Celebrations – Page 2 – Peaceful Reader

Weekend Cooking; Fresh pizza dough

I made pizza this weekend and it turned out fantastic. The dough was triple light and airy because I rolled it out early and let it sit on the pizza stones in the oven for 3 hours while I went to another event.
When I came home and pulled the stones out of the oven to decorate the pizzas and let the oven heat up the dough was this puffy, airy mass. I poured some red sauce on and set it in the middle of the table.

One of our little guests, Jackson, took a break from petting Sadie the rabbit to help me put topics on the pizza. YES, mother, he washed his hands thoroughly before adding straight cheese and a few tiny mini sausages to the kid’s pie. He liked helping so much he topped the adult pie as well with sautéed mushrooms, black olives, fresh spinach, and plenty of cheese! I didn’t want to seem like a dweeb as we made these pizzas but they were picture-worthy. Thank you to Jackson for you pie decorating abilities.

Here is the dough recipe I used

Pizza dough
adapted from Rodale’s Basic Natural food’s cookbook

2 cups warm water
2 T. local honey
2 full T. of yeast
3 T. vegetable oil
5-6 cups unbleached flour-can use a mix of white and whole wheat

In a large bowl combine warm water, honey, and yeast and let proof. (Proofing means let it get active, it will be bubbly) Then add oil and enough flour to make a firm dough. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic., adding flour as need. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, and turn over to coat. Cover bowl with a damp warm towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, knead briefly in bowl and let rise again. Then divide dough into two balls. Form each ball into a flat circle and roll out into a circle. I use my Pampered Chef silicone mat for this and it makes it so easy to lift up the dough flip it and turn it over.

We used most of the dough up last night but the rest is going to be turned into a calzone for tomorrow’s lunch box main dish for Groovy Girl! I’m off to create that with her now. This holiday time make some dough and have an easy pizza party. I had all my ingredients prepped and in lidded containers so I could just whip them out and let Jackson go to town. It made for a very easy entertaining trick.

Have a holly jolly week!

This is loosely linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Weekend Cooking; Mother's Day menu

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and many mothers will be taken out to brunch, lunch, or dinner to be celebrated. Yahoo. It is a wonderful day to show our mother’s how much we appreciate all that they do.

Now that I have a family of my own I don’t always get to spend the day with my own mother. I did send her a pretty e-card, my way of saving a tree. I know in my childhood my brothers and I gave her our fair share of handmade cards, bright floral arrangements (dandelions), and burnt breakfast foods all arranged on a tray. I know my mother appreciated what we pulled together for her as I appreciate what my kids have done for me on this sacred Sunday but what I think matters most is the everyday celebrations that we can share together.

I often call my mother in the morning as I’m driving to work. I have a peaceful drive to work with no chaos or traffic. I love how her voice reflects joy in my simple phone call. “How are you?’ What are you doing today?’ and we chat about the day ahead of us. When I’m making dinner I often call my mother with cooking questions especially as I get used to cooking meat which I did not do for years. “At what temperature is the chicken done at?”

Mother’s Day can even be celebrated at the end of summer as my mom and I put together our salsa using all her late harvest tomatoes. We cook and talk and reminisce about my grandmother, her mother. She loved to cook also, her specialty was jam and pies. Mother’s Day can be a year round celebration as we toast those who raised us and did their best. Whether you take them out for a meal, buy them a fancy bouquet, or just spend time with them the important element is thoughtfulness Think about what your mother truly wants; does she need another knick-knack from the drugstore or would she prefer just your time? Could you bake her muffins? Could you take her for a walk?

If my mom were coming to town I would make her this big crumb coffee cake if I had rhubarb in my freezer. If I could fly us both somewhere for breakfast I would fly us to La Jolla to eat at The Cottage~we’ve both always wanted to try it. I might also take her for pie at this little joint right here in Iowa. There are so many great ideas out there that go beyond-try and find one that includes food and time. Enjoy your mother. Seek her out on a regular basis though; not just on the second Sunday in May.

I predict my daughter will serve this to me come Sunday morning:

Mother’s Day Menu:

1 bowl of cereal light on the milk
1 piece of sourdough toast
1 glass of orange juice
with a flower or plant of some sort on the side

all brought to me in bed on a bamboo tray.
Sounds yummy, I know. Lucky me.

She has not yet mastered cleaning the kitchen up after this cooking extravaganza.

Here are a few sites to learn more about the origins of Mother’s Day as a holiday.

Mother’s Day History
Wiki article

This year my husband and Groovy Girl already gave me one surprise; an manicure and a pedicure so my toes would be sandal ready for the wedding we are attending this evening in Iowa City.

{my toes in purple}

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find more recipes and food-related posts. Have a wonderful weekend.

