A Life Sustained

{CSA Recipes} BBQ Chicken Salad

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:47:00 +0000

Summer CSA | Week 2

In this week's box: asparagus, strawberries(!), radishes, broccoli, garlic chives, white Japanese turnips, 2 heads of red lettuce

Only two weeks in and we're already starting to get to the "meat" of our veggie selection; items with a little more substance than the leafy greens of spring (not that there's anything wrong with leafy greens--we love them too!). When I start seeing broccoli, I start getting excited. I'm not kidding.

The other night I started a charcoal grill by myself for the first time in my entire life. I actually typed the words "how to light a charcoal grill" into Google. I'm not sure what I would have done had the Internet not been there to guide me. This could have ended in disaster, but luckily for all concerned, I did a passable job my first time out as grill master. We had some burgers and bacon wrapped asparagus, which was amazing. I think that grilling might be my favorite way to eat asparagus, so it's a bit confusing that it's taken me so long to prepare it that way. Better late than never, right?

Lettuce and radishes went into a BBQ chicken salad that used up a bunch of ingredients that were just hanging out in our 'fridge. If you have the chicken and beans left-over from another meal, this one comes together in just the time it takes you to wash all the produce and is an incredibly satisfying dinner salad. Perfect for the upcoming Solstice.

Last year: Red Turnips

Two years ago: Green Pea Curry

BBQ Chicken Salad

Ingredients

For the dressing
1/2 C. mayonnaise
1/4 C. buttermilk
2 TBS. fresh cilantro, minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of black pepper
juice of 1/2 a lime

For the salad
1 large head red or green leaf lettuce, washed, stemmed, and torn
2 oz. spinach leaves, washed, stemmed, and torn
1 C. corn, thawed if frozen
1 C. cooked pinto beans
2 green onions, chopped
8 radishes, thinly sliced
1 C. cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 C. BBQ sauce
1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded
Handful tortilla chips, crushed

1. Add all ingredients for the dressing to a blender and blend until well mixed and creamy.
2. Divide lettuce and spinach between two bowls and then drizzle on the dressing.
3. Mix the BBQ sauce with the shredded chicken, adding more if you like.
4. Top the salad with the chicken and add all the rest of the salad ingredients.
5. Reserve those elements that your toddler will eat and serve in a mini salad (my 2-year-old enjoyed the chicken, beans, corn, cheese, radishes, and chips!).

Time: 20 min.
Serves: 2 adults, 1 toddler

Practical Life: Shelling Corn

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:27:00 +0000

The squirrels in our yard are either incredibly picky about their food or they are a bit lazy. Several weeks ago Silas and I picked up some ears of corn to put out for them and they haven't touched it at all. Not a bite. Now, this may be due to our feeder (it's not the best) or its placement or maybe they're avoiding the corn because it's GMO, but to me it seems that perhaps the effort of actually biting the corn off the cob is a bit daunting for them.

So, looking for an afternoon project, and hoping to encourage our little furry backyard friends to take a nibble, I decided to introduce Silas to shelling corn. What could be more "Iowa" than that, right?

Silas really dug into this one. I worked right next to him and, without words, demonstrated a couple different strategies for removing the kernels from the cob, but he preferred to pick them off one by one. He kept at it for a solid half hour before he declared that he was done.

It was a great fine motor workout and a way to exercise that pincer grasp.

Then we took a trek out to the yard, filled up the squirrel feeder and now we'll wait and see what happens!

Toddler Explorations: Hammering

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Lately, Silas's dramatic play has included a lot of hammering. Anything and everything in our house has been used as a hammer or a nail at one point or another. He's "fixing things." So, I thought he might enjoy some practice with a real hammer and some real nails.

I've had my eye on this Geo Shape Board for awhile, but honestly it just doesn't fit in our budget right now. So, I made my own. I picked up a brand new block of floral foam at the thrift store for 38 cents. I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for at the time, but knew it might come in handy. Turns out it's perfect for a little hammer practice. It's an easy surface in which to get a nail started and it provides just enough resistance to be a challenge without being too frustrating.

I covered it with a bit of burlap (just wrapping it like a present and using a bit of hot glue to secure). Not only did I think this was aesthetically more pleasing, but it also served the practical purpose of keeping the floral foam contained so that he couldn't dig out chunks of it. As fun as I'm sure that would have been, I wanted to get more than a one-time use out of it.

I presented him the hammering block along with a small hammer and a dish of nails (all which I already had lying around the house). I had a couple nails started, to give him a guide of what to do with it, and demonstrated how to hold the block on the corner with one hand and to hammer with the other.

He gave it a go. Then he discovered he could push the nails in with his fingers, which he found far more interesting. He pushed them in, pulled them all out and then pushed them back in several times. After doing so he did pick up the hammer again and asked me to get some nails started so that he could hammer them.

All together, this activity lasted between fifteen and twenty minutes. He was incredibly focused on it the entire time. It's now on the shelf, ready to take out on another day.

