We spent the weekend celebrating Chloe's 9th birthday. She had carefully crafted her ideal day: swim meet, brunch in bed, Grownups 2, macaroni and cheese and berry shortcakes with the family, and sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed. We tried our best to stay up until 10:30, the actual time of her birth, but I'm not sure any of us made it.
Now she is 9 years old. Nine years of our funny, sweet, cuddly, beautiful, smart, determined little girl. How did I get so lucky?
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It had been a long time since we went up to see the farm at Black Ankle, but we have a French student intern, Charlotte, staying with us and having visitors always motivates us to do less work and have more fun.
Sarah has been practically living up at the farm for the last several days, and a visit there was also a good way to get to see my sister. Saturday was the last of three days of bottling, which is an expecially exciting time to visit.
Because the amount of wine Black Ankle produces is relatively small and the cost of a bottling operation is very high, Sarah and Ed hire a mobile bottling company, Landwirt Bottling, to come every year to bottle their wines. The entire operation is housed inside the bed of an 18-wheeler. They pull into the vineyard, set up their assembly line and bottle until the job is done. Then they close the doors and move on to the next small vineyard.
Watching the bottles move through the assembly line is like watching a kinetic scuplture. Parts are moving constantly. The empty bottles come out of the boxes and are loaded onto the conveyor belt. The contraption then flips the bottles upside down, washes them, and fills them with carbon dioxide to flush out the oxygen. The bottles get filled, and the level of each bottle is measured to make sure they are all the same. Any extra gets siphoned off.
The wine is then topped off with carbon dioxide, the corks go in, and the capsuls are dropped on and stamped on tight.
Towards the end of the line, the labels get put on. One mechanism affixes them and a roller then pushes them on firmly, front labels first and back labels second.
The bottles then wind their way back to the beginning where their boxes are waiting for them. The boxes get loaded with filled bottles and then sent out of the truck on a conveyor belt. At the other end of the belt, the boxes are loaded onto pallets and, when each pallet is full, it gets taken into storage on a forklift.
We got in on the action, "helping" during the end stages, boxing up the filled bottles, sending them down the conveyor belt into the winery for storage, and labeling the boxes. It was just like "I Love Lucy" with the chocolates, making sure that the bottles got into the boxes as fast as they came down the assembly line.
The drawback of the assembly line is that if one falls, the rest go down like dominos. We did lose one bottle that way. One tipped over and I tried to stop the rest from falling, but my reactions weren't fast enough. It was miserable to see all that hard work spilling onto the conveyor belt and floor.
But at least we didn't have to stuff any into our mouths to keep up.
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We are scurrying around preparing for our holiday gift giving. Sometimes the best gifts aren't gifts at all. One of our favorite things to prepare and give is the scavenger hunt we have done with the local cousins. We give them a series of clues that takes them around the neighborhood, and at the end there are coupons for each child. A pedicure for our girly-girl, a night out for sushi with that rail thin boy who can eat his weight in California rolls. Very fun.
If you're willing to share, please leave your gift ideas in the comments. I'd love to hear them and I'm sure other readers would too.
When we do shop, we try to support small businesses or shop locally so here are my ideas for this holiday season.
Etsy is the e-version of shopping locally, so that was my first stop.
~ Cheese-Making Kit
Since we consume our body weight in mozzarella each year, it would be fun to try making our own with a Mozzarella or Ricotta Kit from Urban Cheesecraft.
~ Aprons
My favorite aprons from my waitressing days were bistro-style ones and MBTC has them in styles designed to appeal to both women and men, although I'd be a fan of mixing them up a bit.
Sometimes I want the coverage of a full apron, though, and I would
have a tough time deciding between the classic lines and designs of this
pin stripe apron and one of the girly-fun aprons from Handmade Whimzy like the one above. Or maybe one like this retro one from Creative Chics which would make me smile every time I put it on.
~ Tea Towels
We never have enough cotton dish towels and MBTC offers a variety of colors and quotes, but that Miss Piggy quote would be right at home in our vegetarian household. A set of 4 gets you a decent discount.
French Silver's etsy shop also offers simple tea towels, with just enough of a design to make them fun to use.
~ Cookbooks
For cookbooks, I have my eye on Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's Jerusalem. Ottolenghi's Plenty has become one of my favorite cookbooks so I'm eager to see what he's cooking up now.
I'd also love to get Melissa Clark's Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make. Her weekly column in the New York Times is always tempting, and her approach to cooking is just my style.
Deb Perlman from Smitten Kitchen has a cookbook out, and, when I saw her at Politics and Prose, I was lucky to get a book before they sold out. The place was standing room only, a testament to the popularity of her recipes. Everything that we have made from the book so far has been delish.
The second cookbook from the online site Food52 is also out. I haven't bought it yet, but the site is fast becoming a favorite resource for recipes. Watch out, epicurious.
Of course, any of these cookbooks could be ordered on line, but I have to make a plug for independent bookstores. My favorite in this area is Politics and Prose. If you call them now, you can order any books they don't have in stock and they'll be waiting for you to pick up in a few days. If you have time when you pop in to pick up the books, consult their amazing staff for help with gift ideas. That aunt who likes llamas, cures her own olives, and reads only historical fiction? They'll have just the book for her.
~ Magazines
I just discovered the magazine, Chop Chop, which is designed for familes that cook. How perfect is that? Now, I just have decide who to give it to. If I were picking a magazine for myself, I'd go for Cooks Illustrated. I've become a big fan of their cookbooks, with their wonky, scientific approach to cooking, and it would be fun to get a dose of that every month.
~ Fun, Flora, and Fashion
Stepping out of the kitchen, I have to give a plug to some of my favorite local businesses. For the knitter or crocheter on your list, check out Susquehanna Knitting, which offers a beautiful selection of yarn, and Beth's customer service is top notch.
Mary at The Abundant Backyard offers beautiful seasonal arrangements that would make a fantastic hostess gift or make a lovely decoration for your door or table. You can see some of the designs and contact her through her site. Aren't those skates adorable?
For someone special on your list, there is nothing more fun than a consultation with Rosana at DC Style Factory. She offers a full range of services for men and women from a closet audit to a shopping excursion to find a particular outfit to a complete wardrobe overhaul. She helped me "shop my closet" last week, pulling together an infinite number of outfits from the clothes I already own. And she is very gentle and tactful. She never says, "Why on earth are you still hanging onto that?" although I certainly have given her cause. And when she leaves, you'll have a new spring in your step.
Have fun!
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It's a conflicted attitude that we have in this country towards mothers.
On the one hand, we love to critique mothering. We watch with the same curiosity that we have as we slow down to rubberneck at an accident. We observe the tiger mother, the helciopter mother, the stage mother -- the list goes on -- all with horrified fascination, hoping that we aren't making the same obvious mistakes.
On the other hand, we revere our mothers, setting aside this day to honor them, and even throwing them in there as a symbol of patriotism, up there with apple pie.
Either way, it's a bit of pressure. Either we're totally mucking up our children's lives with some approach that others think foolish. Or we're held to some impossible standard of perfection and goodness. Yikes.
Today, though, let's put that aside and focus on what mothers have done right. If you are a mother, whether a new one or a seasoned one, whether you hold your babe in your arms, hear their shouts from the back yard, or hope for a phone call from afar, picture those children that you have nurtured.
Really take a minute, close your eyes, and think of each of them, one at a time. Run a little slide show in your head. Think of their virtues, their strengths, the beauty that they have added to your lives.
Incredible, isn't it?
Let's let the rest go and, even though we may only be responsible for some small part of those wonderful people whose lives we hold so dear, let's revel in all that has gone right, in all the joy and wonder that they have given us.
And let's consider our own mothers. Despite their own imperfections, fatigue, and mistakes -- not to mention the mounds of laundry that constantly formed and re-formed -- they have gotten us this far. No small accomplishment, to be sure.
So today, celebrate, be happy. . .
And ignore that pile of laundry in the corner.
Happy Mother's Day!
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This past weekend, Gabe and I spent a bit of time testing out the "absence makes the heart grow fonder" theory.
As you know if you spend any time visiting this blog, I am obsessed with a big fan of family time. Family dinners, family outings, family vacations are all high on my list of life's greatest pleasures.
But sometimes a bit of adult time is needed, too. When our friend Tamara invited us to New York for the long weekend, we were thrilled. We were five couples in all and our children were elsewhere. Actually, all of our children being cared for by other family members, mostly grandparents. We were doubly blessed: an invitation for a weekend away along with the family support to make it happen. Thank you, Eva!
We did lots of typical New York things, walked in Central Park, ordered in Chinese food, and drank great coffee. We saw Other Desert Cities and, although I was very disappointed that Rachael Griffiths did not perform the day we were there, her understudy, Liz Wisan, was excellent, and the play overall was exceptional.
