Habitat for Humanity

Being Prepared: Baby Bag

2012-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here is another report from my year-long quest to be prepared. One of my biggest frustrations in my lack of preparation was being ill-equipped to meet the needs of my kids. I just never seemed to have what I needed on hand. This is partly a character flaw in me, because I really dislike schlepping around stuff. My preferred m.o. is only having my keys in my pocket, without phone or wallet (or diapers or wipes) to weigh me down. However, I recognize from experience that kids really, really need a spare diaper sometimes. I got serious about creating my dream diaper bag, and, voila, here it is! I bought the fabric from Purl during their last fabulous online sale and used the diaper bag pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.
I'm loving all 6 pockets! Just what I need! The bag is soft and durable, unlike the other cheapy vinyl diaper bags that I've accumulated over the years. Most importantly, I stuck a little key hook on a ribbon, to prevent me from loosing my mind while digging around for keys.

I'm envisioning a more suped-up version of my diaper bag, with a more matching ribbon for the keychain and a long shoulder strap, a changing pad and wet bag for the cloth diapers, as well as a camera insert to keep my new favorite camera from the sad fate of our last two [dead] cameras. All I can say is the kids NEVER touch the camera any more.

Being Prepared: Daily Meeting

2011-12-26T10:47:00.002-08:00

While last years' New Year's Resolution to blog here more frequently has definitely not happened, I haven't forgotten my more important resolution to be prepared. I'm reporting back on the big and small changes that are in motion (most of the time) as I've tried to get better at this year-long goal.

Perhaps my most favorite action I've implemented this year has been my weekly and daily personal meetings. I remember watching Oprah once in high school, and she remarked as an aside, "A CEO expects to have a meeting with his or her staff about the daily happenings of the company; shouldn't we all be doing this?" Yes! I've never forgotten this. Admittedly, I haven't been perfect at this, but when I have made a plan for the day, life hums along. There is more cooperation, since the boys slide into the routine and know what to expect. My stress levels are much lower, which also feeds into the happy feeling around our home. What I like most of all is that I can think about what is most important to me as a mom and figure out ways to implement these important things into our daily lives. Taking a few minutes each evening to gather things together for the next day is a beautiful thing. When the check for preschool is in my coat pocket, the grocery list is uploaded on my phone, the chicken is defrosting in the fridge, it all makes for fewer grumpy interactions as I am scooting everyone out of the door each morning.

On the flip side, I'm working on my spontaneity. I have wonderful people in my life who operate in a much more freestyle mode, and sometimes I envy that. While my tendency is to plan, plan, plan, I do try to keep pretty loose with those plans and go with better plans if they surface. Anyway, I'm looking for balance that way and I think my lesson in improvisational mothering is coming as we are imminently expecting the arrival of our baby girl. Farewell predictability! We'll see you in a year or so! Hello mysterious sleep schedules, infrequent showers, and keeping things flexible.

Mothers of the world, tell me (if anyone is out there): how do you handle the first few months of having a newborn with your other kids? I've kept the structured things in our current lives intact (swim lessons, library storytimes, playdates), and I'm hoping that our new baby will be happy to come along for the ride. Is this realistic?

Being Prepared: Christmas

2011-12-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm reporting on another aspect of being prepared that really brought me happiness this year. The first week of November, I took some time to map out what a fun, happy Christmas season would look like for me! ME! Selfish me. Last year was fraught with stress and rushing around and unmet expectations. Although the kids seemed to enjoy Christmas, as did Shane, I was exhausted. This year, I was determined to turn things around. I'm happy to report success!

A few things that I knew that I did not want to do during Christmastime this year:
*Step anywhere near the stores on the day after Thanksgiving, with the exception of JCrew, since their sale is just too irresistable. (But we went to that sale at 4:00 pm. Reasonable.)
*Go to the mall. It just sucks the Christmas cheer right out of me. I did virtually all of our shopping online or at the little toy shop across the street. (I did go to the mall once to buy socks for Shane....but it was fast and ok.)
*Spend money on events that create more stress than joy (waiting hours to see Santa or lighting displays). Or generally spend more money than we've budgeted for this year.
*Sew anything after December 1

As for the things the things I did want to do, it was exciting to think of all of my favorite December activities. Knowing that we'd be far from family this Christmas, I tried to find the special local events that would help us feel grateful for being where we are this time of year.

I love the idea of an advent calendar and made a very simple red and green paper chain to count down to Christmas. (This could have been infinitely more aesthetic/creative, but, it was good enough!) Each link of the paper chain had a little special something for each day to celebrate Christmas, and the first 7 links even had coordinating scriptures to go with it, until I burned out doing that. Maybe next year I'll finish. My mom told me to write down our daily December activities, so here they are:

(Day after Thanksgiving: Put up tree. We couldn't wait.)

December
1: Christmas Music (D&C 25:12)
This was a great way to start December. I asked my mom to send some beginner piano books of Christmas music and was able to teach Peter to play a few Christmas carols on the piano. These songs were very motivating for him to master and he was determined to get them right so that he could accompany all of us as we sang along. I also made a mix of Christmas music for the car. Now Nathan can sing the "Glooooooooooria"s to Angels We Have Heard on High and it is very cute. My mom also stuck in a a few books of Christmas music for me to play, which was lovely. Even with the inevitable kid banging going on in the bass clef notes.

2: Deliver Christmas Cards (Luke 2:10)
This was such a great deadline for me. All through November, I imagined Peter reading this link out loud and saying, "Ok, Mom, today we go to the post office to deliver the Christmas Cards!" Which meant that the cards had to be ordered, addressed, and stamped with a friendly hand-written message, family photo, and newsletter inside. I know that it doesn't have to be this complex, but I really, really wanted to really do the Christmas cards right this year. It is my one really personal way to reconnect with dear friends, friends that I wish I could sit down and talk to for an hour or two, friends whom I love so much, I cannot believe that we don't get together still all the time. So, I was determined, and writing cards to friends and family turned out to be maybe my favorite part of the season. And what a bonus to open our mailbox and find lovely cards in return!

3: Stake Christmas Concert (Luke 2:13-14)

4: Put up Nativities (Luke 2: 7-16)
Especially nice to do this activity on a Sunday afternoon.

5: Put up lights (Matthew 2: 1, 2, 9-11)
This activity was intentionally done on a Monday, so that *voila* we could have a light-installing activity for Family Home Evening and I wasn't left doing it alone, muttering curses under my breath. One would think that putting up lights with kids would be frustrating, but it was motivating to work alongside our boys and feed off of their excitement. I hope I never forget how magical it was to all stand together in the front yard to look at the lights after we had finished.

6: Christmas Books (3 Nephi 16:4)
As a little surprise, I included a new Christmas book, as I try to do each year. This year, we added The Little Fir Tree.

7: Put up Christmas Village
Part of my childhood Christmases was gazing at these village collections in my grandparents' and parents' living rooms. I've inherited a few little village homes, stores, and a church of my own, so it was fun to share this tradition with my own kids.

8: Visit Stew Leonard's
We went with good friends, making it even better!

9: Look at Christmas Lights around the neighborhood

10: Visit Old Sturbridge Village for Candlelight Christmas

11: Deliver Neighbor Gifts
This was another great Sunday afternoon activity. Like the cards, I had to be prepared for this activity and thanked my November self, who had bought the packaging ahead of time and had made the cookie dough and stuck it in the freezer. Delivering gifts to neighbors and friends is amazingly fun when I haven't been slaving away for hours and hours!

12: Musical Family Home Evening with Friends
We loved hosting this party with a friend, whose spacious home accomodated all of us, including a large pack of kids. I loved being surrounded by beautiful singing and accompanying instruments! I'm happy to keep this tradition from my childhood alive while I am so far from home. The greatest preparation here was thinking though the food. I kept it extremely simple, with a few special homemade desserts and appetizers supplemented by generous offerings from friends and a few holiday treats from Trader Joe's.

13: Christmas Movies
Boys watched movies while I collapsed after last night's party!

14: Help Peter Make Gifts for His Teachers
This is tricky. Being a daughter of a seasoned piano teacher, I have seen many Christmas gifts from students, and they are always gratefully received. However, I do understand that some gifts that come are very useful and some are not. I liked the idea of Peter creating something himself, but I wanted his teachers to really enjoy our gift. I organized a group gift with the other parents and collected money to go towards Amazon gift cards. Peter drew a portrait of each teacher, which went in the gift bag with the Amazon cards and some candy. Gift cards are not very sweet or sentimental, but 100% more useful than banana bread or a big mug.

15: Buy a Garland to Hang on Banister

16: Decorate Gingerbread House

17: Ward Christmas Party

18: Make Brickle Brackle Bars
This is a Lloyd family recipe, so I let Shane take the lead on this one. We leave Brickle Brackle Bars for Santa, in efforts to be radical/edgy.

19: "Christ Is Born" Family Home Evening, with our own Nativity Play

20: Help Peter Make Gifts for Nathan and Shane
This is a fantasy that did not come to pass this year. I was hoping to have a few projects in mind to help get Peter's ideas flowing for gifts, but by this point, I was just kind of tired. Peter did make a little book for Shane, called "Dad's Favorite Things," which counts for something, even if it only had 3 pages. I am feeling pretty much the same as the writer of this blog post . Maybe next year!

21: Christmas Crafts with the Kids

22: Hang Up Stockings

23: Go to Friends' Christmas Party

24: Go to Boston Pop's Christmas Concert

The boys opened up their Christmas Eve jammers that I made from them (pre-December 1! I love it!). I used the (now discontinued) Oliver & S Kimono Pajama pattern, like I do every year. I have made them enough that I whip them out in a couple of nights.

25: CHRISTMAS DAY!
I also made the boys two candy-cane striped bow ties. The sewing projects this Christmas were pretty simple and quick!

Post-Christmas was a lovely, quiet time. I chose to not even acknowledge that there was such thing as New Year's Day, after such a busy month of merry-making.

To me, an essential element of all the Christmas gift-giving is making thank-you cards. I love the idea of having Peter make these. Peter drew two pictures, which I scanned and printed on cardstock paper. As the biased mom, I have to say, they turned out pretty great.

Spring Cleaning

2011-03-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have been 'spring cleaning' through iphoto and wanted to post a few pictures before they fall into the abyss of my photo archives. I'm giving a home to these pictures, so I can remember that I did pull it together a few times during the last few months!

We made these little matchbox valentines for Peter's preschool class. I think they turned out so sweet and Peter helped all the way. Thanks to Brooke from Inchmark for yet another great idea!
My friend Carlee is, among many things, very talented and resourceful behind the sewing machine. It seems as though I'm always bugging her to tell me how she sewed something awesome that her boys are wearing! Carlee got me sewing these little pants that are formerly arms of sweaters. I knew I was saving those sweaters for something! And, ah, the cozy, soft knit is so nice for winter baby legs!
Lastly, I made this super hero cape for Peter's birthday.
I think his brother wants one too....

Good Taste: Eggplant Parmagiana

2011-02-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

From December 2010 (?) Martha Stewart Living

Active Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Serves 8

For Breading and Frying:
2 cups fine plain fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large eggplants, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed

For Assembling:
Marinara Sauce (recipe below)
3 cups coarsley grated mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

1. Bread and fry the eggplant: Combine breadcrumbs, Pecorino Romano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some pepper. Put flour, eggs, and breadcrumb mixture in 3 separate dishes. Dredge eggplant in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg, letting excess drip off. Dredge in breadcrumbs to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in large straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. (Oil is ready when a breadcrumb sizzles when dropped in.) Working in batches, fry eggplant until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. (If oil gets too dirty, discard, and heat additional 1/4 cup.)
3. Assemble the dish: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of eggplant on top, overlapping slightly. Top with 1 cup sauce. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano. Repeat twice to form layers with eggplant, sauce, then cheeses. Cover with foil. Bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes more.

Marinara Sauce:
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cans (28-oz each) peeled whole tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, red-pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and some pepper. Simmer, covered, until thick, 25 minutes. Stir in herbs.

Thoughts: Quite a bit of prep involved, but all really doable to prep a day or two in advance. I'm never quite together enough to make the marinara and rely on my favorite Cento-brand jarred stuff. This dish could not be more comforting after a blizzardy day in New England.

Good Taste: Mango Rice Salad with Grilled Shrimp

2011-02-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

From June 2005 Cooking Light

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
4 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 36 shrimp)
2 cups water
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1 1/4 cups uncooked long-grain rice
3/4 cup shredded carrot
2 cups diced peeled mango (about 2 mangoes)
1 1/2 cups diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Cilantro Sprigs (optional)

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add shrimp, toss to coat. Cover and chill 1 hour.
2. Bring water and coconut milk to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Add carrot and next 7 ingredients (through salt); toss gently to combine.
3. Prepare grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
4. Thread 3 shrimp onto each of 12 (6-inch) skewers. Place skewers on grill rack or grill pan coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Serve skewers over salad. Garnish with cilantro springs, if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Thoughts: The rice is crazy good--so light, fresh, full of flavor. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Good Taste: Lloyd Family Pizza Party

2011-02-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Along with so many other families in the world, on Friday night, we Lloyds enjoy a pizza party. I prefer the classic pizza crust recipe from Joy of Cooking and improvised variations on this pizza sauce recipe. I've been shaking things up lately, and am here to report on our most recent pizza night successes (both recipes were rapidly made, with effortless prep work, and they were rapidly consumed by all four of us!).

First, from August 2005 Bon Appetit:

Bell Pepper, Red Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza

1 pound of pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic cloves, minced
3 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups thickly sliced mushrooms (we love cremini)
1/2 cup drained roasted red peppers from jar, cut into thin strips
1 /2 cup paper-thin red onion slices
8 large fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 5-oz package soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pizza crust on large baking sheet. Mix olive oil and minced garlic in small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush 2 tablespoons garlic oil evenly over crust. Top with spinach leaves, then sprinkle with sliced mushrooms, roasted red peppers, red onion slices, fresh basil, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle pizza evenly with remaining garlic oil. Cook 15 minutes.

Thoughts: I added the 15 minutes instructions at the end--I guess it's best to keep an eye on it. The recipe doesn't really say. This is the pizza for chevre junkies like us, especially since we seem to always have a little stash around, so I didn't end up buying anything extra to make it (I only dreamed of putting fresh basil leaves on top...ah, winter).

From November 2008 Real Simple

Three-Cheese Calzones

1 pound of pizza dough
1 cup fresh ricotta
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmasan
1 bunch spinahc, thick stems removed and roughly chopped (5 cups)
Black Pepper
1/4 pound thinly sliced salami (we used pepperoni)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup jarred marinara sauce, warmed

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll and stretch them into 8-inch rounds.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Layer salami on one side of each round of dough, and top with the cheese mixture. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges to seal.
4. Brush the tops of the calzones with the oil. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with the sauce.

Thoughts: Good. For some reason, this recipe screams teenage boys to me. Better keep it handy for later.

Being Prepared:Tiger Mothers and Farmer Boys

2011-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

There has been quite a bit of talk about Amy Chua's article, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior." I have to admit that while I balked when I first read it two weeks ago, I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

I have been in the Yale community for six years now and I admit, there is a large spectrum of individual talent and work ethic, but certainly, each individual who attends Yale has shown some special talents to be admitted here (and I can be a somewhat objective outside observer, since I'm not one of the people who goes here). Over the years, I have spent quite a bit of time talking to these friends about their childhoods, how they developed their interests, and how they think that they got into Yale. Ms. Chua's bullet list of no sleepovers, no tv, no school plays, no grades except 'A's, does not jive with my findings from these conversations I've had. Certainly, most of them grew up reading piles of books and some were busy with musical performances from a very young age. But, there are just as many, if not more, who watched tv, who spent time invested in sports or drama, who, dare I say it, were not the top student in every class. Unfortunately for all parents, there isn't a simple set of rules that we follow to automatically help our children unleash their potential for greatness. However, as much as I disagree with Ms. Chua's controlling parenting style, I whole-heartedly agree with this statement:

"...as a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn't."

From my anecdotal information, Amy Chua is right about one thing: the people who get into these programs are intense. I studied pretty hard in college, I thought, and did pretty well. However, after I started studying with Shane, I began to understand how the top students operate. Shane was always at class, even 15 minutes early to class. He always went to the TA's help sessions and office hours. He assumed that he would need to study a great deal for every class--every general education class was given plenty of attention, no matter how unrelated it was with his academic interests. While I was always in search of a teacher whose style was in sync with mine, Shane would persevere with any teacher, always humbly working away at the class material. He did not give up on any class, any grade, any exam, even if the class was taught poorly or was disorganized. He worked odd jobs (pinning flies! tracking frogs!) in biology labs which fed into research positions and teaching assistant jobs. And, like Amy Chua describes, he wasn't afraid to practice, practice, practice. His essays were to the professor early for review, and he was the king of MCAT practice exams. He was a combination monk and robot, studying almost every minute of the week, aside from our brief Friday evening date. And, as a consequence, my grades were becoming pretty spectacular, too. We were the 4.0 couple and it felt good.

Using Shane as my case study, we see that it's true, grit and intensity is required for anyone that wants to succeed, especially in an ubercompetetive program. From my anecdotal information, I'm finding that to get into Yale, an individual needs nearly perfect grades and nearly perfect entrance exam scores. That will get the application from the envelope to a desk, rather than from the envelope to a garbage can. This first step in the process validates Ms. Chua's remarks about playing the game and getting the good grades.

However, many applicants have these credentials. Every high school has a valedictorian, every university has a dean's list. Although Ms. Chua scoffs at the western idea of 'being special', that is exactly what is different between the students who go to Yale and the students who don't. Being special means making the most of the opportunities that you have been given; someone wrote a novel in high school, another started a very large, very successful non-profit organization, someone else did field research on hibernating bears. This 'specialness' is hard to describe, and nearly impossible to force upon someone; in fact, it's partly based on luck, because a good opportunity is hard to identify at first. But, we all see opportunities come and go. These particular people find things to do that they are passionate about and latch on, dig in, make it theirs, and make it flourish.

Watching different friends go through their respective programs here at Yale, I see a related pattern in their training that might be replicated as a parent: these programs simply send the best professionals in the field to talk about what's important and what they like to do (aka. class lecture), help each student figure out what they are happiest doing all day (PhD mentorship, business and law internships, hospital rotations), and assist students in finding further opportunities in the field. I know, it's much more complicated and emotional than this, but in essence, these programs want their students to figure out what it is that they are especially talented at and work really hard at it. [What do you think, Yalies? Did I get it right?]

