>Pumpkin Cookies!

Posted on by
4

>They’re out of season. The pumpkin came from a can, not fresh or frozen. I was feeling a small amount of guilt in my locavore, seasonal heart as I softened the butter and started mixing in the egg.

Then La Petite came by and looked over my shoulder. “Mmm, oatmeal cookies?” “Pumpkin cookies with oatmeal.” “Even better!” she proclaimed.
Then Chuck chimed in from the computer. “With chocolate chips?” “Yes, I was planning on it.”

I felt a lot better.

This recipe is so old the card is tattered. I really ought to type it up in a Word file like so many of my favorites. I’ve made these since my kiddos were really little. In fact, I’d feed them to my kids for breakfast when they were very young. Cookies for breakfast? Don’t judge me; these cookies are healthier than a poptart!

Great Pumpkin Cookies with Oatmeal and Chocolate Chips

3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups quick oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon, and salt: set aside.
Cream butter; gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well.
Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop or a 1/8 cup measure, drop dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until cookies are firm and lightly browned. Cool on racks.

Optional: frost and decorate. Cream cheese frosting works well with these cookies.
Another option: replace chocolate chips with raisins.

Amigo was coming down the stairs as I pulled these out of the oven. He had two as soon as they cooled. Despite the non-locavore nature of the beast, these cookies hit the spot on a cold winter Saturday night.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>A Day On, a Day to Dream

Posted on by
1

>If you know the name Julia Ward Howe, you probably know her as the writer of the lyrics to the Civil War Hymn “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Ms. Howe’s poetic voice also suggested Mother’s Day, long before it became a holiday, as a day to celebrate celebrate peace.

Martin Luther King Jr., believed in peaceful confrontation and nonviolent civil disobedience. I think he and Ms. Howe would have gotten along fine, had they lived in the same century. In recognition of Dr. King’s Dream, below is a re-post from Mothers’ Day 2008.

I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.
I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language ‘heard’.
Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.
The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.
Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to knowing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, will cease to be of value.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Sunday List

Posted on by
2

>Make coffee.
Finish laundry.
Read Sunday newspaper.
Clean litter boxes.
Shower.
Blog.
Run Virus-Scan on laptop.
Make a difference in the world.
Make and preserve orange marmalade.
Work on progress reports.

Progress, as of 11:00 AM:
Coffee: check.
Laundry: last load in dryer.
Newspaper: check.
Litter boxes clean, self clean.
Virus Scan finished on both laptop and desktop.
Oranges, sugar, jars, and water-bath canner gathered. Must shop for liquid pectin.
Progress reports on jump drive; will work on those during playoff games. Specific goal for today: fill in Social Skills and Study Habits sections.

Wait a minute. What’s that other goal? Make a difference? That’s a little tougher. Haiti comes to mind. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is tomorrow. I don’t have the day off from school; I do have a substitute because I’ll be in a workshop all day. I’ve been teaching a series of vocabulary lessons called “Words About Great Leaders” with an emphasis on Dr. King and other strong leaders. Can I do more?

It’s easy to give up, feel powerless, when there’s a huge disaster in the world. Haiti’s poverty is debilitating on a typical day. A hurricane or earthquake hitting their island is devastating. The immediate loss of life, the potential for disease, the absence of basic shelter, food, and water – can one person make a difference?

Yes.

I can make a difference locally by teaching my students as well as I’m able. Teach them to climb out of poverty, teach them not to take for granted the skills and the materials they already possess. Teach them to be aware of what’s happening in the world, know that their small neighborhood is connected to the city, the county, the state. Show them that every action is like a stone dropped in a pond, starting a ripple effect that moves outward in ever-growing circles.

Meanwhile, I’ll go buy the liquid pectin I need for making orange marmalade. It won’t change the world, but it’ll feed my family. Today, that’s a good start.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>I heard it on the grapevine

Posted on by
1

>1. If it weren’t for rumors, I’d have no news at all.
2. I read lips a bit, but I don’t read minds. Not much.

You might be a teacher if the above makes sense to you – too much sense. The news trail is totally logical — along with the desire for a medical salt lick (Prozac in the lounge, Ritalin in the cafeteria) and the urge to write on a progress report “Johnny is a bully, much like his mother.”

How much information underload can I accept? Well —

I could accept that I didn’t have all the IEP information yet. The student was due to start in my class three weeks in the future, and I had progress reports to write, benchmark reading assessments for my entire class, assignments for a graduate class and a study group due first. I skimmed the IEP with an eye to reading it fully before the child arrived.

I could accept that the special education teacher might have more information than I did at first, but knowing that she shared that information with a different teacher and didn’t tell me, that’s just wrong. Careless, too. The other teacher, at another grade level that has nothing whatsoever to do with my grade mentioned this information to me – casually, over lunch. “Oh, I just happened to know.”

