The Real World

We walked to the market today and talked for a long time with the woman who sells maple syrup and happy cow beef. She asked if we homeschool and said she thought so after I answered in the affirmative. I suppose the school aged children out in the midday sun on a Tuesday gave it away. She seemed generally supportive, but did have concerns about homeschooled children being unable to deal with the "real world".

Funny... it seems to me my kids are more exposed to the "real world" than those who sit at a desk, surrounded by 20 other people the same age as them, and needing to ask permission to go to the bathroom (which absolutely blew Astrid's mind when it came up at dinner the other night). Today my daughters came with me to the bank, the market, the health food and grocery stores. They talked to vendors and sales people, handed over money for fresh asparagus and ears of corn. They had a conversation with a neighbour we met about how her home renovations were going. They found a caterpillar in the backyard and put it in a jar filled with leaves and dirt, poked holes in the lid with nails. They helped me plant impatiens, marigolds, tomatoes and zucchini. They helped make soup for dinner and entertained their baby brother while I hung laundry. They worked through the dilemma of each wanting to listen to a different CD at the same time. Which part of this is not the "real world"? How is it any less real than sitting in the same room for most of the day doing whatever the person in charge tells you to do and moving about at the sound of a bell? True, they were not with other children, but they will be tomorrow when they spend an hour and a half with a group of ten or so others who are all within a few years of their ages. And they'll spend the afternoon playing with friends their own ages. Friends they sometimes get along with and other times don't. And they'll work it out again, tomorrow, if it's one of the days they don't.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to live in the real world with my children. To participate in life with them. To see them discover things, to peek in on the imaginative worlds they create and inhabit, to hear the older reading to the younger. I am ever so grateful to have the chance to try things I would not otherwise try, to find depths of creativity I didn't know I possessed, to learn and discover alongside my children and find enjoyment in things I would never do if they were in school.

Sometimes I worry that my kids won't learn advanced algebra or chemistry if left up to me, but I do not ever worry that they will be unable to deal with the real world.

Mango

Do you ever feel like all that you offer people and all that they see and taste of you, all that they think you are is really only a pretty disguise for what lies hidden underneath? That everyone thinks you are so much better than you really are? I do.

Birthday Cake

I had a request for the recipe, so here it is, although it is not gluten free. Perhaps you could substitute another type of flour. This makes a very moist, tasty cake that's not too sweet (especially if left unfrosted).

APPLESAUCE CAKE

-1 cup canola or safflower oil
-3 cups flour
-2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp nutmeg
-2 cups unsweetened applesauce
-1 1/3 cups mayple syrup
-1/8 cup cider vinegar
-1/8 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

-1 1/2 cups apricot puree (recipe follows)
-apricot frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat over to 350-375 (depending on the heat of your oven. The recipe said 375, but I know that in my oven that would be too hot. 350 worked perfectly). Grease one 8"x8" cake pan and one 8"x13" cake pan. Line with parchment paper. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Combine applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vinegar and apple juice concentrate in another bowl. Add to flour mixture. Stir until combined.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until pale golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert and remove parchment. Let cool completely.

Trim the larger cake so that it is the same size as the smaller one. The part that is trimmed off can be saved for people who don't want sugary frosting on their cake. I cut it into little squares and put a dollop of apricot puree on each one. Spread a layer of apricot puree on the one of the caked and set the other one on top of it. Spread a layer of frosting on the sides and top. Use the remaining apricot puree in a cake decorator to make pretty decorations on the cake.

APRICOT PUREE

-2 cups dried apricots
-1/4 tsp salt (optional) (I didn't use it)

Put apricots and 3 cups of water in a medium pan. Cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook until very tender, 45 minutes-1 hour. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a baking sheet to cool slightly.

Puree apricots and salt, if using, in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. Let cool

APRICOT FROSTING

-1 cup unsalted butter, softened
-2 cups icing sugar
-2 tsp vanilla extract (I highly recommend using pure vanilla, rather than the artificial stuff - it's worth the extra money)
-1/4 cup apricot puree (see above)

Put butter into mixer bowl. Beat on medium-high until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Mix in sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix in vanilla and apricot puree.

Happy Birthday, August!

Last week August turned one. It's cliched to say it, but I just cannot believe how fast the last year has flown by.