I'd really love to replicate this process as a mother in these precious formative years. If consistent nurturing and guidance from adults makes all of the difference, I should be confidently teaching my kids about the world and helping them latch on to the experiences that will help them. Peter and I are now reading Farmer Boy, from Laura Ingall Wilder's Little House series. We have followed our nine-year-old protagonist, Almonzo, through the seasonal rhythms of life on the farm: Alongside his father, he tirelessly prepares the soil, plants and harvests the crops (who can forget the harrowing midnight corn-watering to fight frost and his terrible run-in with an exploding potato?!), he hauls hay and timber. He goes to the fair for three days and simply cannot wait to get back home to feed his cows. Granted, this book is perhaps romanticized, given that the author is relating her beloved husband's childhood, but after finishing the final chapter, I was left feeling the importance of letting our children into our adult world.

Letting children in is a hard thing to do, because parenting in our current cultural climate is somewhat unnatural. I feel like I need to create normal childhood experiences intentionally, because in suburbia, we don't have a big orchard or grove or trees for our kids to run wild in. And I don't mean to bring them into Amy Chua's adult world, with relentless, degrading piano practice sessions. Heartless insults to my children is the opposite of what I want to do. But, if I can confidently work alongside my kids, giving them responsibilities that are real, that contribute to our family, I can honestly think of nothing that they want more than that and no greater gift that I can give them. My favorite passage in Farmer Boy says it all:

"[Almonzo] helped to feed the patient cows, and the horses eagerly whinnying over the bars of their stalls, and the hungrily bleating sheep, and the grunting pigs. And he felt like saying to them all: 'You can depend on me. I'm big enough to take care of you all.'
Then he shut the door snugly behind him, leaving them all fed and warm and comfortable for the night, and he went trudging through the storm to the good supper waiting in the kitchen." (p.310)

What a beautiful example of a child who feels the satisfaction that comes from being responsible for something that matters! I am determined to give my kids the opportunity to matter, to contribute, even as they are little guys. So, for starters, we are finally using a chore chart! ta da! I put up the most simple, plain chart imaginable (after years of agonizing about how to make it supremely cool and aesthetic), and yesterday, Peter folded all of the socks, made his bed, bussed his dishes and cleaned the playroom. And after, he asked if there were more chores to be done! We'll see how he does in a month or two...

I'm excited to rise to the occasion of mothering. This whole essay seems so idealized compared to the reality of raising my 4 year-old and 15 month-old, which is much louder, more chaotic, less well-behaved than these Wednesday afternoon dreams. But, after all of this stewing about parenting, my greatest conclusion is that I can expect good, big things from my kids. I'm not sure what they'll be and whatever they are will require enormous efforts all around, but we can do it.

So, parents of the world, what do you think?

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Dressed to the Nines for Christmas

2011-01-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

My days of being able to dress the boys in matching corduroy outfits are numbered. Especially since they are matching corduroy outfits that I decided somehow that I could make without comprehensive patterns.

I've tried taking pictures of Nathan's outfit, but this is the least fuzzy one I could get. He's on the move. I made Nathan's overalls in the style of the little overalls that we all wore in the early 80s. I think that they are pretty sweet.

Peter's red blazer is wonky, but by the end, I was glad to be done with it. The lapel is crazy. However, when Peter wore it to the Nutcracker, we were greeted by a sea of smiles among the New York crowds. It was the thought that counted with the blazer.

I have been tirelessly defending the corduroy blazer. Shane thought that it was weird. Ok, I thought it was weird, too, but the idea of it, I insist, is very cute. However, our discussion ended after viewing the unbelievable windows at Bergdorf Goodman, when we happened to stroll by this window at Barneys. Totally vindicated!

Good Taste: Ghost Chili

2011-01-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

My friend, Kari (the one who made Peter's spectacular birthday invite), always wins our ward's annual chili cookoff with her Ghost Chili recipe. This recipe was handed down to her from her mother-in-law, and now I give it to you. This winner of a recipe is on our permanent cold-weather food rotation. It feeds the soul.

Ghost Chili
1 lb. boneless chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion, diced
1 Tbl. Oil
1 ½ tsp. garlic powder
14 oz. can chicken broth
1 can chopped green chilis
2 15 oz. great Northern beans drained and rinsed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
½ tsp. black Pepper

Brown chicken and onion in oil until chicken is cooked and onion is
tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

Before serving, stir in 1 cup of sour cream and ½ cup of whipping cream. (sometimes if i don't have whipping cream i add all sour cream. if you don't have enough of that just add less salt when you simmer the soup.)

Kari spent a year in China and adapted the Ghost Chili recipe to the ingredients available to her there. To our benefit, she has created a delicious Asian Ghost Chili recipe. I wonder how one would say 'ghost' in Chinese....

Ghost Chili in China!
1 boneless chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion, diced (red onion)
1 Tbl. Oil
3 cups chicken broth
2 chopped green peppers (the medium-sized skinny hot ones, without the seeds)
2 small stems of celery

4 whole cloves of garlic (let the soup simmer with the garlic cloves then remove them before serving. or just chop them so you don't need to remove them.)

3-ish cups of the white beans (great northern preferably), if dried soak for 8-10 hours
1 ½ tsp. chives/ginger/garlic seasoning (packaged as one-i get this at my local market but if you have these things in powdered form use that)

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. black Pepper

Brown chicken and onion in oil until chicken is cooked and onion is

tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Before serving, stir in 1 cup of sour cream and ½ cup of whipping cream. Homemade sour cream: 1 cup cream to 1 T vinegar. let sit in fridge for a few days before using.

The Good [Home] Stuff: Living Room Inspiration

2011-01-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! 2011 is sure to be a beautiful year!

I love January. It really feels like a clean slate to me, when I can think afresh and imagine all the good things ahead of us. Now that I can scan things, I'm excited to have this blog post as one central place to stash the various clippings floating around my little office that I've designated as "LIVING ROOM INSPIRATION":
We have a strangely shaped living room. It is long and skinny, and therefore almost impossible to have one place to sit. When thinking about our lonely corner, far from any other furniture, Shane and I keep coming back to this picture from an old Martha Stewart Living.

From January 2007 Real Simple

Another option that we've considered is having a little table in the corner.

Grove Storage Cabinet from Room and Board for a hefty $2200 (via Martha Stewart Living). I bet I can find a similar version on Craigslist to fix up.

Our style is pretty traditional, but I would love to be able to mix in some modern and fun things, like this spectacular side table. While none of my photos really show a space that welcomes kids, our dream house would definitely look more lived-in and easy going.

Martha Stewart Living

I'd love to copy this photo wall for our large wall adjacent to the stairs. I'm hoping to work on it in a few months when our little guy is less bent on destroying hanging things. And, there are no plans to buy a grandfather clock, but it is beautiful. Can't you just hear the slow, mechanical 'tick-tock'?

The above and below images are from the October 2007 issue of Art & Decoration, a French home design magazine. I adore the colors in the top image. I'm not sure we'll go with them, but with our two deep brown leather couches, it's nice to see some nice compliments to brown. And the floor to ceiling taffeta curtains aren't too shabby, either. I love the sofa cushions on the image below.

While we may not actually have the cash flow or time to recreate these pictures in our home, a girl can dream! I love having the vision, even if our living room is hazardously littered with toys, and I'm hoping to implement a few small changes for the better.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Fall Projects

2010-12-31T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Today I just set up my brand new scanner! Aha, now my techno year is 2003 instead of 1998!

Anyway, I thought I'd catch up on a few old projects that I wanted to record (to quote my mother, "did you write that down?"), so I'll remember that I wasn't eating bonbons all day during the fall of 2010.

Above is Peter's birthday party invitation, designed by my talented friend, Kari. You can see that I hid the address there, but don't you love it?! I love it all! Thanks, Kari! Another fun thing that I made for the party were the favor bags

We had these waiting at the end of a Peter Pan treasure hunt in our backyard. Just a quick little burlap pouch with a leather tie and button. We filled them with these cool mermaid whistles, and pirate's spyglasses, feathers, candy rocks, and other candy. Pixie sticks would have been perfect, too. The best ideas always come after, don't they?
I love October in New England, because Peter's party is usually ok outside. Shane designed the Neverland cake, which was both awesome and not photographed.

I ended up making the boys' costumes for Halloween, and Nathan's turned out pretty cute. His snowy owl costume was often mistaken for an angel, and how can you not think that this curly blond head with tights could be anything else? But, he really was an owl. Once again, I borrowed this costume idea from Brooke at Inchmark.

Peter's bat costume had mixed results. I think it looked pretty cool and I liked that he could bundle up without covering his costume. The umbrellas were pretty pokey and limiting, though. I got the instructions for the wings and that hat from marthastewart.com. The fleece pants that I made are still in use as pajamas.

And, finally, I made Jill's awesome leaf garland. Such an easy, pretty project! We also hung some leaves from our chandelier and put the most colorful ones in vases on our mantel. We are lucky to have a huge supply of beautiful leaves in our backyard.
Next up: Christmas projects! Almost caught up!

Good Taste: Moroccan-Spiced Chicken with Olive, Apricot, and Pistachio Couscous

2010-12-28T09:43:00.001-08:00

From February 2009 Martha Stewart Living

Chicken
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 whole chicken (4 pounds), quartered, skin on
1 lemon, quartered

1. Place a rimmed baking sheet on the center rack of oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix spices, 2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoons pepper, and the oil in a small bowl. Rub spice paste all over chicken.
2. Carefully arrange chicken in a single layer on hot sheet, and arrange lemon wedges around chicken. Back until chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer and juices run clear, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand from 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper,and serve with pan juices and lemon wedges on the side.

Thoughts: This is a sensational dish! It has a long ingredient list, but, ah, once I bit into the chicken, it took me to another place. I quartered the chicken myself, with great trepidation and a pair of poultry scissors from a neighbor. To my utter disbelief, it was a low-drama, 5-minute procedure. I intend to buy whole chickens from here on out, because I prefer the dark meat on the bone and I'm inching my way to buying only organic meat and poultry. For now, I'll avoid the boneless/skinless chicken breasts that tragically belong to those birds we saw on Food Inc. This dish was eagerly devoured by every member of the Lloyd family: both 30 year-olds, the four year-old, and the 15-month old.

Couscous:
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
1/4 cup dried apricots, preferably Turkish, chopped
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped green olives (about 6 large olives)
1 cup couscous
2 tablespoons shelled pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Bring water, salt, and butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Add apricots, olives, and couscous, swirling pan to submerge ingredients. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir with fork, then fold in pistachios and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Thoughts: A great accompaniment to the chicken, soaking up all the pan juices in the best, absorbent way. Peter was not a fan of the "goosegoose," but we adults didn't really notice, because we were snarfing it down.

Be Prepared: Keeping the Boys Clothed

2010-12-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

After a weekend of celebrating Christmas, today is Monday. Beautiful Monday, December 27! I love all that comes with Christmas, and then...I love the days after Christmas, when we return to normal bedtimes, decreased sugar intake, and our daily routines (which is not entirely true, since we were hit with a nor'easter yesterday and we're happily snowed in. Let's just say, we're easing back in).

Today, I am refocusing on my early New Year's Resolution to be better prepared for my life. Prior to our two cross-country moves this last year, I used to be vigilant at buying the next year's clothes at clearance sales. When we were moving so much, I got out of the habit, since I couldn't stomach the idea of moving around clothes that were too big to be worn. Now that we're settled in, I am trying to stay ahead of my growing boys, which is quite a feat, I assure you.

An old friend of mine, Kalee, is a master of collecting a good, affordable wardrobe for her kids ahead of time. Years ago, she gave me her list of items that she looks out for when she's running errands. I like this size of wardrobe, because I can go a week without having to do laundry, but it's not so big that I end up with outgrown clothes that have never been worn. In years past, I have printed out this list, taken inventory of the clothes that we already have, and carried the list with me while keeping my eye out for these items at various places around town. And, of course, there a few things that I make myself (because $15 is way too much for fleece pants, when I can make some in 30 seconds for free.). So, without further ado,

THE LIST THAT KEEPS THE BOYS CLOTHED

LITTLE BOY'S WARDROBE
Cold Months:
8-12 long-sleeve tshirts/henley-type shirts
3-4 rugby/button-down shirts
1-2 hoodie sweatshirts
1 turtleneck

3 pairs of fleece pants
3 pairs of jeans
2 pairs of other pants

1 fleece jacket
1 winter coat
1 pair of snowpants
1 pair ski socks
snow boots
snow accessories: ski mittens, neck gator, hat

Warm Months:
8-12 short sleeve shirts
8-12 pairs of shorts
1 swimsuit and shirt
crocs
leather sandals

Church Clothes
2 pairs chinos for church
3 dress shirts
3 sweaters for church or nice places
a couple belts
a couple ties
church shoes

Pajamas, Underwear, etc:
7-8 pairs of pjs
10 pairs of socks (a mix of athletic, dressy, fun)
15 pairs of underpants

BABY'S WARDROBE (15 months)
Same, with the addition of
9 long-sleeve white onesies
9 short-sleeve white onesies
2 pairs of Robeez shoes
And no underpants, of course.
(when he starts to walk, a pair of my favorite See Kai Run shoes)

Both boys need cowboy boots in their different sizes, because, who can resist a four-year-old and a fifteen-month-old in cowboy boots?

There are some pretty fierce sales out there today, so I'm off to print off my list and hunt for some cozy winter clothes for next winter!

image: Wiener Werkstätte, Woman with Packages. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Early New Year's Resolution

2010-12-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

Maybe no one else is interested in setting goals, say, the week before Christmas, but I feel urgently compelled to begin my new resolution now. My resolution follows the Boy Scouts' motto:

be prepared

A few weeks ago, I went into the Beinecke Library, where I used to work. I was chatting with a few old colleagues and a woman who began working there after I had left. I introduced myself, and added as a joke, "I'm the one who put the books back in the wrong places." One of my colleagues immediately responded, "Oh, not you, Becca. You would never misshelve a book. You are much too organized and focused to do that!" I stood there. I blinked. I said a silent prayer that this woman would always remember me in this way. I tried to think back to then, that time a millennium ago before kids...and, yes! I do believe I was organized. I do believe I planned ahead, set goals, had a predictable routine. I know now that in this particular phase in life, I can never expect the same sort of efficiency and productivity that I had then. And thank goodness for that, right?! I'm happy to live in a way that is so unlike a robot and so full of life.

However, a lot of things happened last summer. Most notably, our big move. And, after feeling pretty settled in my Utah routine, I haven't felt totally comfortable with my Connecticut groove. I find myself stuck with dreary, unplanned afternoons with the kids, thinking that if only I had taken a minute the night before to make a few plans, or find myself without my camera at the most beautiful moments of my day. My phone does not have a home, which is extremely dangerous. I am wishing for a better long-term planning system, so that next time Shane has a vacation week, we can go on vacation! Imagine that! I find that my information is in different places throughout the house, and I don't love having information that I need for the day to be on my laptop, since Nathan is so fixated on destroying the computer.

So.

I am taking steps today to prepare myself for life. After reading the inspiring book, Steady Days, I am trying to help our little life here at the Lloyd household. As I am not a member of the cool phone club, I am not technologically equipped for amazing organizing apps. However, I am managing to organize my life by simply putting a 3-ring binder to use (nicknamed "the coach"). The binder has several sections --one section for daily "plan", a monthly calendar, a weekly meal plan with a plastic sleeve for the week's recipes, bills and a plastic sleeve that holds tithing slips, and a checkbook and stamps for those pesky bills that I still pay by mail, and the last section is named "braindump", which is my most invaluable resource. Every time I think of something that is bouncing around in my brain, I write it down in the braindump section; I also take a minute first thing in the morning to sit and think if there is anything that should be written down there. Ah, it's a relief to have one place to be able to write these things down. I do much better when I have this information for me on paper in one place. I can't keep track of things on the computer. The screen just doesn't quite work.

The plan is to have a big meeting with myself on Sunday evenings, planning meals, activities, and appointments. Then, throughout the week, I take a minute every night directly after putting the boys down and plot out plans for the next day. If I just spend from 7:00 to 7:30 packing a lunch, getting out supplies for a fun activity, putting away shoes and mittens so they can be found instantly, and just thinking about it, the next day has a destination. I feel like I'm taking advantage of these precious moments with my little guys, rather than wishing away the minutes until they go to [insert: kindergarten, high school, college!]. I've got my kids' attention right now and I want to make the most of it!

With the basics planned out, I've had a chance to think longer term--what can I help the boys learn this next year? What kinds of fun things do we want to do this summer? What kinds of activities do Nathan and Peter like to do together? I'm excited to really think about mothering on a broader level. I must add one major caveat here, however: with all the plans that I've been making, I continue to be a soft as putty when the realities of life with tiny kids hit. I don't care if the plans don't work out. I find that being spontaneous is easier for me when there is a plan, because I have a choice of plan a and (new) plan b. Hey, let's get crazy and do the unexpected. I just don't care for large expanses of unplanned time with preschoolers. That is not spontaneous fun, that is torturous negotiating about why we don't eat ice cream for lunch and why we can't jump off the couch onto our baby brother. What I really want as a mom right now is to have A LOT OF FUN. I want to enjoy being with my boys. If I can think ahead about how to do this, I'm hoping to increase the odds.

Other things I need to do to be prepared: make a diaper bag that works. I have 3 diaper bags at the moment that have zero functionality. I actually feel mad when I look at them. I am going to design and sew my dream diaper bag! Yay! With enough room for my massive camera, special pockets for my keys, my phone, and (safe) storage for knitting, and, of course, enough room for diapers, wipes, and little packages of tissues. Ah, I need those tissues. Does anyone have a good place to buy them? What would you think of me if I told you that the last time we went to the park, I resorted to wiping Nathan's nose with a leaf? Pretty classy.

And, as the busy season of birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas winds down, I'd like to plan ahead and use the barren months (January, February, March) to get ahead. I love Christmas so much, and there are many things that I'd love to do for next year. Planning ahead! Being prepared!

I'd also like to dedicate some of my resolution for food storage to prepare for any eminent danger or disaster that might come our way. I'm dedicating the first FHE of the month to being prepared, with food storage planning, 72-hour kit assembling, and escape-route plotting. Peter even asked me the other day, "Mom, if there was a fire on the stairs and we were in bed, how would we get out?" Ummmm, good question, Peter. Let's figure that out!

So. anybody there [crickets chirping]? I'd like to post more on this blog, and report specifically about my progress. It's a sensational way to feel accountable for all that goes on around here. I know that being a mom at home who writes a blog could not be more cliche, but I love the support I feel from you friends out there. There are very few adult voices in my life, simply because I don't have the luxury of talking on the phone much or meeting up for lunch (imagine: meeting up with friends for lunch without kids! dreamy...) So, I'll be posting more....and if you leave a comment, I will love you for it.

