Monthly Archives: June 2012

This Happened

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Almost a year ago our car was stolen from in front of our house. It was taken in the night. It was unsettling and turned our world on its head, but this is what I know: God gave grace to us.

Now, after a time, God has provided us with a second car again. This is also grace.

I am so grateful that all is grace.

People talk about God “giving beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” (Isaiah 64:3). I will talk about that, too. Yes. Absolutely yes. I am so grateful.

Car theft is by far not the worst thing that has happened to me, and God has brought beauty from what I’ve mourned as ugly and hopeless.

I just wanted you to know.

Simmer Dim

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I thought I would get to work blocking some of the knitted things I’ve made so I could show them to you. I have this terrible habit of finishing something and leaving it sitting in a heap while I move on to the next project. I’m going to use this blog as motivation to stop doing that.

Today I have photographs of a small shawl pattern, Simmer Dim by Gudrun Johnston/The Shetland Trader. I was inspired to knit it by the beautiful example on Loop London’s blog.

Here is my version:

I used Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Celadon shade. It’s a gorgeous single-ply fingering-weight merino wool, and one of my favorite Madelinetosh yarns. Madelinetosh is my absolute favorite yarn brand, and I pretty much buy it exclusively unless I’m knitting for someone who won’t wear wool.

This is a Shetland style shawl, very easy to make, and it was great for mindless knitting, which is my favorite kind of knitting. I liked it so much I made two. I’ll show you the other once I get it blocked.

I think I’ll use this a lot. Here are a couple more pictures:

I just love to have pretty accessories like this to throw on an outfit that needs a little something.

Books and the Reading of Them, Installment One: The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer

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On Monday, I finished reading The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer. This is the sort of history book I love. It’s written for the average person and is easy to read. It contains plenty of interesting material, but not so much detail that it becomes overwhelming.

The book is broken up into chapters by category, including: What to Wear, Traveling, Health and Hygiene, and the Law, among others. The effect is a general overview of what life was like for people in different classes of society during the fourteenth century in England. This is not the book that is going to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about all the things that happened during the fourteenth century. It is the book you will want to read if you were the person sitting in school very much enjoying this period of history when you studied it, wishing the unit would last a little bit longer. With this book I was finally able to begin to satiate my appetite for crazy medical theories, tales of executions (WHY? AND WHEREFORE?), more (ALWAYS MORE!) information about plague years, details about what differences class & gender made at the time, and what daily life might have looked like. What I ended up thinking about as I read was something that I have realized but never applied to this time period, which is that people don’t often do stuff that doesn’t make sense. I never thought about why it made sense to behead people or boil puppies and use the liquid for medicine. I mean, those are not things I think are okay (let’s assume we’re all decidedly NOT okay with all of the above), but as I read I could begin to understand why they were done. And please let me make clear that the author did not argue that puppies and criminals with heads just have it too good these days and those medieval people really knew their stuff.  He shared a bit of the thinking behind it all, is what I’m saying.

I use books like this in much the same way I use a compilation album. I think they’re a great entry point to further study–an easy way to get a general feel for things,  organize my thoughts a bit, and get information about primary sources to flesh out any details that interest me.

The book sits nice and still for photographs.

I’m glad to have this on hand for homeschooling, also. We just finished up the medieval period this past year, but we’ll cover it again in a few years (we use Susan Wise Bauer’s schedule for our history studies, which I’ll discuss in another post). By that time, the boys should be ready for a little more detail and extra reading on the time period, and, while I doubt I’d have them read the whole book (they’ll be 14 and 12), I’ll probably share excerpts.

So! The book! I liked it. Definitely read it if you’re into that sort of thing.

A Lunch That Does Not Cause Widespread Panic

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I told you, readers, that I would share with you food that worked for my family, and I am here, keeping my promise. This is a lunch that I can hand my family and nobody complains or cries or attempts to bargain with me or eats it while passive-aggressively musing about what they wish they were eating. I give you the hamboat:

I bet you didn’t expect this giant hamboat.

This hamboat has docked next to some cornichons and banana pepper rounds, which are not strictly necessary but are pretty darned delightful. You may or may not know that Trader Joe’s cornichons are very important to us. If you didn’t, now you do. DON’T FORGET. I’m kidding, you can forget. I’m not worried about it.

What is a hamboat? It is, I think, one of the simplest ham-related things you could make: crusty bread, halved lengthwise, spread with cream cheese and piled with ham. Hamboats are unhealthy, we know. Hamboats are better food for humans than a burger and fries and good when we need a sure thing. Hamboats are also delicious, so we feel it is appropriate to consume them once a week despite their unhealthiness. You can decide if you agree.

Okay, one more thing: let’s just sneak into this quiet room where I keep the best secret stuff hidden. You all, it’s necessary. Anyway, look!

Mini Valrhona bars at Trader Joe’s, you guys! For 99 cents! Have they had these long? I haven’t been there in forever. Don’t they seem to glow from inside with a light that is their very own?

Okay, that’s all. I read a book this week, too, but I’m going to save it for another post. That’s the blogging equivalent of hiding my ankles from the gentlemen, and I am a lady of quality.

