Music vs. Books on Tape

I love, love, love listening to CD books in my car. And I have Lilly hooked, too. She's listened to Little Women, she enjoys Alexander and his horrible days, Beverly Cleary -- and any book about dogs!!

The best thing about Lilly is that always REMEMBERS what chapter we're on...

Warren, however, is STRICTLY a musical kinda guy...and he has one particular CD that he really, really enjoys....

So, when I put him in his carseat, he starts to jabber...and make noise...and actions with his hands...it sounds like he's saying, "MUSIC, OLD LADY -- PLAY MY MUSIC..!!"

If I don't put his CD in right away -- he starts to get cross -- like I am deliberately teasing him (which I am, of course)...he points, and grunts...louder and louder -- until I put his favorite CD into the player...

Then this happens...

ZEN. Total and complete ZEN...

John's Easy Crusty Dutch Oven Bread

When my husband John was growing up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the Italian Bakery was in his neighborhood...and the wonderful bread they made there was a big part of his childhood.

Making the perfect loaf of crusty Italian bread became a quest. He and his mother both tried to figure this out. For years. Was there a perfect recipe? A perfect temperature? A secret technique? What yeast? Did the flour matter? How long should you knead the bread? How long should the bread proof the first time? Should you use a stone in the oven? Spritz water to harden the crust? When?

Sooo many questions, so many near-misses. Apparently, there are endless ways you can go wrong.

Then,six years ago, John stumbled on to this Mark Bittman video. On You Tube. IT WAS LIFE ALTERING...This is the easiest, most relaxed way to make bread. It requires an overnight...and a Dutch Oven.
Really...no muss...no fuss...no kneading...no proofing...no stone...

It was his epiphany moment. And this is the PERFECT BREAD TO HAVE WITH SOUP...John makes it often -- it is always perfection...

And this crusty bread is one of the best things about winter

I KNOW I have many pictures of John, proudly holding a loaf of this delicious bread...but I can't find even one picture today.

Because I have thousands of photos...it would actually be easier to have him bake another loaf...

HEY -- THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!!

Homemade Ice Cream

One of the best days of my summer happened in June, when Pat came to visit.

Book Club went to Maquoketa to have lunch with Carol Bodensteiner, the author of Go Away Home.

After our lunch -- there was a bonus. A HUGE FLEA MARKET at the Fairgrounds!!

This brand new ice cream maker, in the box, with a book, was $15.

Lilly and I read the directions. We put the main bowl in the freezer overnight. The next morning, we put together the very simple ice cream recipe...

Lilly's favorite part, of course, was the taste-testing...

The ice cream was WONDERFUL...delicious, creamy...we were big fans!!

Yep. Worth every penny...

The holidays are such a busy, happy/sad time. But once you pack away the decorations, there can be a huge feeling of let-down. And I find myself taking a lot of satisfaction from doing the everyday things in my life....homemaking, cooking, sewing.  When Lilly comes to visit, she enjoys doing those ordinary things. 

But there is something to be said for doing something special.  The week Lilly was on Christmas vacation, I wanted to do something she'd remember.  And -- of course -- WE HAVE AN ICE CREAM MAKER!!

So maybe this will be our new AFTER-the-holiday tradition, eh? 

Christmas Programs

This post is for those of you who were not invited to attend any elementary school holiday events this season. Feeling left out?  Well -- be careful what you pray for...

Here's what you missed...

First of all -- there is NEVER ANY PARKING.  Every elementary age child brings SEVEN adults to their program (that really is a statistic -- parents, grandparents and siblings). By the time I got to Lilly's Christmas program, every spot in the school parking lot was taken, and people were parked on the streets for a two block radius.

I "made my own spot" by parking right alongside the building, 20 feet from the front door (where the school buses usually line up).  Before I even got out of my car, there were six cars parked behind me.  (sometimes, Ritaluck needs a little help).

The gym is jam packed...

I positioned myself so Lilly would see me (taking this picture) when she walked into the gym. This is how you get FULL Grandma points.  (you don't get any credit if the kid doesn't see you)...

Lilly loves to sing, and knows every word to every song (that joy not evident in this photo)...