We also took a long walk down to the High Line, and from one end to the other. For those of you who haven't been there, the High Line is an elevated public park built on the tracks of a former railroad line on the lower west side of Manhattan. It feels like an old fashioned promenade, a boardwalk of sorts, high above street level.
The day we went it was packed with other amblers, but even in winter, the native plantings were beautiful, and there were even a few hints of spring.
Our cultural ambassadors, Monica and Tom, had planned the outing along with a trip down from the high line to visit some of the dozens of galleries that line the streets of Chelsea. There were many more galleries than we had time or energy to visit, but it was fascinating to see what some of today's artists are creating. Among the more memorable exhibits were Will Ryman's Everyman at Paul Kasmin Gallery, a huge sculpture made of 30,000 bottle caps. I was also intrigued by Holly Andres's Fall of Spring Hill at Robert Mann Gallery, a story of motherhood and retribution told in photographs. All 12 prints in the collection can be viewed here if you'd like to page through it.
Naturally, we did lots of eating and drinking, too, including an excellent dinner at Dovetail (I have to figure out a way to get back there on a Monday so we can try their Monday night vegetarian menu), exceptionally flaky croissant from Epicerie Bouloud, and more than one visit to the ubiquitious-but-still-delicious Pain Quotidien.
The best part of all, though, was the time that we spent sitting around reminiscing about the past, and laughing about the quirks of life. That laughter felt very, very good.
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Somehow our youngest daughter turns 7 today. It doesn't seem that long ago that I went into labor during a work meeting at Patti's house. But here we are, 7 years later, and Chloe is her own little person with a big heart, an excellent sense of humor, and a budding style of her own. Just check her out in her favorite summer accessory, those stripey goggles.
Ever the accommodating youngest child, she will spend her birthday evening at the pool, watching her older siblings' swim meet. For dinner, she has requested Greek salad and red, white and blue (strawberry, whipped cream, and blueberry) shortcake for dessert. I'm happy to oblige, and I think we'll have bread, too, because that is her favorite food group. I can't wait to celebrate with her.
Happy birthday, sweet girl!
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As promised, here is the recipe for the other homemade cleaning product that we use regularly, a scrub for the bathrooms and the kitchen. Again, it has Dr. Bronners as the base, and baking soda gives it some graininess to make it a good scrub. It also has vinegar in it, which I think is to give it a bit of bubble as well as for its cleaning properties. (If you've never made baking soda and vinegar volcanoes with your kids I highly recommend trying it. . . outside.)
The teatree oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties so it is perfect for the bathroom. If you do not need a disinfectant, though, you can substitute some of that addictive grapefruit oil for the teatree and lavendar oils.
This scrub is also a snap to make, although I have to admit that Gabe has become the regular maker and shaker these days.
10 minutes preparation time
I usually buy the oils for this recipe right from Virginia, which you can do too. Just send me an e-mail and I will send you her contact information. They are also available at many grocery stores. We have bought them at Whole Foods and I understand that they are also available at MOM's Organic Market in this area. When you are looking to buy the oil, note that it need not be food-grade quality, which is usually more expensive.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups of scrub
10 minutes preparation time
1 1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup Dr. Bronner's Unscented Pure Castille Soap
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons tea tree essential oil
2 teaspoons lavender essential oil
Mix all the ingredients together and add about 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir the mixture until the baking soda has dissolved into the water. The mixture will dry out over time. If necessary, add more water and mix again. Use on sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, shower walls, etc.
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A few years ago, as our children got old enough to start helping more with household chores, I had a moment of horror as I watched one of them grab a rag and start scrubbing with one of the commercial products that we were using at the time. The thought of bleach and who knows what other chemicals touching my little ones' hands was frightening. I shooed them off, opened the windows for a bit of ventilation and started thinking.
If those cleaning supplies were toxic for the children, they probably weren't too good for adults, either. I was very excited then, when a fellow pre-school mom offered a class at our school's silent auction to learn to make homemade, safe cleaning products. It was quite an eye opener.
Virginia has a business, called Flora and Fauna, giving workshops and selling cleaning supplies. She showed us how to make a variety of cleaning products that day, but she is much more ambitious than I am, so I have winnowed it down to two products. One is a spray for general cleaning such as kitchen counters, walls, etc., and the other is a scrub that we use primarily in the bathrooms and the kitchen.
Both use Dr. Bronner's Pure Castille Soap as a base, and the scrub adds vinegar and baking soda, those classic cleaning supplies, to give it some added scrubbing punch. My favorite of the two is the spray. I have found it to be the best for cleaning the countertops in the kitchen. It cuts through whatever mess we have left behind without leaving a residue or just smearing the dirt around. (I'll post the recipe for the scrub next week.)
The other thing I love about it is the scent. Virginia recommended adding grapefruit oil for a fresh scent and I don't know if it has ever been studied, but I am fairly certain that it has some addictive property. I'm telling you that one whiff and you will be looking for opportunities to pull out that spray bottle just so you can get another hit. And I'm not the only one.
Happy Spring cleaning!
Grapefruit All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
I bought the oils for this recipe right from Virginia, which you can do too, by contacting her directly. Just e-mail me and I'll send you her contact information. I understand that they are also available at many grocery stores, too, including MOM's Organic Market in this area. When you are looking to buy the oil, note that it need not be food-grade quality, which is usually more expensive.
Makes about 2 cups
10 minutes preparation time
1 tablespoon Dr. Bronner's Unscented Pure Castille Soap
1 teaspoon grapefruit essential oil
Mix the Castille soap and grapefruit oil together in a spray bottle. Add 2 cups of water. Put the top on and gently shake the bottle to mix the ingredients together. Use on countertops, walls, tile, stove, sink, etc.
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We're back in town after spring break in Orlando and Miami. Gabe's family is in Miami, and this is the first year that we drove, partly to save money and partly because we thought it would be easier to stop in Orlando that way. The kids have been itching to go to Disney World since they discovered its existence, but we put it off. Mostly we wanted to wait until Chloe was old enough to enjoy it, but if I'm being honest, I have to admit that I didn't think it would be my thing. Big crowds, long lines, hot sun, and rampant commercialism are what I envisioned. Yes, all of those elements were present, but I have to confess that I loved it.
There is an old world simplicity to many of the rides, like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and It's a Small World. And Disney has figured out how to keep the crowds flowing. Moving walkways at the end of the rides keep things flowing, lots of things to see and do while waiting in line keep frustration at bay, and indoor rides and lines offer a break from the sun. A day at Universal to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter made for a stark contrast. Although Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and the main ride, the Forbidden Journey, were great, the crowd management left a lot to be desired.
And at Disney there is that cheerfulness. I know some of it is manufactured, but it takes a certain type of person to look you in the eye while wearing bright yellow shorts and a matching white and yellow striped shirt and say, "Have a magical day!"
I think the finishing touch was when Oscar's ice cream fell off his cone and a nearby employee swooped in, ushered us back to the front of the line at the ice cream parlor, and got him a replacement cone, saying, "nothing bad should happen at Disney."
Yes, there were a few cracks in the facade, like when Oscar stepped off a ride the wrong way and an employee nearly exploded trying to get him back on the path. But overall, the atmosphere and relentless cheerfulness won me over. We also have a new family expression to try to improve someone's mood: "yellow pants."
We also had a few great days in Miami, sitting on the beach, visiting friends, and resting a bit, but, mostly, just enjoying our time with relatives that we see too infrequently.
All of this is a long introduction to the weekend snapshots. I didn't carry my camera around Disney and I forgot to bring it to the beach, but I did have it with me in Savannah. We stayed in Savannah overnight on our way back from Miami, and we loved it. It is a quintessentially southern town, with huge, spreading trees, Spanish moss dripping off branches, many squares with fountains and lush vegetation, intricate wrought iron railings, and lots of restaurants and stores to investigate.
We even witnessed a wedding in one of the parks. We had only one evening there before heading home, but we'll be back. Next time, I'd also like to check out Brookgreen Gardens, a sculpture garden that my parents visited and recommend, and you know we love a great sculpture garden.
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Last year's food-related resolution was to have a meal together every day and we almost made it. This year, I had a different idea, a silver lining kind of idea.
As I have mentioned, this past year was a tough one for us. We lost two women that we loved very much, my aunt, Midge, and our dear friend, Anita. There have been so many times when I have sat down to write a post that I have wanted to write about them, but I haven't found a way to do it that feels adequate. This space just doesn't seem sufficient to capture all that they have meant to me, and it certainly isn't big enough to convey the impact that they have had on so many lives. I did write about my aunt Midge here, although it breaks my heart to read this post. I was so foolishly optimistic, so naive.
For now, I will just say that both of these women were so full of life that I still cannot believe that they no longer walk the earth. Anita had a laugh that I can still hear, and I most often think of her telling a hilarious story, listening with an "I am stunned" expression on her face, or laughing that remarkable laugh. I wish I were half as good a friend and mother as she was.