I’m Going to Blame Pinterest

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If you were wondering about the baby gift I was working on, that didn’t work out so well. At ALL. Here’s a link to what I was trying to make for my friend’s daughter: link. I saw these on Pinterest and have thought about them nonstop ever since. My version was hilarious. HILARIOUS. And ugly. And awful. Oh, I was irritated at the time, even though I can laugh now. But aren’t those blocks just the cutest thing ever? I hope I’ll be able to make them one day. I have come to understand that will probably not happen without instructions, though. Maybe from the book they’re in? That I should have purchased and consulted?

After my monumental engineering failure, I ended up running to the mall right before closing on Saturday night so I could have gifts to take to a newly christened little girl and a newly four-year-old boy. It all turned out well in the end, and we spent a very fun evening with an old friend and her family. We grew up next door to one another, and have known each other since I was born. I’m so glad that we get to see our children play together and visit, even though it’s not really often enough. It never is, really, is it?

I thought I would show you a baby gift that came out well, even if it wasn’t the one I was working on this weekend. This is for a friend who is expecting a new little girl at any moment, and I am so excited! Both patterns are from Hadley Fierlinger’s book Vintage Knits for Modern Babies, which is a favorite of mine. I made the Modern Baby Bonnet:

…and the Ruby Slippers, although mine are not ruby. There was definitely a more photogenic slipper, so it got more attention. Front view:

Side view:

I used some pretty buttons I found in my jar, and I can’t remember where they came from! I love them, though. I knitted these from a nice blend of cotton, silk, and cashmere so they’d be machine washable and easy to use. The yarn was Debbie Bliss Bella in white (shade no. 04), which is really more of a soft creamy color. So soft. I normally hate, HATE knitting with cotton, but this was pretty nice. My hands didn’t get all sore. So I’d definitely use this again. I think it’s great for baby stuff. It comes in lots of pretty colors.

I wonder if any readers have embarked on some ill-advised crafting projects as a result of Pinterest? I love to hear about that stuff. Now that I’m thinking about it, I really should have taken some pictures of my failure. Next time.

Things That Are Keeping Me Out of the Ice Cream

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I love junk food, I really do. Especially treats. If I could, I would live on ice cream, and cookies, and cake. I mean I have lived on these things for short periods of time (like, every holiday season), but I realized I needed to stop choosing the most decadent of treats ALL THE TIME.

Okay. So. Here are three things that are keeping me from strapping on a pint of Ben & Jerry’s like it’s a feedbag. None of these things are super-healthy, but they are slightly less UNhealthy and still feel like treats to me:

Plain Greek Yogurt & Whipped Cream

I eat this once a day. The yogurt is fat-free, and it’s pretty good for humans to eat for food. The whipped cream is less of a food, but adds deliciousness. If I am having a day when I really wish it was cake or pudding, I add some jam before putting the whipped cream on.

Hot Cocoa: A Delicious, Unseasonable Treat. With Whipped Cream

This is something I try not to have every day because it’s sugary enough to make me a little jittery. But it does take away the sad feelings I have a couple hours after dinner when I realize there is  no cake for me to eat.

Rice Pudding. It’s In There Cooking, You Can’t See It.

Rice pudding. Let’s talk about it. People seem to love it or hate it. I love it. So does my husband. The kids hate it. PERFECT. More for me. I mean, US.

Don’t feel sorry for the kids, they have their own treats.

The rice pudding I make is super-simple and a couple things I like about it are that it is very delicious cold, which is how we like it, and that I can make it with 1% milk. It’s not a very rich dessert, if that’s what you’re looking for. Still, I find that I don’t think much about ice cream when rice pudding is around. Here’s the recipe (adapted from BH&G cookbook):

Rice Pudding

6 cups milk (I use 1%)

2/3 cup long-grain rice (I use jasmine)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp coconut flavoring (optional)

Just put the rice and milk in a pot (I add 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean which is optional and I’ll discuss below. Completely nonessential, but fun.). Cook covered on low heat for like, three hours. Basically, forever. Make sure to stir it regularly and you can expect the bottom to get a little scorched no matter what, but seriously, do stir it. Also, I skim it (yuck). When it’s slightly thinner in texture than  you like, take it off the heat and stir in sugar and flavorings. Cool and eat it. It thickens up considerably as it cools.

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Here is the information about the ground vanilla bean: I like to have this on hand now that I know about it. I think it’s a great, economical way to make stuff look like you tried a lot harder, which is especially fun if you’re taking it somewhere, but hey, the family might like to feel a little fancy, too. Here is what it looks like:

Here is what you’ll find inside the jar:

Basically, I don’t see myself as ever being the kind of person who will go buy vanilla beans and use them in the place of vanilla extract. But, I am definitely the kind of person who would beef up vanilla extract with some of this. I paid $9.95 for the jar at Williams-Sonoma, and a little goes a long way.

The final order of business is Heat Wave, Day Three. I thought it would be storming by now, but it isn’t. I went for my walk at 1:00 today because I expected storms later. As it turns out, this was not the best choice since (1) no storms and (2) it’s 4:50 and I still don’t have my appetite back. I DEMAND AN END TO THIS.