This Moment | Feeding the Birds

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Joining Amanda.

CSA | Lemon Chicken, Asparagus & Spinach Skillet

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Summer CSA | Week 1

In this week's box: oregano, spinach, sorrel, lettuce, radishes, and asparagus

Our four week spring CSA has ended and we're just starting week one of our summer share! Steve is really hoping the asparagus ends soon and since we're having a hard time keeping up with what we're getting in our share, we've stopped harvesting from our own patch. We do love it, really, and we wait all year for asparagus season to come. But after a solid month, we're ready to move on.

The greens and radishes continue to make appearances in nightly salads. Crisp lettuce with balsamic is one of my absolute favorite things about summer.

Half of the spinach and all of the asparagus went into a Lemon Chicken, Asparagus & Spinach Skillet with Couscous. I've been experimenting more with single skillet meals. Right around the middle of June (now, that is) I put a moratorium on turning the oven on and do all our cooking on the stove top. This has never been a problem, really, but I'm looking to simplify and streamline. I always try to include a leafy green and at least one other vegetable along with our protein for every meal. Some nights this means that I'm using every burner and dirty four different pans. Steve gets home late, so I'm on my own to cook. Add to that the fact that I have a two-year-old to entertain and, well, single skillet meals sound pretty good these days.

This one came together in about 45 minutes and used only two pans. Win.

Last year | Garlic Scape Stir Fry
Two years ago | Beef and Chinese Cabbage Stir Fry

Lemon Chicken, Asparagus & Spinach Skillet with Couscous

Ingredients

1/2 lb. bacon, chopped

1 lb. asparagus, chopped

1 C. whole wheat French couscous

3/4 lb. chicken, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS. whole wheat flour

1 C. chicken stock

zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

6-8 oz. fresh spinach, washed, stemmed, and torn into bite-sized pieces

salt, pepper

fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish

1 TBS. extra virgin olive oil

1. In a very large skillet with tall sides, fry the bacon pieces over medium heat.

2. While the bacon cooks, bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a sauce pan. Place the asparagus in a colander (or some other steaming contraption), place on top of the sauce pan, cover, and steam for 3 min. Immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Reserve the steaming water.

4. Once the bacon is crispy, use a slotted spoon to remove it from a pan to a paper-lined plate. Leave the bacon grease in the pan and return it to the heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken pieces and put them into the pan. Cook until white on all sides, about 6 min.
5. While the chicken is cooking, pour one cup of the asparagus steaming water into a glass measuring cup. Dump the rest out (or reserve it in a bowl, let it cool, and use it to water your plants). Return the one cup to the pan. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and bring to a boil. Pour in the couscous, stir, cover, remove from heat and let sit undisturbed for 15 min.
6. To the chicken add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until transparent, about 8 minutes.
7. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and onion mixture. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat.
8. Add the asparagus to the pan along with the lemon zest. Stir in the spinach leaves. Continue to cook until wilted, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
9. Use a fork to fluff the couscous and drizzle a little olive oil over it to prevent clumps.
10. Scoop a big pile of couscous into a shallow bowl and top with the skillet mixture. Sprinkle bacon and parsley over it all.

Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 adults

Crystallized Ginger

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:58:00 +0000

I have a bit of a weakness for all things ginger, crystallized ginger in particular. Its chewy hot sweetness is like one of those hot tamale candies, but maybe actually good for you. It's usually available at my Co-op, but it's a tad on the spendy side, so I was looking for a way to make it at home. It couldn't have been easier. I followed Alton Brown's recipe (because Alton never lets me down). I did have to boil it about 20 minutes longer than instructed, but my ginger was a little bit old and stringy and needed the extra cooking time to get tender. Even so, it still tastes delicious. Even Steve, who is usually quick with the sarcasm when I reach for something ginger to nibble on, couldn't stop snacking on it and asked if I could package some up for him to take with him to work. This test batch was only a half pound and now all I need is for ginger to go on a super sale so that I can stock up.

Toddler Explorations: Garbage Trucks

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:41:00 +0000

For over a month now, Silas and I have been exploring garbage trucks together. I know they say there is a "big truck" gene in all little ones, but Silas was the last of his friends to really take an interest in them. The first truck that he could identify and that he got really excited about seeing was the garbage truck and I thought this excitement was a great opportunity to try our first Reggio-inspired project.

Reggio can sometimes be a challenging thing to explain (I know that I definitely have a limited grasp of it!) because it is more of an attitude about learning, rather than a set philosophy. There can be many "ways" of being Reggio-inspired because each learning environment is dependent on the situation of the people in it and these, naturally, have many variables. There are some things in common, though, among many who are inspired by Reggio ideas.

Like in Montessori and Waldorf, environment is very important. Value is placed on natural, open-ended materials that children can access themselves and are free to manipulate in any way that they choose. Access to art materials is very important. The role of the parent/educator is to stimulate learning. Objective observation is very important and documentation of children's work, conversations, and interactions is key. The goal is to record what the child is interested in, analyze their understanding, identify areas of keen interest or misunderstandings, and then to work together to open up new avenues of learning. In the U.S., this is often labeled as emergent curriculum or project-based learning.