Midge set the bar for aunts, and she set it very high. She and my uncle, Jay, have 28 nieces and nephews and 60-something great nieces and nephews and she had a relationship with every single one of us. She made a point of talking to each of us, checking in, connecting every time that we saw her. She did it in such a way that each of felt that we had a special bond with her. And we did.
The loss of these two treasures has left a huge hole in our lives and in those of so many others that cherished them as we did. Even as I write this now, I am frustrated by the sense that I have reduced each of these amazing women to a few words, and I hate that. But I also know that I could go on and on and still not capture all that I want to say about them. Please forgive my stumbling through this.
It may sound trite, but their loss has also reminded me how much I treasure the relationships in my life. I want to nurture my relationships with my nieces and nephews, sisters, brother, parents, and friends, and I am inspired by Midge and Anita to create opportunities to do that.
So came the Sunday Supper idea. I am so so lucky to have my sister living a couple of blocks away, along with a friend who feels like a sister to me (and she's a redhead so we look a bit alike, too). My parents are a couple of miles away, too, which is wonderful.
And yet, it is hard for all of us to get together often. We do see each other, but it's usually some subset of us, and it is not always over a meal. We used to get together frequently for weeknight dinners, but as all of our children have gotten older, their schedules have gotten more complicated. Suddenly those opportunities have dwindled.
On the plus side, now that the children are older and more self-sufficient, I have more time and energy for cooking. So this year, we are having the entire clan for Sunday supper once a month. We've already had our suppers for the first three months and it has been like having Thanksgiving every month instead of once a year. I have loved watching little moments of connection, of giggles, of peace.
Midge and Anita, thank you for this last gift that you have given us. I just wish that you were here to share it.
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Our two oldest children now have 20 years of living between them. Olivia turned 11 on Monday, and Oscar's 9th birthday was Saturday.
These have been busy days for us, and I am finally taking time to reflect on the milestones. As usual, I find myself stunned that time has passed so quickly. It seems impossible that it was 11 years ago that we walked (or waddled in my case) into the hospital on a wintry day as a carefree couple. We walked out two days later on a beautiful spring day as parents, amazed that nobody stopped us to challenge our right to leave with our little bundle. We were overwhelmed with the responsibility and joy of that moment.
Two years later, Oscar came along, and we almost didn't make it to the hospital. He was so excited to join us that he was born 20 minutes after Gabe stopped the car at the hospital's front door.
I love remembering those days, and they have become family lore. On each birthday, we serve the birthday child breakfast in bed and recount the story of the first birth day. They are entranced trying to imagine a time before they were here on this earth. Continuing a tradition that we started in preschool, we also give them the highlights of each year of their lives, mentioning accomplishments, songs, and activities that marked each year for them. It is such a joy to watch the children take in all of the birthday magic - the stories, the fuss, the gifts, the parties, the cake.
As for us parents, I still am overwhelmed by the responsibility and joy of the role. Most days, there is no place I would rather be than with one or more of their wonderful selves. They truly are a delight. On the responsibility side, I am always aware that my actions have an incredible impact on their lives. I make so many mistakes as I stumble through this parenting thing, but I hope that they know how much I cherish them. I'll be happy if they remember that along with the missteps when they look back on their childhoods. That and some good cooking. Especially the cake. There will always be cake.
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I have been struggling lately to keep it light at home and on this blog. The past year has seen three of my favorite people struggle with beastly health issues. I have not felt comfortable writing much about these battles here, in part because they are not my stories to tell, in part, it feels too personal, and in part, it is simply too raw. Maybe some day I will be able to write about this dreadful time with more clarity, but not just yet.
I have been thinking an awful lot, though, about how to manage my own grief in a way that is healthy for our family. I have been alternately furious, bewildered, distressed, and dazed. Assessing how much of that to share with our children has not been easy. On the one hand, I firmly believe that children should be protected from the greater ills of the world as long as possible. As a parent, I think part of my job is to let our children believe that this world is one that is generally good, safe, and at times even magical. Children offer us a gift of seeing beauty and wonder in the world around us and I'd rather that they bring me into that world than that I bring them into a world of adult problems and challenges.
I am also deeply aware, though, that allowing our children to live in that world is a result of privilege, the privileges of having a warm house, food on the table, and health. I also think it is important for children to accept sadness and death so that they can learn to thrive even when all is not rosy. Maybe I have gone to too many Irish funerals, but along with sadness there is much joy in the gathering of loved ones to celebrate and mourn the life of someone we love.
As I try to walk that line between being honest with our children and trying to protect them from hurt, I have realized how much their very existence has helped me. They live in the present, not the past or the future, and they help me stay there too. Our family time -- cooking, sharing meals, reading together, playing games, or just being -- has become more important than ever because it is an antidote to the sadness swirling around us now. These little beings bring light to even the darkest days.
This blog too has provided me with much consolation. It encourages me to continue to cook, photograph, and write, activities that I enjoy. Continuing the routine of those activities gives me solace, too. There is comfort in the repetition of the familiar. Finding consolation in the connections that food and family bring is more important to me now than ever. And hearing from all of you, knowing that there are others who enjoy these same pursuits and who enjoy stopping by here, is always gratifying. Thank you for that.
I know that many of you have also watched loved ones experience the unimaginable, and I hope that you have found a way to navigate for your selves and your families. My heart goes out to you all.
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As the calendar turns and we begin another year, I just wanted to wish you kind readers a Happy New Year. Thank you for stopping by this site and sharing our adventures in and out of the kitchen.
I hope that this year brings you much love, peace, joy, and health. Yes, above all else I wish you good health, so easy to take for granted when we have it and so difficult when we don't. A healthy 2011 for you and your loved ones would be a wonderful thing.
For you local readers, any guesses as to where the above picture was taken?
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If you're looking for an example of a perfect gingerbread house, you won't find it here. Fine detail work and perfect design just aren't my thing. What I will give you, though, are step-by-step instructions for making your own gingerbread house from scratch, a process that is very fun, no matter how much the result calls to mind Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
Every year during the 12 days of Christmas, (after Christmas day) we make gingerbread houses. With the winter holidays upon us, you too may soon you may find yourselves at home with some time to spare, and these houses are a lovely, fun project.
For several years, we have relied on Gingerbread Ideas by Patti Hudson, also known as "the gingerbread lady" for her years of experience making gingerbread houses. The book has been a fantastic practical resource for us, and it includes recipes and patterns for making various styles of gingerbread houses. (Along with a couple of instructional DVDs, the book is available directly from Patti's site, Gingerbread Land.) Patti has been kind enough to allow me to share some of her recipes here.
In the beginning, we started out making the graham cracker houses, which were quite simple and charming, but last year we constructed our house from scratch, starting with making our own gingerbread dough. Patti's gingerbread is a beautiful dark color, and, as an added bonus, is very tasty.
I found that spreading the project over two days kept all of us sane. We mixed, rolled, and baked the gingerbread one day, and then assembled and decorated the next. Of course, if you are more motivated, you can do it in a day, but I have learned the hard way that it is not a project to be rushed. The house should be assembled one piece at a time, allowing the frosting to firmly set before adding the next piece. When we hurried, the pieces didn't hold, and our house collapsed. We patched it up with frosting, and were back on track in no time, but we learned our lesson.
In the end, the kids worked together to make a house that was unique, with an imprint of their own style. Yes, it was also a bit of a mess, but that just reminds me of another house I know. . .
And this year, we won't rush it. We'll put on some good music, heat some cider, and plan on a couple of days that mix in some relaxation and walks with our gingerbread construction. I can't wait.
I have arranged this post a bit differently. The recipes for the basic gingerbread dough and the frosting are listed at the end. First I have set out the steps for making the house, along with pictures of our project.
Steps for Making a Gingerbread House
1. Make the gingerbread dough following the recipe below.
2. While the dough chills, make a base by covering a cutting board or thick piece of cardboard with decorative paper or foil.
3. Make a template for the house out of cardboard. There are several in Gingerbread Ideas, or you can make your own. You will need 6 pieces in all: a front and back of equal size and two sides of equal size, as well as two roof pieces that should be a bit wider than the sides.
3. Roll out the dough until it is 3/8-inch thick.
4. Lay the templates on top of the dough and, using a sharp knife, cut out the shapes. Cut windows and doors, too, but do not remove them from the walls. With the scraps, you can make trees, paving stones, snowmen, etc. Have fun with this part!
5. Bake the gingerbread according to the recipe. Remove the windows and doors immediately after baking. Let the gingerbread cool completely.
6. Mix the icing using the recipe below. Cover it with a damp dishtowel or plastic wrap when you are not using it because it dries out quickly.
7. Arrange the parts of the house on the base. Pipe out a generous amount of icing the length one of the walls onto the base. Carefully place the wall on it and let it sit for a few minutes. Apply icing to the vertical edge of the wall and to the base and attach the front of the house. Repeat this process until all four sides of the house are attached.
8. Use cans to support the sides and let the icing harden for about an hour before adding the roof. Decorate the miscellaneous pieces while you wait for the walls to dry.
