to have an entire conversation with one another in Spanish with me still on the line. Is it just me? Because I think that's appallingly rude. It was along the lines of "Ella esta segura, porque.... muy tarde, muy muy tarde...", or "Is she really sure because really, we're going to be really late". I was sure. An hour later, this entire scene was repeated, including the conversation excluding me in Spanish, but they couldn't argue me into canceling so they canceled themselves.

So, another delivery date. They assured me the range would be pre-inspected, even when I told them the delivery guys said they wouldn't do it even if there was a note in the file to do so. I had to rush home from an appointment and have James get Zack from school but guess what?

IT WORKS.

At least so far. Those leeks above were part of its christening meal.

I believe I'm obliged to tell you: Thanks for listening.

And if anyone knows someone in upper management at Sears, I'd like their contact information.

Makin' Stuff

I was in such a funk the other night. It had been a long, long day with the children and dinner wasn't coming together and James was late coming home... one of those overwhelming days. When the kids were finally in bed, I had no energy to do anything.

I've had my scrapbooking supplies out, consuming my entire dining room table, since the last time I did some good scrapbooking work - which unfortunately was quite some time ago. I knew I should put it all away but I wanted to make something first and I hadn't been able to summon up any creativity to do so. James agreed to sit with me and look at ideas from the Stampin' Up catalog - above and beyond a hubbie's call of duty, yes? I finally saw an idea I wanted to try right then.

There is something refreshing about making something. I heard a guy speak recently, someone about my age but really wise, about the desire to create something good being an innate part of the human nature, an aspect of how we were ourselves created that is at the deepest level of what we all want for our lives. Everyone wants to leave a positive legacy. What's amazing to me is what a tiny bit of creativity it takes to tap into that. Just this little card, made with James keeping me company and with the name of a recipient in mind, and I felt like myself again, or at least like a version of me I'd want to be with.


Technical Details: The frame shape is a scrap leftover from the die cut shape we used on this card at the card-making class I went to.

I stamped the butterflies and then tried to emboss them, but my ink isn't sticky enough - I can't wait to get some really great ink at my upcoming Stampin' Up party (if you are local and want to come, let me know!). James helped me cut out the butterflies (again - above and beyond the hubbie's call of duty).

The background is stamped lightly in gold metallic ink with flourish stamps. Love those flourish stamps!

Living History

When we were reading Little House in the Big Woods, Zack started asking questions about life at that time - what they had and didn't have, how they did things, etc. James quickly looked up a local living history farm. They were making molasses that day and we had just barely enough time to visit, so we piled right into the car as quickly as possible and headed out there.

The Sauer-Beckmann Farmstead is part of the LBJ historical tour in Johnson City. They have a setup for what life was like in the early 1900's. Although Little House in the Big Woods begins in 1871, there were a lot of things that were similar. There was a food storage area at the farm with braided dried onions and garlic and smoked meats hanging from the ceiling, just as Laura and her family had in their loft. Seeing them in person and smelling the onions made what we had just read seem all the more real. We chased the chickens (sorry, chickens!), saw a day-old calf and petted the mamma cow, climbed on a wagon like they use in the book, watched the horse-powered sorghum press, felt the heat from boiling down the molasses, tasted the sweet sorgham syrup, and quizzed the period-dressed volunteers about their cooking and milk clabbering. There was a tray of homemade lye soap out and examples of clothes and toys children would have had in those times. The small workshop with all the tools reminded me of my grandad's tool shop attached to the barn at their farm in New Mexico.

It was inspiring to me to watch what was being made by hand and the kids enjoyed just running around the farmyard.

If you live in or near Austin, it's worth the drive. Check out this post from a volunteer at the farm for more information and pictures - it's a fun activity, and just enough to see with little ones without being overwhelming.

The Little House

It's been such a busy time at our house, but we've been having lots of fun! Now that Zack's birthday is finished I'm anxious to write about a few things that have been going on here.

I've been discussing book recommendations for Zack with a lot of the thoughtful and well-read people around me (aren't I lucky that there are so many of those people!). A friend recommended Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was wondering if this series would be a bit beyond him, or how interesting it would be. I remember loving it as a kid, but I also remember some fairly sober moments late in the series. My friend is reading it to her kindergarten-aged son and made the good point that they were reading it now, since a female heroine might not appeal later.

