love – Page 3 – Peaceful Reader

It's June, It's June! {jumping up and down}

Summer has started. School has ended. Teachers and students need to rejuvenate. That said we are all still working. Students, hopefully, are still reading something (books, cereal boxes, road signs, etc.) and teachers are truly resting but in the back of their minds they are planning. Next year always looms ahead like a beacon. What can I do differently? How can I implement that into my classroom next year?

We all do it. Well I don’t know that for sure; I just know that I think that way and I’ve heard tell from other teacher friends that they plan that way as well. As a librarian I have the whole upkeep of the library to take care of and summer is a major cleanser for me. I’m working on inventory and have just started nonfiction. I finished fiction chapter books yesterday. They are all in the right order now, inventoried and reorganized. I’m taking out old copies, weeding, as I move through the shelves. It’s thrilling stuff.

I’ve also started working out with someone named Jillian Michaels who has kind of a fast mouth and likes to push it. Working out is something that gets pushed to the back burner during school and my mission is to get some strength back and to combat all the lounge treats I ate of the year.

I have lots of other plans for the summer and the first thing up on my travel agenda is coming up this week. We are heading to the Blue Ox festival in Eau Claire, WI with some friends. Camping, music, festival food, fun cocktails, sun dresses, and possibly some rain…all sounds like the perfect way to begin summer.

I’ve been lucky to have a few moments to spend in my parachute hammock reading. I’m in the middle of three great books; The Doctor’s Wife by Elizabeth Brundage, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, and The Marvels by Brian Selznick.
What are you reading?

Happy June!

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.

29 days of book love

When you love books as much as I do you look for them in odd places. I was having a girl’s day with my friend Mary Kay one day, a lovely afternoon of lunch and second hand/antique shops. As we were browsing I happened upon a book by Elsa Beskow. I was in love.

First published in 1910 this is a beautiful picture book from a different era but many children would love it. Tiny forest people with mushroom caps on their heads. Elsa’s story relays the fun the children have in their woodland home, playing with other animals, and going off to school to learn. Following the little folk through food gathering in the fall, winter snow games, and fresh spring beginnings…the seasons are beautifully portrayed by Elsa Beskow, an artist and author from Sweden.

I have another Elsa Beskow book-Ollie’s Ski Trip-that my friend Mary Kay found for me later. It is as small as my palm and filled with beautiful illustrations and it is like a small chapter book with pages filled with words about Ollie waiting for winter so he can use his new pair of skis. Old Man Winter eventually does show up but first Ollie gets to meet Jack Frost.
Charming books-ones I bring out when I need a moment of respite from the busy world around me.

29 days of book love

Boy meets Boy by David Levithan is a book I won on a blog giveaway years ago in the early days of this blog. I didn’t know who Levithan was but the book had an interesting premise. The topsy turvy world that Levithan creates is one that reminds of the wild L.A. world of Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. They both are about worlds that don’t exist (yet).

This short novel won my book love for Paul’s story, the truth mixed in with so much good humor, and this quote:

“I’ve always known I was gay, but it wasn’t confirmed until I was in kindergarten.
It was my teacher who said so. It was right there on my kindergarten report card: Paul is definitely gay and has very good sense of self.
I saw it on her desk one day before naptime. And I have to admit: I might not have realized I was different if Mrs. Benchly hadn’t pointed it out. I mean, I was five years old. I just assumed boys were attracted to other boys. Why else would they spend all of their time together, playing on teams, and making fun of the girls? I assumed it was because we all liked each other. I was still unclear how girls fit into the picture, but I thought I knew the boy thing A-OK….”

Which leads to this conversation with his teacher…

“Am I definitely gay?”
Mrs. Benchly looked me over and nodded.
“What’s gay?” I asked.
“It’s when a boy likes other boys,” she explained.
I pointed over to the painting corner, where Greg Easton was wrestling on the ground with Ted Halpern.
“Is Greg gay?” I asked.
“No.” Mrs. Benchly answered. “At least not yet.”
Interesting. I found it all very interesting.
Mrs. Benchly explained a little more to me-the whole boys-liking girls thing. I can’t say I understood. Mrs. Benchly asked me if I’d noticed that marriages were mostly made up of men and women. I had never really thought of marriages as things that involved liking. I had just assumed this man-woman arrangement was yet another adult quirk, like flossing. Now Mrs. Benchly was telling me something much bigger. Some sort of global conspiracy.
“But that’s not how I feel,” I protested. My attention was a little distracted because Ted was now pulling up Greg Easton’s shirt, and that was kind of cool. “How I feel is what’s right…right?”
“For you, yes,” Mrs. Benchly told me. “What you feel is absolutely right for you. Always remember that.”