In Reggio, Italy, where the original schools were built and this attitude about learning was formed, it is primarily a mindset that is used with children over the age of three who come together to learn in a multi-age classroom with other children. I've read about some experimental classrooms where educators have tried to apply these ideas to two-year-olds and there are adjustments that need to be made for this age group, in addition to the shifts made for a child learning alone rather than in a group setting. The biggest challenge is the limited communication -- both their limited access to vocabulary and our limited capacity to understand what they are trying to say. For all ages, Reggio strives to encourage children and adults to tap into the "100 languages," that is, to use a variety of media to express ourselves and to communicate our ideas. This is especially important for toddlers.

I did a quick Google search to see if a garbage truck exploration was something anyone had documented before. And while there were plenty of ideas for a unit study of garbage trucks, there wasn't anything I could find that was Reggio or Montessori-inspired. While they make look somewhat similar on the surface, there are some pretty big differences between unit studies and Reggio learning. If I were doing a unit study, I would take Silas' interest in garbage trucks and use it as a springboard to do themed activities to teach him other things (the letter "G", colors, numbers, etc.). In Reggio learning, I see his interest in garbage trucks and we use it to learn more about...well...garbage trucks. It's a process that helps him to learn more about the thing that he's interested in as well as an opportunity to help him learn about his own educational processes.

So, my first goal was to just start. I wanted to figure out what it was about garbage trucks that Silas found so fascinating. We checked out some books from the library, which he enjoyed. They did generate some conversation, but not much that was originating with him, mostly just naming what was going on in the photographs. He'd only very recently started to make representational objects with play dough (a snow man!), so I thought we'd try that.

I opened up one of our books to a good garbage truck picture (above), presented him with a ball of play dough and invited him to make a garbage truck. Instead, he really wanted to put the dough on to the picture of the truck. So, we put the book away, finished playing with the dough and tried again another day.

This time, I printed out a large photo of a garbage truck onto cardstock, laminated it, and invited him to put the dough directly onto the picture. He got really excited about this process and was very deliberate in his actions; pressing dough onto the wheels as he said "wheels" and onto the lights as he said "lights."

He then "drove" the picture around with the play dough stuck onto it.

On another day, I set out the same photograph and a basket of dry erase markers and invited him to draw on the photo. He was very excited about this one. He very systematically went through each color and went around and around and around. When he put his marker done and paused as if he was done, I observed, "you made a lot of round marks." To which he responded, "wheels!" We did both of these activities on several other days with similar results. Clearly, a pattern was emerging. One of the things he really likes about garbage trucks are the wheels.

Then I wanted to make sure that he had the vocabulary to describe all the parts of the garbage truck, with the hope that this would help him to communicate with me about them. So, I made a set of Montessori-inspired classification cards. The idea here is that there is one card for each part of the truck and this helps him to isolate each part and to associate it with the correct name. We did a three period lesson with the cards. His initial accuracy was good, but not perfect. He's asked to do this activity several times and he can identify them all now, without fail, and includes the correct words when we have conversations about garbage trucks.

A matching game isn't particularly "Reggio," but he's so interested in matching right now and I wanted a way to show him the great variety in kinds of garbage trucks. I also wanted a way to emphasize that there is a person who drives the truck and does the work of collecting garbage, so I chose many images with people in them. When we watch the garbage trucks outside our house, he always mentions the "man" and what he does or doesn't do (whether or not he gets out of the cab, if he picks up the can or if the arm does it, etc.). We started with three cards and when he breezed through those we did six and then nine at a time.

I set up an interest shelf to house all of our garbage truck-related items so that he could explore them at any time. The books we checked out were:

Garbage Trucks

Little Trucks with Big Jobs

Construction Zone

although we were limited by what was available at our local library. There are many other good-looking books available on Amazon. I also checked out every picture book our library had on garbage trucks (and there were many!), but to be honest, after an initial reading I immediately returned them. My biggest complaint with them was the way they anthropomorphized the truck. Why on Earth would I want my kid to believe that a garbage truck is some scary monster with big teeth that comes in the middle of the night to "eat" your garbage? My other complaint was that much of the text didn't jive with what we do in our home. Many of them included lists or songs about what was in the trash, which included food, something that we put in our compost rather than our trash. I thought that would be confusing to Silas. So, we stuck with the few nonfiction books that I could find and I also made him a Montessori-inspired nomenclature book, but I haven't presented that to him yet.

I actually really debated about getting him a toy garbage truck. There are so many really cute options out there (I went with this one), but I didn't want to set a precedent of always buying a toy for every interest that he develops and I also didn't want to hinder his creative play. Before I bought the small truck pictured above he was having a perfectly fine time pretending to be a garbage man and pretending that his walker wagon was a garbage truck. He absolutely did not need a specialized garbage truck toy. That being said, he does love his little truck and he plays with it often. I chose it because it seemed the most realistic and had an articulated arm. It has been helpful in applying his new vocabulary to a three-dimensional object, rather than an illustration or a photograph.

