Summer Fun: Check

We're making progress on our to-do list, just four days into summer (though we skipped 55. Celebrate Solstice and it will probably slow down a bit during camp)!


10.  Learn a new song on the keyboard.  Bud has learned a few from Sound of Music ("My Favorite Things" and "Do Re Mi") and "Simple Gifts," to go along with his first song, "Silent Night."


17.  Make paper airplanes.  Mama brought home a special paper airplane kit (you know, from the sale section of the bookstore), complete with book and paper.  The kids have made all sorts of fancy airplanes that actually fly quite a distance, over and over again.


26.  Try a new ice cream parlor.  It's new and new-to-us, with a tasty Maine Black Bear (raspberry swirl with chocolate chunks), Chocolate Rain Forest Chrunch (the description varied from the actual, which had caramel, not coconut, with the chocolate and cashews), and the usual strawberry and chocolate.  Yum!  Mama Teacher, it's Maine's own Gifford's ice cream!


39.  Go to local festivals.  Today, we went to the CT Irish Festival, with lots of step dancers competing in a Feis, as well as a tea house with scones, a special Irish breakfast of black and white puddings, bacon rasher, sausage, brown bread, and eggs, and corned beef sandwiches later on.  There were musicians--we heard the Mickey Finns and had wanted to see the Screaming Orphans but got too hot.  And CT's own Sugar Bakery Cupcake Truck that won on "Cupcake Wars."  We  especially liked the "Luck of the Irish" with Guinness cake and Irish Cream frosting and also the chocolate-covered cherry.  But the best part was watching the sheepdog demonstration with a Border Collie and a bunch of Border Leicester sheep (is that why they are border collies?  Nope, Wiki says it's because they were from near the Scottish border)--especially because the kids just saw Babe for the first time last weekend.  "That'll do, pig!"


41.  Make popsicles.  So far, mango and pear, separately, both from nectar.  In our new star-shaped molds (BPA-free).


48.  Go to the library.  We returned some books and picked up The Hobbit, which unfortunately turned out to be too much of a bug-bear to read aloud.  Just didn't flow trippingly off the tongue, even if I think the story is probably just fine for them.  They're both reading biographies and picked up Who Was Anne Frank?, which I had them put back.  Too young for that, I think.  But they made me explain why and what happened to her and who were the Nazis and why didn't they like Jews and how did she get food in the attic and who helped her and how could she still think people were basically good after hiding in an attic?  Might have been more clear just to let them read it.


56.  Celebrate Mama's birthday.  We did this yesterday, with presents--a Tibetan singing bowl and a new LOTR Lego (that's Lord of the Rings, a new series for them)--and a special dessert, a fruity Pavlova, which the kids enjoyed with sundae toppings and Mama and I ate with whipped cream and macerated strawberries.  

Individual Pavlovas
4 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1/2 cup sour cream, chillled
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat to 200F.

Using mixer with whisk, whip egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute.  Then increase speed and whip on medium-high until stiff peaks form, another minute or two.  Gradually add 1 cup sugar.

Scoop six 1/2-cup mounds of meringue onto parchment-covered baking sheet approximately 1 inch apart.  Make indention in mound with back of spoon.   Bake for 1 1/2 hours until meringues are dry and firm, then turn off the oven and leave them there to cool for another 2 hours, until they are completely dry and hard.  Serve or store at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Beat topping ingredients and spoon into meringues, serving with macerated fruit (or, the kids liked ice cream toppings!)

America's Test Kitchen Best Summer Recipes