s t i l l

the festival of martinmas

Golden light is turning grey,
Mists begin to rule the day.
Bare the trees, their branches lift;
Clouds of dead leaves earthward drift.

Through the field the farmer goes,
Seeds of ripened corn he sows'
Trusts the earth will hold it warm,
Shelter it from cold and harm.

For he knows that warmth and light
Live there, hidden from our sight;
And beneath a sheltering wing,
Deep below, new life will spring!


-elisabeth gmeyner

our local waldorf preschool celebrated the festival of martinmas today with a puppet show and lantern walk. they shared this poem, which i love. i now have it beneath a magnet on the fridge. it will remind me that although the days are mainly dark now, light will come with time.

also... i am taking a knitting class and learning so much. did you know i am a left-handed knitter? neither did i. i will share what i have made soon.

chocolate-y

we made the chocolate rice crispy treats from the october food magazine. they were delicious! i had planned to make them for our halloween party but ran out of time. so on friday i made them with calvin and our neighbor. it was great recipe to make with kids. they could taste all the ingredients as we made them (no raw egg to contend with...). it was calvin's first introduction to the marshmallow. he did not like the raw marshmallow, but loved the finished rice crispy treat.

the party and the day after

our halloween party was a success. the little ones had fun and played well together. all of the moms and dads got along as well. i did not want to go overboard on decorating because a) we don't have a lot of money for decorations and b) the decorations you can buy at party stores are often a bit cheezy and get thrown away so quickly. so i went for the less is more approach and ordered these little paper trees from here. i punched holes in each one and hung them on some baker's twine. i also got 10 helium balloons with extra long strings on them so that the little ones could reach them easily. i just threw them in the livingroom and i was done. oh and i also put up the birthday bunting i make for calvin's first birthday. i liked how it turned out... festive without being overdone.

it was a potluck. everyone brought delicious food. i tried to make the chedder cheese cobwebs out of this months food magazine. see photo above. they looked great until i cooked them. then they turned into chedder cheese blobs. they actually tasted okay and they were gone by the end of the night. we also made the acorn squash quesodillas and the kale and swiss chard gratin. they were perfect.

saturday morning sam and calvin spent a long time palying the guitar. it is amazing to me that right when calvin picked up the guitar he started strumming and singing. no particular song, but definitely sing-songy words came out. then today at breakfast he started singing 'a bushel and a peck'. i melted right there. then when he got to the end, he pointed at me when he sang "about you, about you". i choked back tears as my little one kept singing.

my little gnome

happy halloween everyone! we are having 5 other one year olds over for some trick-or-treating and food (and maybe even some dancing!)... i must keep cooking. enjoy that last day of october!

g.g. comes to visit

my grandmother came to visit us for five days. she is a strong 75 years old, brimming with stories (like the time clint eastwood flirted with her right in front of my grandpa! and how ellen degeneres flew her out to los angeles and she was on the show to celebrate her 75th birthday). i hung on her every word. we drew out a family tree and she told me about each of her mother's 6 siblings and her father's 2 siblings. she detailed how her mother would make jam and ketchup and how she still has the banjo her father used to play.

grandma raised four girls and dog. she obtained her private pilots license and got to fly a 747 once. she continues to take classes on greece, how to declutter your life and computers at a local adult education center. she says her life is full of times where she was at the right place at the right time. i say she lives her life with an open heart and an open mind and seeks adventure on a daily basis, her life is bound to be full of blessings and miracles.

calvin called her g.g. which stood for great grandma. he loved her from the moment he saw her. he would call out "g.g. where are you?" and he sat in her lap and listened to her read book after book. when he woke up in the morning he would say, "shhh g.g. sleepin' ". it was adorable and i could tell that she enjoyed every smile, hug and word that calvin gave her.

i am so grateful that grandma made the trek out here to visit us and spend time telling us about her life. she (and we) hopes to make it an annual trip. i can't wait for next year...

*my grandma drove the school bus when my mom and aunts were little. here she is with her four girls getting ready to drive them the 50 mile route to school.

kale and swiss chard

my friend lisa is always touting kale and swiss chard as being the best-for-you foods ever. i like them raw in salad... but that is about it. cooked...well... they taste like dirt to me.

then one day i was chatting with crissy and she was making a kale and swiss chard recipe that she claimed was delicious. i asked for the recipe and she promptly sent it (on retro cabbage patch stationary no less...).

then sam and i were at the farmer's market over the weekend and there sitting on a wooden table of one of the vendors were kale and swiss chard. so decided to give crissy's recipe a shot.

it was frickin' delicious. so good i have already made it twice more. calvin loves it too. here is the recipe (which is a tweaked version of a recipe from yoga journal):

Kale and Swiss Chard Gratin

1 large yellow onion

2 tbsp butter plus 2 tsp

1 head kale

1 head swiss chard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup milk ( i used soy)

4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

1. cut the onion in half lengthwise; then slice it into the thinnest slices possible

2. in a large, heavy bottomed skillet with a cover, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium high heat. when it foams add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pan, letting the onions sweat, stirring them occasionally until they are nearly dissolving.

