growing up – Peaceful Reader

Angst

Going through my mother’s boxes I located a folder of my college papers. Looking through the pages I was struck by the fact that they were all hand typed sometimes more than once as I edited. I thought about all the work I put into those papers, not just the typing but the thought process and the creativity. One of the papers was a typed final essay with 7 different questions about Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Maddening Crowd. I was struck by how easy having a computer makes all that writing a little bit different. A little easier to edit. And I thought…kids have it so easy these days.

And then I really thought about that statement and I quickly amended it in my head. We’ve created chaos for our children. Gaming and social media, screen time and streaming or binging series after series. We’ve let them grow up too fast. Kids have far less time for just being kids; playing outside until dark kind of time. Activities keep them busy like soccer and basketball but competition is different than just play. I’m not going to get all the way on top of this soap box but I worry about our youngest demographic.

Picking up my phone today I had an email concerning a new Iowa Senate bill being presented that would restrict schools from teaching social emotional learning. People in favor of the bill believe the ridiculous notion that we are trying to indoctrinate students into a specific LGBTQ lifestyle or critical race theory because we as educators want to help them manage their emotions. And don’t get me started on House File 8-removing any instruction about gender identity or all that Ron DeSantis is attempting in Florida. It’s beyond heartbreaking as a teacher. Because we want kids to be themselves. Promoting empathy and kindness or teaching real history as a teacher should not make us criminals.

I know the world is different than the 1970’s and 80’s when I did most of my growing up yet common human decency should still be prevalent. I fear in today’s Republicans a return to a world long ago, one where anything different was the enemy. I read a picture book to young students in the library about a young girl wearing a Hijab as she begins 6th grade-it doesn’t mean that I’m promoting the Muslim religion. So much to navigate in these waters. Our public schools are doing a great job everyday, taking care of all the students that we have and SEL has been a great help for all of us. With all that kids have to manage today helping them to understand themselves more shouldn’t be threatening.

Angst.

Time passing…

Groovy Girl was confirmed yesterday. It was a beautiful service with lots of emotional moments. Six confirmands-all girls-have had a year of classes filled with interesting discussion. A few girls-including G.G. were able to take a trip to Nicaragua to deliver shoe boxes filled with school supplies to children. They’ve had overnights, a ski trip and a June mission trip to W. Va still to come. Most of the girls have grown up together in the church.

It is still difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my baby is 13, confirmed, will soon take driver’s ed, and will be in 9th grade. Crazy. Seriously. She was a miracle baby, born early, but oh, so healthy and rambunctious. Effervescent as her youth director described her.

To celebrate her and her best pal, Katy, I hosted a brunch for family friends including our minister and his wife. Impressively ALL my dishes turned out amazing. This does not usually happen for me. I have best intentions but things fail, fall, or just don’t work. This all worked and they were new recipes so if I can do it; you too could make these brunch happy recipes. Groovy Girl loves breakfast food so brunch was the perfect choice even though it was 1:30 in the afternoon.

{laughing spatula}

I picked two dishes and two side dishes. This Mexican Breakfast casserole from Laughing Spatula was a perfect main dish and we had toppings galore with sour cream, cilantro, diced tomatoes, chopped avocado, hot peppers, and homemade salsa. I followed this recipe closely except I added a layer of frozen spinach (almost thawed) to the bottom of the pan. Groovy Girl always orders omelets with spinach so I figured this was a good twist.

I knew I wanted my second dish to be sweet and I browsed through many recipes on line and in my own cookbook cupboard. Many with apples seemed too Fall-ish and G.G. is not the biggest fruit lover. Watermelon is her favorite and that does not pair well in any baked dish that I know of. She does love bread though and I happened to find just what I was looking for in “Not Your Mother’s Casseroles” by Faith Durand. I’ve used many recipes from this book but never made this particular one. I really wanted my daughter to swoon with joy with my brunch choices and this one did it.

Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake

9 x 13 pan
Bake time: 50 minutes

One 12 – to 16 – loaf good quality white bread (Italian or French) with crusts removed, cut in half lengthwise and then into thin slices. {I skipped all this, left the crust on my fat French bread and sliced it into medium slices. I wanted it to be hearty}

For the custard:

5 large {farm fresh} eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
2 T. sugar
1 {big} tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

For the cinnamon cheese filling:

8 ozs cream cheese, softened
2 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 large {farm fresh} egg
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

More cinnamon for sprinkling.

Preheat the oven to 325*. Lightly grease the baking dish with butter or spray.

Layer half the bread in the baking dish, overlapping and wedging them in tightly so they are in an almost solid layer.

To make the custard, whisk the eggs until fully beaten, then whisk in the milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour half of this custard over the bread in the baking dish, letting it settle in and soak the bread thoroughly. Set aside the rest of the custard.

To make the cream cheese filling, in the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld, beat the softened cream cheese with the butter, egg, cinnamon, and sugar. Beat until very soft and whipped. Spread over the first layer in the baking dish. Layer the rest of the bread on top {making a sandwich} and then pour the rest of the custard on top. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. {Think Christmas morning}

Sprinkle with extra cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, for about 50 minutes, or until it is firmly set. Cool for 15 minutes, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, and serve.