August came into our family unbidden, but now we can't imagine life without him. He has stolen our hearts and brought us immeasurable joy. I thank God for not allowing our plans to get in the way of the wonderful gift August has been to our family.

Here are some pictures from his birthday:

We made him an applesauce cake which had no dairy, eggs or refined sugar. It was delicious! The orange stuff on it was pureed apricot. There were little cakes, too, just for August which had no icing, just the puree. He scooped it off with his finger, shook his hand around until it was flung all over the place and then proceeded to eat the cake with out it!


The girls just couldn't resist helping with the present.

Domestic Bliss

I sit on the red chair in the kitchen, doing some sewing, my needle moving methodically in and out of the cloth. August is on the floor nearby, happily pulling all the cards out of my wallet, uttering a little "uh-oh" when he drops one. The door to the playroom is open and sun streams through it. The girls have the outside door propped open a little and I can feel the warm outdoor air freshening the house, which has been cooped up all winter. They are tidying and I listen to them converse as they work. The smell of curried rice and lentils wafts over from the pot simmering on the stove.

These are the moments I live for. Call me simple, but times like these fill me with such a sense of harmony and fulfillment and rightness.

Lately I have (overall) been finding immense pleasure in the simple routines and chores of domestic life with young children.

Over ten years ago, I prepared my first dinner in my own home. It wasn't elaborate - hamburger stew (this was the pre-vegetarian me!) applesauce made by my mom, pickles made by my grandma. But I set everything out in pretty bowls and lit a candle in the center of the table. As Jason and I sat down to eat, I remember the feeling of immense satisfaction that table set with food to be shared with the man I loved brought me and I silently asked God to help me never to forget that feeling and to always be able to find joy in serving my family.

That prayer has been (and continues to be) answered. There are times, of course, of sheer frustration and exhaustion, when routine feels more like drudgery than joy, like a never-ending cycle of work being completed only to be undone again. But, on the whole, this life that I live is exactly where I want to be. The pleasure I feel when my household is flowing in a gentle rhythm and the work I do feels useful and good, has grown over the years. I have learned to enjoy the tasks I have to complete most of the time. When I don't, it's usually because I'm over-tired or not prioritizing well.

I thank God for allowing me to find fulfillment in this life of mine. For giving me peace and contentment in where I am. For helping me to find happiness and deep joy in the simplicity of family life and domesticity.

A Child Shall Lead Them

I have learned that if you'd like to be held accountable for living out your values, share them with a child. If you can explain to a child what you value and why, and it makes sense to her, she will take it to heart and value it, too. And she will be far better than you are at living in a way that reflects that value at all times. And she will notice when you slip up and she'll call you on it - every time!

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2).

For Cas

Once every other week, my dining room table is surrounded by a great group of people who get together to write. I love having these people in my home and hearing what they can come up with in the span of six-twelve minutes allotted for most of the exercises we do. They are a creative, funny, talented, diverse bunch. Their words make me laugh, make me think, and sometimes make me feel rather melancholic. Writing with people is a wonderful way to get to know them. Four times a year we put some of our best work together in a little zine called "Hatch". I have extra copies. Let me know if you want one!

Last week, (because what gathering of human beings is complete without food?) along with the awesome birthday cake that Matt made to celebrate Cas's birthday, we had double chocolate cookies. I had a request for the recipe. Here it is:

-1 cup flour
-1/2 cup cocoa
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-8 oz milk chocolate (4 ox coarsely chopped, 4 oz cut in 1/4" pieces)
-1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter
-1 1/2 cup sugar
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp vanilla

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Melt coarsely chopped chocolate with butter in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Transfer chocolate mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks.
Scoop batter using 1 1/2" ice cream scoop. Place 2" apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces begin to crack, bout 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

YUM!

I feel compelled, at this point, to recommend stoneware for baking. If you use it, you won't need parchment paper. Nor will you ever have to grease a pan, even if the recipe tells you to. Furthermore, you will never burn another cookie in your life. Before I acquired my baking stones, I believed that I could not bake and hardly ever did it. No matter how low I set the oven or how quickly I removed my baking from it's heat, the bottom would always burn. It turned out to be my inferior baking sheets, not my level of skill in the kitchen. Baking stones cost more than your run-of-the-mill cookie sheets and cake pans, but believe me - they are worth every penny!