9. Pipe a generous amount of icing along the top of the walls and add one side of the roof. Support the roof by placing a small can or jar under it. Pipe the other walls and the roof edge and add the second side of the roof. Add icing under the roof eaves and even some candies to help support it. Support the second roof side with a jar or can and allow it to dry for about an hour.
10. Decorate the house. This is a great place to get creative. We have found that leftover Halloween candy is an excellent source for decorating. Small candies like M&Ms and Skittles work well, as do candy canes, peppermints, sprinkles, licorice, lollipops, even pretzels, cookies, and raisins. To attach a decoration, apply a dab of icing and then affix the candy.
11. Decorate the yard by adding trees, pavers, animals, a fence, etc. Again, add a generous dab of icing and then apply the decoration.
Makes enough for one gingerbread house that is about 7 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 7 inches tall.
4 1/2 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.
In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Mix in the molasses and vanilla and blend until it is fully combined. Add the dry ingredients a cup at a time, mixing after each addition. If needed, work the last cup of flour into the dough with your hands. The dough should be stiff, but still moist and smooth, not dry or crumbly.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or overnight. The dough can keep in the refrigerator for several days or for several months in the freezer. (If you freeze the dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before using it.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and roll the dough our directly onto the parchment (To make it easier, set the cookie sheet on a dish cloth and find a pair of small hands to hold the corners of the parchment paper while you roll.) Roll it 3/8 of an inch thick. Place the templates on the dough and cut out the house pieces and any other desired shapes with a sharp knife. If you cut windows or a door, do not remove them from the dough before baking. Form any scraps into a ball and flatten it for reuse.
Bake the dough until it is firm, about 12 to 15 minutes for house parts, and 5 or so minutes for smaller decorative pieces. Bake similar sizes on the same sheet because the length of time will vary significantly depending on the size of the shape being baked.
After removing the sheet from the oven, immediately cut out the windows and door from the house. Those pieces can be used as shutters or paving stones.
Let the gingerbread cool for about a minute on the baking sheet before moving the pieces to a rack to cool. When they have cooled completely, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store them on a firm surface such as a flat plate or cutting board until it is time to assemble the house.
Makes enough for one gingerbread house that is about 7 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 7 inches tall.
1 pound confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon hot tap water
In the bowl of a mixer, wisk the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder together. Add the cream of tartar and mix again.
Put the bowl onto the mixer stand, add the hot water and beat for 3 or 4 minutes at low speed until no lumps remain. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again until the icing holds stiff peaks, 5 to 8 minutes.
Keep the icing bowl covered with a wet kitchen towel or plastic wrap when it is not being used because it dries out quickly. The icing can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Before using it, remove it from the refrigerator and mix it again until it forms stiff peaks.
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Inspired by SouleMama, here is a snapshot of a moment from the week that I want to capture. Feel free to leave a link to your moment in the comment section.
Twilight.
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As we head towards the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to pause to think about the many things for which I am grateful. Much on my mind are the difficult illnesses of two people we love very much. Yet there is still much that fills me with gratitude.
~ Small, kind acts from adults and children alike, such as a gentle touch, a willing companion, or a batch of cookies lovingly made.
~ The awareness that the depth of sorrow comes from knowing how much joy is possible.
~ The resiliency of children.
~ Conspiracies between siblings.
~ Abundant food and an abundance of family with whom to share it.
~ A husband who drives that extra mile, again and again.
~ A wicked sense of humor.
~ The history that I share with my siblings -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
~ The power of music -- played, sung, or heard -- to lift my spirits (Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep is still hanging in as my favorite album of the year).
What are you grateful for this year? I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.
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My birthday is tomorrow and with plans for a party, last minute Halloween preparations, and life's general chaos, the recipes that I have rattling around in my head will have to wait until next week.
We'll be celebrating Halloween here with a golden retriever, Chewbacca, and Pippi Longstocking. Gabe and I are even dressing up this year, but since I will see some of you in costume this weekend, I'll wait to see if you can tell who we are.
Happy Halloween to all of you!
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I can't believe I have taken such a long break! I didn't intend to, but we went up to the lake for 2 weeks and let the relaxation seep in. And we unplugged. Up there in the woods, there is no cell phone reception, no WiFi, and no television. It's just lake, boats, and each other.
And by each other, I mean 16 of my favorite people in the world, my sisters, parents, and all of our children. There were tons of cousins, slipping right back into that cousin love that comes so naturally.
And I got to spend time with my sisters. We did a good bit of relaxing and even went water skiing behind the boat that we learned to ski on more than 30 (gulp) years ago. Gliding around that lake on water skis again transported me back many years. And now the next generation is giving it a go.
If you've been following me on Twitter, you know that my sisters and I are planning to do a triathlon together and in addition to sitting around gabbing we did lots of training. The Adirondacks are a great place to swim/bike/run, and all that is way more fun with my sisters. So was the ice cream afterwards. But I don't think anyone had more fun than Buddy, who was free to run and swim to his heart's content. He spent hours standing in the lake chasing minnows, ducks, and, frogs, and plowing through weeds and muck. We definitely saw the retriever side of his personality as he repeatedly tried to retrieve anyone who swam out far into the lake, even grabbing me by the arm and trying to haul me to shore during one of my training swims.
We also had a week with just our family which gave us time to play in the sand, paddle around, play cards, and eat lots of foods that we try to avoid the rest of the year. Heaven, really.
A quick father-son trip to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame generated much discussion of baseball history and trivia, and lots of time practicing baseball, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, but always with a mini souvenir bat and a ping pong ball. I think Oscar was impressed with Rod Carew's stories of playing baseball as a child with a paper plate for a mitt and a wad of paper for a ball.
It was a great summer and I'm not quite ready to leave it behind. Olivia captured it for me yesterday morning just before she headed off for her first day of school: "I'm just so sad that summer is over!" But after a couple of weeks of adjustment we will be back into our fall routine. The children are all looking forward to being back in school, seeing their friends every day, and getting started with their various fall activities.
And I'm looking forward to spending some more time here with you. Because I have missed writing and hearing from all of you. So yesterday, while the house was quiet -- just Buddy and I and the air conditioning repair man -- I started plugging in again. We have still been cooking over here, and I am working on a few scrumptious things to share with you.
I hope that your summer is winding down nicely and that you carry some of the good parts with you as long as possible. Welcome back!
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I left work early last Thursday, swung by home to pick up the makings of the crostini, and headed up to Annapolis for the governor's picnic. It was a bit of an odd contrast, going from lawyer mode in my air conditioned office to catering mode in the heat of summer, but not that different from those transitions that I make as a mother: from professional in a (mostly) rational work environment to nanny/laundress/cook/bottle washer/referee in a world where chaos is king.
Minutes before I left the house, I realized that the tent I had borrowed from a friend (thanks, Pam and Chris!) was tan, not white as had been requested by the coordinators of the event. It was too late to do anything about it, so I headed up anyway, hopeful that my non-regulation tent wouldn't get me thrown out.
It worked out fine, though, because as I pulled up, I saw a yellow and a blue tent on the lawn. Apparently the white tent is more of an aspiration than a requirement. Phew. My friend Mary of The Abundant Backyard came with me and helped me set up and get organized, as did Olivia, who has been incredibly helpful these days.
The crostini were so much easier to assemble than the grape leaves were last year. For one thing, I got to stand over a cooler instead of a grill, and Gabe and all of the kids helped assemble. It seemed that everyone who tried the dish liked it, although I was a bit disappointed that the bread did not hold its crunch. I had not taken into account that on a 1,894 degree day with 199% humidity, toasted bread does not stay crunchy. Every time I do this I learn something.
My favorite tent was the one set up by the Baltimore City Schools, which now has a program, Great Kids Farm, that gets students involved in growing, harvesting, and preparing fresh meals for their school cafeterias. They served pasta salad, and I have had many disappointing pasta salads in my day, but this one was actually quite tasty. Olivia pronounced it "100 times better than my school cafeteria's lunches" (are you listening, Jerry Weast?!?!) and went over to tell the chefs (and get a second bowl).
Oscar decided that our booth was the favorite even before he tried the crostini, "because it's our family!" followed by the Kilby's ice cream booth which was heavily sampled by our children and at least one of their parents. He got into the spirit of telling anyone who approached our tent about hidethecheese, even pressing one of my postcards on Maryland's first lady, Katie O'Malley.
I loved seeing the garden that Mrs. O'Malley had set up to ensure that her family eats the freshest vegetables. The broccoli and Swiss chard looked particularly beautiful.
So despite our debate about whether it was one degree hotter or one degree cooler than last year, we all had a good time, hanging out in the company of others who grow, prepare, and eat good, fresh food. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
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Inspired by SouleMama, I
will try to post a snapshot each Friday (without words) of a
moment from the week that I want to capture. If you're inspired to do
the same, leave a link to your moment -- or describe it in words if you
don't have a link to a photo -- in the comment section.