I skipped the powdered sugar-it didn’t need that extra sweetness. I did generously douse it with cinnamon though. Also a few years ago I downsized my kitchen and I only have one 13 X 9 -in pan so I made this breakfast bake in my slow cooker. Perfect! It worked so well I would do it this way again. I made the cream cheese filling on Saturday night (after I’d made the Mexican egg dish and it was resting in the refrigerator” and then I layered the bread, custard, and filling into the slow cooker and let it soak for about an hour. We turned it on low before we left for church and it was piping hot when I returned two hours later.

We also had a strawberry spring greens salad and grits slow cooked with gouda right before guests were to arrive and strawberries mixed with a sprinkle of sugar just like my grandmother served in the springtime when she said the berries were still a little tart. My son loves them just that way. My friend brought a dish or squared watermelon and we had glasses of mimosas to clink. It was lovely and I have not one photograph of the table. Happy guests though and a happy ~~girl~~ / young lady. Peace be with you.

Enjoy.

Life is one big emotional roller coaster…

We’ve been back from our big East Coast trek just two days and now it is time for College Boy to head to the mountains to live! I’ve never experienced this horrible emotion of feeling like my time to fill him up with knowledge is over and he’s now going to be out there on his own, hopefully putting all that he’s picked up to use.

Time flies while you are making dinner, cleaning the house, wiping noses, and working. Oh, there’s been plenty of laughter along the way. It makes me think a little of playing with play-doh; you’re having fun as you mold and shape this intricate human being and then after you look back and think “Hey, he’s turning out pretty good!”-he packs his car up and waves good-bye.

Tomorrow is actually when he drives away. After I have breakfast with him I am going to toddle off to a meeting and try not to cry. Today he’s spent time seeing friends and packing. I bought him a Garmin GPS. It eases my mind to know that something will be there to help him find his way in my absence. It’s a small consolation. It’s his first road trip on his own and we had to talk him into stopping half way across Nebraska, sleeping in a comfortable hotel, before continuing the journey. His young and determined spirit was thinking it would be much better to drive from Iowa to Colorado all in one stretch. I’m thankful he listened to us (?) and agreed to stay overnight. As someone who’s made that trek quite a few times I know it can make you stir crazy and sleepy.

I’ve packed up a box of supplies (toothpaste, yes), some of his favorite foods (crunchy peanut butter, yes) and am in the process of making some dynamite chocolate chip cookies for the road. He laughed at me when I told him I had a supply box for him-I don’t think he’s laughing any more!

It’s going to feel very strange not having him here. He makes me laugh and he is easy to converse with on a wide array of topics. Bless him as he travels and as he settles into his new Colorado life. He’s been waiting 15 years to get back there.

Where has the month gone?

Oh, yes, my blog…

Sometime during August I completely forgot for days that a blog is something I do, or did. I love writing and getting responses and some weeks are busier than others but August-truly you slipped away from me.

My attention has been at school. My school began with teacher work week days creeping up on me like a bad cold. One minute your happily waking up late, making breakfast for everyone, and then sitting down and resting for like two hours with a book in your lap and then BANG-time to go back to work.

My attention has also been on getting Groovy Girl prepared for 5th grade. Mostly that’s me sulking for a few days on the fact that she is even old enough (how could it be!) to be in 5th grade. Where did that time go? She is sassy and smart and totally prepared for school days. She has a new backpack from Target with a matching lunch box. She has folders matched to notebooks in 5 different hues. She has new colored pencils, markers, a big box of Kleenex and a medium sized scissors for her 5th grade fingers. She has everything but a best friend ready for school. I don’t know why she has such trauma with friends she just does. Mostly many of the other girls are already bossy tweenagers while she is insecure and small-ish. She wants to play make-believe while other girls prance discussing training bra sizes or whatever and the others play kick ball. One or the other no in-between. She doesn’t like kickball. Yikes. It’s been a rough couple of years for her in the friend arena but that’s another story.

My attention has been on Teenage Boy who is going to grow out of his blog name soon. He started at a local community college on Monday. His high school began the process to close (big tears-me, not him) while he was a junior last year and he made the smart decision to graduate with the last seniors by taking two on-line courses. He finished on the last day possible to graduate and began his first week at HCC with four classes. Wow. That’s just about all the mother can say. Wow.

My attention has been on working out more as I’ve added ten pounds to my smallish frame. The summer of turning 50gave me an unusually shaped waistline and I’m not happy about it. My kids still say I’m the
“skinniest mom they know” but I can feel this lump like a perpetual baby bulge. I am trying to walk more and bring full time yoga back into my life. For now I’m wearing multi-colored muu-muu’s to school.