And that last line is golden. Oh how I wish we truly had conversations with students like this. Although odd that Mrs. Benchly openly points out Paul’s sexuality via his report card but his sense of self worth-yes! It’s funny and filled with very real characters.

My copy has this lovely inscription:

29 days of book love

Happy Saturday everyone. Yoga was cancelled, while a huge disappointment, allowed me to sleep/lay in bed a little longer this morning and sometimes we just need that.

We also had to cancel a day trip to Minneapolis so Groovy Girl can get her groove back. She slept in and is mostly feeling better. I spent most of the day mourning the loss of the trip but I found positive ways to fill my day. #cleaning #walking

Schooled by Gordon Korman is one of my favorite elementary chapter books for its celebration of independent and creative thinking-something we need more of across the board. Capricorn Anderson is a young hippie living on a commune with his grandmother Rain. He leads a happy life until Rail falls out of a tree while picking plums. For the first time Capricorn is sent to school while Rain recovers. School is a strange world to comprehend to a peaceful boy.

He takes it all in stride, spends time confused, experiences his first crush but all throughout he stays true to his positive ideals. Cap is a great character created by Korman; perfect for teaching kids empathy for those different than us. We all need that today.

Weekly Recipes 10; the Christmas Edition

It snowed here on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was out last minute shopping with my son and as we were leaving our small mall I saw huge flakes flurrying around outside the big glass doors of Von Maur. My face lit up-I know it did. It was amazing. It was magical. I was glad he was driving so I could watch the flakes flying. I guess reading my snow books to Kinders really worked!

Our Christmas has been like that small snowstorm; fast yet filled with joy. Eldest daughter arrived safely into O’Hare airport where her dad gleefully picked her up and drove her here. We feasted on clam chowder, fresh bread, and salad with pomegranate seeds in between church services. It was a peaceful night, happy to be all together our meal was filled with lots of laughter and sounds of soup slurping. After eating we had time to play a favorite card game of spite and malice.

Christmas Day we achieved our goal to stay in pajamas/comfy cozies all day long. Kids were happy with gifts given and received. We lounged, napped, and colored in new themed coloring books. We played Pictionary, another game of spite/malice, and foosball throughout the night. And we ate and ate. Breakfast started with delicious Bloody Mary’s, grits, omelettes, and fresh fruit. In the afternoon we had a small cut of Brie with french bread and rice crackers just to tide us over until our late dinner which was lasagna, broccoli, fresh bread, and pecan pie.

I completely made up the lasagna recipe and I am ecstatic on how it turned out. I have a few butternut squashes from a school friend and I sliced one up and sautéd it in a skillet with coconut oil and cumin seeds. Our family is varied on the meat they will eat/not eat but the one that almost everyone will eat is ground turkey. I, myself, am not a fan as I cannot find high-quality or organic here in town. I have a farmer I could ask but didn’t get around to it this time. And turkey is a bit of sore subject right now with the whole avian flu outbreak. I digress though.

YUM!

I cooked the meat thoroughly, tossed it in a bowl to wait and then sautèd onions and mushrooms together with lots of oregano, thyme, cracked pepper, and sea salt. I added the mushroom mixture to the cooked turkey and I was ready to layer. I totally cheated on my sauce because who wants to spend the entire day in the kitchen so my friend Paul Newman helped me out with his more than adequate jar. I tossed a little of that down first in my glass 13×9-in pan, layered some flat noodles, four across, added a layer of turkey/mushroom mix, a layer of mozzarella cheese, four more flat noodles, the amazing slices of butternut squash, sauce, cream cheese (I completely forgot I needed ricotta cheese until 4 minutes before I started making this, lucky I had cream cheese for a kid-friendly substitute), four more flat noodles, last of the meat/mushroom mixture and mozzarella sauce sprinkled over the top. I poured a glass of water over the top which seems weird but helps the noodles cook. I baked it for 45 minutes with tinfoil over the top and took the foil off for the last 15. I let it rest on the counter top for about 20 minutes as I finished other items and got things to the table. It was bubbly and filled with flavor. Myself I would have just had two layers of squash. Groovy Girl hated the mushroom part and the squash part. Too bad.

I hope everyone’s holiday was filled with as much joy as we had and no arguments which are bound to happen even in the coolest of families. We have more exciting events planned for the next few days but eldest daughter returns to Chicago on the morrow and flies back to Brooklyn to continue her work with Gimlet Media. Happy Holidays!

#birthdaylove

Groovy Girl turned 13 over the weekend. We celebrated in style and had fun on Friday afternoon with a camping-themed sleepover.

We put up our Coleman tent, ordered pizzas, set out pink lemonade, and most importantly cleaned up after the dogs all over the backyard. Fun stuff.

{Camp site}

Four girls arrived sleeping bags and pillows in hand. Groovy Girl and I had mapped out a tentative schedule and she requested that we basically stay away. Funny.