Is it really July already? Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
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Today is the official first day of summer for us; the children's last day of school was yesterday. Some of my favorite summer memories are long, lazy days curled up with a good book. What a luxury to have uninterrupted time to become absorbed into another place or time. Last year I started what I hope will be an annual tradition around here: a book (or more) on the end of each child's bed to greet them on the first day of vacation.
I gathered these at one of my favorite places for gathering used books, the annual Stone Ridge Book Sale. They have lots of children's books and just about any other category you can imagine. I have spent a good deal of time there digging through cookbooks. This year, Chloe will get three Beatrix Potter books: The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and The Story of Miss Moppett. I'm realizing that we need to read more books to her that are appropriate for her little self instead of geared toward her older siblings, and I hope that these fit the bill.
For Oscar, I have wrapped up Jack London's The Call of the Wild and the first of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning. None of the children has delved into the Lemony Snicket series yet. I think that the books are a bit dark, but I think Oscar will like that. Any thoughts from those of you who have read them?
Olivia will wake up to find Tolkien's The Hobbit for the adventurer in her. I haven't read it since I was a child and may need to read it again, too. Since she is an animal lover, I am hoping that she will also enjoy Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle.
My hope is that these books will put us on the path to some relaxing summer reading. Well, this and the 50 or so books that we got out of the library yesterday afternoon.
What will your children be reading this summer?
Happy vacation!
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As you may have guessed if you saw this picture a few weeks back, we hosted a family of robins this spring. When we returned from our spring break trip, I found long grass, hay, and flower blossoms strewn on top of the fan on our porch and on the floor below. I thought the children had collected the materials from the yard for one of their games. It briefly occurred to me that it might have been birds, but there was no sign of a nest, just loose bits of materials. I cleaned most of it up and went on my way.
A few days later, though, it was back. This time I let it be and after a few days, there was a nest on top of the fan. I had a brief chat with the mama bird, suggesting that perhaps a fan was not the best place to build a nest. But I also told her that she was welcome as long as we could use the porch too. She decided to stay. Soon I saw her spending a lot of time sitting in her nest, and I assumed that she had laid her eggs.The nest was too high for me to see into, even climbing onto a table or step stool. Then one day when we were on the porch, I saw Buddy lap up a robin's eggshell, the first indication that perhaps the babies had arrived.
Before we left for Memorial Day weekend, the chicks looked big. I think there were four of them, although I'm not entirely sure because they were wigglers. They looked too big for the nest and I had a feeling that they would fly soon. I just hoped that we would get to watch some of the lessons.
That was when my curiosity got the better of me, and I climbed on top of the table and reached the camera up to see if it could see what I couldn't. It caught that sweet little beak. And later, more of them. Each morning during this period, I would check on the nest before I headed off to work and I would see the robin parents coming back to the nest repeatedly with a worm, a mulberry, or some other treat for their babes. So sweet.
When we returned, one of the first things I did was check the nest. I couldn't see any birds in it. I checked again and again over the next few days, but there was no sign of any of them. They were gone. Just like that, they had learned to fly and off they went. And they didn't even say goodbye.
My first empty nest experience. I know that many of you have experienced this with your children. Or are experiencing it with your children over and over as children go back and forth to school. Although I'm sure that there will be things I love about the days when my children head off on their own -- the ability to spontaneously go out, time with Gabe, time to travel, just time -- I know that I will also miss the children terribly. I'm trying to keep that empty nest in mind during these hectic days of rushing here, there, and everywhere. It can be exhausting at times, but it is also wonderful to have a house so full of activity, enthusiasm, and life.I try to remind myself of this when I get overwhelmed by the to-ing and fro-ing, the piles of stuff everywhere, and the general chaos. I know my time is limited.
One thing that I thought was very interesting about the robins is that the parents left the nest too. Maybe they just couldn't take how quiet the nest was without their chicks. I'd like to think that they headed off to the Caribbean for some rest and relaxation. An excellent coping strategy that I may have to adopt when the time comes.
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I have been blessed with a wonderful mother. There are so many things that I love about her, but today I am particularly grateful for the freedom that she has given me. At some point, she stepped back and set me free to have my own life's experiences. I'm not sure when this letting go started, although I distinctly remember telling her, "I can decide for myself, I'm eleven!" Maybe that's when she decided that a little distance would be a good idea. Ahem. (This is a particularly frightening thought since Olivia is now ten!)
But at some point she gave me the freedom to make my own mistakes, and I have made plenty of them. Some I continue to make over and over, but I have learned from a few. Even with all of my mistakes and imperfections, though, I do not remember Mom ever giving me unsolicited advice, telling me how to do things differently or better.
Now that I am a mother, I realize how hard it is to stand on the sidelines while my children stumble, how hard it is to restrain myself when I feel like I could tell them how to do it better. I am nowhere near as good at this as my mother. Thank you so much, Mom, for this gift.
If you are inspired to do so, feel free to share something about your mothers in the comment section. And Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have mothered someone.
On a more practical note, here are a few ideas from the archives of recipes for a Mother's Day brunch: blueberry crumb cake, kale and gruyere strata, lavender buttermilk biscuits, candied ginger scones, almond granola, green eggs, no ham. Enjoy!
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We are about to launch on a grand adventure. We are taking the children to Rome and Paris. As soon as the kids were old enough to hold a fork, we told them that if they could learn to twirl their pasta, we would take them to Italy. And now, after years of dreaming about it, the time has come.
Gabe and I were both lucky enough to spend some years of our childhood in Europe and we have traveled there a few times together. We went to Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium the summer after law school. We got engaged in Italy, in Positano, or Propositano, as Sarah calls it. And we spent our honeymoon jumping from Island to Island in the Lipari Islands, just off the northern coast of Sicily. A few summers later, Sarah, Ed, Gabe, and I took an amazing trip to Sicily. The island has been host to many cultures, including the Greeks and northern Africans, and those influences make it a rich, unique place. Italy in particular is a place that holds many memories and a bit of magic for us.
But that was all before we had little people to care for. Things do change with them in the picture, don't they? I feel like our love of other lands is such a big part of who Gabe and I are and yet we haven't had the chance to share much of that with the children. So now we have our chance.
The other night, we spread a map of Rome out on the dining room table, and each of us took a sheet of paper and drew something that inspired us. I took the not-so-creative route of trying to draw my own map, but it helped me orient key sites in a way that I had not before. Eva, Gabe's mom, drew monuments for us to plot. Chloe drew pictures of Pinocchio dolls that she had seen in a guide book. I love that little row of boys! Olivia drew places and thoughts that inspire her, and Oscar mapped out all the parking garages. Gabe's map highlighted a few sites and some walking routes, all of which tracked through a pizzeria or gelateria. All roads may lead to Rome, but all of our walks will lead to food.
Tomorrow we will draw Paris. Gabe and I don't have much of a history there, so it will be a place that we discover as a family. We are already well primed with our loves of cheese, bread, wine, and hot chocolate. I think we'll do just fine.
I just had to share this photo of Oscar. We took it last fall when we found a beret in the hat box as we were getting them out for the winter. He looked so French in it that we had to give him a baguette to hold, too. Don't worry, I promise not to dress him like that while we're there, although baguette-carrying will be strongly encouraged.
I have a few recipes that I'm eager to share with you, so I will post a bit while I'm away, maybe with less writing, though. When I return, I hope to have lots of pictures and stories to share. And maybe even a few recipes.
If we have as much fun in Paris and Rome as we have had planning, dreaming, and drawing, I'll be thrilled.
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We do not usually blow the egg out of the shell when we make Easter eggs. But my sister has beautiful eggs that she saves from year to year and about this time in the spring she gets them out and hangs them from the chandelier in her dining room. It is a lovely symbol of spring, and I decided to try it this year.
Most years, we decorate our eggs with flowers and natural dyes, but blown eggs do not submerge easily into the dye. And it's always nice to try something different. So this year, we decorated the eggs with pastel-colored tissue paper. The result was delicately-colored eggs that looked so perfect for the beginning of spring. The tissue paper gets dipped in water laced with a bit of white glue. When the eggs dry, the paper can be peeled off and the color will remain. Or the paper can be left on. As Gabe's mom, Eva, observed, with the tissue still on, they look like papier mâché.
I am sure that there are many techniques for blowing out eggs, but the one that worked best for us was to start with a small needle and then progress to a bigger needle, a small nail, and finally a bigger nail. Once the children realized that a larger hole made it easier to blow out the egg, some of the holes got really big. This is not such a problem with this decorating technique, though, because the tissue paper can be placed strategically to cover the holes.
Egg dyeing, daffodills, Easter and Passover around the corner. Can it really be spring?
