Score One for Corporate America

Okay, I know I often rail about consumerism and corporate America, but I'm here to say kudos to one of the biggest of them all:  Kraft, by way of Nabisco, which makes Oreos.

Yep, the Gay Oreo.

I guess there is one major advantage of such huge corporations:  they are so bent on profits that they'll follow and support dominant social trends, in this case LGBTQ rights.

So, for once, it's sweet to be in bed with the enemy.

Texas in the Times

I usually don't like to see Texas in the NYTimes, but this week was a rare exception.  There was a review of a wonderful-sounding barbecue restaurant on 26th Street, Hill Country Barbecue.  And then descriptions of three of their dishes, including a recipe for corn pudding, in the Diner's Journal.  There was even an article about a barbecue contest in NJ, though I was suspicious when a supposed master of Texas-style bbq mentioned his pulled pork sandwich.

In another section altogether, there was a review of Gail Collins's new book, As Texas Goes, which sounds more like the usual news about the Lone Star State in the Times.  But Collins is usually funny and perceptive, so the book would probably be worth a read.

While I'm eating some of that Hill Country banana pudding . . . .

-=-=-=-=-=-

Mommy Hungry's Banana Pudding 

12 oz. vanilla wafers, reserving 8-10 and crushing the rest (beyond recognition)

tub of Cool Whip (large)--I haven't made this since I gave up fake whipped cream and will have to test it with the real thing!

package of cream cheese (large)

package of Jello Instant Vanilla pudding (large)

5 bananas, sliced in rounds

milk

            Line the bottom of the dish with uncrushed wafers.

            Make the pudding.  Add cream cheese and cool whip, beating with mixer.  Add bananas and half of the crushed wafers.

            Spoon pudding mixture on top of whole wafers.  Cover with remaining half of crushed wafers.

            Refrigerate and serve.

Mommy Hungry

Right Now

I love the Boston Pops's piccolo players, who stand up in "Stars and Stripes Forever" every year!

Right Now

Was that 1WTC lit up in the background of the Macy's fireworks??!!!

Summer Fun: Happy Fourth!

54.  Celebrate July 4th


It's an odd holiday this year, on Wednesday, smack in the middle of the week.  Sis wasn't even be home because she had GS camp (I know, odd; it was a quiet day for us and I missed being part of a big gathering of family, friends, food, and fireworks).  So we saved our big meal for late in the day, which is just as well because Mama took Bud on a sushi date, an early birthday present for just the two of them (you won't believe what they inhaled: squid, octopus, tuna, salmon, ikura/salmon roe, tobiko/flying fish roe, sea urchin, freshwater eel, unagi and anago/fresh and seawater eels, shrimp, jumbo sweet shrimp, crabstick, salmon skin handroll . . . and dessert for his birthday, a tempura ice cream!).  I stayed home, making food and hanging out.  When Sis got home at 5 pm, we started with nachos and later had our indoor July 4th picnic, including:

• Shish kebabs, actually just the chicken because the kids weren't up for the rest and we were cooking indoors
• Oven fries--we ate two whole trays of this!  And that's without Bud's help.
• Sumi Salad--Bud's favorite red cabbage slaw, from a recipe at our new church
• Pasta and Bean salad--very good with red kidney beans and tri-color penne
• My adaptation of the mint iced tea we had at the Greenmarket last weekend
• Strawberry Soda Ice Cream--Wow!  This was the best strawberry ice cream I've ever had
• Chocolate sorbet--this didn't freeze well because we overworked the machine but since it's just chocolate sugar-water, we're gonna try again tomorrow.  Sis likes the mix, though.

To mark the occasion, we talked about patriotism (love of country vs. nationalism, belief in your country's exceptionalism and superiority) and what was special about the USA--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to gather, votes for women, some state legalization of same-sex marriage, the new changes in healthcare law and immigration (that executive order that resembles in part the Dream Act), the gumbo (not melting pot) of diverse religions and ethnicities, the beauty of the land, the rich history--but also noted that many other countries have such rights and resources (cue "Finlandia" here--"But other hearts in other lands are beating/with hopes and dream as true and high as mine"), mentioning though the countries that didn't have such freedoms (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uganda, China, etc.  We also talked about things that we wished we could change about our country, desiring full nationalized healthcare, federal same-sex marriage rights (like Canada or Denmark), maternity leave, the full Dream Act and other issues.  More than that, we wished for peace at home and abroad, more equality (racial, gender, economic) and compassion.  

Then we ate ice cream.


The kids are in bed and we're watching some of the televised celebrations, just enjoyed John Williams conduct (I saw him once conduct his famous movie scores in Houston), was touched by Javier Colon (a local CT boy, whom we saw open for the Indigo Girls a few years back) singing "Stand By Me," and looking forward to Megan Hilty (oops, missed her in the opening and saw her on DVR--great!) and Amber Riley.  


And to waving at the crowd at the Macy's fireworks in NYC, somewhere within which is dear Mrs. S.!


(Maybe next year, we'll cover the myths of July 4th!)
-=-=-=-=-


Authentic Texas Nachos
bag of corn chips
block of sharp cheddar cheese
jalapeno slices, if desired

Spread chips in single layer across a large cookie sheet.  Put a single, thin slice of cheese on each chip and a jalapeno slice, as desired.   Do NOT dump a bag of grated cheddar cheese on top of the chips.  (And if you want cheese sauce, well, that's queso and a different recipe--melt a lb. block of Velveeta with a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, eat with chips . . .or a spoon!)

Broil until cheese bubbles and turns slightly golden.

Eat immediately, careful not to burn yourself on the edge of the tray.