TWO DAYS LATER -- we are back in the same gym for Lilly's Holiday Dance Recital. The big change here is that the dance studio charges $3 admission. (Last summer, my friend Pat was visiting and I made her pay for both of us...)

What these two events have in common is the childrens' complete lack of musical accomplishment...

My Christmas pedicure. Candy cane and snowflake...red and green...It was such a mild December, I was still wearing flip flops. YIKES...

Of course, the first thing you do is look at the program to see how far down your child is...Sadly, Lilly was on PAGE TWO...

Because here's the deal. When you child is done -- YOU CAN LEAVE.  I used to think that was rude and tacky...but I now understand the early exits. These programs are long and boring...an hour feels like a week...and they insist every group do two or even three numbers. At the end of two hours, you seriously want to poke your eyeballs out...

If your child is done performing -- you no longer have any reason to stay.  You don't get any extra Grandma points...and nobody in that room will judge you.

After the first group of little ones got done "performing" -- 100 people got up and filed out of the gum...

So -- here's my idea.

Instead of charging $3 for every person who walks into the gym -- they should "auction off" the spots on the program. I think people would pay $100 to be able to LEAVE AFTER THE FIRST GROUP...

Let's do the math.  Four people in Lilly's group.  Seven guests per child -- that means 28 people paid $3 each.  So they made $84.  With my new method, they would have cleared $400. 

Old Fashioned Bean Soup

A very big part of making a home is COOKING.  For me, there is nothing more satisfying that cooking a meal for people you love.  Almost more than anything I can think of -- cooking IS love. 

Which is why everybody should have one or two dishes they are famous for.  My sister Deena is a cookie baker extraordinaire.  Her family walks into her house, and they instantly look to a certain place on the counter to see what goodies lurk there.  It's not just a Christmas thing at her house...cookies, brownies, banana bread...there is always something delicious waiting to be snacked on.  It's like a little bite of love when you walk into the house...

Most of what I know about cooking I learned from my mother-in-law, Helen Farro.  In the early years of our marriage, Sunday Dinner at her house was always spectacular.  Wonderful pasta dishes... halupkees, perogies...many of her dishes live on in our family.

Helen taught me the joy of a gigantic HAM BONE!!  This was a major event -- after Christmas and again after Easter.  If you're doing it right , you will have bean soup in the freezer all year long...

Much of Helen's cooking relied on technique rather than recipes.  And making bean soup the old fashioned way takes a whole day...she saw no reason to rush things...

It starts with an overnight soaking of the beans (a pound of Navy Beans and a pound of Great Northern beans).  The beans will swell and soak up most of the water.

The next morning, drain and rinse the beans.

Put the beans, along with a very meaty ham bone, into your biggest soup pot.  Cover the whole show with fresh water -- and bring it up to a simmer.

I set my oven timer for 40 minutes...repeatedly..... Whoever happens to be in the kitchen gives the soup a stir, skims off the foam and resets the timer.  Keep it just below a boil...and leave the lid on, but cocked at a big angle so the steam can escape. (but all the water doesn't evaporate).

After the first two hours --  remove the ham bone and (when cooled) pick the meat off.  The flavor from the bone is all in the pot now -- so tear the ham meat into bite-size pieces, and put the meat back in the pot.  Discard the bone and move forward with the soup.

After another two hours, the beans are tender. Then add chopped veggies: onions, celery and carrots. (at least a cup of each -- depending on your own personal taste.)

Because I like an orange color to my bean soup (and a little spicy heat) -- I add two cups of salsa.

Now, it's beginning to look like soup. To thicken it, use a potato masher to smash some of the beans.

At this point, season the soup (translation: add salt)...

AND, if it's not thick enough, you can shred a raw potato into the pot. That will thicken it very quickly.

I didn't take a picture of my own gigantic pot of bean soup -- but THIS is what you're going for!!

The house smelled wonderful...

I am delighted to report the soup was delicious!!

We ate it for two days.AND I got three gigantic bags to put in the freezer.  Last fall, I blogged about how to freeze soup...read that here...

THEN ENJOY...

Monday's Housekeeping Post

No woman should be judged by how clean her house is. Certainly no man in the universe has ever worried about being judged by such a goofball standard.

