Let the Fall Fun Begin

Yesterday, we attended one of our favorite events, fall or otherwise:  our old church's annual harvest festival.  And we had a wonderful time.  There were dozens of vendors--so many fabulous crocheters, some lovely crafters, and great food.  We got a large embroidered cat cushion for the couch, a lovely dried flower arrangement for the front door, a stained glass starfish for our upstairs window, and some cute screen-printed cat shirts.  For lunch, we had empanadas, chicken fingers, plantains, and chocolate cheesecake.

And we saw so many church friends!  The kids said several people they didn't know came up and said, "You've gotten so big!"  It was 11 years ago at this event that we debuted the twins, over-dressed for the fall day, and introduced them to the church that had supported us so.  How time flies!  Our friends, who just had a baby about 2 months ago, similarly brought their newborn to the fair--also overdressed in a fleece bunny suit for the 69F day.  I think it must just be new parenthood.  But she was very sweet looking, just like ours were.

Good memories, good times.

There will be a whole bunch of fall fun in the coming weeks--and Gommie and Pop arrive this weekend!

Fall Fun Possibilities

1. Applepalooza (our family fall open house, with apple desserts)
2. Apple picking
3. Decorate a pumpkin
4. Make apple or pumpkin butter
5. Church in-gathering celebration--this was last weekend
6. Florence Griswold Museum Wee Faerie Village (the month of October)
7. Make faerie houses
8. School Open House
9. Gommie and Pop visit
10. Vermont vacation
11. Make a leaf pile
12. Make leaf roses
13. historic house fall tours
14. Go to Fantastic Beasts movie (November)
15. Trick or treat
16. Backyard fire with foil dinners and s'mores
17. Tent in the backyard
18. Prepare Halloween costumes
19. Boo gifts for friends
20. Amish Friendship bread
21. Brandied fruit--it's fermenting on the counter
22. Nature walk or bike ride
23. Kiddos go to Nature's Classroom
24. Mama goes to Celestial Navigation course
25. Girl Scout "mountain" hike and tree study
26. Kellogg's Olympic Gymnasts' tour
27. Installation of the new minister
28. Paint pinecones
29. Yarn!
30. Explore sourdough bread recipes
31. Vote
32. Make pies
33. Church Harvest festival--lovely time yesterday!
34. Get out mittens, hats, scarves, sweaters, etc.
35. Pull out quilts and blankets
36. Change fire alarm batteries

A Day in History

In addition to the play this weekend, we had our annual festival when we open the historic house for tours and children's activities, including dress-up, games, and painting.  Sis and Bud decided against attending their morning activities so that they could help out.  They even had new colonial outfits, since they had long outgrown their costumes.  Bud had the same kind of "nutmeg"-colored vest as before but in a larger size; Sis had a red bodice over a shift with a floral print, plus her cap and apron. I wore my new short jacket, with its pink and green floral print, over a navy skirt.

It was a hot day, so I was glad to have air conditioning.  Bud and I did demonstrate the old game of graces outside for awhile, walking up and down the street attracting some attention.  They also both gave tours.  Bud gave his first--he hopped right in talking about how colonists made bread, toasted it, and made butter to go with it; then he moved on to the parlor to talk about tea parties and "liberty" tea and help visitors make tea bags with herbs and coffee filters.  He was great!  Sis has given tours before and gives a good one; she also did some stenciling with a few young visitors, showing them how to paint.

I love that they love the historic house and want to help out.  They've attended programs, planted gardens, ridden in parades, demonstrated games and crafts, and told people about the history of Connecticut.  I love that we can share the history together.  I'm so proud of those kids.

Fall Fun: Leaf Peeping

After our usual morning of kung fu and ice skating (plus a visit to a friend's tag sale where Sis scored a lovely old portable art box and I got a little picnic basket with a divider to protect pie), we headed way north to the Icelandic Affair, a festival Mama had heard about from work.  It's a small festival with a lot of interesting foods and features.  We mainly went to see the furry ponies, a special Icelandic horse breed.  We arrived just as they started showing off the horse's gaits.  Sis was fascinated and hopped, quite literally, at the chance to ride one of them.  She grabbed hold of the mane, put her boot in a stirrup, and hoisted herself up like a champ; the horse's owner was impressed and let Sis walk around the green without guiding her.  Sis's face just lights up when she's near horses or almost any animal (she enjoyed meeting an Icelandic sheepdog from the RI search and rescue.)