Finally, I wanted to expand on the interest in wheels that he demonstrated by taking him to a play structure that used old tires. This was a wonderful experience. He was fascinated by their texture and he got to explore them fully and safely.

As of right now, his interest is still in the wheels and the lights. He also really likes to talk about the process of garbage collection ("truck stop, arm out, lift, dump!") and he repeats the order of events over and over. If he were slightly older, I might present the option of making a flip book of the process. His singular interest in garbage trucks has become more generally applied to all big trucks now. I've toyed with the idea of taking a trip out to the landfill, but I don't think that's where his interest lies right now. From what I've read, projects at this age do tend to just peter out rather than culminate in some sort of final activity or presentation. So, this may be the end of our garbage truck exploration, but, honestly, who knows!

CSA | Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:51:00 +0000

This week's CSA box brought us a bag of spinach, one head of lettuce, a bunch of radishes, a bunch of rhubarb, chives, and two bunches of asparagus.

Lettuce, chives, and radishes went into dinner salads. Rhubarb went into Steve's favorite strawberry rhubarb pie.

The spinach and one bunch of asparagus went into this vegetable medley with mushrooms. It was good, but it lacked something. A little crunch perhaps? Maybe some sliced almonds? But also a bit of flavor...a dash of soy sauce?

The other bunch of asparagus was served with our favorite spaghetti carbonara recipe. This was a perfect meal. When we first started making it a couple years ago both Steve and I were a bit weirded out by the raw egg yolk on top, but we have since learned to love it's creaminess. There's really nothing quite like it.

Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus

Ingredients

1/2 onion, chopped

6 slices bacon, chopped

1/2 C. heavy cream

4 eggs, separated with the yolks kept whole

3/4 lb. spaghetti

1/2 lb. asparagus, split lenthwise

1 C. freshly grated Parmesan

Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the chopped bacon until cooked through.

3. While the pasta and bacon cook, steam the asparagus spears for 3-4 minutes. Remove to a bowl and dress with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of salt.

4. Add the chopped onion to the bacon in the skillet. Saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the cream and cook for an additional minute.

5. Drain the pasta. Add it to the skillet with the cooked onion mixture and stir to coat. Add half of the cheese and stir well.

6. Remove from the heat and add the egg whites. Stir vigorously. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg.

7. Divide pasta among bowls (this makes enough for 2 adults and 2 children or 3 adults and one child). Top each serving with an egg yolk, a sprinkle of the remaining grated cheese, a turn of freshly grated pepper, and the asparagus spears. Serve immediately. Stir the egg yolk into the hot pasta (which will cook it slightly)

Playful Parenting and Ruth Krauss

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:45:00 +0000

Prior to having a child, I was not familiar with Ruth Krauss. I had heard of The Carrot Seed, but had never read it. I came across The Bundle Book and The Backward Day at the thrift store and picked them up because I loved the illustrations. I'm so glad that I did! Both of them show wonderful models of the principles of playful parenting.

In The Bundle Book, Mama discovers a lump in the bed that she's trying to make.

She guesses and guesses what could it be. Each time the bundle replies, "no!"

Until finally, the little one pops out from under the covers and the two embrace.

In The Backwards Day, a little boy awakens one morning and declares that it's backwards day.

Instead of scolding the little boy or telling him that there's no time for such nonsense, Pa and Ma play along.

The game ends shortly thereafter when the little boy declares that backwards day is done.

Both of these are stories of small moments in family life. Little snippets, really. What's so notable for me is the calm way that the parents listen to and follow the lead of their children. With patience and support, they adopt a playful attitude in their interactions with their children and in doing so, fill the buckets of their little ones with confidence. This is a great lesson for me and a model for how I strive to parent every day.

CSA | Creamy Spinach Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:57:00 +0000

This week has flown by incredibly fast. So fast, in fact, that I completely forgot to hit "publish" on this CSA post. It's a day late but here it is... In our weekly box we found: half a pound of spinach, two heads of read lettuce, a bunch of assorted herbs (sage, thyme, and oregano), three pounds of asparagus, and a bunch of radishes.

Last night we had Lion's Head Soup to use up the small head of cabbage from last week. We had forgotten how much we love this soup! A great way to use cabbage, especially if you don't really care for cabbage; the pork and the flavorful broth really stand out and help you forget the cabbage is there. A side of steamed asparagus (I split the spears in half and steam them for about three minutes, then dress with butter and salt) accompanies every meal, and a lettuce and radish salad is paired with most.

The spinach and herbs, however, went into a creamy pasta dish. Silas was a big fan of this one, but that could also be because it's pasta. I'm pretty sure he'll eat pasta no matter what else goes with it.