18th Birthday-Wow! That can't be right…

{3rd birthday with his hand-painted crown}

College Boy @ age 10
{look at that smile}

Happy Birthday little boy!

Eighteen years ago I gave birth to this amazingly beautiful baby. He was 4 lbs, 3 ozs of joy. My labor lasted less than 10 minutes. I know, crazy! Nursing came easy for both of us. Jealous yet? Well, the flip side is I spent almost a month in the hospital before he was born and a few weeks after as well. The day I was finally released from the hospital with him I ended back up in the hospital hemorrhaging and spent a few days away from him as they couldn’t readmit the him back into the maternity ward. I have high stress pregnancies because I’ve had 2 open heart surgeries and am on a blood thinner for my St. Jude’s plastic valve. Groovy Girl’s birth was just as traumatic with it’s own set of medical emergencies.

So after ALL that College Boy turned 18 today at 7:11 pm. We had an after church lunch together out on the patio in gorgeous weather! My husband grilled two good steaks that we shared with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and broccoli. The highlight though was this amazing chocolate cake from Averie Cooks. It was moist and super chocolatey! I believe it will be my go-to cake for all future celebrations as it was easy to put together. I didn’t admit how easy it was to the family though, making them believe it was an intense labor of love I was only willing to go through for special occasions!

{Best chocolate cake with ganache}

The cake is so incredible both my husband and I have been “evening it” out every time we pass it on the kitchen counter. I’ve had to cover it to save both of us and the cake. I followed all the directions to a T except I doubled the recipe. College Boy will want to snack on it all week long and the original was only a 9 x 9 size. I poured the doubled recipe into a 9 x 13 and it is perfect to the top with the frosting. The recipe called for yogurt and that makes the cake super moist. Oh no

In other news I finished reading Jodi Picoult’s Lone Wolf which was wonderful. I like wolves and feel like they get a nasty press. This book did a great job of explaining to me what I already felt; that wolves have an interesting social structure and instincts.

The weekend is almost over but I’m still linking this post to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme because I love being part of that community. Click the links to get to the chocolate cake recipe-you WILL want to make it.

Mini-weekend getaway.

(Freedom Park-butterfly bench)

I left my family for two days (one night) to attend the anniversary party of family friends. These are the kinds of friends that have know me since I was knee-high through my terrible teen years, have been there for me through many major life events, and still unconditionally love me. So nearly family, yes?

They had a beautiful afternoon church service that involved husband and wife speaking and then their three children stood and spoke about their parents’ love and respect for each other. It was a perfect tribute to this couple. It was wonderful for me to visit with family and friends; some that I hadn’t seen for years. 50 years of blissful marriage is something to celebrate and I was so happy that I could road trip to Prescott, Wisconsin for their event.

Oliver; The Musical opened the same weekend of which both my husband and Groovy Girl are involved with so I had to go solo. I don’t mind except road trips generally mean reading and napping in the car for me. Not so this time~I had to stay alert and drive. Makes me remember to appreciate my husband’s willingness to drive me other times; like this Wed. when we head back to the Twin Cities for a play at the Guthrie.

(The St. Croix River)

The oldest son, Erik, spoke eloquently about his parents and I found myself taking notes; after all aren’t we supposed to learn from the wealth of knowledge at hand.

Here’s what he gathered from his parents and passed back to us:

Erik said he’d learned three skills from each of his parents and shared short quips about each one of them to us. I’m going to share them out to you without the quips.

From his mother, Marcia, he learned:

1. Show up; you’ve got to at least show up, being there is half the battle.
2. Look for opportunities; doors close, others open in a new direction.
3. Stay positive and interested. (He talked about her amazing ability to engage others easily in conversation which showed him later how to cross-examine-he’s a lawyer.)

From his father, Marv, he learned:

1. A do-it-yourself attitude; after all “how hard could it be?” Marv tried to build a boat using my dad’s boat as an actual model. Need I say more.
2. Be Flexible; don’t worry about the small things.
3. Intellectual Curiousity is a way of life.

And from both:
1. Mutual respect
2. Be optimistic.
3. Don’t be afraid to fail; the power to embrace failure is the key to success.

All great advice, right! It is wonderful to have such love spread back to you from your children. I’ll be well in to my eighties if I ever am to celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss but it will be worth it to see what my children have to say!

A little lending library at the park was my favorite site. I want one now out front. You can see me reflected back in the glass instead of the books but it was filled with a wide variety of books.

Even though I was gone for only one night my family was ecstatic to have me back. I got lots of hugs and kisses from big and small. It warmed my heart to make it back and forth safe and sound and receive such love from my family. I guess I’ll have to leave more often!

Happy Mother's Day

Found this while blog surfing…Kyran Pittman’s Mother’s Day video-the message is perfect.

