Nice Lid, Kid
Someone likes getting his hair brushed. But is he going to declare us the meanest parents ever, somewhere down the road, for dressing his gorgeous toddler self in a pink sleeper? And photographing him wearing it? And posting said photograph online? After this photo was taken, he asked to “see! see!” and when shown, he stabbed with his finger at the little person on the tiny screen and yelled out his own name, for the first time ever, to the insane delight of his entire family, who happened to be gathered ’round for bedtime snack (Kevin’s least favourite “meal” of the day).
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My friend Tricia has joined a challenge to read 100 books this month–children’s books. That got me thinking that it might be interesting to keep track of what I’ve read on a given day … say, yesterday. I know that I read a lot every day, but it’s not the reading I used to do when I would sit down and devour a book for hours at a time. It’s endless little bits that add up to … not sure, really. Broader knowledge? Or shallower knowledge? Less about more?
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So, here’s what I read on Wednesday, though not in any particular order …
Front section (news) of the Globe and Mail newspaper (on actual newsprint–we get it delivered). Online first-person piece by Diana Athill, from the National Post’s website. A blog about the Bookstravaganza reading I attended on Monday. Caught up on the Globe and Mail’s online book blog. An interview with Annabel Lyon on the Toronto Star’s website. A bunch of emails. Facebook content provided by Facebook friends (thanks, friends!). Dooce. Several assigned articles in a textbook called Open Boundaries, which, truth be told, glazed my eyeballs. The obituary of a famous anthropologist in the Globe and Mail. Something from Nothing (a children’s book), and Pancakes! Pancakes! (another children’s book). Part of Attack of the Giant Mutant Snow Goons, or somesuch, a Calvin & Hobbes comic book. Several recipes. A couple of my own stories, for editing purposes. My women’s studies essay, for proofing purposes. Various sheets of paper carried home in the bags of my school-going children.
There may be more that I’m forgetting now.
If you’re looking for a wee bit of entertainment this morning …
Read this first-person account by Diana Athill, as published in the National Post. It’s got flavour. (She and Alice Munro were the writers Kevin and I went to Toronto to see a couple of weeks ago).
Looking for The Golden Mean
Before and after. I’m surprised every time I see her with that gap. She looks so different, and it reminds me that she’s growing up. Once again, I pulled the tooth. She is crazy brave; or else has superior pain tolerance; or both. Because, seriously, she made not a peep during the removal, except when piping up to offer suggestions and advice.
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I’m working on some writing news, but it’s not quite ready to unveil yet. Don’t get too excited. It’s nothing to do with the Nica stories, or any fiction or poetry or literary writing at all, actually. Not my usual writing news, she says, and thusly leaves her reader in suspense …
Meantime, I’m looking forward to a couple of writing mornings this week, and wondering where they will take me. And I actually managed to finish chapter one of Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean, which would hardly be considered a feat (it’s an amazing book, so far), except that I succeeded in reading it while babysitting this morning (parents of said babysat child: please don’t dock my pay). My usually cheerful threesome of Tuesday children went all Tuesday-ish on me last week, and there was much grumpiness and butting of heads, so I decided to stay right on top of the situation today. But soon discovered that just sitting quietly on the couch or rocking chair in the same room, being available to jump in when the tone changed from convivial to bossy, was enough supervision. So I added the book to the mix. It turned out to be a good morning. Read this book, too! Then we can chat about it, perhaps over coffee, while our children boss each other around. Just a thought.
Recipes: Carrot Soup and non-Carrot Granola
On Halloween, the kids and I went out to Herrle’s Farm Market to buy pumpkins for carving, and discovered that it was their last day open for the season, and not only were there free cookies, danishes and butter tarts for customers (hello, heaven), but many items were on sale, too. So, among other purchases, including some delectable pickled sugar snap peas, we hauled home a huge bag of carrots. Usually, the kids eat so many carrots raw that they’re all devoured before I can cook with them. So, carrots became the theme of my Day of the Dead meal: carrot soup to start, and carrot cake to finish. The soup recipe is worth posting. Smooth, sweet, mild, and optionally vegan.
Ginger Carrot Soup
Peel and trim 2 lbs of carrots (or more, whatever looks good in your pot), add 4 cups water (or more, depending on how many carrots you’re using). Bring to a boil, simmer till soft. Reserve.
In a separate soup pot, saute 1-2 chopped onions, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 2 tbls grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger) with 1 tbls butter or oil. Add additional seasonings: 1 and 1/2 tsp salt, plus 1/4 tsp each of the following: cumin; ground fennel; cinnamon; allspice; dried mint. (Add more or less of each according on your family’s tastebuds). Saute till onions are soft. Remove from heat. Stir in 3-4 tbls fresh lemon juice.
Now, pour/ladel in the cooked carrots and their cooking water. Puree everything together (I used last year’s Christmas gift: a handheld submersible food processing device that I stick directly into the cooking pot, hugely cutting down on the mess, and which I highly recommend.)
You can also add a cup of toasted cashews to the mix, though I didn’t.
(Adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook.)
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A couple of months ago, a friend requested my granola recipe. She said my granola, as pictured on this blog, looked delicious, but hers always turned out raw-ish and sat heavily in the belly all morning. That was a small aha moment for me, because, truth be told, my granola looked pretty on the blog, but that most recent batch had effected a similar response in the gut. So I couldn’t, in good conscience, post the recipe. Till now! Last weekend, I had great success with a modified granola recipe, which even Apple-Apple will eat. It’s crunchy and sweet, almost cookie-ish, and flavoured with maple syrup.
Really Good Granola
Combine in a pan on the stove: 1/2 cup water, 1 cup oil, 1 cup maple syrup and/or honey, in whatever combination you like, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1 tbls salt (or a good deal less salt, if you prefer). Simmer till the ingredients are all melted together.
Meanwhile, in a separate large mixing bowl combine: 2 cups whole wheat flour, 6 cups rolled oats, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup wheat germ, and 1 cup flax and sunflower seeds in combination. (The coconut is definitely optional).
Now, add the warm blended liquids to the dry ingredients, mix thoroughly, and spread in a thin layer on two greased cookie trays. Bake at 250 degrees till dry and crunchy. This could take up to two hours, but check every half hour or so to stir and test, till it reaches your preferred texture.
You can add dried fruit and nuts afterward; but my kids prefer it very plain. Store in covered containers. This will last awhile … but hopefully not too long; the whole goal is to make food that disappears!
(Adapted from the More-With-Less Cookbook).
Day of the Dead
Yesterday, we celebrated/marked el Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Kevin was thinking a lot about his dad, who died of cancer two years ago, on Halloween. Last year, we drove to his mom’s farm near Kingston after trick-or-treating, exactly as we’d done the previous year; but this year, Kevin worked on Halloween, and we couldn’t make the pilgrimage. So, instead, Kevin made a Day of the Dead shrine to honour those family members who’ve passed on. The kids and I were anxious about the candles burning down the house (sorry, Kev, I seem to have passed along the worry gene that doesn’t afflict you, and certainly didn’t afflict your dad, either!). I spent the Day of the Dead cooking up a feast. Albus played street hockey all afternoon, Fooey played indoors, Apple-Apple ploughed through the rest of the fifth Harry Potter book whilst wiggling a loose tooth (now out), and CJ napped.