Wish me luck!

Good Taste: Arroz con Pollo

2010-10-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Or, Rice with Chicken, which does this tasty dish no justice.

Adapted from February 2010 Martha Stewart Living

pinch of saffron
6 chicken thighs (we used 8)
coarse salt and fresly ground pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic (2 to 3 cloves)
1 large tomato, diced
2 dried bay leaves
5 1/2 cups chicken stock, plus more if needed
3 cups short-grain rice, preferably Valencia (kalustyans.com)
1 cup pimeinto-stuffed green olives

1. The original recipe calls for wine, but I use one cup of stock instead: combine 1 cup of chicken stock and saffron; let stand until ready to use. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large braiser or heavy-bottomed straight-sided saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, skin side down, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown, 2 minutes; transfer to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium, and cook onion and garlic, stirring often, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add tomato, and cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes. Stir in stock-saffron mixture, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the bay leaves. Cook until wine is almost completely evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Add chicken, stock, rice, and olives; bring to a simmer.

3. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, stirring halfway through, until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. (If rice is not done, add more stock, 1/4 cup at a time.) Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Thoughts: The most deliciously comforting meal for fall. Goes great with my favorite side, spinach and chickpeas.

I love a Good Party: Birthday Baby

2010-10-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

October is birthday season at our house. We kicked things off with baby Nathan's first birthday party. He's one! I can hardly believe it!

Admittedly, the choco-chip face is not nearly as cute, but whatever.

We kept the party very exclusive, only inviting immediate family members and grandma, who happened to be visiting, and our other grandma via skype. I found an appropriate banana cake recipe for our little monkey. It only seemed right, since he does consume 1 to 3 bananas per day.

Somehow, October has been an extremely busy month for us, but I was determined to give something handmade to our birthday boy. I managed to finish these birthday blocks, which became my bane of life after piecing together all of those tiny scraps. However, I am loving that I used up many bits of fabric that have already moved across the country twice. The instructions for the blocks can be found in Amy Butler's Little Stitches. These blocks are so satisfyingly stackable.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Serger Contest

2010-08-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

I entered this video in a contest on sewmamasew to win an amazing serger.

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Mama School

2010-08-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to be on the other side of our cross-country move! It has been a whirlwind of a summer, and I often worry if I gave our boys enough of what summer should be. But, one very high highlight was our mama school sessions (our hour together in the mornings during Nathan's naps). I have continued to frame the weekly activities around one story. I'll just record what I can remember...

Our first week was Robin Hood. One very exciting artistic development for Peter is his emerging figural objects--he draws wonderful people, like Maid Marian and Prince John shown here as puppets.
We also spent some time talking about coins, since Prince John is always counting his coins. I happened to have some old silver dollers and Susan B.'s in my purse (found when I went through my old childhood boxes at my parents) and showed them to Peter. I threw in some foreign coins for added excitement, and that made me feel justified in keeping them. And it is nice to see the old cintimes, pounds, and lire from pre-Euro Europe. Do they still use pounds? I always get mixed up there. I also had an old magnetic dart board and Peter and I had a archery duel. There were no fatalities.

We had to spend a week talk about the book What People Do All Day. Does anyone else love this book? We are all about Busytown.

Here is Farmer Alfalfa's farm:

Here is Stitches the Tailor's newly built house:
Peter and I built this popsicle-stick house while my brother was here and I sadly told Peter that I couldn't find any toothpicks for the windows. After my brother left our place to return home, I saw these little sticks that he had made for us out of extra popsicle sticks. I thought that was so sweet. Don't they look great?

We spent a week talking about the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I had some activities planned (Bridge building! Horns and their many uses! Troll home design!). However, we ended up spending all of our time on these awesome huge pictures of the characters
The artist with his work
Middle Billy Goat
Really, this is the scariest troll I've ever seen. Check out the face:

(so blurry! Oops) This might give me nightmares!

Biggest billy goat. I am responsible for the zigzags.
The face!

We have also been busy at the library, hitting them up for any extra craft activity they have going on. Here is Peter's skunk and rainbow fish.

As much as I'm looking forward to preschool, and for a moment to finally unpack those last boxes in the basement and do some sewing, I have really loved this time with Peter. I'm hoping to continue our morning sessions on the off-days of preschool. Two mornings a week seems perfect to me.

Good Taste: Marinated Grilled Chicken Legs

2010-08-24T17:35:00.001-07:00

Yes, another grilled chicken (drumstick!) recipe! I'm on a roll!

From August 2007 Cooking Light

1 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons basil oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 1/4 pounds), skinned
cooking spray

1. Combine the first 11 ingredients (!) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag, seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning bag occasionally
2. Prepare grill
3. Remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade. Place reserved marinade in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat 3 minutes. Place chicken on grill coated with cooking spray. Grill 30 minutes or until chicken is done, turning and basting occasionally with reserved marinade. Yield: 4 servings.

Thoughts: So many ingredients! I laughed when I saw 'basil oil'. Yeah, right. Maybe I'll be more into that someday. I have to admit, though, the chicken was delicious.

Good Taste: Sweet and Spicy Chicken

2010-08-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

From June 2009 Real Simple

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 3 1/2-to-4-pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces

1.Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the oil, chili powder, sugar, oregano, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and rub with the spic mixture. Roast until cooked through, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve hot, room temperature, or chilled.

Thoughts: I love roasted chicken--it makes itself. I used only drumsticks, since we were taking this to eat at the play in the park with friends. And I love the drumsticks the best. Never underestimate the drumstick.

Good Taste: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Mustard

2010-08-24T17:19:00.000-07:00

So many recipes....I have other things on my mind than food--it's true! But, I've been having fun with the grill this summer, so here are a few more food posts.

From Martha Stewart Living, June 2009

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 chicken cutlets (6 oz each)
1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
3 ounces aged cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
1 baguette, cut crosswise into 4 pieces and halved horizontally
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
3 sour pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise

1. Mix 1/4 cup mustard, the oil, dill, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add chicken and onion and toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill onion, turning often, 8 to 10 minutes. Grill chicken on 1 side for 3 minutes; flip, top with cheddar, and cook 3 minutes more. Cut cutlets in half. Grill baguette, cut sides down, until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Mix remaining 3 tablespoons mustard and the creme fraiche in a small bowl. Spread onto cut sides of baguette. Sandwich chicken, pickles, and onion between bread.

Thoughts: I should always have Shane grill our chicken. My lack of patience always results in almost-safe-but-I-wish-I-gave-it-5-more-minutes doneness. Really fab French sandwich; actually so much better than all the on-the-go baguette sandwiches I ate in Paris (at Paul's--anyone remember that chain? Shane and I would always exclaim, "Merci, Paul" when we saw one. Had to be there, I guess.)

Good Taste: Plum Upside-Down Cake

2010-08-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

From August 2008 Real Simple

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan, at room temperature
4 firm, ripe plums, each cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
2/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the plums and 1/4 cup of the sugar and cook, tossing until the sugar dissolves and the juices from the plums become syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes. Arrange the plums in the cake pan in slightly overlapping concentric circles, starting from the outside. Spoon any pan juices over the top.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. With an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup of the butter and 2/3 cup of the sugar until fluffy. beat in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

5. Pour the batter over the plums and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour. Place a large plate over the cake pan and invert the cake onto the plate.

Thoughts: Criminally simple for how tasty and pretty it is--20 minutes prep. Great way to celebrate summer's beautiful fruit.

Good Taste: Greek-Style Picnic Salad

2010-08-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

From September 2007 Cooking Light

2 cups uncooked write rice
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 cups bagged, prewashed spinach (about 8 oz.)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups (8 oz.) reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15 1/2-oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
10 lemon wedges

1. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Cool to room temperature; set aside.

2. Combine boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and cut into 1-inch pieces.

3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Combine rice, tomatoes, spinach mixture, cheese, and next 5 ingredients (though chickpeas). Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with nuts; serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Thoughts: Perfect last-minute meal, as most of the ingredients are already in the pantry. Would be so good with pine nuts, but pine nuts are as expensive as diamonds these days. Was there a pine nut catastrophe? This is such a deceivingly quick dish and very tasty.

Good Taste: Grilled Zucchini and Eggplant Pizza with Tapenade and Fontina

2010-08-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

From August 2005 Bon Appetit:

Dough:
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
Generous pinch of sugar
3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

Topping:
3 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
2 small eggplants, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
3.4 cut extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 cup purchased black-olive tapenade
3 tablespoons mince fresh marjoram or fresh oregano
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups (packed) coarsley grated Fontina cheese
1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

For Dough:
Stir 1 1/4 cups warm water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl to blend. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup flour; let stand in warm draft-free area until bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Stir oil and salt, then 2 cups flour into yeast mixture. Knead dough in bowl until almost smooth and beginning to pull away from sides, adding 1/4 cup more flour to prevent sticking. Turn dough out onto floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls as needed, about 7 minutes. Place dough in lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, for topping:
Prepare barbecue. Arrange zucchini and eggplant slices on 2 large baking sheets. Brush vegetables with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until tender and golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter.

Sprinkle 3 baking sheets with flour. Punch dough down. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces; roll out each piece on floured surface to 12x8-inch oval. Transfer to prepared baking sheets. Brush dough tops with oil. Place ovals, oiled side down, on hot side of grill rack and grill until bottoms are firm (watch closely to avoid burning), about 3 minutes. Turn crusts over, grill until dough is set, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to baking sheets, grill mark side up.

Spread 1/4 cup tapenade over each pizza, arrange grilled zucchini and epplant slices over. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon marjoram and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Drizzle lightly with oil. Sprinkle each with 1/2 cup Fontina and 1/3 cup Percorino Romano. Return pizzas to cooler side of grill. Cover and grill until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle pizzas with parsley; slice and serve.

Thoughts: This meal brought to us by Trader Joe's. Olive Tapenade: $2.50; Fontina: $3. So cheap. Anyway, the eggplant was too chewy after grilling, so I tossed it. This was my first grilled pizza and I am such a fan--no hot oven in the hot summer! This recipe was a hit with all the Lloyd eaters. Success!

Good Taste: Chicken Salad with Potatoes and Arugula

2010-08-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

From August 2008 Real Simple

1 pound new potatoes
Kosher salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 rotisserie chicken
3 bunches arugula, thick stem removed
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan, shaved

Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons salt, reduce heat, and simmer until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to cool, and slice.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Using a fork or your fingers, shred the chicken, discarding skin and bones.

In individual bowls, combine the arugula, chicken, tarragon, and potatoes. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Thoughts: Perfect autumn salad, especially on a busy day.

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Poisson Rouge

2010-08-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

I have been very reluctant at giving my kids much screentime, but after a crazy summer of packing, moving, living at grandmas, moving again, and unpacking, there have been moments that I've needed a little something up my sleeve to help Peter stay entertained. My amazing friend, Krisanne, introduced me to the kids site, Poisson Rouge (red fish). It is endless! It has very cute, happy games, no annoying Dora or Elmo, and a cool art vibe. Peter can navigate it so easily, it scares me. I didn't know he could drag things on my laptop until I saw him do it so deftly on one of the puzzles. The website is French, although there are multiple languages offered. Once I walked in, and he was doing one of the games in Greek and trying to repeat the words--that was hilarious.

Does anyone else have any kids' websites to recommend?

The Good Stuff for Me: What I'm Listening To....continued

2010-08-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

I recently went to an art history conference in Amsterdam, where I had the opportunity to hear Neil MacGregor speak. Neil MacGregor is the director of the British Museum. After he spoke, I gasped! He was incredibly inspiring, thought-provoking, and best of all, a fabulous story teller. After talking to a few art history folks there, I learned that he is doing a series for the BBC called "History of the World in 100 Objects." Mr. MacGregor started these lectures in efforts to attract a more diverse crowd at the museum. These are 15-minute mini-lectures (lectures make it sound boring; these are really engaging, exciting story-telling sessions). All the objects are in the collection and each segment follows the thesis of the entire project: we, as humans, are more alike than we are different. At moments, these talks are so very poignant that I have to fight back the tears. You can listen to these lectures here.

Good Taste: Grilled Shrimp and Lemon Kebabs

2010-07-27T19:12:00.001-07:00

If you know me (and you all do, I'm guessing), you may know about my secret. I have this bad tendency to hoard recipes. Not like you imagine, where I'm drowning in papers and have to clear a path to my bedroom! Maybe hoard is too strong of a word...maybe I collect recipes. Many recipes, 3 overflowing binders of recipes, mostly in the form of magazine clippings. So, I am changing my system. I always have thrown away recipes that haven't impressed me and my food tasters, but now I am going to dump all the successful recipes right here and throw away the paper. This means that there will be a lot more recipes on here and more peace in my life.

Grilled Shrimp and Lemon Kebabs

24 medium shrimp

2 lemons, cut into small wedges

3 yellow Squash or Zucchini, ends trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 sprigs fresh basil

16 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Heat a broiler on high. Place the shrimp and lemon wedges on 8 skewers, alternating them. Halve the squash or zucchini lengthwise, then cut them into 1-inch-thick slices. Divide the squash among the remaining 8 skewers. Place the skewers on the grill and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes each side. Serve the shrimp and squash with the basil, torn into pieces if desired.

Thoughts: this meal takes 10 minutes and the grilled lemon is great squirted over everything. Yummy with simple salad or rice pilaf.

Good Taste: No room for ice in our ice cube trays!

2010-07-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

[note: this post was intended to be created pre-move! Currently, our ice cube trays are still in a box!]

For the past few months, our ice cube trays have been filled with baby purees. After ecstatically receiving an immersion blender for Christmas from my mother-in-law, I have been pureeing up a storm for little Nathan.

My best resource for baby food has been Annabel Karmel's First Meals. It has great ideas for purees, as well as food for toddlers and preschoolers. We especially love our 'sunshine rice' (which is officially Paella in the cookbook). There are newer editions of this book, as well as other similar books by this author, but I've checked them out from the library and still love this one the most. Be warned: she has some pretty intense meal planning for babies and she also recommends milk and bread too early for my liking. We really only do the simple veggie and fruit purees (and not even all she recommends--who wants cauliflower puree?). For the the more exciting combos, we've been going back to my very favorite Earth's Best baby food, which is usually on sale at Amazon (like it is today) and is cheaper than Gerber.

Nathan is just now growing out of baby food, which is a relief to both of us. He likes to feed himself and I like to eat my dinner. I'm remembering what I used to give Peter at this age: chickpeas, toast, soft fruit and berries, little bits from my meal, and cheerios. Lots of cheerios. So, tell me, what little finger foods am I forgetting?

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Survival Mothering

2010-06-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have a large amounts of posts in my mental queue for both this and my family blog, not to mention a few other writing projects that I'm excited about, but I thought I'd record a few activities we've been doing that I'd rather not forget. Everything in our lives is unbelievably scattered--while I was in Europe, my very kind husband moved us out of our apartment. While my parents are generously hosting us at their house, our belongings are strewn between both of our parents houses and a storage shed. Ugh, I just can't think about it too much, or my head starts to hurt. However, we are enjoying some wonderful time with family. And I can't believe how nice it is to have grandma's loving attention for Peter during the transition times. Man, I'm getting soft!

I am still committed to my Mama School, although the next three weeks have been designated by me as our "relocation break," while we get our family from this side of the country to the other.

Here are our lesson plans for the week before and after my Amsterdam trip:

Goldilocks and the Three Bears:
Monday: Read different versions of Goldilocks, play with toy set pulled together with small, blond, naughty-looking doll, and three bears. I also gathered dollhouse furniture (from my mom): three chairs, a breakfast table, three beds. This would be most successful with a doll house, recreating the bears cottage.

Tuesday: Bear Appreciation Day. We read lots of bear books today and learned all about their hibernation patterns. We also constructed a bear cave in the living room. Because all of our spare blankets had been packed, we borrowed some fitted sheets from my mom and found them to be exceptional in sofa-fort construction. By the way, have you seen these sofa fort critiques ? They make me laugh enough that Shane starts bugging me about why I'm laughing so hard.
I think this fort deserves a B-

Wednesday: Oatmeal--the super grain! As an homage to the too-hot, too-cold, and just-right porridge, we ate oatmeal for breakfast and made my favorite oatmeal cookies
Now that I'm writing this out, it would be fun, also, to do some activities surrounding the idea of 'too hot' and 'too cold' as well as all the other comparative analyses that Goldilocks makes throughout the book.

Thursday: Please Knock, Goldilocks! I checked out a few books about stranger danger--nothing too scary, but just preliminary thoughts about it.

Friday: Jumping and Running! More library books, this time about animals that jump (kangaroos) and run (cheetahs). There were also a couple of books, sort of 'running is fun' types of books that were complete duds with Pete. We had relay races (yes, just the two of us), and I almost blew his mind when I showed him my crabwalk. He is now completely taken with backwards running. We also did the long jump and high jump, and recorded his best jumps to show dad after work. (Dad impressed us by hitting the ceiling on his vertical jump.) I also pulled up the world record long jumper, just so Pete could see the pros. He was mildly impressed.

Curious George Rides a Bike:
[Note: this week was so crazy, half of my plans fizzled into us running errands or other unforeseen shananigans.]

Monday: Curious George and Curious Monkeys. We read all of the Curious George books and enjoyed a banana. If I had my real life, I would have checked out some books on monkeys and climbing, and headed to the park for some jungle-gym climbing.

Tuesday: Read all about it! We made a family newspaper with the latest family happenings (Day Out with Thomas, Sunday dinner with my brother, Summertime activities), remembering Curious George on his paper route. My vision was to print pictures from iphoto, but I narrowly held Peter's attention for writing out the articles on a large piece of butcher paper. I think this would be a really creative, fun activity for a slightly older child.

Wednesday: Paper Boats. The book provides some excellent instructions on how to create paper boats. We didn't exactly get to the activities today, but it would have been fun to make the boats and race them down a nearby stream. I'm also wanting to do the ever-popular "sink or float" activity.

Thursday: Trumpet Day! How could we not celebrate the trumpet, after reading about the ostrich who swallowed George's trumpet? Ideally, we would have had a few fun books about trumpets, watch some Youtube of one of my musical heroes, Wynton Marsalis (although we have already spent hours watching him!), and had fun playing on Peter's toy trumpet. Sounds fun. sigh.

Friday: Circus Parade. Another day of unfulfilled plans, but there was a plan! We were going to read about circus parades (a topic that is very popular among the child lit crowd). I loved building animal trains as a kid, by lining up orange and apple boxes in a straight line and putting stuffed animals in them. I remember barely fitting in the first box as the circus engineer! I hope that our lives can settle down enough to do this later on.