Second helping (from the archives): Natural Egg Dyes with Botanic Prints
Tissue Paper Easter Eggs
a dozen white eggs
2 needles of different thicknesses
2 nails of different thicknesses
a wooden mallet or block
a few small sheets of colored tissue paper
scissors
a small bowl of water mixed with a splash of white glue
an empty egg carton to hold the eggs while they dry
6 toothpicks, broken in half
thread
To blow out the eggs, begin by gently tapping the smallest needle into one end of the egg. Work your way up to a bigger hole by progressing to the bigger needle, the smaller nail, and finally, the biggest nail. Tap gently and slowly to keep the egg from cracking. Repeat on the other end of the egg. Insert a long needle into one end of the egg and pierce the yolk (you will know you have succeeded if the needle comes out yellow).
Over a large bowl, blow into one end of the egg until all of the egg appears to have dripped out the other end. Depending on the size of the holes and the force of your lungs, this could take a few minutes per egg.
Once the egg is out, rinse the shell to remove any residual stickiness. To decorate the eggs, dip pieces of tissue paper into the glue-water mixture and affix them to the eggs. Cover the holes if you like. When the eggs are covered to your liking, set then in the egg carton to dry. When the eggs have dried completely, either peel off the paper or leave it on, depending on the look you want.
If you want to hang the eggs, tie a piece of thread around one end of a toothpick half. Tie a loop in the other end. Push the toothpick through the hole in the egg all the way. Once it is inside, gently shake the egg until the toothpick settles away from the hole. Use the loop on the other end of the thread to hang the egg.
Print Recipe
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When pregnant with Olivia, this Irish lass was very amused that my due date was Saint Patrick's Day. But when, two years later, the doctor told me that I again was due on March 17, I was shocked. As it turned out, neither Olivia nor Oscar was born on Saint Patrick's Day, but their birthdays are close enough that we have quite an eventful middle March.
Today, Olivia is double digits, entering her first decade. It is amazing to me and unfathomable that, in another 10 years, she may no longer be living under our roof. She may have launched out on her own adventure. Of course, I hope she has a life filled with fantastic experiences in the world, but right now it is hard to imagine not seeing her every day.
And as our friend Carrie, a math teacher, pointed out to us many years ago, Olivia's birthday falls on pi day. 3.14. Auspicious, to be sure, and she has indeed brought us many blessings.
Last night, Olivia had a slumber party with homemade pizza and chocolate cake fashioned into a witch's hat to celebrate her love of Harry Potter. The children decorated t-shirts using freezer paper stencils, watched The Parent Trap (the original), and drank butter beer. I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm not sure how much longer our kids will want us to throw them parties. I tried to get them to sign written contracts today saying that we could throw them birthday parties well into their teens, but they wouldn't go for it.
I'll just have to be content with this day then, today, when Olivia is enthusiastic about her party, her gifts, and her day, rainy as it is. I mean when she saw her cake, which was supposed to be a black hat but came out more purple-y, did she complain? No, she did not. She said, "I love the color, it is so silver-y and magical. Much better than black." Sigh. I am treasuring these moments.
I hope that you are treasuring your moments today, too.
By the way, I soon will post a recipe for the chocolate sheet cake that I used to make the hat. It is delicious (even if my cake decorating skills leave room for improvement).
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I don't know how it happened, but Oscar will be eight today. He's not there yet, because it won't happen until 6:50 this evening. He is very insistent about this. But it will happen, despite all my protestations.
To celebrate, we started the day by bringing him breakfast in bed. Our tradition is that during breakfast, I tell him the story of the day he was born, ending with a line about how when he was ready to meet us, he appeared, never mind that it was only 20 minutes after I arrived at the hospital. Today, when I started the story, he said, "I've heard this story a million times, but I still love it." Me too, sweet boy.
There will be cake at school. The party with his friends isn't until next weekend, but we will have a family dinner with one special friend and eat macaroni and cheese and banana cream pie. At our preschool, Acorn Hill, we picked up a birthday tradition of telling a story about each year of our children's lives, and we will continue that by telling the highlights of Oscar's life so far. And we will watch a movie, Herbie the Love Bug.
I will enjoy seeing him happy, soaking in all the birthday joy. I will also be melancholy because these years are flying by so fast. Always too fast. But what a blessing it is to have this boy in our lives.
Happy birthday, Oscar!
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So here we are in the depths of winter, under tons of snow. It has been the snowiest winter in this area's recorded history, I understand. We found ourselves at Sears this past weekend to replace the dishwasher, the latest applicance to succumb to the curse that I seem to have with electronics of all sorts. The children love playing on the riding mowers so I took them there to keep them occupied while Gabe closed the deal. I tried to imagine having a lawn to mow and it was beyond my capabilities. The sight of green ground and the smell of freshly mowed lawn seem so far away.
You would think that with all of the snow days that we have had, I would have written and posted several recipes. But instead, I got sidetracked. Outside, there was lots of sledding, rolling down hills, building tunnels and forts, gathering and licking icicles, flying off the swing into deep snow, and wintry walks with Buddy. Inside, we played games, read books, watched movies, cooked, ate, made valentines, and then started that all over again. And we attended many neighborhood parties, enjoying sharing the impromptu winter break with friends. But writing? Not so much.
Today the children go back to school and I return to work after our 10-day hiatus, and I think we all will be happy to get into a routine again. I'm hoping to spend more time in this space because even though I haven't been writing, I have been cooking. And photographing. I have lots to share, starting with these pictures of the snow.
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Now that January is over, I wanted to reflect on our family dinner project. In some ways, it was easier than I thought it would be to get together for a meal every day. And it was usually dinner. I think there was only one day in the month when we could not make dinner work, and we had lunch together insetad.
But it wasn't always easy. The primary challenge was that we ended up eating later than I would have liked. Chloe and Oscar definitely begin to unravel for each minute that we push dinner past 6 or so. But Gabe doesn't get home till late a couple of nights, and Olivia has swim team practice from 5 to 6:30 twice a week which means that we don't eat till past 7. My goal has been to develop some healthy appetizers or heartier snacks that would carry Chloe and Oscar to a later dinner, but I haven't done it yet. Instead, when they wandered into the kitchen when I was preparing dinner, I gave them a nibble of something to tide them over. It was a bit haphazard but averted meltdowns most nights.
On a less practical level, I have loved our time together each day. I can get so caught up in getting through my To Do list that I don't pause. This project forced me to stop and soak in all that lovely family time. It's all passing so quickly, this time we have together, and I want to look back with as few regrets as possible. I have many shortcomings as a person and as a mother, but I hope that they will be balanced out by the memories that each of us will have of happy times together. And of some damn good food.
And if you're wondering about the pictures above, we have now expanded our family to include one very handsome boy, a golden retriever named Buddy. He is 2 1/2 years old, and incredibly gentle and sweet. We got him through Golden Retriever Rescue Education and Training, an organization that does fantastic work rescuing and fostering golden retrievers until they find permanent homes. Buddy is the first dog I have ever had and, after a week with him, I get it. He is great company and if he's not sitting on my feet while I'm typing away, he is close by. Knowing we have a dog at home is an incentive to get home and stay there, too.
We are going to continue our dinner project into February. How about you? Are you all having family meals together? I'd love to hear how it is going.
From the archives, you may want to check: Black Bean and Monterey Jack Casserole and Wee Hand Made Valentine's Day Cards.
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I have been wanting to get the children involved in more handmade gift giving, but it has not been easy to find a gift that is easy for them to accomplish and still, um, how to put this tactfully. . . something that the recipient would enjoy. But this year, these puzzles and calendars worked out beautifully.
I had read about Bare Books on Soule Mama's blog, and I went there looking for blank journals for the children with the thought that they might like to make books for each other. But I also found blank calendars and puzzles, and thought they would be the perfect gift for the children to make. They were surprisingly affordable, too.
I expected a bit of resistance from the children when I suggested that they each make multiple drawings so that they could make calendars for all of the grandparents and for Gabe. I prepared myself to try my best powers of persuasion and reconciled myself to the thought that I might have them color just one calendar, and I could photocopy it. Instead, they surprised me with their exuberance.
They had a great time huddling over the calendars, making sure that each child drew 4 pictures for each calendar. And they had a great time planning what to draw for each month that would be seasonally appropriate. My favorite sequence was "April showers", "Mayflower."
Oscar also made a puzzle for Chloe. The puzzle comes blank, and he drew an aquatic theme for her. I was a bit taken aback when I saw his blue on blue color scheme, because I thought Chloe would never be able to assemble it. But with a little help, she managed quite well.
Olivia also came up with the least expensive but most precious gifts for us, these little coupons that entitle us to back scratches, a day of company, or a game-making session. And for Oscar, her Star Wars loving buddy, she made a little Yoda doll. She loosely followed this pattern and had just a bit of help from her mama.
It was so gratifying to see these kids off and inventing and creating for others. I can't wait to see what they come up with next.
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I can't believe it, but a year ago tomorrow, I posted my first recipe (banana chocolate chip snack cakes). I have loved working on this blog far more than I ever thought I would. It has been a wonderful outlet for my creative urges to photograph, cook, and write. A much better midlife crisis activity than buying a little red convertible, I think (not that I'm ruling that out!).