3. cut the kale and swiss chard into very thin slices and add them to the onions. fitting all of it into the pan will seem impossible, but it will wilt considerably. put the cover on and cook until the cabbage has wilted, about 10-15 min. remove the cover and continue to cook, stirring until the kale and chard are soft, another 10-15 min.

4. preheat oven to 400 degrees

5. spray baking sheet with olive oil spray and set aside

6. sprinkle the salt, pepper and flour over the greens, and stir. increase the heat to high, stirring still and then add the milk, a little at a time, continuing to stir, creating a sauce for the vegetables.

7. when it has thickened, in about 5 minutes, spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. mix the cheese and breadcrumbs together and scatter over the surface. dot with the remaining butter, and bake until the top is crusty and golden and the edges are bubbling, about 20 minutes. serve hot from the baking dish.

*it keeps in the fridge and seems to keep getting better.

enjoy!

relaxing

i took this picture last week when we had a day in the 60s and i was determined to spend all of it outside. during calvin's nap i laid outside on the hammock and read a book. it was nice to take time to not make dinner, not make any halloween costumes, not make anything... just sit (or lay) and enjoy the warmish sun.

today it is in the 40s and the trees have all of the sudden changed dramatically. the sidewalks are covered in leaves of all colors. sam and i spent the morning at the pumpkin patch following around a very indecisive 20 month old. he finally found the perfect pumpkin and now they are best friends and must go everywhere together.

ahhh. autumn i love you.

making::food

i have not been doing much sewing lately... but i have been busy in my sewing sketch book with holiday gift ideas (i know it seems too early to be talking about it, but i always seem to be crunched for time the last few days before christmas, staying up until the wee hours on the sewing machine, so i am hoping to get an early start this year to avoid the stress).

we have been doing a lot of cooking. this months food magazine is a good one and we have already made a few recipes. over the weekend we made broccoli and corn chowder (delicious!). it was easy, very tasty and everyone ate it. we made lots and froze some. i love finding it in the freezer in a months time and with a simple re-heat, voila! dinner's ready.

we also made acorn squash quesadillas from smittenkitchen. (the camera battery died just after i snapped the above shot so i don't have any other pics...follow the link for her great step-by-step photos) they were sweet and yet spicy. we had never used acorn squash in anything but soup before and these turned out super good. so tasty in fact that i think we are going to make them for the halloween party that we are having. i am going to try making them ahead of time and then just re-heat them in the oven. i tried it in the toaster oven and it worked. hopefully the oven will provide the same results and allow me to increase the quantity. (fingers crossed)

apples!

the temperature has dropped significantly around here in the last week and in honor of the cooler crisp air we visited our local apple farm.

calvin and i decided to make mom's apple bread from smittenkitchen. as we were making the bread he kept on saying, "calvin bakin' ". i couldn't get enough of his sweet little voice so i continued to ask him what he was doing, to which he would reply "calvin bakin' ". he just learned how to say his name and now he speaks in the third person regularly.

it came out pretty good. the bottom crust is a bit hard, but i think that is due to my 1950's unreliable oven. the fact that i substituted the oil for apple sauce also may have contributed. but the bread is still being eaten around here at a pretty quick pace so i don't think that anyone minds too much.

gnomes and pockets

after much deliberation, calvin is going to be a garden gnome for halloween. i made the hat using a pattern from bend the rules sewing. it turned out cute and calvin loves wearing it (yay!). i am also making a belt and a wee vest. for only using what i have on hand here, i am pretty impressed with how it is coming out (maybe that tells me that i have a bit too much on hand...). the beard is a different story. i have not found one that fits him or that he will keep on. i do have some white felt so i am thinking of fashioning a felt beard and then somehow attaching it to his hat and/or vest so that it stays on without having to go around his head (this seems to be an issue). i will keep you posted on how it turns out.