In other news:

My car was rifled through while I was volunteering at the Democratic office for two hours. The important objects taken were a very nice water bottle, my black sunglasses, a bag of quarters (about $18), and our Garmin GPS!! The strangest thing they took was a pair of Bob’s striped size 3 of Groovy Girl’s that we had ordered and then needed to return because she discovered a small tear in the canvas. “They” got a brand new slightly ripped pair of shoes-tags still on them! I hate the idea of someone going through my stuff and I’m not happy with myself about forgetting to lock it but they are just objects Lesson learned.

I finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in like 3 days! Review will be forthcoming but know that it was GREAT. My women’s book group read James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a young man. I couldn’t get through it and don’t know if I will ever go back. Joyce’s stream of consciousnesses was not enjoyable. It was my first free download to my Kindle Fire so there’s that to celebrate!

Most of all I’ve been paying attention to my blessings. This blog is one of them and I will bring myself back to it now. It was nice taking a short breather but I could tell I missed it the last two days.

What’s grabbed your attention this month?

Weekend Cooking; Grow It, Cook It

Grow It, Cook It;
Simple Gardening Projects and Delicious Recipes

DK Publishing

Consulting Editor: Jill Bloomfield

2008

80 pages

This is one from my own collection; my mom gave it to Groovy Girl two years ago and we’ve made nothing from it in all that time. Shame on me! This summer that is going to change as G.G. is taking over the garden space in back and has very definite ideas about planting….and she has my mom in her back pocket. I thought I should highlight this book so we can challenge ourselves to use it more frequently.

It’s kind of amazing the wonderful books that already reside in my cookbook cupboard-yes, they reside in a cupboard or two and it makes them a little out of sight out of mind. I go to specific cookbooks for specific recipes and I need to learn to mingle a bit more in different books. I pulled this one out a few days ago and started reading. The first twelve pages give an excellent overview on gardening-everything from tools to making your own compost. The two pages on “pots and plots” gave me great ideas on using a variety of everyday items (like a laundry basket) that could be used for a planter.

There are two pages on “Kitchen know-how,” which includes an easy vocabulary list with pictures to match. The remaining pages are filled with how to grow a vegetable or fruit plant with a companion recipe; each spread takes about four pages. Bloomfield begins with tomato and most of the planting directions involve container gardening but could easily be translated to an actual garden plot.

Nestled in are big tips like “grow marigolds in the same pot as your tomato plant. These flowers can keep away aphids, which might otherwise infest your tomato plant. This is called companion gardening.” (19) I didn’t know this and it makes me want to run out and buy a few marigold plants as my tomato plants often suffer from buggy yuck! The tomato recipe follows eggplant growing directions and combines the two veggies in a Tomato and Eggplant Tower (23) Yay. Yum. Groovy Girl has an eggplant growing in the back garden. Recipes range from mini pumpkin pies, giant beanstalk stir-fry, mashed potato fishcakes, onion and leek soup, chocolate and mint mousse and lemonade ice-pops. All very yummy looking with eye-catching photographs.

My personal favorites are the Sunflowerpot loaves (aren’t they cute!) and Green leaf tarts (spinach). We didn’t plant any spinach this year but if I can find some at the Farmer’s Market today I may try to make these over the weekend. The sunflower link above will take you to google books where you can browse a few pages of this fabulous kid-friendly book.

Buy it from an indie bookstore here. Find Jill Bloomfield at her website…teachkidstocook.com.

I was up early this morning, waiting for my chicken man-doesn’t everyone have one? Tim Daley of Daley’s Shamrock Acres delivered 6 homegrown chickens to me and they are now in my freezer. For an ex-vegetarian who still thinks like a vegetarian it seems strange to get so excited about six beautiful chickens but I am. I can’t wait to slather them with herbs and a little butter and cook them up for my family.

Happy Cooking over the long holiday weekend! This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her post to see what everyone else is cooking up! Anyone with a food-related post can play along.

Rearranging the furniture; Looking for Picture Perfect

There was a time when I loved changing the furniture around in my apartment or my room at home. It was great to find new ways for the furniture to fit. I still do it some but not as much. I think our furniture now is heavier and we have these big old radiators that take up entire walls, making it difficult to move things where I’d like.

When I’m in a cleaning mood sometimes it hits the blog as well. I’ve played with backgrounds before and never feel satisfied-good thing they are easy to remove. I know what I want and wish I knew enough to make it myself but I don’t. I want something simple with a natural look-one tree, one lone flower without a barn background or lots of ribbon added on. I’ve picked this new one because I like the color green and I do like the one flower but I don’t like the heavy brown shading and leather-looking strap running down the page.

Visiting other blogs I marvel at their beautiful backgrounds that seem to match exactly what their blog stands for. Why can’t I find one to fit mine. I like my header but wish I could stretch it out more, make it feel that space better. Oh, my maybe I just need to clean my house and not the blog but it is fun to try on new “outfits” so let me know what you think or where to find the perfect peaceful reader background!

Other tidying needs to be done like I really need a new picture of Groovy Girl-as of last Friday she’s a 4th grader and certainly doesn’t want her picture up there holding a baby doll, even IF she still plays with her babies on a daily basis.
It SOUNDS like I could be bored but I’m not; just rethinking, reworking and dreaming a little.