A few days ago, in a desperate moment to do something fun for the remaining two hours left before dinnertime (ah, that dreaded 3:00 pm stretch!), Peter and I created "La Familia Pizzaria". We made a menu (I left the pricing up to Peter, and his rates were amazingly reasonable, aside from the $17 tap water). I may just scan the menu a post it here for posterity, as proof that I was trying to salvage something from one of those days when the hours seemed to drag so painfully. As much as I would like to report that this was a wonderful success, unfortunately, both boys came down with stomachaches just minutes before the pizza was put in the oven, creating quite a chaotic restaurant experience. Two boys screaming and an oven at 500 degrees. Perfect. Anyway, the boys rested and Shane and I had a romantic dinner for two at the pizzaria. Peter managed to recover in time to order ice cream from the menu. Peter reminded me that ice cream is great for stomach aches. Right.

A friend of mine has been sharing some things she's been working on as far as summer activities with her kids and it got me thinking how nice it would be to hear what my friends are doing with their kids this summer. If you have some activities or thoughts to share and would like to do a post, please let me know!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Baby Happy Pants

2010-06-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our little guy can't stay little! When I was packing up our baby clothes to bring with us last summer, I was certain that I would not need the 18-month box. Shame on me for not remembering how big our boys are! As the summer months have approached, Nathan has been in need of a new wardrobe. I wanted to keep spending to a minimum, since that box of clothes that fit him is waiting for us after we move back in a few weeks (!). I bought some sale fabric from Sew Mama Sew and a fresh batch of onesies and called it good for now.
I used a combo of tutorials for these pants--I like the MADE tutorial and the instructions in Creative Family.

It is fun to have something fresh and new for this #2 boy!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Week 2 Mama School

2010-05-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

I'm posting another week of our Mama School curriculum!

This Week: Peter Pan

We had to do this one. Peter's default activity is pretending to be Peter Pan (or one of the Lost Boys, or John, or Tiger Lily, or a really nice Captain Hook....but 99% of the time, he is Peter Pan). He really loved delving deeper into the topics surrounding this book.

Monday:
Read different versions of Peter Pan. I made another little toy set, using our playmobile guys, but there are so many different characters that it was a bit scattered.

We also checked out the original book on cd, which I took back to the library after about 15 minutes of listening. Call me overprotective, but I can't allow my three-year-old to listen to how each pirate prefers to kill other people. I do wish it wasn't so violent, because other parts of the story are so charming. I also cringed every time the narrator said "redskin." We are in a different age, I suppose. In retrospect, I would spend a day talking about Native Americans, and help try to bring some racial sensitivity about this group. Hopefully, I can do something like that soon.

Tuesday: Investigate Neverland's Sea Life
Read books about crocodiles and mermaids

Sang the alligator song "you can't catch me"--not sure of the actual title there
Talked about rough (crocodile skin) and smooth (fish scales), along with other rough and soft things
Planned a treasure hunt (treasure is in the water, right?); We did the treasure hunt twice and made one for Shane, which he did when he got home.

At the end, we played with this "treasure in a bottle"

I think this would be a perfect game for someone slightly older. Peter was pretty fixated on just opening the bottle up and getting the toys out, rather than enjoying the reveal/conceal aspect of the game.

Wednesday: Shadows
In the story, Wendy sews on Peter's shadow. I made this shadow lacing card for Peter, which was particularly difficult, since I had packed our single hole punch and was left trying to work the three-hole punch. Also, the cord I had for lacing was too thick, and turned out to be pretty frustrating for Peter. If I were to do it again, I would use yarn, I think. Peter did appreciate the effort, and has been playing with the shadow all week.

We also made hand shadows in the bathroom. Who knows where our flashlights are--New Haven? My parents' basement? Shane's parents' garage? In a box that we've packed? So, we improvised by shining a lamp on the bathroom wall and voila! He was SO INTO IT. We probably did hand shadows for 2 hours that day. And then again when Shane came home. Loved it.

Thursday: You can fly (but actually not)!
We talked about flying animals (insects, bats, and birds) and read books about how they do it.
We then read some books about why we can't fly and did some snazzy gravity experiments. My favorite book for these experiments is I Fall Down. It's was the only one that was geared toward really small kids, unlike the others, which Peter kept trying to slam shut while I was reading them. I get the hint, Pete.

First we dropped different things to see who wins (as predicted, it was a tie every time). We did a key vs. a penny, an orange vs. and orange, and the most popular, an orange vs. a grape. Our fruit was nice and juicy at lunchtime.

Racing a car down a ramp (flat packing box) and adding books to increase the grade and, consequently, the speed of the car. This was the favorite experiment, and by the end, Peter had stacked up all the books that are not yet packed.

Friday: Ships Ahoy!
[Sadly, we didn't get to the activities planned for this day. But, happily, my mom watched Peter while I had the morning to myself. But, sadly, I was just cleaning and working on a powerpoint presentation, and not at the spa or anything.]
Here's what we had planned for today:
Playing 'Sink or Float': dropping various objects in a sink full of water and noting the sinkers and floaters.
Making little rafts out of sticks and string or making paper boats ala Curious George.
We'll save these for later, I guess!

I mentioned this before, but I have been completely surprised by the good this little Mama School is doing for our relationship and Peter's behavior generally. The last two months were dreadful, but I have been shocked at the turn Pete has taken the last two weeks. I really look forward to our mornings together and Peter just begs for his Mama School! Yay!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Setting the Table

2010-05-14T19:01:00.001-07:00

In my recent efforts to get some chores going, I made some placemats to help guide Peter in his new table-setting responsibilities. I found this cute fabric at Joann's in the scrap bin and went with it. Amazingly enough, after I set the placemats and dishes on the table, Peter does a great job getting everything just so. And, in addition to helping Peter learn to set the table, this project helped me really get the hang of zigzag stitching (right before I had to give my mom's Bernina back :( I just finished packing up all my sewing stuff today.) On to knitting projects, I guess.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Crib Bedding love, Mama

2010-05-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Nathan's crib set. I used Amy Butler's Little Stitches for both the fitted sheet and crib skirt. I used scrap fabric from Peter's Duvet cover, which helped coordinate things in the brother's room. Also, I can't complain about paying nothing for a new crib set versus paying a lot for bedding that I don't like nearly so much.

The sheet is a dream--I made it in one night and it is a better fit than our other store-bought versions. I can't wait to make some more!
I think the bedding looks the best this way. Nighty night, little one!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Life After Preschool

2010-05-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

We are currently in week one of no preschool. A girl can get used to certain things very quickly, and I got used to waving goodbye to Peter and enjoying some quiet time those three mornings during the week. I love this kid to bits, but without some real structure, mothering this child diminishes into a long discussion about why we can't eat more crackers and cheese or watch another show. As a side note: I have started letting Peter watch a half-hour show while I prepare dinner, because I have found that his interference with my cooking (and the accompanied frustration from the mama) is more dangerous than whatever the effects a half-hour of tv has on a child. Anyway, I had to come up with a plan. I'll share what I'm doing, with the recognition that it may come across a bit intense, but Peter is intense and so I'm just trying to come up with something that will suit his personality. Here is our daily plan:

I had this flannel board handy, which hadn't seen much action lately, and decided that it would do the job. It looks super structured, but we have yet to actually do everything on the board. Just having a destination does a lot of good for Peter. He struggles so much with transitions (all of you who have been around Peter lately have witnessed his dramatic exits), but when the board tells us what the next step is, he accepts it much more readily. I like having the day mapped out, too.

The 'jobs' portion of our day is mostly Peter helping me around the house, but I am hoping to start Peter on a few chores this summer that are only his. What jobs do you assign to your very young kids? Right now, I'm thinking he can put away the silverware from the dishwasher, dust, make his bed. I'm looking for good chore chart ideas!

The 'preschool' element has now shifted to 'Mama School'. In our last conference with Peter's preschool teacher, she described him as a huge question mark. Isn't that a terrific description?! Peter's appetite for learning is insatiable and that is maybe my favorite thing about him. This week I have started doing some simple activities while Nathan is having his morning nap, and now, the second Peter wakes up, he asks me what we're doing at Mama School. To my happy surprise, he has been overjoyed by each humble effort I have prepared for him. I am finding that this small two hour stretch has exponentially improved my relationship with Peter and let me mother in a way that I have always wanted to but haven't found the right way to do it. And this is just the first week! My mom encouraged me to write down what we did this week, so I can refer to it later with younger children, so here goes:

Mama School: Week One
This week, we are studying the story and accompanying topics surrounding the fascinating tale of the THREE LITTLE PIGS:

Monday: Read various versions of the Three Little Pigs; play with the three little pig toy set I put together. The toys set included three pigs, a toy wolf, building materials for the houses (straw: pipe cleaners, sticks: popsicle sticks, bricks: legos). This kept Peter busy for hours, as he kept recreating the story (Mama, what if the wolf was nice and was actually friends with the pigs?!)

Tuesday: Pig Appreciation Day. We talked about pigs and boars and the gentle art of truffle hunting. We read a few stories I had checked out on pigs and then did some finger painting in 'mud' or, really, chocolate pudding. Did you do this as a kid? I loved it.

You paint a little...

and then eat the rest.
fun!
Here is mine:I had also planned on making pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch, but forgot to buy hot dogs for it. Another time!

Wednesday: Wolf Appreciation Day. We talked about wolves, read a few wolfy books and even watched an educational kid's show about wolves. Then, we went to the wildly overgrown small area between our house and the house next door and made a wolf den.

night, night, Wolfy.

Thursday: House Building Workshop. We sketched out plans for what a super-duper cool house might be like. I kind of regret this, because Peter is so young and has no aspirations for anything more than our small apartment in New Haven. But, his face lit up when I added a huge slide and ice cream shop to the playroom. We also perused these favorite books of mine. They are still too old for Peter, but the illustrations are so incredible, I just can't wait to show him! David MacCaulay, thank you for these books!

I had also intended on making butter with Peter (since there is a butter churn in the version we read), but we ran out of time. Hooray! Too much to do!

Friday: A play of the Three Little Pigs. Peter has never seen a play and so I'm excited to help him star in his first production tomorrow. I think he'll get a big kick out of it. Shane and Nathan will be a gracious audience, no doubt.

Week one done! We'll see what I come up with next week!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: What we're listening to, part 2

2010-04-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

To improve our very noisy car travel, we've had the audiobook of The collected stories of Winnie-the-Pooh playing in our car the last two weeks. This cd set is read by Stephen Fry and Judy Dench, along with a full cast of characters. I'm not a huge fan of the Disney Winnie-the-Pooh; just a bit too cheesy/annoyingly bouncy for me. But, Shane and I were talking last night about our favorite parts from these stories! The stories are read as they were originally written, and include the richness and depth to the characters and they are sweet. Peter loves each one! I cried on the last story when sweet Christopher Robin had to explain to Pooh that he had to grow up.

Anyway, we love these and they would be a perfect thing to put in the cd player on a road trip.

ps. I just discovered Gwenyth Paltrow's sooooo fabulous website, goop.com. I think I'm going to discontinue reading all other blogs and just read this one. Ah, she is the best.

Good Taste: A few more breakfast and lunch ideas

2010-04-05T10:15:00.001-07:00

I came across an old ripped-out article from Real Simple (circa 2008) that has some excellent recipes for kid-friendly breakfasts/lunches. For us, dinner is never specifically 'kid-friendly', but I always try for more familiar fare for the other two meals. Anyone else like this, too?

I thought I'd copy the recipes onto this blog rather than keep this ratty old paper that is increasingly covered in flying food particles. (I am an abstract expressionist cook, unintentionally.)

For breakfast at home:

Egg in a Hole with Berries and Yogurt
Total Time: 15 minutes. Serves 2.
2 slices whole-wheat bread
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large eggs
kosher salt and pepper
1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries)
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted (optional)

Spread the top of each slice of bread with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter. Using a round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a 2 1/2- to 3-inch whole in the center of each slice of bread, reserving the cutout pieces. Heat the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a large nonstick or cast0iron skillet over medium heat. Place the bread and the cutouts, buttered-side up, in the skillet. Crack 1 egg into each hole. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until the underside of the bread is golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook the egg to desired doneness, 1 to 2 minutes for a runny yolk. Divide the berries and yogurt between two bowls and sprinkle with almonds (if using). Serve with the eggs.

For lunch at home:

Turkey Taco Salad
Total time: 25 minutes. Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
kosher salt and pepper
1 16-oz container store-bought refrigerated fresh salsa
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into pieces (about 8 cups)
1/2 9-oz bag tortilla chips
1 15.5-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed
1 avocado, diced
1 cup grated Cheddar
1 6-oz can sliced black olives (optional)

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Pour off any excess liquid. Stir in half the salsa and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining salsa and sour cream. Divide the lettuce, chips, turkey mixture, beans avocado, Cheddar, and olives (if using) among bowls. Serve with the salsa-and-sour-cream dressing.

Peas and Carrots Alphabet Soup:
Total time: 20 minutes. Serves 4
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 carrots, diced
1 cup alphabet pasta
kosher salt
1 10-oz package frozen peas (2 cups)

Place the broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the carrots, pasta, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer until the carrots and pasta are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Multigrain Mac and Cheese
Total Time: 30 Minutes. Serves 4
12 oz. multigrain elbow macaroni (3 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3 1/2 cups grated Cheddar (12 ounces)

cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the parsley. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Wipe out the saucepan and melt the remaining tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce has slightly thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the Cheddar and 1/2 teaspoon salt and whisk until the cheese melts. Stir in the macaroni. Divide among blows and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.

Good Taste: Food Revolution

2010-03-23T11:58:00.001-07:00

Last night, I watched the first hour of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution online. I think the full episode airs on Friday night, but I couldn't wait! I could feel myself nodding my head 'yes' during the entire show. His whole notion of not putting up with mediocre, numbing food anymore is exactly what motivated me to start writing this blog. I love many things, but I feel most passionate about food. So much of who we are and how healthy and full our lives can be is determined on the day-to-day meals that we choose. I am so pleased that Jamie Oliver is getting the momentum going!

Jamie stressed the use of whole, raw ingredients, which seems basic. It is basic. But, when he showed a group of first-graders a variety of vegetables and none of them identified them correctly! I've tried to use whole foods in my cooking and I'd say dinnertime is pretty solid this way. I still struggle with breakfast and lunch--especially when Peter has to take his lunch to preschool. I've been perusing a few cookbooks today and wrote down some ideas for great, healthful breakfasts and lunches. (Honestly, I wrote this mainly as a reference to plan meals in the future.)

Breakfast Ideas:
Oatmeal with mix-ins:
*a little vanilla and cinnamon
*Jam
*Bananas, Peaches, Strawberries, Blueberries
*Granola
*Brown sugar or real maple syrup

Boiled Egg, Toast, and Orange Juice

Muesli, Dried Apricots and cherries, Yogurt

Bagel Sandwich with Scrambled Eggs, Ham, and Cheddar Cheese

Crepes or Pancakes with berries and whipped cream or lemon curd

French Toast Kebabs

Banana-Walnut Muffins and Smoothies

Lunch Box Lunches:

Part of the problem with our lunches at school comes with our current lunch bag situation--cloth lunch bag and ziplock baggies. I'm planning on upgrading to this system soon.

Food that comes in a pocket:
*Empanadas
*Samosas
*Individual Pot Pies in a pastry
*Potstickers or spring rolls

Soups:
*Chicken Noodle
*Tomato Soup
*Lentil Vegetable Soup

Noodles:
*Spaghetti and Meatballs
*Sesame Noodles
*Pad Thai

Finger Food:
*Sticky Barbecue Drumsticks
*Whole Grain Crakers, Celery, Apples and natural Peanut Butter for dipping
*Pinwheel Sandwiches: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Turkey and Cheese
*Quesadillas
*Homemade Breaded Shrimp (baked!)

Salad:
Farfalle Pasta Salad
Waldorf Salad
Tuna or Chicken Salad
Tabbouleh Salad
White Bean or Chickpea Salad

Meal Finishers:
*Fresh Fruit slices
*Yogurt
*String Cheese
*Olives

Lunches at Home:
Sweet and Sour Vegetable Stir-Fry
Chicken Caterpillar Kebabs
Bagels Faces
English Muffin Pizzas
Beef Tacos
Hamburgers and Oven-Baked Fries
Penne with Zucchini, Peppers, and Sausages

So, there may be those who say that my child won't eat any of this, but I've found Pete to be open-minded if it's presented in a fun way. I think kids will eat it (especially if they know that it is the only food available!). One tip I got from my very favorite, favorite new cookbook Mad Hungry, is to cut up a plate of fruits and veggies and put it on the table while preparing the rest of the meal. I've done this, and Pete really chows down on the good stuff, since he's usually hungry.

I guess it really comes down to planning and doing, doesn't it? If I haven't thought through my life, we end up eating stuff that has no heart and does nothing for us but fill our bellies (and clog our arteries). When I do spend that hour on Sunday evening getting the meals planned, an hour or two cooking and filling our freezer, and 20 minutes the night before to do some meal prep, we eat great food all week.

So, friends, what do you think? Do you have some breakfast/lunch faves that you can share? What does your meal-planning look like?

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: First Science Experiment

2010-03-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

As much as I try to help Peter explore his artistic side, there is no denying that Pete has his dad's interests at heart: he really likes learning about the world around him. He will dabble with paints and crayons, but it is watching how things go (physics) and watching how things grow (biology) that make his eyes sparkle. Because coloring and crafting are most natural for me, it has been a good experience to stretch into this unfamiliar realm. Who knew that the awful intro to physical science class and biology 101 might actually come in handy in the coming years? (*Note* I did enjoy my high school physics class immensely, thanks to a certain Dr. Atiya.)
While we may already have one or two science experiments at work in our fridge (that blue cheese is looking extra blue today), I wanted an official place to observe how several vegetables change over time. I thought I'd introduce some good lab etiquette to begin with. We created our sterile environment by cleaning our jars in the dishwasher and laid a newly washed dishcloth in our "observation deck" (tray). We put set the onion on top of a water-filled jar, sliced the bottom off of four radishes and set them in a pie dish filled with water and pie weights, and put some great northern beans on top of damp toilet paper inside of a jar with the lid on. I made a very simple observation notebook by stapling some paper together, and voila! Our scientific experiment had commenced.
It took a few days for anything to happen and I almost gave up. Shane said that if the experiment didn't work, it would be a good real-life lesson to know that science experiments don't work most of the time. That was a low point in our experiment.
And then, one day, we woke up and found this! Our radishes had changed! The onion continues to be a dud, but our beans, too, began to look very cool.
I'll post a few of Peter's observations (dictated by me):
About the onion:
"The onion is turning RED!"
"The onion is peeling by itself!"
"I peeled the onion a little bit"
"I saw some yellow stuff on the onion"

About the radishes:
"The radishes are turning into gray!"
"The radishes have a little green on top"
"The radishes are peeling"
"The pick-ups are coming out!" (Pick-ups are the stems, because that's where you "pick them up")
"The radishes are getting holes"

And the beans:
"The beans are turning into black beans"
"The toilet paper is flushing" ?
"The beans broke and beans came out!"
"The beans are turning into beans!"
"The beans look like spiders"

In the words of my seventh-grade Life Science teacher, I have to say "Is this data real?" to some of these comments (My teacher was questioning my awesome experiment of when I made my cat listen to blaring music and wrote down his responses. And the data was real.) But, some of Peter's observations are pretty great.