Creamy Spinach Pasta

Ingredients

1 lb. whole wheat elbow (or penne) pasta

1/2 lb. baby spinach leaves, washed and drained

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 TBS. mixed fresh herbs (I used oregano, sage, thyme, and parsley), minced

3 ounces neufchatel (or cream cheese)

2 ounces blue cheese

salt, pepper

freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

1. In a large pot, cook pasta according to the box directions. Reserve a cup of the starchy pasta water before draining.

2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over medium heat melt the fat of your choice (I use bacon grease).

3. Saute the onion and garlic until transparent. Add the minced herbs, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a minute or two more.

4. Add 3/4 of the spinach, turning with a spatula, until just wilted (about 2 minutes).

5. Transfer the onion and spinach mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the neufchatel and blue cheese. Blend until it's a creamy consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning, in necessary.

6. After draining the pasta, return it to the pot and pour on the creamy sauce. Mix to combine. Add a bit of the pasta water to loosen the sauce (I ended up using about 1/4 cup).

7. Stir in the remaining spinach leaves and stir until the heat of the pasta wilts them. Again, taste and add more salt if necessary.

8. Plate and top with freshly grated Parmesan and a crack of black pepper.

This Moment | Lunch Guest

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Joining Amanda.

Play Dough & Buttons

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 30 May 2013 21:24:00 +0000

Oh dear. Steve and my wedding anniversary is in a couple weeks and it seems as if Mother Nature has decided to give us a live reenactment of our wedding day to celebrate. As I hear rolling thunder in the distance I know that it's not a question of whether or not it will flood in the coming weeks, but of how bad it will be. Please be kind, Potamides.

Silas and I are spending the afternoon home and inside, out of the rains. I mixed up a batch of play dough; my first time using a cooked variety. I'm a convert. This is the best play dough I've ever made. Add to it a bowl of buttons, and you have one very happy two-year-old. Pushing the buttons in, smooshing them around, and piling the whole mess back into the bowl kept him occupied for 15-20 minutes while I did the breakfast and lunch dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

This, he proudly declared to me, is a birthday cake.

Toddler Explorations: Magnets

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Papa surprised us by coming home from work early yesterday, giving us a full hour of family play time, rather than the usual rush to eat dinner and then race to bedtime. We had just rotated puzzles that morning and one of them was a tow truck magnet puzzle and it had been a key activity of the day. Although he's familiar with magnets, having experienced them while playing with wooden train sets and the like, Silas made the discovery that magnets also stick to other things. Lots of other things. So, when Steve came home, I set the two of them up with a basket containing a couple magnets and an assortment of both magnetic and non-magnetic items.

They did a little bit of sorting, playing a "what sticks?" and what doesn't game. But, most of the fun came from pretending that the wand magnet was a crane and using it to pick up all the nuts and bolts and then sliding them off.

In My Kitchen: Peaches, Vanilla, Rhubarb

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 27 May 2013 19:49:00 +0000

:: We have entered the season of rustic fruit desserts. And I am delighted. There have been an abundance of rainy days around these parts, which just means more time for baking. First up was an upside down peach cornmeal cake. Then a rhubarb and apple pandowdy. All I can think about right now is strawberries. And homemade ice cream with fresh raw cream. And berries. And...

:: "Slow and steady" is our motto around here when it comes to taking on more made-from-scratch projects. I have learned from experience that I need to make the commitment to making one item at a time and have it solidly a part of my daily/weekly/monthly rhythm before I try to add something else. The latest item we've decided to make ourselves rather than buy at the store? Vanilla extract. This one is incredibly easy and I can't believe I haven't done it sooner. Just pour some vodka over split vanilla beans (three beans to one cup of vodka), bottle (old maple syrup bottles work especially well), and wait two months. Done. Finally, those bottles of vodka that have been languishing in the back of my kitchen cupboards can be put to good use. No longer will they catch my eye and make me remember days long passed where I, well, drank a lot of vodka.

:: Rhubarb! I tried to plant some rhubarb when we first moved into this house, but it never took. So, I have to rely on the kindness of friends and neighbors to feed my habit for this tart vegetable. This afternoon will be spent chopping and planning. I got five pounds, which seemed like a lot at the time, but now I'm thinking another pound or two couldn't hurt...

Weekend Review: New from Dawn Publications

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Sat, 25 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of the small, independent publisher Dawn Publications. Home of Cornell's classic Sharing Nature With Children, it is where I often turn when I'm looking for children's titles about animals, nature, or the environment. So far, they have never disappointed me. Here are my reviews of the two newest additions to their catalog.

Noisy Bug Sing-Along by John Himmelman (2013)

This simple, but beautifully illustrated book introduces us to a dozen insects and the sounds that they make. Each one is presented in a two-page spread, which invites close study of every detail. With the coming of spring and soon, summer, birds and bugs are the things I find my toddler most interested in. While this book is geared for those aged 3 to 8, even my two-year-old enjoys it. It has taught him the names of these insects and he greatly enjoys mimicking all of their noises.