Bud liked the food:  a hot dog with Icelandic-type mayo and mustard and fried onions, trout and Icelandic butter, gravlax on rye, a special seven-thin-layer pastry called Vinarterta (with almond and cardamom flavors and some thin layers of jam and lots of butter cream), some chocolates, a thick vanilla yogurt called Smari, some caramels, and a cardamom sweet roll called something with an S. Mama liked all the food, too.

And I scored with a beautiful sweater.  I had walked past the table when we arrived and saw the black and rainbow-colored hand-knit sweater out of the corner of my eye.  When I went back it was still there, marked "Large Sweater Dress."  And it fit me!  Perfectly. Not as a dress, but as a long sweater (I have a very vague memory of a later 1980s long, multicolored sweater trend--I had several dark ones with rainbow patterns, machine knit, though.)  As I paid the lady, I heard someone turn to a friend, "You snooze, you lose."  I guess someone hadn't quite committed to the sweater.  I loved it.  And I got several compliments as I walked around.  Mind you, hand knit!  It took 36 hours and it's not variegated wool--those are all individual color changes!  And you can't see where the knitter changed rounds.  It's beautiful.

After the festival, we went to a nearby state park for a little leaf-peeping.  A dramatic, cloudy sky and some near-peak foliage made it a perfect day for taking in the scenery.  I love fall foliage and rock walls, of which we saw a lot.  And took copious pictures, after which we stopped by one of our favorite shops, Nodine's Smokehouse, and picked up some ham, meats, and other tasty goods.  It really was a glorious day, from beginning to end (actually, the real end was the kids playing a Beta-test of a new Zelda game and my baking an Apple Bourbon Bundt Cake for Applepalooza tomorrow.)

Summer Fun: Beautiful Balloons

Tonight we ventured to the hot air balloon festival north of us.  While I won't sully this post with a long, detailed recitation of the major problems of the festival (complete lack of preparation, not enough of anything, long long long waits and many shortages--most disorganized I've ever seen), we really liked seeing all of the balloons--the one in flight as we arrived, the tethered one going up and down (with its loud and bright propane flame), the inflation and deflation of 10 balloons, and the "glow" when the fire lit the balloon from within.  There were a few rainbow balloons and a pink and a blue one each for Sis and Bud.  Mama, who had dropped us off, didn't get to see much because of traffic and delays.  But it was better than sitting at home.  We also got some great artisanal cookies (a chocolate orange one and even a GF dark chocolate almond one), a 1000-piece balloon puzzle, and a hanging balloon for our porch.

We spotted a balloon as we drove towards the hot air balloon festival.

Sis watches the tethered balloon take riders up and down.

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I couldn't believe these were left just unattended.  People just stepped over them!

I liked all the rainbow balloons, while Sis liked the pink-ish one and Bud the blue-ish one (not inflated yet.)  

They never glowed all at once but were still so pretty.  There were 10 in all (in my mind I think of them as rainbow tethered, rainbow and black stripes, Bud's blue balloon (which says Avery's Beverages on one side, inflating in this pic), "safari" balloon, checkerboard, Sis's pink/magenta balloon, rainbow diamonds balloon, blue and yellow steps, rainbow diagonals, and "Superman" balloon)

Summer Fun: A Day for Birds of Prey

A barred owl (coincidentally, I believe
I spotted one on our drive out there)

Between morning kung fu and ice skating and an afternoon birthday party, also at the ice skating rink,  we headed to a special Birds of Prey festival sponsored by local wildlife rehabilitators, A Place Called Hope.  It was on the green of an old town, complete with meetinghouse, 1821 Academy, and 18th-century houses.  But we were most interested in the festival.  There were other animal charities--Audubon, Humane Society, a raccoon rescue group (I picked up a great crocheted raccoon scarf, like those old fox wraps!)--and lots of the usual kinds of crafts (something unusual--I picked up two make-your-own-tie-dyed-kite kits for the kids), plus a taco truck where we got a delicious lunch.