Thank you all so much for coming to this space, reading, trying recipes, and commenting. I love knowing that there is a community of people out there that shares my interest in cooking and building a family from the kitchen out. And thanks so much for sharing this site with your friends and family.
2010 has started out with a swirl of bad news, tough battles for those near and far. I am so glad to have this space to fill with something positive, and I hope that you will continue to share it with me.
All the best,
Margy
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One of my goals with my children has been to give them a gift for Christmas each year that I have made. This would probably be easy if I were a knitter, a sewer, or super crafty. But I'm not. I'm long on goals, but short on time and talent.
I confess that I know how to knit, but I'm just not very good or fast at it. I have made each of the children a scarf, but I could only produce one each year, and even that was a challenge. My mom acquired a sewing machine for me, and it sat in the box for about 2 years. I pulled it out this year to work on Halloween consumes, and I really loved it. I still don't have any idea what I'm doing, but my mother gave me a quick tutorial, and I just decided to blunder my way through it. It has been quite fun.
So now that our 12 days of Christmas have passed, I thought I would share these simple, quick gift ideas. I will try to post one a week for the next few weeks. If you have any handmade gift ideas that you would be willing to share, please post them in the comments. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would welcome new ideas.
Hand Warmers
My children are fascinated by fingerless gloves or mittens. I'm not sure if they have a proper name, but we call them hand warmers. I had thought about knitting some and several knitters have told me how easy they are to make. But making thumb holes and knitting on round needles, those just aren't skills I have. When my sister, Sarah, overheard someone talking at a party about how to make them out of old sweaters, I thought that sounded like something I could handle.
I did get these made for the kids year. Thank goodness we celebrate 12 days of Christmas because I finished these up on about day 9. They have been wearing them to school, to play outside, or just around the house. Sometimes they wear them inside out or upside down, but I don't care what they do with them so long as they enjoy them. Oscar wore them to bed the other night, but they must have gotten too hot at some point because I found them hanging on the side of the bed in the morning.
Chloe also spotted a pair on the cover of the Once soundtrack (Great movie and great soundtrack, by the way. "Broken-Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy" has become a family favorite).
I'm going to make myself a pair, too. My hands get so cold in the winter when I'm typing on the computer in our basement office. I also think they would be great for reading in bed. You know, for that 3 minutes of reading that I do at night before I conk out. Sometimes I'm toasty under the covers, but my hands have to be out to hold the book. I think a pair of these will do the trick.
Here are the steps to make them.
1. Get a sweater from the thrift store. You want cashmere or wool so that you can felt it (see below). I found a few old cashmere sweaters for $3 or $4 each.
2. Cut the sleeves off the sweaters and run them through the washing machine with hot water and soap. Depending on how small they are at the end of the process you may want to repeat it and/or run them through the dryer, too. It took a couple of washings and dryings for me to get the sweaters the size I wanted. Some felted better than others, but when they were done, they were small enough to fit a child.
3. Hem the top of the arm where it was cut from the sweater. You can do this on a sewing machine or by hand. If the sweater still looks too big, you can turn it inside out and sew it along the length on the seam side to make it narrowser.
4. Cut a hole for the thumb on the seam side. Sew around the hole to keep it from raveling.
5. Decorate as you like. I cut out small pieces of felt and sewed them on as decorations. Chloe got flowers, Olivia's were bears traced from a drawing of her teddy bear that she had made, and Oscar's was... well, he thought it was a bear at first, but it actually something from Star Wars. Any Star Wars fans out there want to venture a guess?
6. Wrap them up and give them away.
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These days here have been filled with busyness. Making, baking, wrapping. So many secret things being created and hidden. And, of course, there was the preparation of the reindeer stew (for the reindeer, not of the reindeer).
I get so caught up in all of the preparation, that I have to consciously slow myself down to take time to play in the snow or snuggle by the tree. I want to enjoy these moments of peace and togetherness. We celebrate the 12 days of Chirstmas with a gift or family activity each day. I'll take some time off from this site to enjoy that, but I'll be back in the new year
I hope that whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate, you will enjoy it in the company of loved ones. And with a good helping of reindeer stew.
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I felt the joy of all my blessings this weekend, including:
- grandchildren snuggled into their grandparents' laps
- aunts and uncles who know just the right thing to say or do to connect with nieces and nephews
- sharing our gratitude
- several occasions to gather with friends and family to share a meal
- so many conversations in so many corners
- Chloe finding the perfect potato for the season
- delicious, abundant food
- working together to cook and clean; and repeat
- a warm home
- a sister who chose a perfect, hilarious gift
What a day! What a weekend!
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I can't think of a better way to spend the day than cooking and sharing a meal with family. One of my best Thanksgiving memories was the year that Olivia suggested that we all write down what we were thankful for and she would read them aloud. She perched her newly-reading self on a corner of the couch and read all of our lists. I know I saved those lists somewhere in this house, but I have no idea where. I do remember that most of us included each other on our lists in some form or another, but there were also a few hilarious ones. One of Gabe's top ten was butter.
Each year since, we have undertaken a similar ritual, taking a bit of time out of the day to share our gratitude. My list of things that I am thankful for is very long. I don't want to bore you with the entire list, but I can't let this opportunity pass without sharing a few.
- I am so, so thankful for my children, who keep me reminded of what is most important in life: enthusiasm for life's little treasures, complete absorption into the task at hand, the power of a good snuggle, silly, silly giggles, and the enjoyment of simply being together. And to Gabe, for being my partner in this life.
- I am also extremely thankful for having one of my sisters and my parents so close by. I miss my far-away sister and brother, but it is a gift to have family in the neighborhood. My children are growing up close to their cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandparents. And I have my oldest friends a few steps away.
- This year, I have this blog to be grateful for. After so many years working in the not-so-creative legal profession, I am loving this outlet for my creative impulses to cook, photograph, and write. Thank you for reading!
- On a more mundane note, I am also thankful this year for our own pile of fire wood. For years, we have burned wood that we bought or that my father generously gave us after collecting it throughout the year and splitting it. This year, though, we got a stash of wood from a neighbor who had taken down a tree and we have hauled, sawed, and split our way to a nice pile. The kids got into the act too, trying out the splitting and collecting kindling. Come on, winter, we are ready for you!
I am looking forward to Thursday's dinner with Sarah and Ed and their children, my parents, Gabe's mom, and my oh-so-special aunt and uncle from New York. Sarah and Ed will bring the fried turkey and apple and Boston cream pies. My mom will make her classic sage stuffing and cranberry sauce. We'll make vegetable shepherd's pie, and a couple of other pies, probably pecan and pear tarte tatin, and I think I'll try that Calvados Apple Galette from Gourmet. And I think we'll do some Brussels sprouts and extra mashed potatoes. Do you think that's enough?
If everything goes as planned, after dinner, we'll have a game of hide the cheese. The weather forecast now is for a cold, rainy day. I'm okay with that, though, because I want to see if we can put a dent in our wood pile.
What will you be having on your Thanksgiving table? What are you grateful for right now? Wherever you spend it, I wish you a warm and delicious holiday.
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We have had a busy couple of weeks around here. Camps for the children, the Governor's House shindig, and, on Saturday night, a big bash at Sarah and Ed's vineyard to celebrate my father's birthday. I am so happy to have my far away sister and brother here with their families. The party was wonderful, with family and friends gathered to honor and celebrate Dad.
In case you are wondering about the food -- which is, of course, what I would be wondering -- we served the lentil and feta salad, and this potato salad (with green beans, which are now in season, substituted for the asparagus). Ed grilled salmon, Sarah made a strawberry soda, and we had local cheeses from Cherry Glen and Chapel's Country Creamery. I made this cake from one of my favorite cooking sites, www.smittenkitchen.com. The frosting was very easy to work with, and the cake was delicious. Sarah suggested decorating with Black-Eyed Susans, which were perfect for a summer party.
Now we are all headed off for some much-needed rest and fun at the cabin in the Adirondacks where we went as children. It will be wonderful to be there together, sharing with our children the joys and delights of summer at the lake. I wish you all a wonderful couple of weeks, too. Wherever you spend it, I hope there will be family and good food.
I have a few posts set to publish while I am away that I think you will enjoy. See you in August!
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Last Thursday was Maryland Governor O'Malley's Buy Local Cookout. Sarah was there with her Black Ankle wine, Tracy Kirkman came from Cherry Glen, and I was there with tons and tons of stuffed grape leaves. Mostly I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I hope that they give you a sense of the charm of Annapolis and the festive mood of the day. It was a fabulous experience.
The process of getting ready for the cook out was fascinating, and I learned a few things.
Thing 1 - If you make 397 of something, you will get better at it. Although this was my first stuffed grape leaf experience, by the end of the process, my system was efficient and I had learned how to fold the grape leaves just so to make sure that they would hold as much filling as possible without tearing or leaking. And sitting in my kitchen, listening to music, doing the same thing over and over and over and over was actually quite pleasant.