So, friends, do you have any other scientific activities you like to do with your kids?

Good Influence: William Morris

2010-03-02T19:24:00.001-08:00

“If I were asked to say what is at once the most important production of art and the thing most to be longed for, I should answer, a beautiful house.” William Morris

I have been thinking about who I am and what our family life should look like lately....woah, deep, I know. But, since it is my job to keep house here, I've been contemplating what our environment should consist of. Admittedly, our possessions are primarily family cast-offs and craigslist scores, but I'm wanting to establish a feel for our home right now, so as we grow into an aesthetic in the coming years (in many years, that is, ahem), we won't continue with the mish-mash look we've got going on right now. Mish-mash look has got to go.

I have always been drawn to William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement of the 1880s and '90s in Britain. When I was choosing my area of concentration for my master's program in art history, my top contenders were, in fact, the Arts & Crafts movement and late-medieval feminism. And now, I return to William Morris for inspiration for beautiful, warm, soulful home design.
William Morris was a jack of all trades: talented at crafting textiles, hand-painted wallpaper, soundly constructed furniture, architect, and proselytizer of his moral platform, demanding greater integrity in the construction of the ephemera of daily life. In his words, “More universally…[there should be] a quality that is hard to put your finger on but that is undeniably there in all great work, whether it be a painting, a pot, a roll of wallpaper or a fine tapestry—an inherent quality that derives from the pride, expertise and creative freedom of its maker. It gives craft or good workmanship, and the pleasure we take in it, a moral dimension, so that it is no longer a purely sensory phenomenon.” (Lucia Van Der Post, p. 15).

Morris' demands for a home designed with the integrity of the medieval artisans was timely; the Industrial Revolution was at its height in Great Britain during Morris' youth, and the production of textiles and furniture had shifted from artisans' hands to the assembly lines in factories. London's air had become polluted with the choking smoke, steam and dust from the ever-growing construction of railways, roads, and factories. The poor lived in crowded tenements, while the rich grew increasingly decadent.
Throughout Morris' upbringing, he grew increasingly disillusioned by the culture, or lack of it, that surrounded him. As biographer Lucia van der Post explains, "As a sulky seventeen-year-old heir to a City fortune, William Morris had refused to enter the Crystal Palace to see the Great Exhibition with his family. He already had a horror of the meretricious furniture and decoration that ‘new money’, such as his father’s, had made fashionable. It was only when he got to Oxford, however, that he found the intellectual armoury that helped him articulate his distaste…the writer John Ruskin blamed the degradation of modern taste on the enslavement of workmen to industrial process. Ruskin was sure that ‘the difference between the spirit of touch of the man who is inventing, and of the man who is obeying directions, is often all the difference between a great and a common work of art’. He believed the solution lay in the revival of handcrafts and the abolition of false distinctions between the designer and the maker, the artist and the craftsman."
Here we are in 2010. To me, it seems as if we are right back in 1880. We have collectively witnessed the same explosion of industry (that of the technological sort), the growing decadence of our society, and the cheap, flimsy goods that surround our lives (sorry, Ikea, but seriously...). And then, we see little sparks of William Morris resurface: it seems as though there is a cultural longing for hand-crafted, well-made, simple things again. You know, the good stuff!
So, William Morris, I tip my hat to you! I may not follow you in your socialistic slants, but I do love your commitment to craft and extraordinary home design!

"Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

William Morris

The Good Stuff for Me: What I'm listening to....

2010-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

I don't want to imply that anyone out there is not familiar with these radio shows, but I've been asking friends lately, "Did you hear such and such" and I've been getting blank stares back. So, I'm just putting this out there, and if anybody listens to these shows, tell me, and let's talk.

This is what I listen to when I clean:

This American Life
I've been listening to this show for years, and it never disappoints. I have laughed to tears (bodybuilding snowman), and been moved to tears (this week's is actually quite poignant), and the time flies right on by. Your thoughts? I especially recommend this episode about the healthcare debate , which was excellent at clarifying the issues involved.

Radio Lab
My cool sister recommended Radio Lab to me a year ago and it is great! I listen to my sister about new things. She introduced me to Pearl Jam in 1992, took me to a Sarah McLachlan concert in 1994, sent me emails in 1998, when I checked my email account maybe once a month, and moved to San Francisco AND started doing marathons and triathlons before it was the cool thing to do. Anne, you are so on the cusp. And Anne likes Radio Lab. And I really do, too.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
Classic NPR show that makes me laugh out loud. Ah, am I geeking you out yet? But really, Mo Rocca cracks me up every time he talks. Eva, I am still sorry to have had to give up your spare ticket to see the live show all those years ago! And, did you know that Peter Segal is a pretty serious marathoner?

So, friends, what are you listening to these days?

The Good Book: The Garden in the City by Gerda Muller

2010-02-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

I love this book. For those apartment dwellers among us, you can understand the longing for a little piece of land to look after. This book clearly demonstrates the dream of tending to a garden: a family buys an old, charming house with a huge, overgrown yard. The parents proceed to restore the yard to life, involving their children in each task, until the two young kids, along with their buddy from next door, have their own gardens that keep them busy! outdoors! frolicking! pulling weeds! listening to birds! I especially love that the home is set in the city. I love living in a city (Ok, New Haven isn't a big city, but it is very urban). Now I just have to figure out how to have a garden in the city. That would be perfect.

We have been up to our ears in library books--Peter has been devouring them! Tonight, before bed, he said, "I'm feeling kind of 'read-y'." Then he gave me that look that means I'm sure you aren't smart enough to know what I'm talking about and explained, "Mama, being 'read-y' MEANS that I need to read some books." I have been relying heavily on Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt. This juvenile literature reference has thousands of great recommendations from babies through to teenage readers. It's been fun to request books for both Peter and Nathan. The Salt Lake Library System has a fabulous online request system and I can pile on the requests at home and have the books ready for us the next day! Please, someone, tell me that Connecticut libraries have this system in place! I don't think I can go back!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Napkins to remember

2010-02-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

No matter the occasion, you can always count on me to forget to put napkins out when I'm entertaining. It never enters my mind. I even assigned a friend to remind me about putting napkins out(Thanks, Kristy), but, sadly, she moved to Iowa. So, promptly after she moved, my guests resumed eating napkinless. How many times has a friend eating at our house asked for a napkin, only to be handed an old, crumply Christmas one, or worse, a folded paper towel! I thought I'd remedy the situation by making cloth ones. These little ditties are for lunches and baby showers, as I've been known to host a few of both in my day. They are the perfect size for when you might be juggling a plate and glass on your lap.
Truth be told, the napkins are also leftover quilting squares sewn together and trimmed with my snazzy new pinking shears I got for Christmas. We'll see how they look after I wash them. Probably a good idea to line-dry these babies. Anyway, this was a fun little project to distract me from the dreaded skirt project bogging me down. Hopefully, you'll be seeing a post about the skirt soon!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Christmas Jammers

2010-02-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

I did end up making us all jammers to wear on Christmas Eve. I did not, however, get a picture of us all wearing our jammers, since we got home late Christmas Eve, put them on, collapsed in bed, and we woke up very early on Christmas morning to see Shane off to work, when, by that point, Shane was all dressed up and our magical pajama photo op had escaped us, so you will not see Shane or me modeling our jammers. Which is probably for the best. Anyway, just for the record, there were pajama pants for Shaner and me (same patterns from last year). For the boys, I made kimono jammers. Pete's are from an Oliver & S pattern. Ah, Oliver & S, how I love you! The patterns are a dream! I learned some great sewing techniques just from reading the instructions. (I'm thinking about making the coat for Pete next year. I better start now...) Anyway, Peter's jammers looked great! He loves them! Success!
Here you can see the trim from my excellent DI fabric find. The main dark blue fabric was from my sister who was purging the closets, so it turned out to be a $1 fabric investment. Thanks, Anne!
Now Nathan's jammers are another story. I used the pattern for kimono pajamas in Amy Butler's Little Stitches and ended up with this:
I made them THREE times and repeatedly saw what you see now! Aren't they ridiculous?! Every time I'd finish, I couldn't help but bust up laughing--WHO IN THE WORLD IS SHAPED LIKE THIS??!! Uh, definitely not Nathan. We even tried them on him for kicks, and guess what, they didn't fit. So, just in case you thought I know what I'm doing behind a sewing machine, put your mind at ease and look at that picture again...so totally not right. No hard feelings from me, though. Nathan likes his one-piece jammers better anyway, and they really only would have fit him for a couple of weeks after Christmas. Not to worry, Nathan. We'll use the other pattern next year!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Tools of the Trade

2010-01-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

During December, I was madly pushing fabric through the sewing machine for Christmas pjs, there I was, a bundle of stress and expectations, while listening to the Martha show on my computer. On the show, there was a Q&A with Martha, and someone asked her what she was going to do for Christmas. Her answer: "I am going to a spa. I am not cooking anything or doing anything more than yoga and long walks." My next thought was "Now that sounds like a great Christmas!" Right then and there I resolved to designate January as nothing month. We have been going so fast for so long, I wanted to give us a break. A resolution for no schedules, no rigid rules, just easy-going living and be one of those soap-opera-and-bon-bon kind of moms, minus the soap operas and bon bons. Ok, maybe a few bon bons. The boys would love it, right? Imagine, a free-flow life at the Lloyd's house!

How did my ingenious plan play out, you ask? Well, Nathan started waking up a lot at night. Like every 45 minutes. Not only did Peter have a rotation of whiney/overly hyperactive/too-rough behavior at home, I started to get reports from preschool that he was falling on top of his little classmates and tipping them over domino style. The house that I allowed to become more messy than usual (as this was my bohemian moment after all) was driving me crazy, since I was tripping or stubbing something every other step (You should have seen my fourth toe on my left foot--bright purple for a few days from an encounter with the bouncy chair), and, after letting my meal planning regiment go, we started eating really weird food. Nevertheless, my plan failed so totally, utterly, completely that I knew there had to be some changes and, gulp, I had to be the one to make them.

So, the new sheriff came to town (meaning me with a new resolve). We introduced Nathan to his new home in the other bedroom, complete with a nice, spacious crib, where he gets to sleep all night! Alone! I know there is a large "We don't let our kids cry" constituency out there, heck, there's probably a facebook group by now, but I'm just saying that one hour of crying for one night and a few peeps here and there is waaaay better than 24 months of the rocking/nursing/ walking-the-halls nonsense. Ok, you can hate me now. But for us, life is immensely better at night. And since Nathan has an extraordinary super-power sensor that sounds his inner alarm whenever there is another human lifeform in the room, we moved Pete into our room temporarily. You hear that, Pete? He is all about this ongoing slumber party, but I'm not too excited that my already short morning commute down the hall has been entirely eliminated. Pete told my mom the other day "Sometimes I watch my mama and dada while they are sleeping." If it wasn't you, Peter, that might totally creep me out. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that I'm working on some changes to smooth out the wrinkles that have come in mothering these two guys and I'd like to document them here for motivation's sake and to get some feedback and good ideas from all you great moms out there.

So, here are a few mothering tools I've implemented in hopes to turn things around:

Peter's very own special super duper alarm clock. To thwart of Pete's developing habit of waking before the sun, we gave him this alarm clock. Best five dollars I've ever spent. We tell him firmly every night before bed, "Daytime begins when the eight is at the front!" I don't care if he is actually awake, but I am not involved before eight. Every morning at eight o'clock sharp, I hear "THE EIGHT IS AT THE FRONT." Peter has been pretty good about this, though. Sometimes while he waits, he'll just be lying in bed on his back, one leg crossed at the knee on top of the other, reading a huge Richard Scarry book. Doesn't that seem so relaxing?

This blurry picture I took while holding a wiggly baby makes it hard to make out what this is, but I put a shelf hanger in Peter's closet and made labels on each shelf, one for every day of the week.

One of the most painful parts of our day is changing Peter from his pajamas into playclothes. Peter becomes so excruciatingly distracted and we both hate it. So, the new plan is that every Sunday evening before bed, Peter helps me put his outfits in the shelves, one for every day. Each morning, Peter can pick his outfit out all by himself and (hopefully someday) dress himself. There are little drawings on each label, Sunday has a sun, Wednesday has a vegetable garden,Thursday has rain clouds, so Peter can know which shelf to go to by the picture, even though he can't read yet. The pictures also create a springboard for some imaginative conversation while we get Peter dressed (Mama, you be the tomato and I'll be the carrot and Nathan can be the lettuce). After two weeks, this little project has been a success!

I love this little nightlight we got for Peter. The amount of light is just right--light enough to comfort him, but dim enough to let us sleep while he's in our room, and his brother when he moves back into his room (really soon!). It charges during the day and then glows throughout the night without any cords, which will be great for late-night potty visits when Pete finally gets the hang of using the toilet at night. It's better than a flashlight, since the whole thing glows, which makes it easy to find and has a soft illumination rather than a bright, blinding spotlight. The best feature is that it is not hot to the touch. Pete actually curls up with the light in his bed! It's pretty sweet, actually.

Ok! There's my first step in my new and improved mothering! No matter how much I fail at this mothering gig, at least I keep at it, right? Now, mothers of the world, tell me: what are your tools of the trade? I am all ears!

Feeling Good: Yoga Today

2010-01-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

I've had a few friends ask me about yoga lately, and I can't recommend Yoga Today enough. Right now, it is almost impossible for me to get to a gym and this is my solution for now. I'm not one for doing tv workouts, since they are usually disappointing and cheesy, but these yoga classes are fantastic! The site provides one free class per week, and this week is a perfect workout for yoga first-timers (note--it might not provide great physical challenge, it is excellent instruction for yoga practice). I also love the beautiful places they film the classes. The Tetons and Arizona deserts are much more calming than a gym.

So, please tell me friends, what do you do for exercise in the winter with kids?

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: To Peter; Love Santa

2010-01-16T12:56:00.001-08:00

I love the idea of the "I'm not bored anymore art jar" from Land of Nod. I'm all about giving Pete odds and ends, a little glue, some scissors and paint, and watch his imagination go. After seeing these spectacular wooden acorns, I decided to create a custom-made art jar just right for little three-year old hands. Here's are some more of the contents:
Pipe cleaners, paint brushes, beads
Googly eyes, Popsicle sticks, and a teeny tiny beehive and wooden baseball bat, just because I couldn't help myself.
These beads are perfect for snakes and trains and mice and doggies...
Little people:curvy ladies and straight-figure men.

We've had a few fun sessions so far--desperately needed during the January slump.

My multimedia fruit still life.
Acorns falling in a rain storm or, alternatively, alien with many eyes

Good Tunes: What we're listening to...

2010-01-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

We have music going at our house almost all day long. I have worked on finding things that are appealing to all of us and have some sort of musical integrity. Ask anyone who has borrowed my ipod, and they will tell you my taste is quite eclectic. But, I do like try to find the good stuff in every genre.

Pete adores A Child's Introduction to the Orchestra. Each instrument has a funny little song, and has helped Pete pick out instruments in other songs. It's a little hokey, I'll warn you now, but a cool way to get the kiddos interested in real live instruments. You can find a free download to this here. (this site has a wide variety of great old lps for kids that are available for free download--yay! Some may be somewhat dated in their cultural sensitivities, but others are totally awesome. Songs Children Sing in France is another favorite.)

We are really in the middle of musicals here: Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Singin' in the Rain, and Peter Pan. We have "Snacktime" and "Food Party" on repeat from BNL and the Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson remains very popular. As far as our classical hits, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf continues to get a listen every other day. Barberini's Barber of Seville is great, and anything by Aaron Copland is also well received. Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is fantastic. Although not quite as overt in identifying each instrument, this piece gives each instrument a moment to showcase its sound, along with it's family. Pete has gotten the hang of the different groups: woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, cool! I love it! Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals is more great program music for kids, giving Pete different animals to think about. We've heard snippets of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Pete was particularly interested in Baba Yaga.

So, tell me, friends, what great children's music have you found out there? I'd love to expand our repertoire!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Merry Christmas! Love, Peter

2010-01-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by this post at Design Mom. How she manages to help her five kids make gifts for each other, I'll never know. I love the tradition of having our kids make gifts for each other, and I tried to think of things Pete could do for Nathan and Shane. Borrowing a few ideas directly from the blog, here's what we came up with:

Bookmarks for Shaner, who is recently graduated from school and enjoying recreational reading for the first time in a long time. Nathan generously rounded out the gift by giving him a Wallace Stegner novel, which Shaner is really into right now. I wish I had a laminater (word?) at times like these.

Apple-Print Bibs for the little guy. We put acrylic paint on half of an apple and Pete stamped some muslin we had on hand. It was tricky to get the stamp on evenly--I learned that the apple has to be cut perfectly straight for it to work. I had a bib pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches that worked out nicely. I ran out of bias tape after the first one and couldn't be bothered to make yet another trip to Michael's. I am particularly fond of the green buttons.

So, that would have been good enough for me, but no! After finishing our immediate family, Peter insisted on gifts for his twin cousins and best buddy, Kate.

For the twins, 'we' made some tutus (Pete did help tie the tulle). I think they turned out pretty cute:

We brainstormed a lot of ideas for Kate's gift, but Peter felt quite insistent that Kate needs a playmat. We compromised that it would be a small playmat, and we included the essentials, like Kate's old house and our old apartment and Yale and maybe the most important thing: the food carts.

Pete had a fun time making these and hopefully caught the spirit of giving amidst the Santa insanity.

The Good [Thrifted] Stuff: DI is awesome.

