Wonder love

Family Dinner

Sophie (she's 14 now!) had me call her when I was just a very precise number of blocks from home last night so she could time the slicing of these peaches just so. So when they arrived on the table, they would be still glistening and bright yellow. So enticing that Stella (she's 4 now!) just couldn't wait a moment to dive in.

We have been enjoying the beginnings of a little friendly competition over here. It is a family dinner competition that, as you can see, only a couple of weeks in, has inspired the best. 

And I think it may inspire the energy in my voice, ready to do some writing again. 

More on the dinners... and the family that makes them, to come...

Fearless

To celebrate our first day of vacation, Max made a Spring Break Cake. It was a treat.

But equally delicious was a moment with Stella at the playground, just prior to the cutting of the cake.

She had eyed those wobbly steps for months, at various playgrounds, but due to a combination of my own fears and hers, she had never really had a go at them. On this day, her legs seemed to have gotten just long enough, and we were both feeling brave and strong, and so she began to climb. She was unsure at first, trying to get a feel for it, reaching out to me and demanding that I be close by. I didn't hold her, but I coached her now and then, reassuring her, giving suggestions here and there. And so when she arrived at the top, fully powered by her own doing, she smiled a smile more radiant than the sun that had chased the clouds away on this first day of spring break,inspired a cake, and a new way to climb.

I think often of this quote from Ellin Keene:

When we are curious, we are building upon a uniquely human trait– the need to pose questions and seek answers. Curiosity becomes insatiable, seeking to understand becomes intoxicating, and we find the life of the mind deeply pleasurable. We want more.

Ellin Keene, To Understand

Stella wanted more. Around and around she went, taking a moment to shine her gorgeous smile over the playground each time she made it back to the top. Pretty soon she began to teach me with her words, "Pull them together, step up, step over, pull them together, step up..." She was voicing the strategy she'd invented. Now, not only fearless, but expert.

This evening, I stumbled across Susan Engel's latest op-ed piece in the New York Times, "Let Kids Rule the School" and I thought again of Stella and her drive to climb, to master technique, and to share what she'd learned. Susan writes that kids "need to be the authors of their own education." Or is it, perhaps that adults need to remember that they always are? When we stand beside them with a ready hand, they'll get to the top (no need to race) and want to go back for more.

Well spent

On the occasion of my own birthday, a poem for me from Sophie:

Life Well Spent

As the years go by

We get stronger, taller, bigger

But don't think of this as getting older

Think of it as

Life well spent.

From the moment we are born

We are learning, thinking, knowing

But don't think of this as getting older

Think of this as 

Life well spent.

When you hear someone tell you that

you're getting so old

or

43?! Wow!

Don't look at yourself as old.

Think about what you have done with those 42 years of life

Think of those 42 years as life (so far) well spent.

And this delightful gift was followed by delicious... which you can get a glimpse of over here on her very own new blog!

What a lovely day (in spite of a thundering hail storm) it has been!

Creativity

It's been a while, I know, I know. In the small amounts of time I've had to be with my own thoughts in the last month or so... I guess I just wanted them to stay that way. But here we are now. It's spring break again, and a year since I began writing this blog. How can a year be so fast and so slow all at once?

There was a moment today when I was feeling kind of low. My girls seemed at loose ends as well, and it occurred to me that what we needed was a little inspiration. What could we create today?  I looked up and noticed Max, deep into drawing the wild world of stories that swirl in his mind, fully occupied and content. I mentioned that Max had the right idea... doing something creative. Sophie was a little offended by this attention to her brother, which she let me know with some snitty comment (which I successfully ignored). 

But it wasn't a moment later when she had dug some half-finished craft kit out of the studio and sat down to see what more she could make of it. Not much, I'm afraid. The convenience of pre-packaged inspiration is tempting, but never quite as yummy as homemade. 

And then the camera caught her eye.

At that very moment, Stella was exercising her own creative spirit, inventing new ways to get into cupboards, refusing to take, "No you can not have any more packages of Annie's fruit snacks today" for an answer.

And the first photo was taken.

A new bread recipe was my inspiration. And I needed just a few minutes to throw it all together and set it to rise. Just enough time for Sophie to get in a little more work with the camera. This time outside, following Stella, energized by her second package of fruit snacks, on her (always successful) hunt for worms.

And other backyard adventures:

Our spirits lifted, sun shining, we decided it was time for a walk to the park. Max was a little whiny about leaving his drawing, and especially about the walk being slowed by Sophie's picture taking of all the flowers...

 

When Max asked for my phone at the park, my heart sank a little. He couldn't possibly think I'd let him play a game on my phone? But I needn't have worried. He wanted the stop watch... so Sophie could time him on a course he created for himself to run. And that idea inspired us all. And we all spent the rest of the time we had, waiting for the bread to rise, running and timing ourselves and laughing at how fast and slow we can be.    

I'm going to try and remember this on those low, slow days to come. Generate your own inspiration. Don't take no if you can possibly find another way. Share. Laugh. Eat bread hot out of the oven.

Love Soup

I know I'm really not qualified to write too much about food on this blog... really should stick to kids and school. But I think that finding a kale salad that everybody loves is cause for celebration. And sharing. So here it is:

Kale Salad with Cranberries and Walnuts

Ingredients:

8-9 oz young kale

3 oz arugula

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup kalamata or other cured olives

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pine nuts)

1 small sweet red bell pepper (which we left out because there are none growing in this part of the country right now)

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. walnut oil

2 Tbs. aged balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. sea salt

pepper to taste

garnish: crumbled blue cheese, feta, or sharp cheddar (we used feta and wished we'd had some blue cheese in the fridge)

Wash the kale, slice away the stms, and discard them. Stack the greens and roll them into tight bundles, then slice very thinly with a sharp knife-- you're aiming for a shredded look. You should have about 6 cups of shredded kale, which will shrink quite a bit the moment it is tossed with oil and vinegar. Wash and dry the arugula, cut off any tough-looking stems, and cut it in short pieces.

Pour about 1/2 cup boiling water over the cranberries and leave them to soften until you are ready to toss the salad, at least 15 minutes.

Slice the olives off their stones and cut them in slivers. If using pine nuts, toast them lightly in a dry pan over low heat, stirring until they begin to turn golden and release their toasty fragrance. Core and seed the red pepper, quarter it lengthwise, and cut it in matchsticks. 

Drain the cranberries, then toss together all the ingredients. Taste the salad, and correct the seasoning with a touch more salt or a drop of vinegar if it's needed; how much salt you need will depend on how salty the olives are. Just before serving, add the crumbled cheese if you like.

This salad keeps well for a day or so, though it will become softer as it sits. Because it is sturdy, it can travel to a picnic or a potluck.

This salad is from Love Soup by Anna Thomas. The salad was her suggestion to go with her Roasted Kabocha Squash and Celery Root Soup, which we also made (with butternut squash). Delicious! And perfect for a cold and rainy Portland night.

First jam

Mmmm. Marion berry jam sweetened with honey. Our first jam, ever. And smeared on warm lemon scones that I found a recipe for here. (I don't know anything about the blog... but the recipe is fantastic.)

The scones were a treat, and so was sharing them with good friends.

How will I can and preserve these summer moments so I can open them and savor them in the work and school months to come?

Picking berries

Here's what I would have posted last night if Stella had ever fallen asleep. Her belly must've been too full of blueberries!

On a tip from a dear friend, we headed out to Morning Shade Farm in Canby. It was glorious! Stay tuned for an adventure in first time home kitchen canning...