Like many titles from Dawn, the final four pages are packed with additional information and suggestions for extension activities. There are facts about the bugs, a list of additional nature awareness titles, a bit about sound and animal adaptation, and an introduction to sound waves and how they work. A trip to the book's website will allow you to listen to actual recordings of these insect noises, which my son found especially delightful.

Overall, this is a wonderful title and a perfect addition to the summer reading basket. My only complaint is that text for the sounds (the "ch-ch-ch" in the cover image above, for example) sometimes overwhelms the illustrations. I would have favored a more subtle hand so that there is less distraction from the images, which are really the star of this book.

What's in the Garden?

by Marianne Berkes, Illustrated by Cris Arbo (2013)

This is the latest offering from the prolific children's nature writer, Berkes and it fits in nicely with the rest of her collection. This is a rhyming riddle book. Each of the twelve fruits and vegetables featured is introduced with an illustration of the young produce "on the vine", which is accompanied by a short riddle about what it is. Turn the page and you have the answer, along with an illustration of the mature produce being enjoyed by a child.

The illustrations here are gorgeous; photo-realistic down to the last detail. The rhymes are fun and are written at a level that is appropriate to challenge the target audience of 3 to 8-year-olds. In a time when so many of us are separate from the work of growing and preparing the food that we eat, this book helps us to see and recapture that critical link. The diversity of children pictured is great, making it easy for your child to see him/herself in these pages. Included are a dozen recipes to go with each food item, a cooking vocabulary list, and more information about the anatomy of plants and how they grow. Of special interest to educators (home or otherwise) are the printable companion activities available on the book's website.

My criticisms of this book are similar to those of Noisy Bug Sing-Along. The content is wonderful, but the layout is less than ideal. Each riddle is on the right-hand page and its answer can be found on the reverse side once that page is turned. This makes sense, but laying it all out this way means that when you have any two-page spread open, the answer to the previous riddle is on the left and the next riddle is on the right. This makes it a bit confusing and hard to separate each fruit or vegetable in one's mind. Perhaps a flap-book set-up would have made more sense and would have allowed the child to see the transformation of veggie in the garden to delicious meal, without the distraction of the previous and upcoming riddles to muddle it up. Also, the recipes are included throughout the text on the "answer" pages. I would have put them all together in the back so that there is less to distract from the illustrations. All considered, though, I would still recommend this book and its wonderful message of joy in gardening.

My review copies were provided courtesy of Dawn Publications.

This Moment | Slide

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:33:00 +0000

Joining Amanda.

CSA | Sorrel, Spinach, and Bacon Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Week two of our CSA brought us: one head of red leaf lettuce, a bunch of garlic chives, a small head of storage cabbage, one head of sorrel, a small bag of spinach, and three bunches of asparagus.

I haven't used the cabbage yet (coleslaw?), but every other yummy green thing here has been devoured. The lettuce made two big salads.

One pound of asparagus and half of the spinach went into our traditional spring lasagna (recipe here). The recipe calls for a traditional pesto, but I substituted spinach for the basil and walnuts for the pine nuts to use what we had on hand.

This dish is a once-a-year full-family cooking adventure for us. Because each component is made from scratch, it's a bit labor intensive, but the payoff is so worth it. Last year, I wore Silas on my back and danced and sang to keep him happy while Steve and I worked assembly-line style, but this year...

...the little bug was a full-fledged participant in our family cooking day. Silas rolled out the pasta dough, mama cut it, and papa cooked it.

The rest of the asparagus (along with some from our own garden) went into the cold asparagus, orange, and pistachio soup that I mentioned here. (recipe here)

I honestly don't remember if we've had sorrel before. I don't think that we have. I read that it's a tangy green that tends to be a bit tough and all advice suggested eating it cooked. So, it, along with the rest of the spinach and the garlic chives, came together in a pizza. Oh, and there was bacon. Can't forget the bacon.

Sorrel, Spinach, and Bacon Pizza

Ingredients

1 ball fresh pizza dough

1/2 C. tomato or pizza sauce

1/2 lb. bacon

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/4 C. garlic chives, minced

1 bunch sorrel, washed, ribs removed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 bunch spinach, washed, ribs removed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1/2 C. pepperjack cheese, grated

1/4 C. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

salt and pepper

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon. When done, remove to a brown paper-lined plate to drain. Leave the bacon grease in the pan and the pan on the stove to cook the onions. When cool, chop.

2. Roll out your pizza dough. Pre-bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and spread on the tomato sauce.

3. In the bacon grease, saute the onion slices and garlic chives until onion is transparent, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add to the pan the sorrel and spinach, turning with tongs, until just wilted, about 2 minutes.

5. Distribute the onion mixture over the pizza dough and sprinkle the bacon on top.

6. Top with pepperjack and Parmesan cheeses.

7. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Pistachios and Practical Life

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

A cold asparagus, orange, and pistachio soup was on the menu (this one from last year) one night this week and Silas was eager to lend a helping hand. I thought that shelling the pistachios might provide a little Montessori practical life experience for him.