I could almost accept that another teacher “just happened” to have information on my incoming new kiddo. Almost. But I cannot accept her attitude that I “should have known” and should have sought out this information on my own. Uh-huh, yeah. See #2 above.

Thank goodness for the grapevine; I should probably be grateful. If the gym teacher hadn’t mentioned this info in the first place (also casually, as we approached the copy machine), I’d have been totally in the dark. As it is, I’m only seething under a dark cloud of hard feelings. Direct communication? What a concept. See #1.

Now if only I can train the grapevine to bring me chocolate and coffee….

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Uncommon Sense

Posted on by
5

>

(copied and only partially edited from a good friend’s chain email)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

  • Knowing when to come in out of the rain
  • Why the early bird gets the worm
  • Life isn’t always fair
  • Maybe it was my fault.

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for expecting responsibility and respect in a school setting, teaching students manners, and refusing to accept that the dog might have eaten the homework.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement despite the self-inflicted nature of the injury.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his cousin, Common Courtesy, who was recently moved to Hospice Care.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Get more Bang for your Buck with Suddenly Frugal, the book

Posted on by
2

>I have a lot of respect for people who not only talk the talk, but can walk the walk. Leah Ingram is a writer who made major lifestyle changes and wrote a blog and a book about them.

Suddenly Frugal is a practical guide to cutting expenses down to little or nothing. Her family set out to save money in order to buy a nicer home. When they closed on the home and moved in, they realized their frugal ways needed to continue in order to afford the upgrade in housing. When our U.S. economy tanked, others found themselves in frantic states of “OMG, how can I stop spending money?” Leah’s blog reassured them that they could.

The book is much more than the blog. I’ve been a regular reader of the Suddenly Frugal blog for several years; her link is in my blogroll on the left sidebar. In book version, Ingram added more details for each topic, including the estimated savings. Her stories are both personal and practical, involving tips that vary from getting “ring around the collar” out of her husband’s shirts with Do It Yourself laundry soap to finding attractive landscaping plants on Freecycle.

Many of her frugal tips are eco-conscious as well. Buying CFL bulbs saves both money and energy. Backyard composting cuts down on garbage pickups, which reduces her bill for that service (If my city charged for garbage pickup, we’d be saving a bundle). Growing vegetables, buying from the Farmers’ Market, and joining a CSA organization saved money and raised the nutritional value of her family’s menus. Ingram kept her records and has the numbers to prove it.

I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite chapter or tip because every section has valuable advice. I carefully read the piece on purchasing a vehicle because we’ll be in the market in June. I also browsed her advice on washing machines; mine is making ominous noises, and I’d like to do my research and replace it before it collapses.

And that’s what Suddenly Frugal is all about. It’s not about deprivation, but budgeting carefully and wisely. By avoiding wasteful spending, families can live comfortably and worry less, despite dire financial headlines.

I offered to read and review this book for Leah Ingram because I enjoy her blog. She sent me a copy free of charge in order to review it. You can read her blog or follow her on Twitter (leangreenmom).

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>How much Zest is too much?

Posted on by
4

>

I got a citrus zest file for Christmas!

The timing is great; we picked up a case of oranges from Amigo’s high school music fundraiser in mid-December. I’ve been eating at least one orange or grapefruit a day, and then I zest the rind of the orange so we can use it in cooking or baking.

Chuck (he of the cool shoes) walked into the kitchen today and said, “Dear, you’ve put aside enough orange zest to last us a decade. Stop, already!”

I put it to you, dear Internetters. Foodies, locavores, eco-conscious cooks and bakers, here are the questions raised in my zesty dilemma.

Does orange zest (or any zest) freeze successfully? Can I grate and freeze these aromatic peelings and use them later?
Is there any use for grapefruit zest? I have a case of grapefruit, too, but I’ve never seen grapefruit zest in a recipe.
How much is too much orange zest? No, never mind, don’t answer that. I’ll find out for myself.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Best Banana Bread

Posted on by
2

>I posted a banana bread recipe long, long ago. Banana bread is a standard in my repertoire, and I can almost make it in my sleep. Almost.

When La Petite was in high school, our house was one of the hangouts for the kids. I learned that they were more likely to hang at the homes of parents who fed them, so I kept baking. It worked. One day a coworker and fellow high school mom asked me for my banana bread recipe. “What do you put in it? Alex keeps raving about it!”

I tried an experiment, though, that didn’t work so well. It was one of “those” weeks: the weeks when we don’t have time to eat the bananas, much less bake them into bread. I tried the Frozen Banana option. Supposedly they’ll look gooey and awful, but will bake up well. Well, almost.

I called it the Incredible Collapsing Banana Bread. I thought it was done, but it wasn’t. the toothpick test came out clean, but the bread fell in the middle and tasted terrible. It was underdone in a big way. What happened? The only thing out of the ordinary was the frozen bananas. All I could think of was, “Were they too cold? Not the right consistency? What went wrong?”