2009-12-31T11:29:00.001-08:00

I grew up with a strong aversion to DI, the main thrift store in Utah. DI does leave some things to be desired, with its pungent aromas and characters hanging around. As a teenager, I only dared enter when I needed a last-minute Halloween costume. However, when I went to the highly acclaimed Brimfield Antique Show over a year ago, I thought to myself, "I bet I could find a lot of this stuff at a thrift store, without paying the antique dealer a penny!" I tried a few Goodwills in Connecticut, but they were disappointing. It wasn't until I revisited DI that I realized....oh me oh my, I totally love this place.

So, for all you naysayers out there who stick your nose up to DI, let me show you what I'm talking about:

Thanks, Kat, for this image!
I've mentioned this typewriter before, but, ah, don't you love it? I saw typewriters on Etsy going for $250! I can handle the $4 paid at DI.
Remember this barn? This one is in mint condition!
I nearly fainted when I opened the "moo" barn door and found all these inside! Merry Christmas, Petey!

(Out of focus) Books. So many great books.

Can you believe this fabric? Perfect trim for the boys' Christmas jammers.
I just had to cut around these freaky ladies. No wonder it was only $1. Creepy.
And a bunch of other fabric.
This mid-century lamp! So cool! I love it!
Binoculars for Pete! Why not?! Perfect for birding expeditions and exploring in his treehouse (that is many years to come!)

I'm telling you, Utah folks, give DI a chance! There are lots of treasures hiding there!

Good Taste: Wise Words

2009-11-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Here's what my hero and New York Times food editor, Mark Bittman, says is the most important skill when it comes to cooking:

“The ability to go in there and start. I am the least impressive cook you will ever see. I am completely without knife skills, I screw things up all the time. When I’m in the kitchen I’m not obsessively trying to create the perfect dish; I’m trying to put dinner on the table. Comparing yourself to the people who cook on television is like comparing yourself to Andre Agassi. If you can drive you can cook.”

I love a good party: He's Three!

2009-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

"Happy birthday to you"

It was all trains for Pete's third birthday party.

The cake was a success (and the frosting, too, which I find utterly miraculous). I am not good at decorating cakes. Like those little roses and writing and, well, creating anything with frosting that is supposed to look like something? Not my forte. I had to be outside the birthday cake mold on this one.

It was to be a mountain cake with a train comin' round it.

Do I think too much about this stuff? Last night, I was thinking, what if I had a boss who told me that I had to do this stuff as part of my job. I would think she was totally nuts as she explained: "So, tomorrow, I need you to figure out how to make a mountain cake...you need a domed cake mold, but don't pay a lot of money for it. Just find a cake mold for, hmm, maybe one dollar. And then, in a couple weeks, figure out how to make your newborn look like a banana..." More to come on the banana baby later. I just keep telling myself: I'm using the same skill set as my former professional, blow-dried, black-suited, put-together self. It's just a different application of my skill set. Right? riiiight?

Anyway, I found my one-dollar domed cake mold. I baked the cakes a few days earlier and froze them (using this favorite cake and frosting recipe which I will now always use for yellow cake and chocolate frosting)
Why pay for one of those white-noise machines when you have a perfectly good KitchenAid?

I then left the actual construction up to my very capable husband. Shaner is a procedure man; one who has sutured and poked and extracted. I leave the fingernail clipping, the bath giving, and the cake constructing up to his steady hands. The results were my vision realized! I patted myself on the back for delegating this task to just the right hunk of burning love.

And the only thing left to do for Pete and I was to adorn our mountain with little lego pirates and knights and trees and horsies. I call this cake a success!

Ok, so maybe not suitable for the cover of Martha Stewart Living, but Pete thought it was awesome.

We had a modest spread of train-shaped pb&js, popcorn, and crackers with apple juice. I tried to keep it all low-key this time around, given the recent events (that is, bringing baby brother to this world a couple weeks earlier. oh man.)

And, for party favors, I found these little engineer hats and train whistles at Oriental Trading. Pete likes his homeboy style.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Happy Birthday, Pete! Love, Mama

2009-10-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

Pete turned three!

For his birthday this year, I really tried to think of something that would grow with him and put his fantastic imagination to good use. I remembered one of the most highly coveted toys from my grandma's house: the flannel board.

It's simple--a piece of felt stretched taut and stapled to a wooden board. I chose to frame it for better looks and the hopes that we'll be able to hang it low on the wall in our next place. After researching online for flannel board kits, I was quite appalled at the price--really, $20 for a few little felt-backed pictures? Instead, I made my own little flannel board kits, with the help of some adhesive-backed felt I found at Michael's. At that point, the options were limitless! I used the images from books bought at DI (our thrift store) and suddenly, I had a great assortment of pictures for our board: cars, planets, animals, the Nativity scene, and even photos I printed up of our family (this was a huge hit!). I also cut out felt shapes for Pete to make pictures out of and my attempt at felt continents for a future geography lesson. Asia is quite unidentifiable and none are quite to scale, but it's the spirit of the thing, right?

Figuring out how to store these pictures was tricky--I ended up sewing some 'pockets' out of scrap fabric and put zippers on them. I lined the inside of the pockets with different yet oh so coordinated fabric just to make myself crazy. I think I was watching Martha Stewart when I thought that would be a good idea...that show makes me feel waaaay too ambitious.

So far, Pete likes it. I've already received requests for more felt board pictures: trains and Santa Claus, please. And more photos of friends, too!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: In anticipation of our blessed babe

2009-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still going strong here in prego land. No baby yet, but, I did welcome a new baby blessing sweater and pants into the world yesterday. Hooray! A finished knitting project that took less than a year! When I found out that I was having a boy, I wanted to make something special for his baby blessing day. I have a beautiful lace dress that I bought on Burano while visiting Venice, which continues to gather dust somewhere, but I have had a tough time finding something just right for my baby boys. I took matters into my own hands...

Hopefully, baby Lloyd will be a little less hairy. I had to try this outfit on something, and the gorilla is just about the right size. Pete was totally into this idea of dressing up the gorilla like our baby and insisted on being part of the photo shoot:

After all the ups and downs that came with my first sweater project, I managed to fly through this one in just a couple of weeks. The pattern is
Seamless Baby Kimono, and I actually purchased the newborn pattern on ravelry. This pattern is a great first-time sweater project.

I found the pants pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. There are some mistakes throughout that would make any knitting granny shudder. But, hey,they were knitted with love! The pants are adorable and I'm thinking about giving the pattern a second try. Little knitted pants might be just perfect for my little autumn babe's newborn legs (which will be long and skinny, if he takes after his dad and big bro).

Good Taste: ah, these lonely summer nights

2009-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

When dinnertime rolls around, my poor intern husband Shaner is usually right smack in the middle of his trillion-hour work day. Now that suppertime is down to two participants, Peter and myself, I've had to dig deep to actually get something presentable to the table . I promised myself I would write this post to report that yes, I actually do try to cook when it's just the two of us. And that the meal was not shaped like dinosaur chicken nuggets. It's the whole accountability thing. And, yes, I know that cooking good food is a nice gesture to myself, because there is nothing more deppressing than feeding myself food that is an orange color that may only exist naturally on Mars. So, here's my report of the Lloyd's summer menu lately:

Chicken Salad with Potatoes and Arugula

Beautiful salad that takes no more than 20 minutes to put together. Plus some pineapple and cantaloupe for Pete. I think he must have eaten half of the cantaloupe while I was cutting it up.

Pasta with Leeks, Peas, and Prosciutto

It's so pretty to eat. Whenever I cook with leeks, I feel kind of French. Speaking of, ah, I am dying to see Julie and Julia asap. Don't tell me that you already saw it, because I will not be happy for you, just slightly bugged and resentful for me. Really, I just want to be Julie, who thought to do a Julia Child blog, because I DID get the same cookbook for my last birthday with the very same intention of cooking through it, although I did not start a blog about this process. Nor did I write a book about it. Nor did someone make a movie about that book. Nor did I really get past the first 3 pages of soup recipes. But, dang, that soup was good!

The pasta recipe calls for prosciutto, which may seem a bit extravagant, but can really do wonders for the flavor. Heck, pasta, peas, leeks, butter? How much does that all cost together, like $3.00? A few more bucks for beautiful prosciutto? Yes.

And the next day, I finished up my prosciutto by making some paninis with tomato soup: ciabatta with mozzarella, basil, and prosciutto. Yeah, the prosciutto was an excellent investment.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Big Boy Duvet

2009-08-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

We've got a baby coming, which meant that we needed to kick Pete out of his crib and get him situated in a big boy bed. I saw this duvet and wanted to try to recreate it. I am insane. I did finish it, miraculously, and learned more than I ever wanted to know about applique and fusible interfacing.

I'm particularly fond of the bug pulling the trailer and the convertible:

I admit, I still love the version I found online better, but this blogger is a pro at sewing and I'm still a rookie! I was glad to have my own version.

For the back, I did wide stripes

and the pillow, I used up the rest of my car fabric from Purl.

Mission accomplished! Pete is happy every night to have his cool car blanket and I am really happy that he loves it so much. And, so far, we haven't had any nighttime wanderers visit us in the night. Hopefully, he continues to stay happily dreaming in his bed!

The Good [Neighborhood] Stuff: The Avenues

2009-08-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

Shane and I both agree on the great importance of the walkability factor in our neighborhood. Our New Haven neighborhood had some great streets to stroll (or run) around right outside our door, which was fortunate. We have been equally blessed in our new home to have some great strolling streets (but, definitely no running for me these days! Baaad idea) so I took along my camera to show off some of my favorite spots in Salt Lake's oldest neighborhood:
People in the Aves love
their old houses:

The building above is a garage to the house pictured below.

their gardens:

(I'm loving these desert plants that are unique to this fabulously dry climate.)

and their chocolate shop.
People in the Aves also love their cats (not shown).

Another great bonus is seeing my old elementary school, The Open Classroom, in it's permanent home as an official charter school (complete with organic school lunch and and Jr. High!) The Open Classroom is a parent cooperative and a beautiful example of how to bring the best out of kids. I only wish that we could bring it back with us to Connecticut, so Pete could have such a positive academic experience!

So, if you've lived in the aves, do tell what your favorite spot is!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Quilt for Baby

2009-07-28T21:12:00.001-07:00

Here is another product of my recent sewing frenzy. Although I think I just unpacked 50 other baby blankets from Pete's infancy, I just had to make a special quilt for the little man on the way. And then, of course, I had to make a matching crib skirt and a blanket for his big brother (pics to come). I actually did some machine quilting this time, which was really fun, easier than the usual tying, and I definitely like the look of it better. In the past, I've made quilts without knowing what I was doing, but this time, I relied on my new book, Last Minute Quilted Gifts, which had some fantastic general quilting tips. Hope baby boy likes it!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Sofa Cushions

2009-07-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Many a great sewing project started with curtains....

Eight fabulous play outfits for the Von Trapps...

A killer dress to seduce Rhett...

and

My new sofa cushions. I found the curtains at DI for four dollars and whipped these cushion covers up, using inspiration from Jill's blog.

The envelope design of the pillows means that they can be washed! Genius!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Table Slipcover

2009-07-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

We are settling into our new place and, as with any new living arrangement, our new apartment has come with different room configurations and storage strategies. This place has much more living space (yay!) but almost zero storage (boo). So, those things that used to live in the far reaches of our storage cage, like this plastic table we got from Costco, are now front and center all the time. But, this great challenge also brought great opportunity, for now I finally have a sewing table! hooray! I made use of my fabric I bought in Aix-en-Provence two years ago, and made this slipcover. Not only does it mask the unsightly plastic table, but it also brings a cheery yellow corner to a very dark room in our house (and also hides the shredder, which you can see creeping out from underneath there.) Who knew that making a slipcover was such a cinch? I just measured the dimensions I wanted, sewed the pieces together, and voila. I've been sewing like a mad woman at this table (with my mom's Bernina, while mine gathers dust. The Bernina is nice). I'm trying to get too many projects done before my belly gets too big to be able to fit behind the machine. More posts to come!

The Good Book: Pretend Soup

2009-07-02T18:36:00.001-07:00

I have been a fan of Mollie Katzen since high school. She is the author of the acclaimed Moosewood cookbooks, and her original Moosewood cookbook was the first cookbook I used in my early days of cooking. A year or two ago, I heard a radio interview with Mollie Katzen, during all the 'sneaky food' hype, when everyone was sneaking cauliflower and spinach in their chicken nuggets. Although I definitely understand why parents do this, I guess my philosophy is a little different. I never really liked vegetables growing up, mostly because they weren't prepared in the most pallatable way (sorry mom!). Once I tasted fresh vegetables in season that were cooked well, I gladly loaded my plate with veggies. I guess I feel like if I'm sneaking food in, and wow, I can't even taste it, well, it's kind of a diss to all the poor veggies and their spectacular flavors, colors, and textures. In the interview, Mollie Katzen suggested incorperating veggies in all of the main dishes that we make for our kids. Instead of having a portion of the plate dedicated to canned corn and hovering over our children to eat it, maybe we could chop up some fresh peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes and cook them up into an omelet or soup or pasta sauce. Not only do our children learn about a variety of beautiful veggies, but they get used to a variety of flavors, tending to be less picky about the good stuff. As I've tried to incorporate this philosophy in my own cooking for Pete, I've been amazed at our little gourmand! He doesn't eat everything (asparagus: no, broccoli: no, mushrooms: no), but he will try most things and really loves many of my favorite veggies--red peppers, green beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes...and as time passes, and he has more encounters with different dishes, he likes those veggies formerly on the hate list more and more.

Anyway, how'd I get on this food diatribe again? Ah, yes, Mollie Katzen. Well, at the end of her interview, she talked about the importance of including kids in the cooking process and she mentioned that she had written a few cookbooks just for young kids. I was ecstatic! At the time, Pete was too young for these books, but he is now the perfect age for her first cookbook, Pretend Soup. We got it from the library, and Pete loves this book so much, that he reads it every day while eating his breakfast. Pretty cute. Anyway, we tried out the bagel faces and they were a sensation:

Pete's impersonation of the bagel faces.

In the future, I might try flavored cream cheese, as Pete wasn't too crazy about the plain stuff. One exciting thing about this book is it has great lunch ideas--finally! Something beyond the current three lunches that I have been making for so long! We're excited to try them all!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Merry Christmas, 2008

2009-07-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting Pete's Christmas sweater (which I started last fall) at long last. This project was a great challenge for me, who had only knit scarves and booties prior, and I learned a tremendous amount in the process. After many starts and stops, it actually took moving to Utah and going to a knitting session at the local yarn store to finally get me to the end. I was the youngest knitter at the table by about 30 years, and I thoroughly enjoyed the knitting wisdom shared around the table. I did end up taking the whole thing off the needles and unraveling a good chunk of the body to get back on track.
I love these orange buttons! They were made in the 1940s and I bought them at the Brimfield Antique Show last fall. When I showed Pete the finished product, he immediately wanted to try the sweater on. It barely fit, but he wore the sweater all afternoon, despite the 90 degree heat. I loved that he loved it so much.
Interestingly, I've noticed that the trendiness of knitting that exists in the east is not very common here in Utah. In fact, I don't know anyone here who is close to my age who knits or sews whatsoever. Guess I'll have to be the trendsetter (or outsider) while we live here.

Good Friends: Stephanie, the art connoisseur

2009-05-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and I taking cover during a rainy day visit in NYC
I have many talented friends in the art history world. Art historians are a fun bunch; they are knowledgeable about the past, often seasoned travelers, and have a soft spot for old, pretty things. I wanted to interview my friend, Stephanie, who is an old BYU comrade. One thing that I have always admired about Stephanie is her passion for art acquisitions. As long as I've known her, Steph has always had her eye out for interesting artists or artworks that are going up for auction. This is a different kind of way to research art--it's easy to research such familiar names as Vermeer or Botticelli, but much more difficult, and perhaps more intriging to find information on a lesser-known, local artist. She inherited her love of art and art collecting from her father, and is now passing it along to her own daughters. Here are some great thoughts from Steph:

I really admire the way you and your family make art and art history such a big priority in your lives, especially the thrill of the hunt! How did your parents initially get interested in collecting? Were they also art historians? When did your dad start to include you in his pursuits? (I seem to remember you always involved in some research for a piece that he is looking at buying)

I was born in the same small midwest town as my father and grandfather. There were very few high-brow cultural resources in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, especially when my dad was growing up. Yet, my dad is a totally self-taught art collector, dealer and enthusiast. As a child he would go to the library and thumb through art books, initially loving the Greek and Roman periods. Neither of my dad's parents went to college or had any interest in art history but they were incredibly supportive of his interests and took him to museums whenever possible - even driving 5-6 hours to visit the Joslyn Museum in Omaha or the museums in Minneapolis. My dad started collecting late 19th and early 20th century American art in college. During his years at BYU he would spend Saturdays in Salt Lake at the galleries looking at paintings that he couldn't afford on a student budget (at the time those paintings were priced at a few hundred dollars and today they are worth tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases hundreds of thousands!) My dad graduated from law school and became an estate attorney but he ALWAYS said that his true love was art collecting and art dealing. During law school my dad purchased 2 huge paintings that he still owns and my grandfather helped him rent a box truck and they drove the few hours together to pick up the paintings. Retelling that story always gets my dad teary-eyed - my grandpa was a supportive father and friend to my dad. The moral of the story here is that parents have a great opportunity to support their children's interests, as diverse or far-fetched as they may be.

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of attending local auctions and estate sales with the auctioneer "calling" in the backround (that's what the strange auctioneer language is called). My parents took us everywhere with them as my dad hunted for interesting art and antiques.
Art filled the walls of our home and nearly all of the furniture, tables and lamps were antiques. My brother and sister and I were taught from an early age to be respectful of the things in our house and to take special care of them - basically, don't break the old stuff!
I started researching paintings for my dad in college when I majored in art history. The University libraries were full of invaluable art research tools - books, electronic search engines, etc that are only available to students (I miss those tools now - I've had to figure out other ways to access the info that was so readily available to students and faculty).

Another cool thing I like about you is that you are from South Dakota, and, from what I've noticed, you are loyal to your midwest roots and still very cosmopolitan. As you grew up, how did you develop both a love for home and for everywhere else?

I've been asked this by other people, too - "How did a girl from a po-dunk town in the midwest get interested in such things?" I've always felt that wanderlust but as I thought about this question I came up with 2 things I think my parents did really well: 1-they supported any indeavor of ours and exposed us to a variety of subjects and interests. 2 - we went on many family road-trips. As an adult I have realized how significant piling into the car and driving 1500 miles as a family can be. We drove to Idaho and Utah countless times for my mom to attend Education Week and visit family (have you seen that desolate landscape that is Wyoming? it's like driving on the face of the moon). We drove as a family to San Francisco, Yellowstone, Arizona, Southern California...I rode on a bus with the high school band to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in NYC. That exposure to the diversity within our country made me curious about the rest of the world, too. Additionally, whenever we were headed to a new destination, my mom would check out a huge stack of books from the library about the place we were going. She devoured the books and information - I've tried to replicate that example of avid reading and library attendance as I've become a mother.