An Eastern Screech Owl, looking like tree bark

But the real draw were the birds.  The Eastern Screech, which I'd never seen in person, is so small.  And so was the American Kestrel, not pictured here, which they included in the presentation--tiny, for a falcon (apparently those tear-drop shadings by the eye are typical of falcons.)  I forget that owls can be that small--like the Saw Whet we saw in Block Island.  We also saw a Red-Tailed Hawk, which we often see near the river and even overhead.  It all brought back great memories of falconry lessons in England, various nature centers with rescued birds, and numerous Birds of Prey shows at Ren Faires and such.  Mama even inquired about becoming a wildlife rehabilitator (well, I inquired with her standing there.)  You take a class, pass a test, and then intern with a charity.  I hope she'd consider it--she'd love the birds (but probably not talking to the people so much!)

And our very common Red-Tailed Hawk

After the kids got ice cream treats, I headed to explore the Academy, which was open for visitors.  It had been an old school and is now an exhibition space of the local historical society.  The current show is about summer recreation and the tourist crowd that came to the CT shore before the hurricane of 1938.  There were some oppressive wool bathing suits and lovely white cotton dresses, since it was the thing to wear white for the summer (but not before Memorial Day or after Labor Day!) as proof that you were able to afford leisure time.  Even several straw hats and a discussion of the Straw Hat Day--men took off their felt bowlers on May 15 and wore straw until September 15, after which youths would snatch and stomp on any remaining straw hats.  There was even a Straw Hat riot when some unruly youths started snatching hats a few days before September 15 one year!  Who knew?

It was a short but sweet visit.  We'll keep our eye out for other interesting fairs and festivals in the area (including the hot air balloon one in August!)

Greek to Us

We reveled in the Greek Fest again this year, eating our way through the lunch line and the pastries as usual.  In fact, the matriarchs of the sweets remembered Sis and Bud from years past, recalling them even as babies in strollers.  And, as in years past, at least one person mistook Mama for my other son (I know you don't believe me, but it happens regularly) saying, "Your big one was so helpful.  He told the younger ones not to touch anything!"

Anyway, in addition to our usual menu (note to selves for next year:  the kids do not like the chicken souvlaki; they prefer the roasted chicken and gyro), we gorged (well, I did) on gigante beans.  And when I went back to get some to take home for dinner, the woman behind the counter said she had made them and we compared notes.  She uses celery, a bit of parsley, and lots of dill in hers; she was interested to hear that I do mine in a slow cooker, but without dill.  I'm adding dill next time (which will be soon because I bought a bag of gigante beans).   


We bought fewer sweets this year but reveled in the ones we did get:  ravani, a citrus-soaked semolina cake, is still the favorite; diples, which is like Greek sopapillas, were Sis and Bud's favorirtes; Mama likes kataifi; and I still get finikia (honey-walnut cookie), methismena (the label said they make it with beer!), karidopita (the honey-walnut cake), galatoboureko (custard with phyllo).  We skipped kourambiedes and what I now know is saragli, kinda like a baklava roll (Bud got baklava but didn't like the nuts).  Our new favorite is pasta flora.  I know, odd name.  But it's a Greek jam tart, this time apricot, and we were all sorry we hadn't bought a whole one!


There is always next year!


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Greek Big Beans

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups slow cooked beans or two 15.5 oz cans lima or butter beans, drained and rinsed (or actual Greek gigante beans. )

28 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices

salt and pepper

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Heat oil and cook onion, covered, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another minute or so.

Transfer the onion and garlic to a 3 1/2 to 4-quart slow cooker. Add beans, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. Just before serving, stir in parsley.