Not too long after that, Zack went to pick out his prize from the library's summer reading program. It was quite late in the program and none of the picture books that remained were in English. Most of the chapter books were well beyond him, so he picked Little House on the Prairie. [Confession: I had a really hard time letting him get the second in the series when he hadn't read the first. Yeah. Silly Mommy.] We promptly picked up Little House in the Big Woods.

The other weekend we started reading it aloud. It is so entertaining and adorable! I had forgotten how very slice-of-life it is. Zack is finding it really fascinating. He loves the stories that the father tells most of all. There is no central crisis in the book, really, just a very sweet description of life in that time and place. He doesn't follow a few little subtleties, like Laura's feelings of comparison with the blond and ladylike older sister Mary, but overall it's really perfect for Zack's age. There is so much wonder in the special moments of life for a five year old.

Where do you find great book recommendations for kids? I bet some of you have great ideas and resources! I finally bought my own copy of The Read Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease (extended summary of what I learned from this book here), so I have some good recommendations in it, but I find I'm always on the lookout for more! What have your kids been reading?

Fiction

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and I really enjoyed it. I found it evocative without being depressing ("depressing" is at the top of my list of things I don't want in entertainment, which, unfortunately, rules out a lot of high-quality literature). It was touching and puzzling and well-written. It's funny to me that I spent half the book tensed up and not enjoying it for fear of a bad ending because, well, there is a lot of that theme woven into the book.

I don't usually review fiction books here. But maybe that's because I haven't been reading a lot of fiction books lately. Fiction books are kind of a problem for me at this point in life. Once I start reading something, my mind is forcibly partitioned into reality and More Than Reality. As long as I'm reading the book it's hard to fully think of anything without also thinking of the book in the peripheral vision of my mind. In some ways, my life is more real to me by comparison but in other ways I'm on the outside, looking in, narrating my own life in my head in the style of whatever author has currently trapped my attention. When the style is funny, my life is a Seinfeld episode with breaks for me to step in and point out the crazy bits. When it's literary, the moments suddenly look sweeping and poignant. The running commentary in my head is self-involved and yet not involved in the present. And the characters are almost more real than the people around me, maybe because thanks to the author I have more insight into what they are thinking. I keep trying to function like a normal person but I'm obsessed to get more Story. Even my physical, literal eyes feel like they don't want to focus on anything but a page (making it difficult to supervise small children). I want to do nothing but read and I have to know what happens but then when it's over I feel terrible that there's no more and I'm cranky and a little self-pitying for some reason I can't pin down.

I just re-read the above paragraph and am proclaiming myself a crazy person.

But you get the idea. Fiction is a little too consuming to be practical.

Nevertheless, I'm attending a book club next week and the book choice was The Time Traveler's Wife. I would never have chosen this book on my own; there was too much chance of it being sad. But I am excited about the book club (and hoping we actually talk about the book!) so I went for it. It was so enjoyable. The characters were intense and compelling, shaping themselves and each other in the paradox of what they knew and didn't know. It was powerful without being moralizing. I liked how the plot fit itself together like a puzzle. I definitely recommend it, though I am not sure if it's something other people will like (but they must or it wouldn't be becoming a movie, right?). My friend who loaned it to me didn't care for it (which surprised me at first though I get it a little now), so I guess I have a copy to loan if you are interested!

Disclaimer: the language and content are not PG-13. And some would say it did end depressing, though I didn't think so. Just so you know!

p.s. My bread was nowhere near as good at the mix. It was fine, just not special. I am ready to try again but I guess I should wait until we finish eating this loaf. Harrumph.

Gazpacho Salad

I love gazpacho, the Spanish cold tomato and cucumber soup. It's tasty and refreshing and really, I just love anything that seems like I might be eating salsa with a spoon. My family finds it too acidic, though, to really enjoy. I modified a recipe to cut out the extra acids (such as vinegar or citrus juice), but it's still not a favorite to anyone but me.

Today I tried a new modification that is a salad rather than a soup and it was a big hit. There were beautiful, bright yellow, vine-ripe tomatoes at the market that I just had to put into something that would showcase them properly. I also had some beautiful, fragrant fresh green chiles to use. I roast them individually over the flame on my gas stove. The scent takes me back to the chile roasting we had as a kid - in Tucson when green chiles are in season, the grocery stores run their big barrel roasters over gas fires in the parking lots. The smell permeates the streets for weeks and you can get a giant burlap bag of roasted chiles for a great price. We always got chiles and Mom peeled and froze them in small pachages for chile all year round. She still brings me some and they're delicious.