As you are a mother now, how do you see yourself incorporating (or not!) art into their childhood worlds? I don't know about you, but I often feel my art history part of me taking the back burner to the day-to-day life of mothering tiny kids. (This next question particularly applies to when you don't have a newborn) What do you do to keep a foot in the museum door?

First of all, I think that children naturally LOVE the humanities: literature, art, music, dance. What child doesn't love finger painting, coloring, play-dough, singing or reading books? To me, this innate interest is proof of the essential nature of art to the human experience. Picasso said, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." With that, I never deny my 3 year-old daughter's requests to draw or color (but play-dough is something I reserve for daddy time :). I prefer she use plain paper and draw her own pictures instead of coloring books - it requires much more creativity to make your own image than color someone else's.
We also display all of her art - it's part of her ritual to take her drawing to the fridge as soon as she's done with it. This may sound simple, but it's important she be proud of her creations and know that we her parents are proud of them, too. We attend museums as much as possible - don't stay too long or make the experience laborious - but it's important she learn how to behave in a museum setting. We look for animals, shapes, etc in the images at museums, or I ask her what she thinks one of the abstract images means/feels like (I also try to do this with classical music on the radio - it started a while back when I was explaining one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons to her - that the music was representative of winter. Now she thinks all classical music "means" something - this requires more creativity on my part to try to come up with meanings for the music..) Finally, we have art on the walls of our home and try to teach her how to treat the art- don't touch the canvas, just look with your eyes, etc.

Art history is definately on the back burner these days, but I knew that would happen when I declined a great museum job offer because I was pregnant. It's just part of the sacrifice we make to have one parent at home. I knew at the time that I would probably never get a comparable job offer years later, but that saying no was the right decision for our family. I loved my museum work but feel that when we decide to have children, we also take on the responsibility of providing the best environment possible for those children to thrive - and no one likes or cares for my kids and their success as much as I do (I don't like other people's children as much as I like my own :) I don't think I have a foot in the museum door anymore, in fact, I think I felt the door hit me in the behind as it slammed shut, but that was a conscious decision my husband and I made 3 years ago. I miss it almost every day, but am confident I'm doing something really important at home these days. (btw - I think moms can work outside the home and be great moms, it's just that museum jobs don't allow such flexibility)

And, this one is especially for me: I am very intimidated but intrigued by the art auctioning; do you have any suggestions for me or anyone interested in collecting art about how to start breaking into the biz? What are your tips for budding collectors?

First of all, attend local auctions and estate sales in your area without buying anything. Just go to watch how it all happens - each auctioneer does it a little different (our local auctioneer gets annoyed with newbies who don't know the system at his auction). Then, when you see something you like, go for it!! The big dealers have been quoted saying that auctions are the new retail. With the internet it's possible to get access to auction records for most artists, though you usually have to pay a small fee to the online auction record sites for such info. The most affordable original art would be etchings, woodblock prints and other works on paper. They are usually under $150.
Also, frequent the junk shops and conseignment shops to get an idea for prices and things that interest you. My dad always says, buy what you love. Years ago I asked my dad how I could learn to tell a good quality painting from a mediocre one because at the time they all looked the same to me. He told me, "just keep looking. Your eye will develop the more you look." The "looking" IS the thrill of the hunt!

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: a little miracle

2009-03-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

We've had a little miracle at our house. I am expecting a baby! And with the long 40 weeks of anticipation come many dreams of who this person is, proposals for what this person should be called, and, one of my favorite parts, making little tiny things that can only fit a new infant. Looking back to Pete's newborn picture, there is one unifying theme:

obviously, the miracle blanket did not always calm this child.

The pink miracle blanket. It was a hand-me-down gift from my sister-in-law, and it was the one thing that calmed his troubled soul, as he was pretty fussy. Bless his heart. Although it seems unkind to put a newborn in a straightjacket, there was nothing more soothing to Peter than being all wrapped up. The miracle blanket was truly that: miraculous.

Our pink miracle blanket has been loved beyond further use. However, my neighbor has ingeniously made a pattern for the miracle blanket and let me borrow it. Here is our new and improved miracle blanket:

I used the leftover fabric from our Christmas pajamas, and lined it with the same white flannel to warm up our fall baby. If the Lloyds are going to have matching pjs, we might as well include the little dude/dudette in the matchyfest.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: There will be a day when we need this.

2009-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

Winter cannot last forever!

As a way to boost our seasonal morale, I made this beach bag. No more will we stick the shovel and bucket in the same bag with our graham crackers and granola bars and cell phones, only to find it one nasty mess when we unload it all back at home! Pete will have his own place for sand toys and my beach novel can remain intact. This bag is made from woven vinyl and ribbon. The vinyl was a little tricky to find, but I bought mine on ebay. It's genius material for a beach bag--not only waterproof, but the sand can easily sift out. Thank goodness.

I wish I could link to the pattern and instructions, but I got it from an old Martha Stewart magazine that I'd been saving for a while. It's really a one evening project, and I'd be happy to talk you through if you want to try it out!

Ok, we're ready to go! You hear that, sun?!

A Good Film: Bella

2009-02-21T19:05:00.000-08:00

Has everyone else seen this? Bella has been out for 3 years and I happened to pick it up at the library today. I just finished watching this film 10 minutes ago and wondered, where have you been, Bella?! (as I sat alone on the couch, crying my eyes out--happy cry, not sad cry) It is a beautiful, honest-to-goodness film that made me want to love people with greater sincerity. Not many movies do that. (sniff sniff)

The Good [Green] Stuff: My New Year's Resolution

2009-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

We Lloyds live a life of many unknowns. This coming year, our family will be entering the working world in one of its most volatile times, and with our tiny clump of grown-up decisions, I have seen how complicated things can get. Many things I'm not so sure about, but amidst all this uncertainty there is one question I can answer: do I consume when it might be more prudent to conserve?

So, as a late New Year's resolution, I choose to conserve. Conserve on every front: conserve time by cutting out unimportant things, conserve money for those things that makes us closer and makes my heart sing, and conserve this earth that we ask so much of. I've got to be honest, my efforts all these years to be more earth-friendly have been quite half-hearted, but this year, I want to get it down. So, to kick off my more green lifestyle, I present my sheets that have been sitting around for quite some time:

I inherited the sheets from my aunt, who bought these in the 70s. As I stuffed these in the goodwill bag, I remembered this post from souelmama and ching! lightbulb turns on in brain and I have some seriously wicked soft sheet pants.

In other efforts to reuse our stuff, I made a new, swanky smock for Pete:

pardon the blurry picture. This old dress shirt, destined for our dumpster, has a new life as a participant in upcoming fingerpainting sessions, cooking exploits, and all other messy artistic expressions. Pete wore it enthusiastically, and instantly named it his "monkey suit."

So, you see, I am trying! And, hopefully this new installment of posts will require me to follow through with this resolution. Upcoming posts should definitely include to following: a better way to recycle (meaning, no bottles and cereal boxes overflowing in the cupboard beneath the sink), composting 101, my roadside treasures (seriously, treasures), and how to make my city a walking city...I'm excited to work on this. Anyone else have any bright ideas?

Good Taste: Christmas Feasting

2008-12-28T12:52:00.001-08:00

I never appreciated how much good holiday food I've eaten in my life until I had to make it myself. Of course, Thanksgiving means that the turkey and all the fixin's make it to the [beautifully decorated] table. Christmas means another huge feast, not to mention, special breakfast, cookies, neighbor treats, gingerbread for the gingerbread houses, and oranges and nuts finding their way to the bottom of our stockings. Somehow, all these years, the tasty food has always made it to the table, and the only considerations I made were how I could fit both the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes on that little space still available on my plate.

This being my first Christmas as the mom, it was enlightening to create the holiday food traditions. In some ways, it was fun to bring old classic dishes from my home and new recipes that call for such a festive occasion. In other ways, I missed sitting in my childhood kitchen, doing something small like peeling potatoes or making the salad while chatting with my mom, who was probably making five dishes simultaneously, pots on all burners, gently simmering away. But, after all, I felt a kinship with my mom and her mom and all the mothers who came before, because our tradition of cooking holiday meals transforms any old December 25th into Christmas Day, the day of the Savior's birth! What a good reason to celebrate!

This was our Christmas Eve feast:

Honey-Orange Ham

This recipe came from an old Martha Stewart Christmas issues--maybe 2004? Anyway, it actually features the family of an old mission buddy of my husband's--Matt H., if you are our there, thank your mom for her great ham recipe! Your Christmas in Midway was picture perfect!

1 whole smoked ham (14 to 18 pounds), bone in and rind on

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 large onion, cut into 6 wedges

1 large orange, cut into 6 wedges

4 sprigs rosemary

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Rinse ham with cool water; dry with paper towels. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature 1 hour. Meanwhile, whisk together honey, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and mustard; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with rack in lower third. FIt a roasting pan with a rack and place ham, with the thicker rind on top, on rack. Scatter onion and orange wedges and rosemary around ham on rack. Transfer to oven and cook 1 hour.

3. Remove pan from oven and let ham cool slightly. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Trim fat all over the ham to a layer of about 1/4 inch (it does not need to be perfectly even; the bottom will have less fat and more skin). Turn ham, bottom side down. Score fat on top of ham in a diamond pattern, each 1 to 2 inches, cutting about 1/4 to 1/2 inch through the fat and into the meat. Baste with honey mixture. Add enough water to roasting pan to fill the bottom by about 1/4 inch.

4. Return ham to oven, and cook 1 hour more, basting often with remaining marinade (do not baste with pan juices). If necessary, add water to pan to keep juices from burning. Remove from oven; transfer ham to a serving platter; discard orange, onion, and rosemary. Let stand 30 minutes before carving ham.

5. Meanwhile, make gravy: Strain liquid from roasting pan into a liquid measuring cup or bowl, and skim off fat from surface with a large spoon. Place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add cider vinegar, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Return defatted juices to pan along with 2 cups stock. Bring to a boil, and let simmer.

6. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 1/2 cups stock and the flour; whisk into sauce. Continue simmering until liquid is reduced by half and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with ham.

Green Bean, Watercress, and Crispy Shallot Salad
Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper
1 Pound Green Beans, trimmed
1 cup vegetable oil, such as safflower
3 Shallots, thinly sliced crosswise into rings
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from one lemon)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch watercress, tough stems removed

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. [they say to have a big bowl of ice water ready to go to dunk the beans, but I just scoop up the green beans with my seive and rinse the beans in cold water from the faucet. Less messy and a lot less work.] Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Cook green beans in boiling water until bright green and crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Cool green beans completely, then transfer to lined baking sheet and pat dry.

2. In a small saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium-low. In a small bowl, toss shallots with flour. Working in three batches, fry shallots in oil until golden and crispy, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer shallots to paper towels and season generously with salt.

3. In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, mustard, and olive oil to combine; season dressing with salt and pepper. Place watercress on a serving platter and drizzle with half the dressing. Toss with green beans and remaining dressing. Serve sprinkled with shallots. [not being a huge fan of fried things, I couldn't get over how much I loved these shallots!! They seem like a sophisticated indulgence, even though they are glorified onion rings.]

And, for something sweet, I made another apple pie and a chocolate pistachio torte . Love that death by chocolate.

I chickened out of making rolls, even after a good pep-talk and fabulous recipe from my friend and roll mentor, Kristy. Instead, I delegated the rolls, along with a few other dishes to our gracious dinner guests. Kristy, I will make dinner rolls successfully and give the full report. That's a new year's resolution.

For Christmas morning, however, I attempted baking with yeast, for better or for worse. I was equipped with an acclaimed orange roll recipe, tried and true among good friends, and can you imagine the perfect Christmas picture of opening presents, while the aroma of orange rolls waft through the house from the kitchen?! I know!

I attempted Tiffany's famous recipe:

Out of this World Rolls

2 packages dry yeast

1/3 cup warm water
3 eggs, well beaten
4 ½ cups flour
1 cup warm water
½ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
Butter

Soften yeast in ¼ cup warm water. Let stand 10 minutes. Combine dissolved yeast, eggs, 2 ½ cups flour, 1 cup warm water, shortening, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Cover. Let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour.) Punch down and refrigerate overnight. Three hours before baking, roll out as desired. For dinner rolls, divide dough in half. Roll each half into a ½” thick rectangle. Spread with butter. Starting with the long side, roll up jelly-roll style. Cut in 1” slices. Place in greased muffin tins, cut side down. Cover. Let rise 3 hours. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until slightly brown. YIELD: 2 ½ dozen rolls.

VARIATION: ORANGE ROLLS
1/3 cup butter
½ cup sugar
Rind of 1 orange, grated

Combine ingredients. After rolling dough into two ½” thick rectangles, divide above mixture and spread on ½ of each rectangle. Fold rectangles in half. Cut each into 12 strips with a pizza cutter. Pick up each strip and gently stretch, then tie into a knot. Place on greased baking sheet with edges, making sure the ends of the dough are tucked underneath roll. Let rise 3 hours. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until slightly brown. Make sure they are baked through so they are not doughy. Drizzle with powdered sugar icing while warm. (Powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, dash of salt.)

Mine were good for the most part, except I think I made them maybe 3 times the size that they were intended. My yield was maybe 12, instead of the recipe's suggested 2 1/2 dozen....so...when I pulled them out, they were pretty doughy in some spots. I cut out the dough, and we enjoyed them thoroughly.

To round things out, I made some yogurt parfaits. I loved it, even though I suspect that the boys thought they were too girly somehow. Sorry, guys, no egg casserole today! Let's keep things a little lighter, shall we?

Pretty Pink Parfaits

2 cups strawberry yogurt

granola

frozen berries, thawed

1 banana

sweetened whipped cream

Layer in a parfait glass: yogurt, granola, berries, banana. Repeat until parfait reaches the top of the glass and top with whipped cream and a tad more granola.

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: matchy matchy Christmas jammers

2008-12-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

I sewed us all some matching pajamas to be opened on Christmas Eve (which turned out to be Christmas Eve morning, while we were still in our other jammers....I couldn't wait.) and my dreams of us all opening our presents on Christmas morning with our cheery pj pants was realized.

Did you see Shane's awesome shirt? "You're Fired! --The Donald"

It might be cheesy, but the boys totally loved it. I have to take advantage of Pete's enthusiasm for anything--before we know it, he will open his matchy jammers and roll his eyes, "Ah, Mom, you mean I have to wear this?! If I wear these pajamas, then I'll, like, match with you and dad!" I'll take Pete's reaction now, which is to put his pajamas on immediately and wear them as much as possible, while insisting that we do the same. Shane was way overdue for some nice warm jammer pants, and I lined his and Pete's with some very soft white flannel. I used the Simplicity pattern 8493, which is probably the most simple pattern possible.

I love the cut of my jammers! They fit perfectly around the waist and have lots of room in the legs for lounging. The pattern for these are in Amy Butler's book, In Stitches, along with some other really fantastic sewing projects that I hope to get to soon.

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: My favorite project yet

2008-12-25T15:47:00.001-08:00

In keeping with my original plan to try and create an environment that can spark imagination, I've been thinking a great deal about the toys in our home. Because play is Pete's full-time job, it's important that he is surrounded with things that nourish his creativity. In brainstorming what to get him for Christmas, I kept thinking about a large canvas playmat that my mom made for my siblings and me. She still has it, and it continues to enchant any little visitors. It has no batteries, no small parts, and my mom's playmat still looks great after 30 years. I made one for Peter this year for Christmas and was really happy with the results...

Our playmat is set in New Haven, with our favorite spots: Modern Apizza, the medical school and hospital, our house and courtyard,the street carts where we eat our quesadillas, Lyman Orchards (which is great for the farm tractors and farm animals), our favorite beach, the Peabody Museum, Yale Art Gallery, Beinecke Library, and the theatre. We have the Bronx Zoo and Hartford Airport (which we know about really well) on the sides. There's also railroad around the periphery for trains, an ocean for ships, and a construction site for tractors.

This was a very time-consuming project, but I really loved every minute of it. This mat really captures my love of this place we live in and is both a fun thing to play with and a momento of our time here.
And Pete was ecstatic when he opened it up Christmas morning! Yay!

Good Taste: Winter Bark and Christmas Cookies

2008-12-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

I can't recommend the winter bark enough--it's as simple as melting chocolate and it is really tasty. From my few experiences with making chocolate bark, my observation is that the quality of the finished product lies completely with the quality of the ingredients. I know, this is true of all cooking, but since there are so few ingredients in this treat, it makes all the difference. You can find the recipe and cute packaging ideas here. Yum. I bought the big pound of bittersweeet chocolate with almonds at Trader Joe's, and left out the peanuts. The almonds and dark chocolate make it a very healthy option for Christmastime snacking. Right? right.

I made a variety of Christmas cookies. I didn't venture into any new recipes, but just the tried and true, soft, tasty, I-want-to-eat-a-whole-batch sort of cookies.

I made Ina Garten's Outrageous Chocolate Cookies:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped [I use chocolate chips]

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in the centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely

*Don't worry if the batter seems thin. It should look more like brownie batter than cookie dough.

Here is a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. I use 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup butter, rather than doing 1 cup butter. The cookies firm up a bit better. It's a winner.

And, finally, here is my mom's trustworthy gingerbread people and gingerbread house dough recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 cup shortening

1 cup molasses

1 egg

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

5 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Cream together sugar and shortening. Beat in molasses and egg. Add the hot water.

2. Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add to the wet mixture; at the end, I always end up using my hands to mix this together.

3. Form dough into 3 large balls, wrapping them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use them.

4. Bake at 350 degrees, 6-8 minutes for gingerbread mean and a little more for larger pieces, or until lightly browned.

Here's her Royal Icing recipe, which is great glue to hold together gingerbread houses:

3 egg whites (room temperature)

3 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

1. Combine and beat at a high speed for 7-10 minutes. This dries very quickly, so keep covered with a damp cloth.

Merry Christmas!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Happy Halloween (maybe just a tad late.)

2008-12-23T05:54:00.001-08:00

We had a grand Halloween this year. My entire family congregated at my parents' house and we took our kids around the old family neighborhood. Many of our neighbors are the same, and were surprised to see all of us back at their front doors, begging for candy 15 years later. It was fantastic!

