as cozy as spring

Friday Morning Book Post

It IS morning as I write this and I don't even have the perk of a nice cup of coffee these days.  Brace yourselves for some typos (ha, I misspelled typo twice).

I'm reading... Middlemarch! Not only is it killing my pace for 52 in 52 but it is also killing my Friday morning book posts.  My sister has encouraged me to pick up something else in addition to Middlemarch and I think that's a good plan.  Now the internal struggle begins again between the books I want and the freebies.  

Theresa recommended Dust which I did finish and enjoy.  It was pretty creepy but I loved the imagery.  Amazon likened it to a Ray Bradbury story and I think that's spot on.  

My daughter is still making her way through the Bruno and Boots books. I think these are largely out of print which stinks (mine are falling apart).  They are some of my favorites from childhood. It's funny because if I hadn't read them as a child I don't think I would approve of them now, centering, as they do, on the bad behavior of well intentioned children.  They sort of remind me of Calvin and Hobbes and in that, I see them as pretty harmless.  Or at least funny enough that I look the other way!

I ordered Rosemary Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus.  My classically educated daughter loathes anything to do with Greece.  Anything.  I really enjoyed The Eagle of the Ninth so I was hoping these retellings might interest her.  Does anyone have an opinion on these two?

My little boy's current favorite is Hedgie's Surprise.  We don't have many Jan Brett books, but he loves Hedgie.  He still sleeps with his knitted Hedgie (under his pillow, cutest thing ever).  I'm slowly rotating our winter picture books out in favor of spring favorites. Pelle's New Suit and The Bunny Who Found Easter are already out.  And while we aren't having another child just so I can keep my nose in beautifully illustrated picture books for another few years it certainly is a nice perk.  I can stop pre-mourning as I put away Christmas books, "What if this is the last year I read 'The Last Straw'?"  

Well, today looks to be rather indoorsy and I hope to wrap up my first little baby cardigan.  The Journey North Mystery Class clues are out too so that should make for a super fun afternoon.  

Peas

I don't think peas grow very well here in Texas, but I won't know for certain until I've tried it myself!  A friend and I split packs of two varieties and are going to experiment.  I let each of the children plant a variety and followed it up with popsicles for labeling purposes ;). One is Sugar Pod 2 Snow Pea and the other is (unknown because I can't figure out how to get to my old text messages but I hope my friend will comment or something because it's kind of an important part of the experiment).

Miraculously, I was able to find our copy of Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas and we'll read it together this afternoon.  It's beautifully illustrated and a nice introduction to genetics for older children.  I think it really encourages scientific observation which is a habit I continuously strive to cultivate in my little students.  

This and That

*Story Cubes - My brother and sister-in-law gave these to my children for Christmas.  They're so much fun, easy to use and encourage creative story telling.  Love!  (This blog post provided by Story Cubes, which are occupying the children behind me.)

*The new HHS ruling.  I was explaining this to a non-Catholic friend over a lovely brunch yesterday and her immediate reaction was "But that's unconstitutional." Yes, it is.  I don't usually get into politics here but I find this so obviously unconstitutional I think everyone should be outraged.  To make coverage for this (by and large) lifestyle choice mandatory while coverage for actual medical needs shrinks with every passing year just baffles me. I'll link to my friend Faith who has a better post up about it.

*Giving the children control over the IPod while they clean the kitchen is a brilliant idea.  My children clean without complaint and I don't have to face the remnants of late night snacking first thing in the morning.  

*I did knit a bit over the weekend, but not as much as expected.  A family grocery/clothing shopping trip and the aforementioned lovely brunch/trip to the nursery took up most of my weekend.  I hope to finish the cardigan over lessons this week.  I thought the yarn color would be yellow ('Maize' sounds yellow, doesn't it?) but it's exactly color of....coffee ice cream and I don't think I'll have any choice but to use little brown buttons on it.  I want these but they are too big.  I'm about to fall down a button rabbit hole where I spend hours searching for just the right one and will overspend when I find it. 

(photo by my daughter)

My little girl is begging me to get off the computer already so she can look up her favorite author of the moment, Gordon Korman.  I gave her my old copies of the Bruno and Boots books while she was sick last week.  She's now a huge fan (as am I).  She was particularly inspired as Mr. Korman wrote the first book at age 12.  

And oh! Journey North Mystery Class starts today.  I really don't want to add anything to our lessons right now but we are in desperate need of something alive and fun and interactive.  I hope my daughter will take the lead this year.  

