Insidiousness

Look at this horrible, scary book cover. Hard to believe this is the go to book I use when I need a little child rearing advice. You may be wondering: just how horrible is this little girl I've been hearing about? Actually the book is not as it appears from the cover. It's good common sense.

Here's what been happening in our house (perhaps you can relate). I've been going about my daily life together with my three year old and she amps up her demands just a little bit each day. It's like a frog in a pot of water that gets slowly hotter and never notices it's going to boil. Well all of a sudden last week- the demands were too much. (Tipping point). One little child shouldn't rob a mother of that much energy. So out come the rules, the boundaries and the tears (from both of us). And out comes this handy book from my shelf of regulars.

Although we are currently in a testing over breakfast this morning, this week is going much better than last. And while L is doing anything other than eating her breakfast. It allows me to get some reading done and to write this post. Quietly (without anger), I am holding firm- no fun until 5 pieces of waffle are eaten.

Hope your Monday is off to a good start.

Happy July

Our first crop and the proud estate owner (the boss pictured above). 

It has been a fairly chili and rainy June here in upstate NY. Our basil and tomatoes are having trouble, but the lettuce is thriving.
Matt has done a beautiful job making raised beds and creating order out of our garden plot. (I will take pictures once we have a sunny day to showcase it).  Usually we are expert at growing weeds, but we have high hopes of making a lovely, productive little garden. 

I'm so happy to report that the buckle was a success! I brought one (I made a double batch) to my bestest friends' house and to my delight the entire dessert was eaten in short order by her three kids- age 2,4 and 5 (my own 3 year old was a bit more ungrateful). Not only did the buckle go down quickly- but the older kids had fun with saying the name "buckle". Which got me thinking where does the term come from? My research says- a buckle is a single layer cake with berries added to the batter. The topping is similar to a streusel which gives it a buckled appearance. Surprisingly the use of the word buckle for pastry is fairly recent- dating only to the 1950's.


 While googling I came across other great berry cake names- "the betty", "grunt", "pandowdy", "slump", and (of course) "cobbler". Making the thought of being a food historian sound pretty interesting.


Anyone interested in the recipe? It came from this magazine- which is quite good. Here's the recipe:


1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 canola oil (or whatever kind)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup blueberries
1 1/2 cup halved pitted cherries (but I used strawberries instead)
2 tbsp. slice almonds
2 tsp. sugar for topping (raw cane sugar if you have it)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9- inch baking dish with spray.


Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk milk, applesauce, oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and fold until blended. Add berries and fold. Spoon into baking dish. Top with sliced almonds and sprinkle with sugar.


Bake until golden brown and do the toothpick test. Should take about 45-55 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.


Lastly, enjoy, make a double batch and bring some to your bestest friend!

A little vote

Hello- happy Monday. Well, I had on my calendar to post today. But I haven't been thinking about anything more interesting than the water meter man coming and what I forgot at the grocery store (cucumbers for this week's school snack). So I got to thinking. To post or not to post. I have several blogs that I follow and when I see a new post from them it is like a friend checking in. I love to "hear" what's on their mind. On the other hand- aren't we bloggers indulgent and often mediocre a fair amount of the time? Should we really be posting so much? Shouldn't we think a little more, be a little wittier before we fill up the cyberspace with our ramblings?
What's your take? Yeah or nay on the posting for posting sake?


And just so I don't leave you totally without anything interesting to feast on. Here is a quote I liked form Phyllis Theroux:
"Children are born with imaginations in mint condition, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Then life corrects for grandiosity. I was no exception."


I'm not completely sure if she means the children have mint imaginations or the parents do upon the idea of having children. I kind of relate more the latter thought. How many children would be born if our imaginations didn't go to the Van Trapps and other optimistic visions of family life? Then life corrects for grandiosity.

Little Bear

Lately I've been getting inspired by shows like "Little Bear" and "Franklin". (I know, an odd source of inspiration for a 40 year old woman, but my life is a little limited these days). For those of you who have seen these shows, do you ever think about how well these animals keep their homes? I've also been struck by how fulfilling it looks to keep ones life "cottage simple". Mother Bear doesn't seem stressed about her career choices or keeping up with the Jones'. I used to feel a similar nostalgia when I thought back to the "Little House on the Prairie" stories. How lovely it seemed to keep your house as neat as a pin and a sanctuary from the elements.

Should we feel guilty?

Happy Thanksgiving! This post could also be titled "Dinner for Two". We decided to plan dinner around nap time. A half hour after our lovely (but nutty) three year old was asleep we were sitting with our Thanksgiving meal, a cold beer and a good movie on TV. How selfish are we? But I do recommend the movie "Transiberian". Anyone else tempted to have a kid free meal?
On another note: this is the first dinner I have made in months that included meat. I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but due to concerns about the health of the planet and our health, I have cut way back on meat and dairy. I'm not sure if it is connected, but I haven't had a cold since doing this. Anyone else have any similar experiences?