Because my time is limited in having complete control over Pete's costume, I wanted to do something sweet and kind of old fashioned, you know, before Pete insists on being Thomas or Diego or a power ranger. I worked at the Beinecke Rare Book Library, which houses the James Barrie papers. These papers include Barrie's manuscripts, stage notes, costume designs, and sketches of his most famous play, Peter Pan. This collection captures the imagination of anyone who spends time browsing its contents--Barrie's Neverland is truly magical. Here are a few favorites:

This is the original Peter, made famous in Finding Neverland.

Having a little Peter of my own, I thought I'd try to figure out how to reinvent Barrie's Peter Pan with my very limited sewing skill set. Not to mention that I ordered this pattern too late, and had my very nice friend ship it to me, arriving two days before Halloween. And as I was in California, in an apartment we were renting for a month, I had only one pair of scissors that were mini scissors in a travel sewing kit. I drove around lost, looking for the fabric store, but managed to find Joann's. Thank goodness my sister let me borrow her sewing machine! October 29, the stars aligned and with pattern, tiny scissors, fabric, and sewing machine set up at the kitchen table, I spent the first few hours doing this:

Now, I didn't swear, but I was spouting threats like nobody's business. As my husband was innocently sitting on the couch I was saying things like, "Oh man, in one minute, I'm going to swear." "Seriously, I'm going to swear", "I'm just going to GO OFF!" My husband said it wouldn't be a night of sewing with Becca without a few grumbles, moans, and swears under my breath. I can't argue with that. But, after a lot of all that, I got something figured out, and although it was nothing too impressive, it kind of resembled my original vision, and, well, I was just glad that Pete was able to wear something. My perfectionism flew out the window long before the final fitting, and when Pete's head was too big to fit through the neck hole, I was perfectly happy to cut the collar at the neck to make room. And, despite all the doozy mistakes that came with this project, Pete was perfectly happy with the final product. I think he wore it for three days straight. Way to validate your mama, Pete!

Good Taste: Roasted Chicken (or leftover turkey) Salad

2008-11-30T16:24:00.001-08:00

I love this salad, because, as far as salads go, it's kind of cozy for the winter months. And this will be a very good next home for the leftover turkey, if there is any. Our leftovers last maybe 24 hours after the big meal. This makes quite a bit, so I often cut the recipe in half.

1 cup pecan halves (about 3 ounces), broken in half lengthwise

1 whole roasted chicken (about three pounds), skin removed

8 scallions, white and light-green parts only, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, strings removed and thinly sliced

2 Fuji apples, cored and sliced into bite-size pieces

5 tablespoons golden or dark raisins

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh oregano leaves

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Sour Cream Dressing (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pecans in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan; let cool completely. [this step may seem unnecessary, but it really does make the pecans taste fancy. It's worth it!]

2. Pull chicken from the bone; discard bones, and cut meat into 3/4-inch pieces. Transfer to a medium bolw; add scallions, celery, apples, raisins, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Add dressing; toss to combine. Chill, covered, until ready to serve.

Sour Cream Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 cup cider vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, sour cream, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use, up to 4 days.

Field Trip: Stanford

2008-11-20T14:07:00.000-08:00

We recently spent the month in Palo Alto, while Shane did an away rotation at Stanford. I was excited to check out the campus; I really expected Palo Alto to be an extension of the East Coast. Before I came to New Haven, I just assumed that Stanford was an Ivy League school, especially since I didn't know that the Ivy League was a college sports division. You know, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, right? Wrong! Stanford is in California, and carries its western heritage with it in the most remarkable way. The entire campus is built in the Mission Style, brought from the Spanish missionaries to California all those years ago. The campus is free from all street traffic, with long arcades, quiet, contemplative students walking about, and the pipe organ's song floating through the church windows. This seemed to be a perfectly cloistered environment, like a modern-day monastery. I, being one who gets slightly obsessed with nuns and monks, was totally loving Stanford's monastic-feeling campus. Here are some pics:

definitely not in New England anymore...

I loved many windows on campus, but I thought that this is a window someone could actually incorporate into a real house. Just keeping this picture in my back pocket, in case I could use it someday. And do you see the lights inside? perfect for those Stanford book worms.

I was also delighted to see the Rodin sculpture garden on campus. Well, as delighted as one can be when viewing The Gates of Hell. It was cool to see, let's just say that. I wonder if Rodin would have felt so tormented if he lived here in sunny California. Maybe he would have just settled with The Gates of Feeling Less Happy than Usual. Anyway, this is the largest Rodin collection outside of Paris and had the entire Gates of Hell structure for our viewing pleasure. This project was intended to be the doors to a museum that, in the end, were never built, so the project remains an orphan of sorts, not being used as it was intended. However, many of Rodin's most famous works are actually larger casts of smaller figures from the gates. For instance, does anyone recognize the ponderous man just about the door?

"Hmmmm...let me think about that."
Here it is. Adam and Eve flank the sides.

Here are a few sculptural studies on display. Pete's trying to recreate the pose.
larger view of the garden. I like those cool cypress trees.
Here you can get a sense for the full use of three dimensions in the gates.
Pete, feeling a little overdressed with the Three Shades.

There were also sculptures from the The Burghers of Callais sculptural program, including this giant head. When I asked Pete how the head was feeling, he said he looked "worried." Indeed.

Good Friends: Tammy the Opera Star

2008-10-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

This is the first conversation I have with anyone:
"What did you study in college?"
"art history"
"ahh....[silence, think, think] so, are you an artist yourself?"
"umm, no. I wish I were."
~at this point, the conversation dies~
I may not have one great talent, but I do have one blessing in my life that I cannot deny: I have some excellent friends (and if you are reading this, I'm talking about you!). They are inspiring and bring so much good into my life. So, I decided, if this blog is about finding life's good stuff, I should interview my good friends and see how they got to be so terrific.

So, for my first official interview on this blog, I give you the great

Tammy Mumford

I have to say, Tammy is my most famous friend. She sings at the Metropolitan Opera--like the one in New York, you know, at Lincoln Center, and has the best operas and big opera superstars. So, of course, her voice is phenomenal. You better believe it is really fun to sit next to Tammy in choir and pretend that I, also, am such a singer! la la! But, after knowing Tammy all these years, the thing I find most amazing about her is her sense of balance. She has her fancy opera life and family life and church life, and keeps it all together so beautifully. I had to ask her some questions to find out how she became not only a world-class singer, but also, a really great person.

How did your parents foster your love of music?
It started with my grandparents. One grandpa was a high school music teacher and did musical community events. Consequently, my dad grew up singing and did it more seriously as he got older. My other grandpa loved opera. He had it playing in my mom's home, and my mom grew up listening to opera and going to many concerts. As my mom and dad raised my family [of 12 amazing kids!], it was similar, in that the music was always there. My dad sang in semi-professional theatre, and we would always go see him perform (which was usually a positive experience, except for when he was in the freaky dream sequence from Fiddler on the Roof. It made us all cry!).
Also, music is such a prevalent part of the church. Many times, my sisters and I would be asked to prepare a musical number for a ward program, so we would figure out what we were singing and practice together at Family Home Evening. We also grew up mainly watching musicals, since they were a wholesome form of entertainment.

As you approach motherhood (in the next few days!), how do you see yourself introducing your kids to music?
Piano is such a good skill for everyone to know, especially as a member of the church, so we will encourage our kids to take piano lessons. But, really, we'd like to see what our son's interests are and help him develop those talents. Music will always be a part of my life, and it will always be a part of our home, so our children may naturally gravitate towards music, but I don't want to push it if our kids aren't interested. The hard question about all this is how do I know if a child is really interested in a musical instrument or not? Everyone has moments when they are taking lessons when they want to quit. So when do I know to keep pushing or to just let it go? [such a good question.] In my own family, the level of interest varied from kid to kid, and my parents adapted to that. Looking back, it was such a sacrifice for my parents to take all of us to music lessons. We always took lessons before school, and I imagine that my mom didn't love getting up so early.

What were the most formative musical experiences as you grew up?
I was the Sterling Scholar in music during my Senior year of high school, and this required me to think through how serious I really was about music. At this point, I knew I wanted to focus on music, but I had always envisioned myself teaching. During my Freshman year at Utah State, I remember listening to a recording of some songs that I was learning. My friends were going out and invited me to come, but I really wanted to just stay home that night and listen to this beautiful music and learn it well. That was a moment when I realized that people really do sing for their job, and I really wanted that. Although sometimes it does feel like a job, there are many moments when I really feel touched by the message and beauty of the music. Also, when I am singing with my sisters, I remember how much I want music to be a part of my life.

How do you keep your composure and not get nervous while you are on stage?
It's funny, the times I get most nervous are for church performances, because I know that everyone else knows me and knows I do this for a living, so I feel a lot of expectation. But, the more I perform, the easier it gets. By getting accustomed to those nervous feeling, like butterflies in my stomach and a racing heartbeat, the more I know how to work with it while I perform. It is very important to be super prepared. If I know it very well, then I can go on auto-pilot, rather than thinking about every little thing. It is important to have the technical aspects well prepared, so I can really focus on what the music means to me.

What great wisdom from a great musician and friend! Thanks, Tammy, for your insights, and good luck in the next great act of your life--motherhood!

I love a good party: Happy bouncy ball birthday, buddy!

2008-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

I do love a good party, and I especially love a good kids' party. Kids really party hearty. And Petey's second birthday party did not disappoint--it was raging! In all the parties I've given over the years, Pete's second birthday party goes down in the books as my favorite. " What? A room full of toddlers is a good time?" you ask? When it's a certain special toddler and his very special friends, I can't think of one place I would rather be. Especially when you have a room full of bouncy balls.

I'm usually not one for high-maintenance invitations (evite) but I saw this idea here and thought it was something I'd like to get in the mail.

I used these balloon lanterns for our decorations. I might just keep them there for a while.

As a last-minute, right before bed thought, I did this little flag streamer. I ironed the fabric on some interfacing and glued the flags on. It was cute, and maybe next year I'll give myself more time to make a great big one. It's a nice way to use up some fabric scraps.

I had some high cake anxiety, but, as usual, the cake was fine and the frosting was a nightmare. That blasted frosting...so finicky, so demanding, and then, after my great display of love and concern, it self-distructed on me. I should have suspected this frosting recipe was not normal after putting 8 sticks of butter in the kitchenaid, one little cube at a time. That frosting was always up to no good...
[SO MUCH BUTTER]

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I do try to keep things homemade, but Pilsbury Creamy Supreme was a much better option this time. Frosting! You dominated me!

The little colorful blobs are supposed to be bouncy balls. I'll never be a cake decorator, but Pete's excitement level was at a 10+ when I brought this out with two sweet candles on top.

For food, I had to go with Pete's faves:

a gargantuan bowl of assorted crackers. (for the adults, we had a more civilized spread of crackers with brie, apples, and pears)

and quesadillas.

I cooked a bunch of cheese ones for the kiddos, and made some suped-up quesadillas for the grown-ups. I couldn't help myself.

Here's my Saturday Night Quesadillas:

(Saturday night, because come Saturday, this is as creative as our dinner gets. And it's a good fridge-cleaner dinner.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
olives (the kind that you put on your fingers for thanksgiving), chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
coarse salt and pepper
canned green chilis
[any other random veggie that might taste good--for example, diced sweet potatoes, squash, mushrooms]
cilantro chicken sausage, diced
3/4 cup white cheddar cheese

1 can of refried black beans
12 tortillas
1 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cilantro, optional

Salsa Verde

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and peppers until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir to coat. Add olives, chilies, and sausage, and continue to saute until heated through.
Put mixture in a bowl and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile, wipe out saute pan, and heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add cheese to mixture and stir to combine. Spread refried beans over one tortilla, top beans with 1/3 cup of mixture and another tortilla. Gently press top tortilla to bind it all together.
Place the quesadilla in the pan and brown each side, approximately 2 minutes per side. Keep a close eye on it--it can progress quickly! Let cool a bit and use a pizza cutter to slice into wedges. Top with chopped cilantro, and serve with salsa.

And here's what my bedroom looks like after throwing all of Pete's furniture in there right before the party. It was totally worth it.

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Extreme Makeover Table and Chairs

2008-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last June, a neighbor gave me a an old, beat up toddler table and chairs set, and with a little tlc, I brought it back to life.

Here's the before:

And here is the after:

Just some sanding and a few coats of orange paint and it was good as new!

I like these little crab pillows that I found at Ikea.

Here are the table and chairs finally doing what they were made to do: hosting Pete in his bulldog jammers, while he eats crackers in one chair, and Rufus, Pete's best friend, in the other chair.

The Good [Neighborhood] Stuff: Grow Where You're Planted

2008-10-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Say you live in China. Then, say your grown son and wife get accepted to highly competitive programs at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where they will move, along with their baby (whom you dote on ceaselessly). Then, say, you and your spouse move with them, and agree to care for this grandbaby, while mom and dad go to school, and you all move into a two-bedroom apartment. Then, say, you are alone in this strange land, where you do not speak a smidgen of English, have no interest in the foodstuffs sold at your local Stop and Shop, and have no car. What would YOU do?

Well, this is a very common scenario; in our neighborhood, there are probably 75 families that share this circumstance, and seem to thrive very, very well. From all I can tell, the Asian grandparent community just grows where they are planted. Literally.

A group of Chinese grandparents took land that looked like this:

[this actually looks pretty nice, but it's just random grass and weeds]

And turned it into this:

A beautiful garden, brimming with peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, lettuce, and, well, a lot of Chinese plants that they can't find here. There is so much ingenuity in the garden maintenance: no wheelbarrows? Fine, just use a baby stroller! Ran out of buckets? Just use a food cooler. As I've watched our Chinese neighbors over the years, I've noticed how resourceful they are, making use of everything they have and I really admire that.

If we ever leave New Haven, I'll miss this tight-knit Chinese community. Not that we really hang out, but they remind me of my own LDS friends--we all love families, we stick together, we are [more or less] quiet and responsible neighbors (although I think our neighbors below us have had it up to here with our bouncy balls). And, when I'm strolling Pete around, I probably pass five or six grandparents with their babies, and we both give a knowing smile to each other that says "Your baby is beautiful. And isn't mine, too?"

The Good [Handmade] Stuff: Peter's ABCs

2008-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Pete's second birthday is fast approaching--What?! My baby is two! I've been working on a few things for this greatly anticipated day; not only do handmade gifts have a lot of heart, but, it's a great excuse to finally get a few projects DONE forever. A finished project is a little like a miracle to me. So, without further ado, here's the little alphabet book I put together for Pete:

these abcs are just Pete's style, full of his favorites, like bananas and horses and Aunt Anne (a great name to know!). I tried to include family and friends, so he can get all the names with the faces, even if we don't get to see all the faces as much as we'd like. And, I'm counting this as my lifetime scrapbooking endeavor. You hear that, Peter and my future children? This is as good as it gets.

I love a good party: General Conference PARTAY

2008-10-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

I love General Conference. I come away inspired every time. Listening to Conference has changed substantially in the last couple of years: less note-taking, pondering, reflecting, and much more chasing, disaster preventing, and redirecting little bodies away from the laptop. It's always nice to hang around in our loungers and nestle in for a long stretch of great talks. I remember, as a kid, watching conference was kind of magical--you mean, we watch church at home? Woah! Many times during my childhood, my family would go to my grandma's house to watch conference; the adults watched the talks on tv and we ran around, like the crazy kids we were. Then, we had a very traditional Sunday supper prepared by my Grandma. This last weekend, I invited some friends over for the Sunday afternoon session and dinner afterwards, in honor of those family memories that come with Conference weekend.

Really, what would a family Sunday dinner be without the old pot roast in the slow cooker all day? Here's the recipe:

Italian Pot Roast

3 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed and halved crosswise

4 garlic cloves

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Coarse Salt and Pepper

1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges

1 1/2 pounds small waxy potatoes

1 can whole tomatoes in puree (28 ounces)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried and crumbled)

With a sharp paring knife, cut 4 slits in beef roast; stuff slits with half the garlic. Generously season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan. Cook beef until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
In a 5-quart slow cooker, combine beef, onion, potatoes, tomatoes (with puree), rosemary, and remaining garlic. Cover; cook on high setting until meat is fork-tender, about 6 hours (do not uncover while cooking).
Transfer meat to a cutting board; thinly slice, and discard any gristle. Skim fat from top of sauce, and spoon sauce generously over deliciously tender meat and veggies.

Also, we inhaled these these biscuits. For extra tastiness, I added 1/2 cup of fresh thyme, rosemary, and parsley.

And friends brought salad and a pumpkin pie. A pie, do you believe it? I finally got to eat a slice of pie that I didn't have to make. It was delicious.

Good Taste: Butternut Squash Soup

2008-10-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

Fall, I embrace you! While we don't have the summer days at the beach anymore, we now have pumpkin picking and brisk morning runs. There is something about fall breezes that makes me excited! We can't wait for school to start (even though it always starts in the hot humid August days...but, isn't it much more fun keep pretending that it starts in the fall?), we can't wait for the harvest time of apples, pears, peaches, squash and the smells of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg that accompany these foods and, admit it--we can't wait for Christmas. All the good times are ahead of us in the autumn season, and I'm totally not thinking about that January/February/March stretch. Just put that right out of my mind.

To get in the mood, I made some butternut squash soup. It was delicious. I like this recipe, because I only needed to make one cut down the length of the squash prior to roasting. I like this because cutting up butternut squash, to me, is risky business, and I'd like to keep all of my fingers intact, thank you very much. There is quite a bit of handling in this recipe--roasting and stewing and blending. At one point, I was ladling boiling squashy liquid into my blender, half of it dripping all over everything, while Pete was pulling at my pants and yelling "MAMA! Mama, I need that" and everything was spilling all around and life seemed pretty nutso for about 15 minutes. One of these definitely would have come in handy. But, the beauty of this soup is it tastes even better a day or two later, so, today, when the boys were out playing, I sat down by myself to a beautiful bowl of homemade soup and read a magazine and felt really, really happy.

Here's the recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking:

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large leeks, cleaned thoroughly and chopped

4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup whipping cream

chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

croutons

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash cut side down on oiled baking sheet. Bake until the squash can easily be pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Let cool, then scoop the pulp from the squash skin and discard the skin.
Melt butter in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add leeks and ginger and cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir in 4 cups of stock and the squash pulp. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring and breaking up the squash with a spoon, for 20 minutes. Puree until smooth. Return soup to the pot.
Stir in cream, and thin with stock, a little at a time, until you reach the desired consistency of soup. Heat soup through and ladle into warmed bowls. Garnish with herbs and/or croutons.

Creativeness is next to Godliness

2008-10-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else out there almost jump out of your seat while listening to this this talk by President Uchtdorf? I was particularly inspired by this quote:

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the

world within you."