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!