Robin Robertson, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker


Or, an alternate "fabulous faux fassolia":   I sauteed onions in olive oil, added some garlic when the onions were translucent, then poured in half a can (or less) of tomato sauce, and added the other half of my cooked limas. This was incredible. Both hot and then later in the weekend cold, just like it had been in DC. Mmmmmmm

Lunch, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Saturday

• The new World Trade Center--we admire the tower from NJ
• Vince Lombardi rest stop--nothing like cinnamon buns for breakfast!
• Independence Visitor Center--big, new since we were there 10 years ago, and a great anchor for the site; kids pick up Junior Ranger booklet (and complete enough activities to earn their Independence ranger badge) and trading cards (which they earned by answering questions posed by rangers).
• Liberty Bell--but only from outside, as we wouldn't brave the lines
• Independence Hall, again just from the outside, but an up-close look at the "Great Essentials" documents--Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution
• City Tavern:  Sally Lunn bread, Anadama bread, sweet potato roll, shrub, mushroom toast, lobster pot pie, chicken pot pie, fried tofu a la Ben Franklin, all served by costumed interpreters in a reconstructed 18th-century building.  My favorite stop, both for the food and the atmosphere.  I got the chef's Taste of History DVDs for home.  
• Ben Franklin's Print Shop, complete with Amos the mouse from Ben and Me, which we read before our trip.  This was the kids' favorite stop in Philly.
• President's House archaeological site discovered during building of new Liberty Bell center, with outdoor exhibition on Washington's slaves.  My second favorite stop.
• Free Quaker Meeting House
• Ben Franklin's grave 
• Shopping--hammered dulcimer cd, magnets, Philly puzzle, soap, mob cap, NPS pins and patches, Junior Ranger vest, books 
• And all the while, I hum, "Open up a window . . . It's hot as hell in Philadelphia!" from 1776.  
• Dinner at Iron Hill Brewery: pomme frites with garlic rosemary aioli, quinoa salad, egg roll sampler, shrimp, cheeseburger, ice cream, oatmeal cake
• Sis and Bud shared a pullout sofa in our hotel suite, but Sis came to us in the night to complain.  "Mom, Bud feels my warmth and keeps scooting over.  He thinks it's you and he wants to cuddle.  So I keep pushing him back, 'Stay on your side!'  I even threw Mr. Big over to the other side, but he just keeps cuddling with me!"
  

Sunday

• Competition begins early, with Bud's first two forms back-to-back.
• Gold in broadsword!
• Gold in staff!
• Sis plays DS and chats with Ma and Gong.
• We have chicken and broccoli, fried rice, pork buns, and noodles for lunch.
• Masters' performances of various wushu-kung fu and tai chi
• Team competitions are fascinating, with whips, double swords, etc.
• Gold in nunchucks!
• I asked Bud if he heard people cheering for him when he was doing his kung fu forms.  "No, Mom," he explained, taking his first position and sweeping his arm around in the way he usually begins, "I think, 'I am the best!  I am the best!  I am the best!'"
• We take some pictures, talk to his master, watch several more divisions.
• Dinner at the brewery again with Ma and Gong, before they head home.  Bud practically falls asleep at the table.
• We chill in the hotel, but kids get second wind won't fall asleep.

Monday

• We "sleep in" and leave hotel by 8:30-something.
• We head to Animals & Acrobats at Van Cortlandt Manor in Hudson valley, essentially an old-fashioned circus
• Boston Circus Guild:  acrobats, trapeze artists, other aerialists, all to "Emperor Norton Stationary Marching Band," all dressed in steampunk.  Kids love woman with hoops, trapeze work, partner acrobatics, etc.  Sis wants to be an acrobat!
• Lunch of hot dogs, turkey sandwich, pasta salad, bean salad, lemonades
• Double servings of Blue Pig local ice cream in the high heat--"double the yum!" Sis says.
• Visit the Cabinet of Curiosities, with Fiji Mermaid, mastodon, and invisible woman in a box!  Bud declares, "There is no magic!"  I tease him about being a realist.  Then I ask about the Tooth Fairy.  He stands perplexed then answers, "The Tooth Fairy is different because she's not creepy!"
• Circus Arts hands-on.  Bud tries juggling; Sis excels at this big yo-yo.  Both walk on tight rope and try stilts.  
• Flight of Raptors display birds of prey and Two by Two have animals, including a huge, hot, brown rabbit reclining in the shade of its enclosure.  "He's a melting bunny," Sis declared.
•  Mama, Sis, and Bud conspire to buy me an adorable giant stuffed hedgehog.
• We head home around 2 pm, missing traffic almost completely!
• We get the AC on quickly and sit around the rest of the afternoon, reminiscing about our great weekend.