playing out in the yard last week calvin discovered that pockets have a purpose... he can put stuff in them. a whole new world opened up for him. he is a child that likes to squirrel away rocks, balls, bits of this and that so pockets are perfect. i did learn the hard way that i now have to check all of his pockets before putting his clothes in the wash.

an autumn sunday

the trees started to turn colors this weekend. it was a beautiful new england site for our family visiting from california. i completed these booties (from this book given to me by Ari) for a friend whose baby was due in a week but decided to come today. luckily i had given them to her on friday. newborn emma will look super cute in them, i'm sure. i can't wait to meet her. i liked the pattern. it was easy, although i used quilt batting instead of fusible fleece. it worked fine. i am a little concerned about the ankle openings, they seem a bit small. the booties do open with a velcro flap so the foot should slide in easily. hopefully they will fit well.

speaking of ari, she and i and a couple of friends held a handmade summer swap. i received this very handsome applique elephant shirt from her. calvin loves it! he did not want to take it off (and he did not want to stand still for a picture either...). thank you ari!

it rained here on friday and saturday so calvin got to wear his rain boots and raincoat (from grammy and grandpa). he had not been keen about putting them on the last few days but yesterday he asked for them. i think being able to go out in the rain and splash in puddles was a large incentive. of course both the jacket and the boots are way to big, but i wanted them to last awhile. they are wearable (barely) and he can walk (sorta) without falling over.

happy sunday!

101

sorry i was a bit absent last week. it was a crazy busy week with a few too many commitments crammed into too little time. but it was all loads of fun and worth the small bit of extra hustle and bustle.

the winner of the fabric box is.....ari! thank you to everyone who commented. i am finishing up the box and will hopefully (fingers crossed) get it in the mail this week.

speaking of this week our new chairs arrive on friday. we ordered them forever ago from room and board. the chairs come in several stocked fabrics, but we ordered a custom fabric so it took awhile. we ordered two chairs (no ottoman) to sit opposite our couch. they're comforable and mid-century looking, which happens to be the style that most of our furniture fits into. i hope they look good. the colors are so hard to envision on chairs when looking at a small swatch of fabric.

happy sunday!

100th post

wow. 100 posts. 100 ramblings about what i am thinking/doing/making.


i started this blog to communicate with friends and family that live in distant lands about what was happening in my everyday life. it has turned into a place for me to show/write about my life and also a place to meet new (cyber) friends. the online community of artsy/crafty moms is amazing and special. our moms did not have this medium to use as a resource for inspiration, gratification, and validation. i cherish it daily.


in honor of my 100th post i am doing a little give-away. leave a comment by friday sept. 12 and i will pick a person at random to win a handmade fabric box. i made some for calvin here. i use them to hold calvin's books, bibs, and other assorted things.

happy 100th post!

strawberry jam

we made strawberry jam a few weeks ago. i used pectin and sweetened it with honey, which turned out delicious! the blueberry jam i made earlier this month called for 6 (!) cups of sugar, so this time i wanted to try something different. we have eaten it in some form or another everyday since i made it and today we are going to make soulemama's lemon scones, which i know will be fabulous with jam.

dirt

calvin loves to dig in dirt. so when we had to (re)plant the circle in the front of our house with some new hydrangeas and grasses, calvin was all over it. he loves to dig deep into the earth with his hands and squeeze the dirt. then he opens his hands and focuses in on seeing the tiny piece of earth that he is carrying.



the warm summer day ended with dinner on the beach, and my boys digging in sand and watching the water ebb and flow.

baby shower

i went a friend's baby shower on saturday. it was animal themed so i made these brownies (using ari's award winning recipe) and put animal crackers on top. the animal crackers added a nice little crunch. so good.

i made a quilt for the new little one. they do not know the gender so i went with yellow and orange. i used the pattern from here. all the fabrics were from my stash so they came from all different places at all different times.

i am back to work this week, part-time. i am looking forward to the predictability of a schedule, but not spending mornings with calvin depresses me a bit. i am eager to put my newly aquired masters degree in literacy to work.

summer cookin'

we have been on a quinoa kick and sam whipped this up the other night as a side for turkey burgers he was grilling. he sort of made up the recipe, but basically he stir fried asparagus, onion, garlic, and some curry powder. then added that mix to the cooked quinoa and added some feta. we loved it and best of all, calvin loved it too. yay! something we can all eat! it is so nice to make meal and everyone eats it.

we have tons of summer squash from the farmer's market right now so i made this summer squash pizza. i put the squash under the cheese which worked well. it cooked through and tasted delicious.