So I ordered and retrieved the pizza from our favorite $5 pizza joint down the hill. I took three pizzas to the backyard for the girls and took one inside for the adults (me and two friends). And then really they didn’t ever need me again. At one point they used some manly help from dad to set up a projector but beyond that we had our own little happy birthday celebration inside.

After all the birthday parties we’ve hosted for that girl over the years it is funny to be asked to step aside. I get it though; she wants to be able to relax with her friends and talk about stuff. And the stuff they talk about is going to get deeper. I’m cool with it as long as she continues to talk to me about the big stuff.

They slept all the way through the night in the tent, fairly cuddled together to keep warm. We had cinnamon rolls and watermelon for breakfast. As I wandered into the backyard in the morning before they know I was there I overheard them talking about hashtags-what was that hashtag we made up last night? These are mine: #successfulbirthday #13yearsold and #biglove

School starts WHEN??

Yes, tomorrow. I’m ready. I think. It doesn’t make any difference if I’m really ready or not; kids will come through the library doors tomorrow no matter what. They will be excited to tell me what they did over summer break. Some will be pleased to share how many books they read over the summer. Others will be happy to tell me all they things they did BUT read. Either way I will welcome them in with open arms and hope that I can help the challenging students to find a book they will embrace (could be non-fiction, graphic novel, or a really interesting fiction) and I will help the strong readers to reach for the stars.

Groovy Girl starts 8th grade. She will be a cheerleader this year for school. Her best friend just moved around the corner from our house and life can’t get much better. This weekend she’s shared her concerns though about school fears. Last year it was a rough beginning to middle school and she’s worried that this year she will again have those same troubles. No amount of talking her down about it seems to work so we’ll just have to see how it plays out.

Handsome son begins his second year at our local community college and he’s living with friends near school. I hope for him a great year as well. It’s a new experience having a child live in town but not in your house. He stops by to eat, do laundry, and just hang out every once in awhile.

Our oldest daughter, Kaylee, finished at The Salt Institute and is headed to Brooklyn to work for the podcast Reply All in September. She has her own website and is striving toward life as a full-time writer. I know she will miss Portland but new opportunities await her.

My husband also started a new job last week as artistic director of our community theatre. Long ago he was the children’s theatre director at the same theatre so it is a little like going home for him but with greater responsibility. His first play, Little Shop of Horrors, opens in October.

Everyone starts something new here and whether it is a new school year, a new job, a new house it’s important to remember that home is where you go at the end of the day to feel secure and loved. We are just going to take one day at a time.

Weekly Recipes 6 (the vacation files)

We’ve been on vacation for a few weeks in the Baltimore/DC area staying with Greg’s family. Every time we make it out here we try and explore something new in the capital. This time we went to The Building Museum and National Museum of the American Indian; both were fantastic. My husband and I walked through the Hirshhorn by ourselves one afternoon which had a fantastic display by Shirin Neshat, an Iranian artist.

Exploring Takoma Park area with my my husband’s brother and his wife we tried an amazing restaurant, Republic, that we could walk to from their house. Love that accessibility. Our dinner was extremely good. Expensive but worth it. I would eat there again on our next visit. Hopefully it stays put. We shared a mix of delicious appetizers; squash blossoms, oysters, and the crispy shrimp with kimchi. They brought out a basket of crusty bread with a bean dip. I ordered a salmon app for dinner and it was just the right amount. While the dessert menu looked appealing we were too full. Luckily with our bill we received a plate of bite-sized house brownies! Thank you to Matthew for the excellent service that night.

Fish Tacos-my sister-in-law Jayne made this for us one night. They were delicious and I loved all the variety of toppings she had for us. We ate after sitting on their lovely front porch for an hour or so enjoying the weather, the view, and a beverage or two.

Cherry-Apricot Crumble-Jayne served this for dessert and it comes with an interesting story. She keeps a notebook of guests and what she served to them and to her surprise when she flipped back to early entries she found she’d served this exact dessert to our family when our oldest two were young and Groovy Girl had not yet graced us with her presence. She remembered Teenage Boy exclaiming that it was the “best dessert he’d ever had” in his 6-year-old voice so she decided to make it again for us. It was delicious and this time I asked for the recipe.

Stuffed Peppers-recipe from my mother-in-law Phyllis, I prepared it for everyone though as she had Groovy Girl and her cousin off on an adventure. The peppers plus a salad made a great easy dinner. My mother-in-law is an excellent cook and I love to share recipes with her. She made us quite a few great meals including her famous taco salad. I appreciate all the recipes she shared with me over the years.

At this point we are ready to head home with great new memories, a few treasures tucked away, and very full bellies. Hope your weeks have been just as full.