But back to the Gazpacho Salad! For this I wanted a fresh, raw chile taste so I roasted it individually (although you can do multiples in the oven) to keep the flesh uncooked. Check out how the skin blackens and bubbles up. Then it can be peeled off easily.

Gazpacho Salad
1 clove garlic, finely minced
small wedge yellow onion, finely minced
1 yellow tomato, seeded and diced
1 red tomato, seeded and diced
1 green chile, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 small cucumber, seeded and diced
3 oz mozerella, diced
1 avocado
salt and pepper

Put the garlic and onion in the bottom of the bowl and add the tomatoes on top of it so the acids from the tomatoes can soften the garlic and onion flavors. Add the other items except the avocado. When ready to serve, dice the avocado, drain the juice off the salad and toss it with the avocado. Add the avocado (but not the juice) and toss. Serve over romaine or other hearty lettuce.

I'm On a Mission

This week I made up a bread mix I bought at a tasting party. It was through a direct marketing company and we tasted their regular bread mix at the party; I bought the wheat version and rushed to design a dinner around it so I could try the mix.

WOW. So, so, delicious. Seriously, we could eat this stuff daily. The children were trembling with joy at the yummy goodness. Here's a direct quote from Zack: "I wish I could eat all this, all the time, for ever and EVER!" Sammy broke out his first two-word phrase to beg "more bread" around his full-to-bursting mouthful.

I have a vision of a big stack of these mixes filling up a shelf of my pantry. Unfortunately, whether you call me "cheap" or "frugal" (or if you think that for good or for bad, those are really the same thing), the price tag for the mix is not going to fit the bill, so to speak, on a daily basis.

So here's the question of the day: Can I recreate this mix?

And if I can, will my children eat anything else ever again?

New Routines

Last week was a week of new routines here. It's exciting really, the start of the semester. It's taxing my brain (or maybe my heart) a little bit, but that's ok. We've got a lot of little changes to adjust to.

Zack is starting a new pre-school. It's closer, but on a different route. It's more days but fewer hours per day. The hours encroach on my one standing weekly appointment. The food-sending requirements are different. The atmosphere in his classroom is different.

Sammy has hit Eighteen Months. I'm not sure what Eighteen Months means to other families but for Sammy it seems to mean the same thing it did with Zack: successfully using gentle redirection is over. That boy is into everything and determined about it!

I'm trying to get my own stuff back in the groove. I have been sick the last two weeks. I really needed get past the mental blank about meal-planning. I've got a long list of parenting, household, church, and social commitments coming up and I cannot function (or apparently get well) continuing on our to-bed-at-1am roll.

So this past week it was the new plan: On Sunday, get ready for the week. Each night, get all the lunches made, the coffee set up to make on a timer, the kitchen cleaned, the details for tomorrow's chores set, and the clothes picked out before we do some relaxing. Head upstairs to bed at 11pm. It went pretty well.

I will be taking Zack to and from school, except for one day a week when James is going to pick him up for a bowling date (see his first bowling date, above? Zack loves bowling, for some unknown reason), which will give me time to get back across town that day.

I set up a meal plan for the week and suddenly, the cooking looked easy again (temporarily, I'm sure). I have a sweet friend, a newly home stay-at-home-mom who is shopping the grocery ads like crazy - I think I stared at her with my mouth open thinking, "Well, duh, I guess I could do that too." So, I headed out to a new grocery with my sales flyer in hand and scored some super produce and meat. I even had to call her and make sure she was proud of me, ha.

We're really working with Sammy to expect him to mind. He's so ready for it. The first day was really difficult; I may write about that later in the week. It helps that now I can see the improvement - even just over a few days - and it's making my life a little more sane. It's especially helping during the dinner making hour, which is our hardest time of day.

I like the new routine. I feel like I might be able to enjoy the busy time ahead instead of just survive it.

Now don't I sound like I'm going to get it together? There are two kinks in the plan: First, we threw it all out the window to go go go! the whole Labor Day weekend. And second, I started a fiction book. Uh-oh. Who can possibly get it together when the fate of fictional characters hangs in the unknown?