I set out three bowls. The shells were a bit hard for him to crack himself and he was getting very frustrated, so I opened the shell just enough to free the nut and then put it in the middle bowl. He then picked the nuts out from the shell and sorted the shells into one bowl and the nuts into the other.

We've done practical life activities like this before and he's done well with them, but this is the first time that he was really meticulous and seemed to get great satisfaction from it. He used great care and if a bit of shell got in with the nuts, he said "oopsie!" and immediately rectified the situation. Of course, a few went right into his mouth and never made it into the soup, but that's okay.

Toddler Explorations: Birds and Nests

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

We've been walking, talking, and practically breathing birds lately. With the coming of spring and more time spent outdoors, Silas has shown a keen interest in the feathered friends who visit our yard. He loves to call them by name and has started to identify them by song. So we spend a lot of time sitting quietly near the feeder and talking about what we see and hear. The last couple nights we've heard robins calling as he drifts off to sleep. He looks up at me with heavy eyes and whispers, "Birds saying, 'goodnight Silas'." It's about the most precious thing I could imagine.

To try to take his investigations a bit farther, I set up an interest table that is all about birds. On it are a basket of nonfiction books, binoculars (our bird feeder is right out the window next to the table), Montessori bird nomenclature cards, a set of backyard bird figurines and a set of bird photo cards.

The books are:

A Nest Full of Eggs -- All about a pair of robins and their hatchlings...a wonderful book.

Birds, Nests and Eggs -- This book is perfect...it's a field guide geared for kids. We reference it often.

The Raptors of Iowa -- This is a collection of paintings of Iowa birds of prey...gorgeous.

Eyewitness Bird -- This is a bit above his level, but it has wonderful, detailed photographs.

Why Do Birds Sing? -- The format is that of common questions kids ask about birds and their answers.

Everything Bird -- This is also above his reading level, so we skim it and look at the fantastic photos.

How Do Birds Find Their Way? -- Beautifully illustrated book about migration.

And a good field guide, which we look at quite often.

If I had to choose the books we like the best, it would be the first three listed, plus the field guide. Detailed photographs and illustrations are key for us; he can look at them for a very long time and returns to them again and again.

I demonstrated the bird nomenclature cards (from Montessori Print Shop) once and wasn't sure how much he had absorbed. He'll look at them from time to time, but it wasn't until he brought them to Steve one evening and correctly named all the parts of the bird that I knew he had "gotten" them.

The small bird figurines have come in very handy (from Safari). He likes to name them, include them in his dramatic play, as well as to play a 3-D matching game with the corresponding photo cards. There are tons of free printables online that feature birds, but there was something that I didn't quite like about all of them that I found, so I just made my own. I recently purchased a laminator and I may have become a bit addicted. *ahem*

As I mentioned in my previous post, Silas was very interested in building nests, picking up pieces of grass and piling them on branches. So, we made a little nest out of yarn and glue that he put in a tree. He checks it every morning to see if there's evidence that birds slept there the previous night. I think he's still holding out hope for some eggs.

And finally, we took a field trip to a local raptor sanctuary. I used to volunteer here, feeding the birds, but I had only been back once since Silas was born. It was very meaningful to me to share this place with him. It has been a place of quiet and of solace for me. It was interesting, too, to observe what he found interesting about it. While I am partial to eagles and hawks, he was most taken with the owls and still, days later, talks a lot about the movements and sounds that they made, mimicking them. When we got home, he immediately asked to look at the owls in the field guide.

Where this will lead...we don't quite know yet. I have a couple other backyard bird things I'm thinking about exploring, but I also want to pick up on the interest he expressed in owls. So many possibilities!

CSA | All Things Asparagus

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Spring is officially here and with it, our first CSA share. As in years past, I plan to document how we use our produce each week. I'm finding that paging back through these old posts is immensely helpful in reminding me what our favorite dishes were, as well as those that don't need to be repeated. Slowly, season by season, we're building a repertoire of meals that we love and that we return to each year, like old friends.

In our first box: Spinach, Asparagus, Shallots, Chives, Radishes, two heads of Red Lettuce, and one head of Green Lettuce.

For us, this was two nights-worth of food. The lettuce, radishes, and chives have gone into salads. The spinach, along with some feta, into a quiche. The asparagus, shallots and some more of the chives were blended into a soup.

With what we got in our share plus what we harvested from our own garden, we are very focused on asparagus right now. We've found that we've gotten a little picky with it, really only enjoying the thinnest and most tender of spears to eat just barely steamed. Those thick monster stems, we prefer to cook and blend into soups or dips. This week's share was transformed into a cream of asparagus soup and served with a simple lettuce salad. Spring.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

3 small shallots, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C. chopped carrot

1/2 C. chopped celery

1 3/4 lb. asparagus, chopped with 8-10 tips reserved

4 1/2 C. chicken stock

1/2 C. heavy cream

salt, pepper

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

freshly snipped chives and freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Heat 2 TBS. fat of your choice (we use bacon grease) in a soup pot over medium heat. Chopping as you go, add (in this order) onion, garlic, carrot, celery, asparagus and saute for 5 minutes or so.