i also made this herbed summer squash and potato torte that i saw over at smittenkitten and i highly recommend this recipe (i also highly recommend looking at her sight because her pics are much better than mine...). we had it as a main dish, but it would make a great side. i cut the potatoes and squash by hand with a knife and it took me about 25 minutes, but a mandolin would make this a fast prep recipe.

it is a super nice august here in new england. it is a 'spend every moment outside' kind of nice. so we have been eating meals outside. we had a deer wander through the backyard the other night during dinner. calvin is now obsessed with deer. while playing outside he asks "where deer go?" when i answer that i am not sure he replies, "deer go home". this line of questioning repeats about every 15 minutes. i don't get tired of hearing his little inquisitive voice ask. so cute.

back to life, back to reality

we are back from the beach. it was a wonderful, relaxing break from all that has to get done everyday. although rain was predicted, the weather was perfect.

it was nice to be prefectly present with calvin. to dig in the sand, search for shells, watch a kite float on the wind with no timeline, no to-do list. one step closer to the mindful parent i hope to be for calvin.

it's your birthday..

we are on vacation at the beach right now. being here reminds me of how much i love the shore. i grew up at the ocean and i don't go enough anymore, partly because the connecticut beaches are not that great (especially swimming in the sound...) and partly because our schedule always seems filled with other stuff. calvin is loving it here. he digs, collects shells and plays in the water. he is so focused. figuring out how things work and how he can make them work. it is amazing to watch.

i love that i am getting a little less white and completing some old projects. my friend ari has always kept a birthday calendar and she is amazingly good at remembering to send a card and call on a friends big day (not a week late (or more...) which is the timeline i seem to be on).

i bought this beautiful birthday calendar from anthropology awhile ago on super sale. and i finally got the chance to fill it all in with the names of everyone i know next to their birth date. i am resolving to be better about remembering friends and family on their birthdays with a card and/or phone call. it is my mid-year resolution. (maybe this one will stick better than the ones i made in january...)

bag it!

last christmas my sister gave me a set of five envirosax reusable bags. they are awesome! all five bags roll up and fit into one little bag. i keep them in my purse or the diaper bag so that i actually have them with me at the store. not only are the bags stylish, but they open up to be huge and hold so much stuff.
they come in five different colors which makes color coding your groceries super easy. at the market i put all of the refrigerator stuff in the red bag so that when i get home if i have a crying or hungry baby i just have to unload the red bag and i can get the rest later. love it. i have the flora bags, but the retro and mikado are also super stylish. they also have plain and organic bags. get yours here.

1.5

today calvin is one and a half. crazy. in the last month he has changed so much. i try to savor each new word and discovered skill, celebrating with him when he accomplishes a new task and exclaims "i did it!". i try to remember it all, sometimes i remember to write it down.

the humidity took the day off here... so we are enjoying the day outside. i made this airplane library tote for calvin. i used timtex so that it would be super sturdy. i wanted it to be able to stand up on its own so that at the library i can just put it down and calvin can fill it with his book choices. i added one single strap to make it easy for calvin to carry it. he is "mr. i can do it all by myself" lately. calvin is into airplanes right now (ever since his cousin left on an airplane...) so when i found this fabric here i had to get it for him.

we are going to dine outside tonight (calvin's favorite place to eat) and have happy 1/2 birthday blueberry pie for dessert. perfect.

trippy

calvin and i took the train down to visit my family last weekend. he had never really seen a train before. we had been reading a few books from the library on trains to prepare but he still had trepidations about the whole idea of the train once it arrived in the station and he had to say goodbye to daddy and get on. it was packed so i just grabbed a seat next to a friendly looking fellow, but just as we sat down a super nice lady, who had an empty seat next to her, gave us her seats. (she said she had 18 month old twins at home so she new that we needed the space... so sweet. i renews my faith in nice people in the world that sometimes nyc can beat out of me) i brought some trader joe's freeze dried strawberries for the trip. they saved the trip. calvin loved them and would sit very still while eat them. it was a nice break from the zillions of trips up and down the aisles of the train cars. the train was much more fun for calvin than the 5+ hour car ride.

at my dad's calvin loved the dogs! he giggled when they licked him (which they did every chance they got).

my step-mom's garden is amazing and inspiring. we picked green beans and tomatoes and many colorful hydrangeas. calvin loved picking and looking at the beans. i hope to get a garden going here in the next year.

calvin when on his first merry-go-round. even though grammy held him the whole time, he was not sure of what was going on. he had a confused/scared look on his face. but he made it through the ride and it was darn cute to see him go around on that horse.