Jubilee Jubilation!

It was the best of Girl Scouting:  hundreds of girls exploring science (robots, astronomy), history (of Girl Scouts and also local CT sites), physical activities (tennis, rock climbing, Taekwondo, jumping rope), volunteer work (different booths by troops), environmental concerns (animals, composting), health (nutrition, recess, platelet donations), while singing, making arts and crafts (bracelets bracelet bracelets), and participating in SWAPS (aka Special Whatchamacallit Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).

Sis in full Daisy tunic with camp backpack and SWAP lanyard rushed from place to place trying so many things. Early on in the day, she received a huge special button announcing her 100+ cookie sales, which prompted a group of GS alum to serenade her with "99 boxes of cookies for sale" (you know the tune!).  She liked SWAPping, quickly exchanging her 25 marshmallows-on-skewers "I Love S'mores" SWAPS for a variety of cute pins--a "Got Cookies?" glass of milk, a slice of (sponge) GS birthday cake, square s'mores, a polymer clay whale, several beaded pins, lots of pompom pins, and such (next time, we'll a) make more SWAPS and b). bring two big Ziploc bags, one for giving away and one for collecting.  See here for SWAP etiquette and here for examples).  Sis was great about approaching older girls all on her own, negotiating the SWAPS (which is a given--you can't really refuse a SWAP if someone asks you, even if you have one like theirs or don't want one).  I only vaguely remember one SWAPS meet when I was a Brownie; don't know what I'd made but got an old black film cannister fountain soda made out of pompoms with a straw that I treasured for years. (Can leaders SWAP??  I wanna play!)  

She also liked visiting the trading post for a special Jubilee patch and a new camp journal.  And she liked the bounce houses.  Bud spent a lot of time in the bounce houses, being a really good sport about being a "GS Bro" (as proclaimed by the SWAP Sis made him).  He also enjoyed the different booths, such as the one where he and Sis played a water rapids Wii game together and when they got to run through the chambers of a giant inflatable heart.  We also did two stops on the Jubilee GS promise letterboxing trail, having come prepared with our own new family letterboxing journal and a bunny and a penguin stamp.

The day turned hotter than we expected, even with all of our water, and we'd mistakenly left many of the outside activities for later in the day (which is why we only did 2 letterboxing stops and none of the scavenger hunt--there's always more to do than there is time (which was hard for the kids).  The line for lunch was 100+ people long.  Seriously.  And the kids got fatigued after 4 hours (no shock there).  And so we headed out for lunch and home midday.  It was still a wonderful day and we'll do another big GS gathering again.  But we'll take more water, our own food, more hats and sunscreen, a rolling bag instead of backpacks, and more SWAPS!

I'm already looking for a new design!  A clothespin bunny, perhaps . . . .

The Christmas Marketplace

As I've posted before, we always try to add some fun to our NYC doctors' visits, like checking out a specialty shop or going to a museum.  Yesterday, we didn't really have a set destination but knew we'd wander the area around Union Square.  Upon exiting the parking garage, we immediately spotted the telltale kiosks of a festival and I remembered that it was the Christmas Market.  For the time we had before our appointment, we wandered among the stalls:

• sampling salsas and chocolates
• ordering Belgian waffles with gingerbread sauce (speculoos) from Wafels and Dinges and also a variety of Persian soups (vegetable, lentil, and chili), plus the best cookies ever from Rubyzaar (Kashmir with almonds and cardamom: HoiAn with chocolates and espresso) and chewy sweet pastel French macaroons.  
• drinking Gluwhein and hot chocolate
• selecting a precious, brightly-colored, whimsical print of two children flying over the Chrysler Building by an artist named Edie (you can purchase prints at her site)
• having a mini-hand spa treatment with Israeli Dead Sea Salt that left my hands feeling so soft (we bought the scrub because it helps with psoriasis and dry skin)
• and just wandering through stalls of knit wear, teas and spices (laid out just like a Silk Road merchant), Celtic and also Tibetan tchotchkes, puppets, toys, jewelery, and so much more, while also people-watching, which is a wonderful sport in NYC

Just a wonderful reminder of why I love NYC (besides, it makes going to the doctor just so much better).