Weekend Knitting

I wrote a Friday Morning Book Post and Safari just up and quit on me, as it does.  I don't have the heart to rewrite it.  You can rest assured that I am still reading Middlemarch and will be for the next few months.  I'm really enjoying it, but I'm now 2 weeks in and still only at 7%.  

I've been spending most of my Sundays curled up in my chair by the fire with my Kindle.  But this weekend, after months of queueing, I'm finally reading to cast on something for our baby.  I didn't knit a single thing for my other babies so baby knits are new to me.

Everything I loved on Ravelry came from two sources.  The first: Tricots intemporels pour bébés.  The French I could manage but the price of the book + shipping from Canada?  Far too much of a splurge for me.  The second source: Erika Knight.  I love so many of her baby patterns.  Simple Knits for Cherished Babies came in the mail this week along with some gender neutral yarn.  There are about five patterns in the book I plan on knitting but my daughter wants me to start with the Garter Stitch Cardigan (rav link).

I also hope to plan out our next (last) ten weeks of lessons, clean the house, and do some gardening but that's rather ambitious considering how slowly I do anything these days.

Simple Potato Soup

This is one recipe I've been making for years, long before I was married, and comes from an old Southern Living cookbook.  It's been a hit with everyone because it's super easy, adaptable, and can be relatively low fat.  It's also a great we're-completely-out-of-groceries meal because it is made from very few ingredients, most of which are kept on hand 'round here.

I made it last night which marked the third time I've prepared a real dinner since the end of October.  It was a proud moment.  I was going to print it out for my new binder, so I thought I'd share it here as well.

Chunky Potato Soup

• 3 tbs of butter
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 4 cups of milk (I've always used skim and it works just fine, but I think anything would work)
• 2 cups of diced potatoes
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1/2 tsp or so of salt
• 1/4 tsp or so of pepper

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth.  Cook 1 minute.  Gradually add milk (I use a whisk here).  Stir in potatoes, onion, salt, and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently*, until mixture is thickened and potatoes are tender.

*You really do need to watch it because this soup can scorch on the bottom something awful.  

I've made it in the crock pot as well, but I think it's better on the stove top.  I like it on its own.  My husband likes it topped with bacon, sharp cheese, and chives.  My sister used to add garlic and cheddar while the soup simmered.  Again, it's a very easy to tweak.  I've tried fancier potato soups, but this has always been our favorite.  This one batch serves our family of four for about a meal and a half, but the soup can easily be doubled for a larger family.  

Dinner tonight: I think we're having toasted bagels and fruit and I really think everyone is going to be just fine with it. 

Spring Garden 2012

Our growing season has already started here in zone 8.  My boys planted the onions over the weekend and I am trying to puzzle out how to fit in everything I want to grow this year.  It's still too early to put much out, but I am hoping to start seeds for tomatoes, broccoli, and a few herbs today and get the potatoes set to go as well.

Last year our "harvest" was rather pitiful.  The hot and dry weather set in early (in addition to strict water restrictions) and the tomatoes were particularly stunted.  I'm hoping to grow enough tomatoes this year to can a good bit.  I cannot even tell you how irritated I am about the whole canned tomato thing (no link, but Google BPA and tomatoes).  Canned tomatoes are a staple of our kitchen and until very, very recently none were BPA free.  Winter soups are tricky without canned tomatoes!  

Well, it's a cold and very rainy day here and we're postponing lessons until after lunch.  I'm going to go cuddle and read to my babies.  Happy Wednesday friends!

P.S. I would welcome any broccoli growing tips (varieties) from my southern friends - Cheryl?  Your broccoli is always gorgeous.  Oooh, and favorite leafy greens?  I've had success with everything but spinach but I have yet to find one that tastes super yummy.

Lazy Sunday

Taking my place by the fire to watch the football game.

Knitting socks for my little girl on teeny tiny (US 0) needles.  The yarn is Cascade Heritage and I like it, but it's thinner than I'd prefer.  We'll see how it wears!  I miss my Sunshine (I just ran out).  I've been wearing socks knit from Sunshine Luxury Sport that I got in a destash last year and oh my wow.  Softest socks I've ever had and they have worn far better too.  I highly recommend avoiding it all together because it's addictive and really.  Merino/cashmere socks?  Is there no end to the indulgence?  

No, no there is not.  I made brownies to celebrate the fact that I could eat brownies.  I really am so much better these days.  I've settled into a nice rhythm.  I'm very sick in the mornings but feel almost fine after lunch.  The evenings are uncertain, but even a few hours of feeling decent has done wonders for my spirit.  