OF COURSE I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having a clean house.   When the floors are clean, and the beds are freshly made, and the toys are all picked up -- it just feels like all is right with my world.

However -- as I embark on a series of Monday-Housekeeping-Posts -- I want to make one thing very, very clear.  Although I take a lot of pleasure doing everyday homemaking chores -- I am no good at cleaning. 

Me telling people how to clean would be a lot like Oprah telling people how to raise children.

So how do I square my love of having a clean house with my hate of actual cleaning chores??

I...H-A-V-E...A...C-L-E-A-N-I-N-G... L-A-D-Y...

Carrie sometimes brings her daughter Elizabeth -- who has grown up, helping her Mom clean things...and SHE LOVES DOING IT.

I am not now, and have never been, any good at cleaning.  Anything.  My car is a pit and if I had to do it myself, my house would get me a spot on the TLC Hoarder's show.  I will put cleaning off for any reason at all. Too hot, too cold, must wash my hair, make a call, take a call, read a book, take a nap, clip my nails, figure out what Donald Trump is going to say next -- well, you get the idea.

Ergo -- MY CLEANING LADY.

Carrie is more like my house manager. She helps me change out my clothes with the seasons, or bring the mugs and rugs up from the basement when it's time. In the spring, she scrubs the porch and brings up the cushions for the furniture. She helps me organize and sort t-shirt mountain -- or (recently) -- 60 pair of little girl shoes (I am looking for a support group)...

Having Carrie come every Monday brings a rhythm to my life.  On Sunday -- I force myself to think about what needs to be done this week, and I start to ramp things up. (for example, it's not a good use of my Carrie time to have her wash dishes). I call it "staging".  Usually, when Carrie arrives, we do a quick personal download (she is also the beloved daughter of my cousin Kim, and I have known Carrie since the day she was born...) -- then I go to the basement to do laundry and/or sewing and stay out of Carrie's way.

If Carrie didn't come to my house for two hours, once a week, I would be buried by books and sewing stuff and thrift store bags and shoes nobody can wear. Stacks of twenty-year-old Good Housekeeping magazines would prevent me from opening the door to my bedroom. (ironic, I know) 

...I would be too ashamed to invite people over for dinner. I would never be able to have or enjoy a holiday party, much less a house guest.

OH MY GOD...the horror of it. Just thinking about NOT having my Carrie time is giving me a headache...

So -- my best Homemaking advice for this week is to HIRE A CLEANING LADY...!!  Trust me.  It will change your life...

Pictures and Technology

As we sat there, that afternoon, paging through the scrapbooks, and looking at what was written on the back of the pictures...here's what I mean by less is more....

These pictures were special because they were rare.  Our childhoods were not recorded, or documented in any big way. Our parents weren't taking videos of every baseball game or dance recital. Our childhood pictures were taken, and then developed, and put into the scrapbook because they were special. The dresses were special because the occasions were special-- and that warranted TAKING A PICTURE.

Fast forward -- today's young parents take pictures morning, noon and night. Hundreds of photos are taken all day long, every day of the year. They are quickly taken, often sent off to share with a distant relative...then they get buried under the weight of tomorrow's new crop...

I am struck by the fact that as our technology has improved -- our actual ability to enjoy and document a special occasion has been nearly destroyed.

Think about it. I, myself, have at least two large tubs full of unwatched VHS full of Little League baseball games, high school track meets and 8th grade graduations. What was I thinking?

There are two things I know now that I didn't know then. #1: nobody will ever sit down to watch a tape of a Little League game. #2: VHS technology only lasted for a nanosecond (nobody I know even has a VHS player).

When I die, all those tapes will go to the landfill -- unwatched.

And this current generation? With their handy smartphones always at the ready -- they document every step their child takes...they record every basketball game, every soccer tournament.
..Sometimes, they are so busy taking the video, they MISS THE GAME itself....

But their phones, I-pads and computers are so jam-packed with pictures and videos, they can never find the right one to show you.

And the technology is changing so fast.What will be accessible in five years? Ten? When my grandchildren are my age -- they won't even know I took all these great pictures. /