My Mother’s Day started with breakfast in bed made by Groovy Girl. She had a banana, a piece of toast from homemade bread, a glass of real grape juice and a package of good chocolates (oh, yes!) on a tray. After we snuggled and ate together we got dolled up for church. At church we celebrated Teenage Boy’s (and 6 other youth’s) confirmation. He made it through both his readings and the passage he had to have memorized. He did great and the whole ceremony was very personal.

Afterwards we had a Mexican lunch in a local park. It was wonderful to have the sun shining so brightly. The wind was whipping but the sun was warm. We also stopped by a garden shop to pick up some plants for our huge pots at the front of the house. Spring is really here!

The best part of the day happened while my husband and I were ripping out carpet (a huge undertaking for Spring), when Teenage Boy and Groovy Girl walked to his school to play basketball, leaving us a little quiet time to work and talk on our own. Our kids are always around (a positive and a negative) and I miss that intimate time of conversing with him and we made good use of the time. We (even) got a huge strip of carpet pulled up from the front entrance through the living room. When the kids got home we shared some chocolate cake I made yesterday for Teenage Boy’s big day.

I hope everyone’s day was peaceful and relaxing.

Birthday Giveaway

(Beautiful Cake by Jessica N. Diamond)

Tomorrow is my birthday (I hope I get a cake just like this) and I think it would be fitting to give away a book or two in celebration!! In my ongoing quest to simplify my life I am trying not to keep all the books I’ve read and loved; but to let some of them go back out in the greater world and circulate…

In honor of that resolution I am going to part with my two favorite books from July; The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. Both books are hardcover, excellent reads and neither are review copies. To be perfectly fair I should be giving away my copy of Still Alice, which I liked equally as much, but my mother is reading it now so it’s out of my hands, literally!

This birthday giveaway will run through August 20th. No fancy rules, you can tweet it and share it just for fun, but to be eligible to win just leave me a comment about your own favorite birthday memory, which book you would prefer to win and your email address. Good Luck!!

I hope my family has exciting adventures planned for tomorrow!!!

Happy Birthday to you

My son turns 15 tomorrow at 7:11 in the evening. I drove myself to the hospital-this is something to brag about. He’s turned out to be a smart, handsome, and very humorous young man. He is also a wiseacre and quite often too smart for his own good. I am glad he is still curious about the world and he has his own unique outlook. I whipped him up a homemade angel food cake for dessert tomorrow night. He asks for the same cake every year and sometimes I’ve purchased it (really, really short on time) and sometimes I’ve made it from a box (just a little short on time)-a few times though I’ve made it from scratch and this year peaceful girl helped me out. She was a little miffed that I didn’t let her crack any of the twelve eggs but I explained that I needed each and every one of the egg whites to be separated just right from the yolk. She helped with lots of other parts though and it is now successfully in the oven. I still have to wrap a few of his gifts and then I will be reclining to finish Look Again.

I still have to write about She’s So Dead To Us by Kieran Scott and Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I had a post composed in my mind about my experiences at the Reading Conference I attended last Friday-and I promise to get all those done. Today my thoughts are focused on this almost monumental birthday celebration. It is only almost monumental because 16 is hanging in the air so close I can feel it in my bones-that, and he reminds me of it frequently. This child is in a hurry to drive and we differ on many topics but mostly this one. It terrifies me to have my baby alone in the car driving off, me waving! I say-Hell, No!!! So somehow after tomorrow I have 365 days to get adjusted to that or convince him the laws have simply changed. It will help ease my worries that it will be required of him to keep his GPA up in order to get said licence but you can see my fear.

So tomorrow say a little prayer for me as we wish this little boy a very

happy 15th year of life and as we cut that delicious angel food cake (dipping it into chocolate sauce)

I’ll be wishing this year to slowly creep by, like the year of the turtle!

Oh the places you'll go

We celebrated the great rhyming man ~~today~~ yesterday in great style. About a week ago I talked my sweet husband into performing his skit, “The Sneetches” with three high school students and 12 fifth grade students at my school. He, reluctantly (only because he has much that he juggles at his own job), agreed to take it on. Monday night I brought him home a dryer box and he cut it and painted it to make the “wondrous contraption” for adding and removing stars. If I haven’t mentioned it before I love having a dramatic husband, who can act, direct and make his own scenery. I bought 12 yellow t-shirts from a near by big box craft store-hey, they were 1/2 price-and we were in the skit-making business! They performed the skit four times and my husband did a dramatic reading of Yertle the Turtle, which is his all-time favorite because it is about government crushing the little guy. Students talked about the skit all the rest of the day so I guess it was a hit. I’ve already mentioned to my husband he might want to pencil us in for next year and tonight at dinner I hinted he might want to add to his Seuss repertoire!!