Another Slavic Saturday

It seems to be a theme this fall:  cabbage feasts in the basements of Orthodox churches!  Today we went to a larger, more elaborate Christmas Fair at a local church, spiritual home of Mrs. S and so many of the local women we know (and new ones we met--Mrs. H's was an hospitable guide through the fair!  And her family was just as welcoming).   In fact, the kids were shocked to run into beloved swim teacher Mrs. M and former preschool teacher Mrs. G.  (They talked poor Mrs. M's ear off but not Mrs. G's, because they were eating!).  They loved decorating gingerbread houses with their new little friends, Mrs. S's grandchildren.  And these weren't just small, plain gingerbread houses but elaborate creations made of graham-cracker-covered milk cartoons with steeples!  Plus two huge baggies of candies and cereals to decorate.  And a vat of frosting!  (It was the most organized kids' activity I've seen in a long while, if ever.  Oh the advanced prep work!)  Kid heaven!  Sis and Bud went to work earnestly, adding stained glass windows to their buildings, while their friends made chimneys, fences, and fanciful architectural features.  Apparently the older girl had really looked forward to our arrival so they could decorate the houses together, since she was an experienced fair-goer and knew how it went.  So sweet!  We also ate a ton--same food as last time--halupki, haluski, kolbasi, pirohi, and a new one, pagachi, which was like a double-crust pizza made out of egg dough with potatoes or cabbage flattened between (yum!).  And just like last time the kids inhaled the food.  We bought brownies and shopped a little, dropping our raffle tickets into the can for the lovely gingerbread house, of course. Bud told Mrs. M, selling the tickets, that he hoped she called him. (He was being extra charming--as I told her, he loves adult women.  "Adult" sounds better than the "older" I managed at the fair!).   It was a great fair, not only for the fun, food, and friends, but also for a glimpse of such a tight, cohesive, friendly, active, organized, vibrant church community.  No, I'm not planning to convert and yes, I'm sure there was drama behind the scenes, but it really had the feel of a giant family reunion (and we laughed, it could've been my half of the family!  Except there wasn't any Staff's barbecue!).

Slavic Saturday

On the way back from a vet emergency (Hermione ate tinfoil; she's fine now), we spotted a local Slavic Food Fest at an Orthodox church.  So we dropped off the cat and headed back for lunch.  The kids were hesitant at first but tried all the offerings:  halushki (hot noodles with cabbage), halupki (stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce), pierogi (potato and cheese dumplings, but spelled pirohi, I think), mushroom barley soup, borscht (shredded beets, cabbage, carrots, beef soup), kolbasi and sauerkraut (same as kielbasa), and kolache (much more like rugelach than our Central Texas kolache pastries).  Mmmmmmm.  Bud wolfed it all down, preferring the stuffed cabbage.  But Sis stuck to the noodles and dumplings.  Still, we were proud of them for trying it all and excited that they liked new foods.  Must.  Find.  Recipes.  They also liked the church but were, as usual, confused--What's a saint?  isn't Saint Nicholas "Santa Claus"?  But why would you pray to him?  Why are there "x"s (read "crosses") everywhere?  Are they Christians?  Why was that man in black with a funny collar?  What's a priest?  Why is there a wall (altar screen) in front of the sanctuary?  I can see that it will soon be time to make some visits to other houses of worship, and not just for food.  Maybe we can tag along with some of our church and temple-going friends when the kids are a bit older.   Until then, more food festivals, because nothing helps getting to know your neighbors like eating together.