2. Season with salt and pepper, then add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, until all veggies are soft.

3. Meanwhile, steam the reserved asparagus tips until just tender, about 3 minutes.

4. Remove soup from heat and blend (with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender) well. Return to pan. Stir in cream and vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

5. Serve topped with reserved asparagus tips, freshly snipped chives, a crack of black pepper, and a shaving of Parmesan cheese.

Nests

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Early this spring, before we had a chance to clear all the dead grass and debris out of the flower beds, Silas had a good time tromping through it all, seeing what he could see. In a moment of unprompted inspiration he plucked up some brown grasses and declared, "Silas make a nest!" before arranging it on a small branch. And so began our exploration into birds, nests, feathers, and eggs. I have much to share about what we've been doing in this area, but I couldn't resist telling you about the little nest that we made for the birds over the last couple days.

It's a simple process: dunk short lengths of yarn into glue (we used this homemade version), drape over an inflated balloon, and allow to dry. He wasn't very interested in the glue dunking, to be honest. Much like his mama, this little boy is not a fan of goopy messy things on his skin. He tried it once and then said, "Mama do it." So, he took on the role of project manager, telling me just where on the balloon each piece of yarn should go. This morning, when it was completely dry, he gingerly carried his little nest outside, selected a tree, and placed it up in the branches. His favorite bird right now is the Mourning Dove and I think he's pretty convinced that a pair of them will choose this spot to raise some babies.

At the Farm

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:15:00 +0000

Saturday marked the delivery of our first CSA share and it was also a work day at our CSA farm. So, Silas and I packed into the car and headed out with the intention of weeding and picking asparagus and sharing food with friends old and new. We managed to make it there in time for the second part, but a marathon afternoon nap kept us from leaving on time and we missed the opportunity to do any real work. Luckily, our farmers are very kind and made us feel welcome regardless. Silas had a blast sitting on the tractor, listening to peepers in the pond, climbing the big dirt pile and running around in the wind with all the other kids. This was our first visit to the farm and it was really wonderful to see the rows and rows of little seedlings that will grow into our food. I grew up in a rural agricultural community, but never really had any sense of fellowship around the happenings of the farms and what ended up on our plates (probably because there was little actual connection there...like most rural areas all the farmers around us grew commodity crops and what little produce was at the grocery store was trucked in from far-away places like California). This awareness is something that I want so desperately for Silas and I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity to foster those connections.

This Moment | Planting

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:34:00 +0000

Joining Amanda.

Reinvigorating Block Play

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:34:00 +0000

We've never really had a dedicated block play area. All our blocks just lived in buckets on the shelves with the rest of Silas' toys. This worked fine for awhile, but they really fell out of rotation and he was very rarely choosing to play with them. I decided to make a space just for blocks to make sure that he has the opportunity and the space to build and the freedom to leave his creations up if he wanted to.

We have the blocks loosely sorted by type (window blocks, hollow blocks, regular blocks, and wooden spools). I put down a large cutting board (that we already had, but have never used) to define the work area and to make a level surface for building. Taking some cues from Reggio, I printed out a couple pictures of Silas working on stacking structures as well as a poem about blocks, which also has a simple illustration of a little boy building with blocks, and hung them on the wall. Silas loves these. He likes to take them down and put them back up, bring me the poem to read, or talk about his buildings.

After setting up the space, he got right to it. He's still really into dumping, so all the blocks ended up on the floor. Some building did happen, though.

A little break to look at the colors. "All blue!"

His imaginative play is really taking off and he's started to make things that represent something else. He set these up for example and said, "TV! Computer!" This is amazing to me. This child has never watched TV in his life, only catching glimpses of it on two occasions when we were at other people's homes. We do have a TV and a computer in our main living area, though, so he's not unaware of them. I guess this just goes to show how much our environment (whether we interact with it directly or not) influences him.

Checking out the structure in the drawing (as I type this, Silas is playing beside me and when he saw this photo he went to the wall and grabbed the poem down. Multiple levels of representation!).

Kate at An Everyday Story (one of my favorite Reggio-inspired blogs) has a great post about extending block play. I think after we settle into these changes I'd like to add some mirrors and other materials and see what he does with them.

Preserving Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Did you know that you can freeze mushrooms? I didn't, but you absolutely can. I went in with a friend to buy a case of criminis at a really good price. We love mushrooms at our house, but there was no way that we were going to eat six eight-ounce containers of them in the couple days they would stay good in the refrigerator. Because of the high water content, they don't freeze well raw, but after slicing and sauteing in butter until they released most of their liquid, they did really well. I defrosted a bag this weekend to test them (in a risotto with Gorgonzola and peas -- Yum) and they were no worse for the wear; still a little meaty and with great flavor.

Getting the mushrooms ready to freeze was also a great Montessori-inspired practical life activity for Silas. I set him up with two bowls (one for the caps and one for the stems) and he had a lot of fun popping each stem off.