Dr. Seuss has been a favorite of mine for years. I have lovely memories of reading early readers such as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to my two little brothers. My son (the 14 yo) always wanted to read Seuss during that first grade period when we expected him to read to us…little did we know at the time he picked Seuss because he had them memorized!! He’s still talented like that because today he was one of the teenagers working with the younger ones. He played Sylvestre McMonkey McBean, the huckster.

I’m so glad, glad, glad for 1. having a family I can count on, 2. crossing this celebration off my list for the week, 3. and because it went really well for all involved!

Now I can move on to planning my next major school event-The Yoga Project!! Next week a certified yoga teacher will come to our school and work with 12 students to make a yoga DVD for classroom use. I have been working on this project for what seems like months (and its not exactly something you can throw together in a week-see top paragraph). I have a little anxiety-hopefully it will go well!!

I miss Dr. Seuss-not that I ever met him-but I would love to see what he would be producing today. Perhaps a look at pollution (did that –McGilligott’s Pool), environment (hhmmm, did that, The Lorax), war (did that too-The Butter Battle Book),diversity (oh, did that too, Horton Hears a Who)-Wow, okay still I’m sure he would find new ways to entertain, persuade and inform!

I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating in your own way and if you are new to Dr. Seuss I recommend almost all-there’s a wocket in my pocket-we don’t know what went wrong there-way too wonky for us!!
Click here and here for two great Seuss sites-I am now an expert at getting the gifts into the chimneys and the second site I used with 4th and 5th grade students-they had to read the whole article about Dr. Seuss and answer questions-it was good, fun and best of all, really made them think and process information! Some of them garrrrrumfed about it but they got it done (it was only 4 questions-jeez!)
Leave a comment and let me know what you did for Dr. Seuss’ birthday or what your favorite Seuss book/character is.

Happy Reading-

Housecleaning-End of the Year thought for 2009

I finished my last book for 2009-The Blind Faith Hotel by Pamela Todd-review is not finished. I’ve gone through both my blog and my Good Reads account to verify what books I read this past year. I read 70 total books this year with most titles concentrated in the elementary, middle and YA levels.
Of course, going through my lists I reminisced over my favorite reads this year.

Here is my list-In no particular order:

Gone by Michael Grant-think all adults dead and teenagers need to run things.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson-American Revolution and slavery-one girl’s story.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins-A new America with sections, each section sends two players to the “games”.
Catching Fire (sequel) by Suzanne Collins-next phase of The Hunger Games-Team Peeta!!!
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan-young boy learns he is part human/part god, son of Poseidon.
The Help by Kathyrn Stockett-Amazing tale of Mississippi during Civil Rights movement.
Red Glass by Laura Resau-immigration issues dealt with win Sophie’s family shelters young Pablo.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout-many stories about New England small town, quirky characters, great blend of stories.
Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff-tear-jerker about Annie and the death of her brother, good neighbor award.
The Luxe Series by Anna Godbersen-the jet set in 1899-great plot twists, would make a delicious movie.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly-1899, Callie Vee and her grandfather find their own connection while discovering a new plant species in early Texas.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein-esoteric dog thoughts, evolving through one man’s life.
Found/Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix-what happens when a select few play around with the boundaries of time.

My reading increased from last year and will have to increase even more for me to accomplish the challenges I’ve signed up for in 2010.
We always have a family party on New Year’s Eve. A few times we have dressed up in fancy clothes to ring in the year. This year we had a fun finger-food dinner (pig’s in the blanket that Peaceful Girl and I made, asparagus with lots of crackers, bread and brie) and we played a rousing game of Scattegories while we munched. Several of us love this game-lots of giggling with serious thinking in between!! We also do a whole list of predictions for the next year and add to our own bucket lists.

How do you spend your New Year’s Eve??

Big Day

It is hard to believe a whole week can go by without scanning through my blog lists or posting! This year my schedule at work is crazy hectic and when classes are in the library it is a little overwhelming with the sheer volume of students!!

More important is that last night I made 24 white cupcakes with whipped cream chocolate frosting!! The occasion for these delicious treats is my peaceful girl is turning SEVEN!! My baby is a person; a real grown-up girl; and this young girl chose to have a sleepover party to celebrate this big occasion! Think of me tonight with 8 chatty girls. We are making pizza, making tie-dye t-shirts and having a book swap (yes, no new toys coming in) all in one lovely evening! Oh, and watching Matilda, J’s all-time most recent, favorite movie. I’m sure after all of that they will be sleeping like babies!!

p.s. my cupcakes did not look like that, even though I wanted them to look this stylish!

I did manage to finish Catching Fire by S. Collins-I have to write about that tomorrow, when I have an extra moment!! Oh, it was good…