Thing 2 - It really does take a village: Anita lent me a tent; Travis produced a grill, grilling implements, even propane; Mary brought flowers and helped throughout; and it was so good to work side-by-side with Kathy again. Olivia took many of the pictures for this post. Gabe washed more dishes than a person should have to and kept things humming at home. And, of course, Sarah and Tracy supplied the ingredients as well as lots of moral and practical support. The whole experience reinforced the sense of community that "buying local" fosters.
Thing 3 - Our governor is a super guy. He went from booth to booth and tasted all of the food. Maybe this is to be expected of him because he is a politician, but there was a lot of food, and yet he made it around and said very nice things (he loves grape leaves, maybe because of his Greek heritage! and he thought Black Ankle's syrah was delicious). And, long after the press had left and the cameras had been put away, he offered our children and their parents a tour of the inside of Governor's House. Two tours to accomodate all of us, actually. He genuinely seemed to enjoy the children and engaged them in conversation, maybe because he has four children of his own.
Thing 4 - This is a great time of year to buy local, and Maryland is a great place to do it. We have seafood, dairy products, produce, and many varieites of meat. I'm sure this is true of most states, especially at this time of year when the produce is so bountiful. So if you're not already hooked on the idea of buying local, take Governor O'Malley's challenge and eat one thing from a local farm each day this week.
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So do you remember that a couple of weeks ago, I told you that Sarah and I had jointly submitted recipes for Maryland Governor O'Malley's Buy Local Cookout? Well, we just learned that the recipe for Grilled Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary was selected to be featured at the Cookout. How exciting is that?!
This means that on July 16, Sarah and I will trek up to the Governor's mansion, cook up some grape leaves, and pour some wine to celebrate the bounty of Maryland agriculture.
Obviously I am thrilled because it is an honor to have my recipe selected and because it will be fun to go the governor's mansion and see what other farmer-cook teams will be serving. But I am also thrilled because I am a fan of the whole buy local idea. So this is as good a time as any for me to sing the praises of our local farms and markets.
As you know if you have been reading these pages, I am a regular at the farmers' markets. In an ideal week, we go as a family to the market either on Saturday or Sunday morning. The children are a great help, whether by sampling the apples to decide which we should buy or by spotting the first cherries of the season. They are usually eager to carry something in their arms or on their backs. And when they are the ones who have selected the box of zucchini or head of cauliflower, they are much more willing to try whatever concoction Gabe and I come up with for dinner.
Local food tastes better, too. Yes, there are occasionally spots on the snap peas or apples, but generally the produce is beautiful and the flavor is much better. Since local food doesn't need to be shipped, it can be picked at the peak of ripeness, and on your table within the day. Most small, local growers are also keenly aware of how fragile the ecosystem is that supports their livelihood, and they tend to use as few pesticides as they think are necessary. So as I wash those apples, I think of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi, "Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees."
Aside from all of these practical reasons for buying from local farmers, for me there is a more elemental benefit, too. I enjoy talking to the growers and seeing all that they offer because it brings me a bit closer to the source of our food. I know that for many food is just food, but precisely because it is so primal, for me, having a connection to it is important. If we understand more about what it takes to produce our food, we are more deeply connected to the earth and to one another. Eating is something that we have to do, but it is so much better to eat in a way that is meaningful and brings us together as a family and a community.
I don't know if you all are farmers' market shoppers, too. Or maybe you get produce from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. If so, I'd love to hear from you about what motivates you to buy locally and what catches your eye. And if you're not, I encourage you to check out a farmers' market in your area. This is the best time of year to find fabulous produce.
OK, I'm getting off my soapbox now because thanks to the generous assistance of my father, my husband, and a dear friend, I now have 500 or so grape leaves in my refrigerator waiting for my attention. . . Anyone out there want to give me some tips on filling and folding grape leaves?
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Our family has had a wonderful experience at our children's preschool, Acorn Hill. Unless there is a thunderstorm or it is frigid, the children go outside every day. The classrooms are filled with beautiful handcrafted toys made from natural materials, the snacks are healthy, the changes of seasons are celebrated, and the art projects are beautiful. I love it.
To celebrate spring, the teachers make beautiful dyed eggs and wool bunnies to send home with the children. The eggs are exquisite, colored with onion skins, and very simple to make.
For many years now, we have been dying our eggs at home using onion skins and other natural dyes. I have used red cabbage in the past, which turns the eggs a pale blue, but we had a large bag of blueberries in the freezer, so I decided to try them instead this year. I prefer dyes that are edible because we often make egg salad with the cooked eggs. I'd love to hear from any of you who have tried this at home. What other dyes have worked for you?
This year, I used the onion skins for a deep reddish brown color, turmeric for yellow, and the blueberries which colored the eggs a dark gray tinged with a bit of violet, or as Chloe said, the color of a storm cloud.
I found my onion skins at the bottom of an empty crate at the farmer's market; you can find them at the bottom of the onion bin at your favorite store or market. If not, you can always buy several onions, use the skins, and save the onions for another day.
Just before starting the process of making the eggs, gather flowers and leaves from the garden. Any small plant will do. We used vinca, forsythia, oat grass, and lots of weeds, which, as our neighbors can attest, are plentiful in our yard.
You can easily make two dozen eggs with the same batches of dye if you use pots that are large enough to hold the additional eggs. We used both brown and white eggs this year. The brown eggs will take the color, but the contrast with the pattern is less vivid. I do not boil the eggs first, but if you are working with very young children, you may wish to do that so that any dropped eggs will not be too messy.
Our children love to make these eggs. Olivia is old enough to do them independently; Oscar and Chloe needed help with the tying. They enjoy going out to the garden to gather the flowers and leaves, decorating the eggs, lowering them into the pots, and untying them to reveal their designs.
Natural Egg Dyes with Botanic Prints
approximately 4 cups onion skins
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 cup blueberries
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar, divided
1 dozen eggs, preferably white
1 dozen pieces cheesecloth cut into approximately 6-inch squares
1 dozen pieces of thread cut into 6 inch lengths, or twist ties
Place the onion skins, turmeric and blueberries in separate non-reactive pots and add enough water so that an egg placed in them would be submerged.
Select the plant that you would like to use for your egg and place it in the middle of a cheesecloth square. Place the egg on top of it, positioning it carefully so that the plant will leave its impression where you want it. Pull up the corners of the cheesecloth and twist them together tightly. Tie them together with a piece of string or a twist tie. Lower the wrapped egg slowly into the dye of your choice. Continue in this manner until all of the eggs are bundled.
Add 1/2 cup of cider vinegar to each pot. Bring each pot to a gentle boil and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Gently remove an egg from each pot and check the color. If you want a darker color, add more vinegar to the pot and let it simmer a bit longer. Let the water cool and cut the cheesecloth off each egg. Gently rinse the eggs. If you like, you can polish them with a bit of oil, but do this very carefully so the color does not come off.
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Apparently, the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach, too. Or at least that is true for this woman. For two years in a row, our school's silent auction offered the opportunity to be a guest chef at a local ice cream parlor, Moorenko's. And for two years in a row we lost out to other bidders. So this year my husband bypassed the auction and gave me a gift certificate to design and make my own flavor at Moorenko's. Creating my own ice cream flavor? What could be better!
Susan Soorenko is Moorenko's founder, owner, and chief ice cream maker. She is passionate and clearly dedicated to producing the highest quality product possible. Her ice cream is ultra premium, made with local dairy products, and delicious. She has traditional flavors like mint chocolate chip and strawberry, but also a host of inventive flavors. We have loved the wild blueberry, bittersweet chocolate, and campari-grapefruit sorbet. Olivia loves the cotton candy gummy bear, but my favorite is cherries with the works, which is a vanilla base with Bordeaux cherries, semi-sweet chocolate flakes, and toasted pine nuts.
After exchanging ideas back and forth, Susan and I agreed to a rose flavored ice cream with pistachios. I had had a delicious rose ice cream years ago in a small town in Sicily, Noto. It was one of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. I wanted to try to recreate that flavor. Susan suggested the pistachios, which sounded excellent to me.
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I know this has nothing to do with food or cooking, but once in a while I have to step out of the kitchen.
I love hand made Valentine's Day cards. I don't know whether it is watching my children's little hands make them, listening to their conversation as they work, or the heart-warming (sorry for the pun!) end result. I just love them. This year was full of heart: Oliva made swans that open into a heart, Oscar painted heart cards using a template, and Chloe made heart mice.
The instructions for both the mice and the swans are in a wonderful book called Earthways: Simple Environmental Activites for Young Children by Carol Petrash. It is a fantastic resource for seasonal crafts for children.
So here are a few pictures to celebrate my children's hand work. And I hope your Valentine's Day brings you a unique creation made with small hands.
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