With Special Thanks to Amazon.com

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After my post yesterday, things deteriorated a bit. More than a bit. I really felt like I was on top of things, and on top of this day and things were going to get done. Then I looked in the mirror and noticed my shirt was on inside-out and didn’t care enough to turn it right, which should have been a clue (to me) about what kind of energy level I had and how the day was really going to go.

Anyway, before it became apparent I was only going to get through the day by being a complete slug, I decided to try something I’ve been meaning to try for about a week or so: Amalah’s pancakes. Which I did, and which were good (I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was), and which my kids liked a whole lot. I still have a few kinks to work out of my own execution of this recipe, because I suspect my tendency to eyeball everything may have resulted in a not-quite-standard batter, and also I don’t use nonstick pans and ALSO I may have been a little aggressive with the heat. Here’s a little look at the cooking process:

Resist the urge to clean my drip pans. If you start cleaning, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Anyway, those pancakes there were some of the lighter ones, and the earlier ones were all dark and weird (my fault) and then there were these and then I adjusted the heat and they were perfect, but it took me a while to figure out what heat I needed. ANYWAY, I’m going to use the recipe a little more and figure out just what I need to do to make it work how I want it to and will post details. For now, I wanted to say that I was completely shocked that my kids would even try these, because they don’t have that anemic, sugary look that my kids seem to prefer in a pancake, AND they said they were better than regular pancakes! Can I show you how excited my older son was to see me cooking breakfast? He wanted to set the table so we could all sit down together. He’s very sweet:

So we sat down. And I watched the boys eat some pancakes. “Some” was more like, “I am quietly starting to wonder if you’ll be able to keep those all down.” Whatever. It was nice. And it happened at noon, which I thought was about ten o’clock.

I spent the rest of the day in a fog, barely having the energy to clean up the kitchen, deciding to knit on my sweater, knitting a sleeve inside-out, then crashing on the couch for hours, sleeping through multiple requests for lemonade and Wii.

That’s not how I usually parent, you guys. Usually I parent sitting upright in a chair, staring into the computer screen. HA!

Oh, dear.

Anyway, today I have these crazy purple-y black marks under my eyes and still feel crummy, so I guess I’m having allergies or some kind of cold thing or I don’t know what.

It’s not a case of parental negligence, is what I’m saying.

But! The baby gift is in progress:

And finally, Heat Wave. Day Two. We’re making it. I think we’ll be spending the balance of the day in here:

Blanket fort inflated by cold air. I’m glad all those books are coming in handy for something.

Well It’s Nice That SOMEBODY Finally Showed Up To Work On This Blog

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So! Here we are. In Maryland. Four of us. Me, husband, and two sons. My sons are nine and eleven. At this moment, they are still sleeping, and I am letting them because it’s June 20, and today begins a heat wave that I think will prove to feel very long even though it’s only supposed to last a few days. If you have kids, maybe you know what I mean. Maybe also if you don’t have kids.

So anyway, they’re sleeping, and that’s fine.

Um, okay, a few things:

Thing 1: I teach my children at home. That means I spend a lot of time thinking about what I will teach, then teaching it, buying books, reading books, making lessons, and correcting work. Also answering questions and having long discussions. Also needing a nap. I like having my kids around, I like teaching them, and I like deciding what they’ll learn. For me, it’s exciting. A little intimidating, also, but I think we’re doing okay. Anyway, I think I’ll discuss details of all that on here at times.

Thing 2: We are very active in our church. I’ll mention that too, most likely.

Thing 3: I like to read, and I was thinking I’d maybe discuss books I’ve read.

Thing 4: My husband is the executive chef at a local, um, what are they calling it now? Adventure camp? Conference center? One of those. He works irregular hours and cooks a lot of food. I don’t. Cook a lot of food, I mean. I’m trying to get better about that. It’s been a difficult thing for me to figure out, what to make for the family and when, when there isn’t such a regular schedule and sometimes my husband is just sick of a certain food. Or all foods. Sometimes it’s all foods. And then, there’s the issue many of us have which is that of children not wanting to eat certain things. So! If I find something I’m really pleased with, and that is working well for our family, I plan to share that.

Thing 5: My husband and kids play music. I used to do that, but rarely do lately. I like to knit and sew and generally make things into other things.

I think that’s enough things.

Well, today I don’t have a picture to show you. Normally, I’d want to put a picture with the post just so it wasn’t a bunch of my words about stuff that may not interest you and then at least if you were skimming along, not being interested, you’d see a picture of something that was maybe a little more interesting. Unfortunately, the only picture I’ve managed to take for the blog is a picture of that Oscar Mayer pre-cooked bacon, and that doesn’t make any sense here. I do plan to whip that picture out one day when it’s appropriate and say, “This is the secret ingredient,” and “Please don’t judge me for using pre-cooked bacon,” and “The smell of bacon cooking makes me pukey,” but today is not that day. Today is the day when I just post words and then go off to root through my yarn, hopefully finding something to use for a baby gift. So maybe I’ll have a picture of a cute baby gift to show you soon. IF ALL GOES WELL.