I approached this dilemma with two tools: increased baking time and smaller pans. My mother (who witnessed the drama of the incredibly collapsed banana bread) gave me tiny bread pans for Christmas. I split a double batch of banana bread between one full-sized pan and three tiny ones. The tiny ones finished quickly, and the big one appeared done. Learning from experience, I let the big pan sit in the still-warm oven for ten minutes before calling it done. It worked.
The third tool (okay, three changes) was this: I made sure the banana goo was completely thawed and at room temperature before mixing and baking.

Well, here goes. Bake it as you wish; but thaw your bananas and use a smaller pan.

Daisy’s Banana Bread

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
3 eggs or 3/4 cup egg substitute
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium-large bananas)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups flour (I like 1 cup all-purpose flour and 2/3 cup whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
(optional) 1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 or 9 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Beat the sugar and butter/margarine in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Beat until well blended.
Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into the banana mixture just until moistened. Blend in chocolate chips or nuts. Pour and scrape batter into the loaf pan.
Bake the 8 inch pan for 60 minutes, 9 inch pan for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Warning: Teenagers in house will inhale this. Make two if you want some for yourself.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>A Rough Day at School — Made Better

Posted on by
3

>

It wasn’t a bad, bad day.
It wasn’t a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.
It was just lousy. One lousy rotten piece of luck after another, each piled on the one previous, never letting up.
And there was a gentle snowfall, too – just enough to get the students bouncing off the (I wish they were padded sometimes) walls.

But through the clouds of my school day, a few rays of sunshine appeared. They didn’t stay long, but seeing them was enough for hope.

My wallet was empty. Empty!! I’d given La Petite and Amigo money for a movie and forgotten to refill it.
It was Starbucks day. One of my colleagues uses a strategically scheduled prep period to visit Starbucks. She takes all of our orders and collects the money and brings in, midday, a delectable and caffeinated treat.
But my wallet was empty.
She bought me a 16 oz. Pike Place blend anyway. I’ll pay her tomorrow. It’s like a hug with a little zip.

I rushed out the door, stopped in the bathroom to take off my turtleneck (flu shot clinic), reheated my Starbucks (see above), and zoomed down to the door where La Petite was waiting with the car.
She had French Fries from Wendy’s.
I forgot my purse.
But my wallet was empty, anyway. Did it matter? Yes. The flu shot consent forms were in it.
We had to come back to school.
But it gave daughter an extra minute or two to finish her Wendy’s sandwich, and we were close enough to school that it didn’t really put us behind.

On our way to the flu shot clinic downtown, we found a good parking space – with time on the meter!! We added a few coins in case there was a long line for the vaccine.
There was almost no line when we arrived.
The shots didn’t hurt – much. Public Health nurses are very good at this.
As we left, I noticed we were leaving 33 minutes on the meter for the next lucky person.

When we got home, I found an unexpected bonus in my purse: a slightly squashed snack size Almond Joy bar! The best thing about this? No one else in the house likes coconut; I didn’t have to share.

I think I can face school tomorrow after all. Just remind me to stop by the ATM to refill my wallet, okay?

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Playoffs? Are you kiddin’ me? They matter in our home.

Posted on by
1

>Playoff standings matter not just because we’re Packers fans, but because Chuck’s workload and work schedule and potential travel schedule all depend on the playoff picture. He and his boss have become regular visitors to NFL.com to see the playoff pictures develop. Now that the postseason is finally here, we’ve bought our chips and pizzas and we’re ready to watch the game. I mean, now that postseason is finally here, the folks in Television Land are working out the possibilities and charging up the camera batteries.

With a win, the big, bold men in Green and Gold will stay in the running to play a second game. This game could be in Minnesota or possibly at home against Dallas. Sorry, Philadelphia fans; I feel your pain. I do.
The location of the next game matters because Chuck’s station would send him to the Metrodome with the satellite truck to cover pre- and post-game shows. If the game happens in Dallas, they’ll get their video from a Dallas station. If it’s played in Lambeau Field, he’ll have to work, but he call stay at home instead of hitting the road.

But then….then what? I’m glad you asked. If Aaron Rodgers calmly leads his team to Miami for the Main Event, my dear husband (bless his heart) will have to drive the station’s satellite truck to Florida to cover not only the Super Bowl and the build-up, but the Pro Bowl as well. He could be away as long as three weeks, perhaps more.

On the positive side, I plan on sending a Flat Stanley with him. My class will love it.

On the negative side, it’ll be lonely around here with just me and Amigo. La Petite will be back at school, very likely hosting her own Super Bowl party, faithful cheesehead that she is.

If the Packers (gulp) don’t win, Chuck may have to change an appointment on Tuesday in order to help record the coach’s show. It would be a minor inconvenience.

But we won’t talk about the L word. Go Pack Go!!

Share and Enjoy !

Shares