Now, I'm spending a little time planning lessons.  It's been very workbooky around here these last few months and I'm fine with it.  It was either workbooks or throwing in the towel altogether.  I am hoping to add a few more read alouds for both children this next week. I downloaded Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to read to my daughter.  It's another that isn't exactly my taste, but if there's another plus to the Kindle it forces me out of my comfort zone with the freebies!  I hope to start The Trumpet of the Swan with my son, which was a gift from his aunt, my sister, the best gift giver ever.  I need to switch out all our seasonal pictures, but that's more productive than I can manage today. 

Here's the brownie recipe I copy and pasted from somewhere else on the internet!

Double Chocolate Brownies

from Martha Stewart Cookies

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces coarsely chopped good-quality semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides.  (I just buttered the pan.  It was fine)

Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until butter and chocolate are melted. Let cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; set aside.

Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; beat until combined. Add flour mixture; beat, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

 

Friday Morning Book Post

Not too much to discuss today, but Friday is the only day (lately) that I am sure to post, so here I am!

I did wrap up The Call of the Wild with the children.  It was a great read for a subject that didn't particularly interest any of us.  I'm happy we read it and I am happy to move on.  

I also finished The Forgotten Garden. It was a page turner and a great mystery.  I don't think I really ever connected with any of the characters and so I would say I think it is good, not great.  I read so many great reviews that I expected it to be the best! book! ever!  It might be better than I realize right now, but coming on the heels of Dracula anything would be a let down.

I began Middlemarch.  I don't have any idea how long this book is, but it could seriously kill my momentum.  I've been reading for three nights before bed and according to my Kindle, I'm still only 1% of the way through the book.  That's discouraging.  But I have logged five books in January and that's my goal so I suppose I can linger a bit over this one.

OK, I hope you all have a happy weekend!  

Filed

I didn't make many New Year's resolutions, but when I saw that Martha Stewart had a new line of office supplies (ht Dawn) I thought I'd take another stab at managing my paperwork.  It seems particularly sensible since already I'm being inundated with medical forms and lab bills that I'll need to have organized at tax time next year.  

I didn't go overboard.  I bought myself a little binder and some dividers.  Three packages gave me a section for each month of the year, a section for each of my current children and a section for medical forms.  I'll probably need to add more later, but for now it's enough.  Behind each folder I have printed a blank monthly calendar to be filled in by hand as events come along.  

I also had the idea to print out our favorite recipes for each given month.  We tend to eat seasonally and certain recipes are made in certain months just out of tradition so this system also works.  I'm taking a very casual approach and just printing the recipes as I go along right now.  At the end of the year, it will be a nice collection that I can reference from year to year.

I hope to include a hit list for each month as well, certain activities or subjects on which to focus .  A knitting/sewing schedule would be nice too.  But I'm not hoping for perfection just yet.  This binder is currently a nice receptacle for all the important papers that come into the house and if it stays only that, that's OK.  

Note: The Martha stuff is obviously slightly more expensive and I really argued with myself before splurging but it's just the simple truth that if something is pretty I'm more likely to use it.  Having our important papers organized is worth doing right - especially this year.  

Friday Morning Book Post

(written Thursday night)

I mentioned earlier being lured into 52 Books in 52 Weeks.  I confess I wouldn't even be tempted if not for my Kindle.  I'm reading so much more because there are so many free books (and because I'm in bed a good bit of the time).  There's no excuse not to dive into the classics.

After The Age of Innocence, I picked up the (not free) Into the Wild, which focuses on the death of Christopher McCandless in Alaska.  It was a good, quick read but not Krakauer's best.  I'll echo many of the reviews on Amazon which complain about (imo) irrelevant filler content. 

Needing another freebie, I began Dracula.  I did not expect to enjoy this one as I don't care much for that genre.  Well, I loved it.  Loved it loved it loved it.  The gorgeous descriptions of the Carpathian mountains, the impossibly noble characters, the story itself - I was smitten from the first paragraph. I'm now bitter towards every other book for not being Dracula.  

With the children I am reading The Call of the Wild (referenced in Into the Wild).  Another great read - except when I have to trail off mumbling as I encounter the death of yet another dog.  We should wrap it up this weekend.

On my own I finally began The Forgotten Garden.  It's no Dracula, I say with a sigh, but it is picking up speed.  Interestingly, I thought the epistolary format of Dracula would bug me.  It didn't at all.  What does bug me?  The time warp of The Forgotten Garden.  I'm still dizzy from the nightmare that was Lost. But as I say, I'm liking it more the further along I read.  

Up next!  Middlemarch.  My sister thinks I will love it and it's freeeeeee!  I still need another 40 books to add to the list.  I'd love to hear your suggestions!