Mommy Hungry


Shish Kebabs

2 pounds meat (peeled shrimp, chicken, or beef)

1 dozen cherry tomatoes

16 oz. pineapple chunks

1 dozen small fresh mushrooms

2 green peppers cut in 1” squares

½ cup chopped parsley

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

            Place in a mixing bowl with the oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, parsley, salt, and pepper, and mix well.  Add the meat, pineapple, mushrooms, and green pepper, and mix well.  Let it marinate for one hour, stirring now and then.  Mount everything on skewers, which have been soaking in water.  Leave a little space between them so the heat can circulate; otherwise something may come out raw.  Place over hot coals for five minutes, basting them with the marinade now and then.  Turn them over, baste some more and cook for five minutes more.

Gommie Hungry

Oven Fries
Slice into strips washed, but not peeled, potatoes.
Place potato strips in ice water in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
Drain water. 
Toss 1 tablespoon of oil in potatoes, totally covering.
Place potatoes on greased (Pam-sprayed) cookie sheet. 
Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes or until brown.
Sprinkle with Lawry’s season salt.




Sumi Salad

3-6 oz. packages shredded red cabbage, or 1/2 head of firm cabbage, chopped
1 package Ramen noodles, crushed while in package (save the seasoning packet)
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sesame oil
6 tablespoons rice vinegar, plain, not seasonred
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt

In small pan, heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.  Add sesame seeds and almonds.  Brown, stirring constantly.  don't let burn.  Set aside.  Chop scallion, using tops as well.  Combine crushed Ramen, scallion, and cabbage in a large bowl.  Mix together. In another bowl, whisk the vegetable oil, 1/2 cup of sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, seasoning packet, salt, and pepper.  Combine all, stirring well.  Store covered in refrigerator overnight.  Stir a few times during the day before serving.  (*I'm working on using less oil and substituting olive oil in this recipe).

Church cookbook




Pasta and Bean Salad (Seed Savers' Heritage Bean Salad)

1 1/2 cups dried beans (I've used a mixture of heirloom beans from Laurel Hill; Seed Savers calls for Lena Cisco's Birds Egg)

1 box pasta, cooked al dente according to directions (any shape, I used tri-color penne)

Vinaigrette -

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 t. Dijon mustard (I used spicy brown)
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Cook dried beans (I soaked them overnight in salt water) by bringing to a boil for five minutes and then simmering for about 1 1/2 hours.  Cook pasta al dente.   Prepare vinaigrette. Add dressing ingredients while beans and pasta are still warm. Chill for several hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Add corn, red onion, chunks of fresh mozzarella, red/yellow bell pepper, celery, olives, or whatever sounds good.

Mommy Hungry via Seed Savers

Mommy Hungry's Greenmarket Mint Tea
2-3 cups mint leaves
2-3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
juice of 1/2 large lemon

Steep mint leaves and sugar in 2 cups hot water.  When water is much cooler or even room temperature, add cold water to fill pitcher (1 liter+) and lemon juice.

Mommy Hungry




Strawberry Soda Ice Cream
Just saw this in Food Network Magazine and it reminded me of the Big Red soda we made at camp (sans strawberries)!  It was delicious.  We also made root beer ice cream at camp, which was also awesome.  This recipe, below, makes about the best strawberry ice cream I've ever had.
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup red cream soda (Big Red!) or regular cream soda
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and mashed


Whisk the condensed milk, half-and-half, cream soda, cream and strawberries in a medium bowl.  Churn in ice cream maker.  Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.


Laura Duckworth, Food Network Magazine




Chocolate Sorbet
2 cups water

1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened (or Dutch process) cocoa powder

Combine the water and sugar in a heavy saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the cocoa and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and pour through a fine strainer into a bowl. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Stir the cool mixture, then freeze in your ice cream maker. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.


Bruce Weinstein, The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

Right Now

I bet that gullywasher just now interrupted several picnics.  But it's over and festivities can resume.

Have fun in the city at the fireworks, Mrs. S!

Camp Candy

Sis came home yesterday brimming with another recipe from camp, this time the one thing she had most looked forward to:  rock candy!  She had been talking about making rock candy since choosing her camp session way back during the winter.  Even though she didn't really even know what it was!  But candy is candy . . . .

In her words . . .

Camp Rock Candy
8 cups sugar
4 cups water
7 drops food coloring
2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Huge pot.

Mix.

Boil.

Put in Jar.

Let harden.

Eat.

(For real instructions, see here.)

Summer Fun: The Nano-Honeymoon

After dropping the kids off at Ma and Gong's for their first sleepover--and our first weekend alone since their births 6 years and 50 weeks ago! (we called it the nano-honeymoon because we never had one, unless you count our decade without children!)--we headed to the Lower East Side.  We had a long list of possibilities, from bialys to knishes but settled on doughnuts for breakfast.

Great place to start the day-- Doughnut Plant !

Ah, Doughnut Plant.  They really rival the doughnut place in Westport for the best doughnuts ever.  They get extra points for unique flavors (and for spelling doughnut with "dough").  Mama devoured the luscious Coconut Cream and I was rapturous over the Orange Blossom Cashew Doughseeds (holes).  We both also liked the others we got--lavender, creme brulee, and chocolate black out (hmm, I feel like there was one more).  We got there too late to try the Rose one, which I know I would have loved.

Lowe East Side Tenement Museum--not air-conditioned.

The temperature was close to 90F mid-morning when we started our guided tour of the Lower East Side Tenement museum, which is NOT air-conditioned.  Yes, it gave us the real tenement experience.  Almost, because there were still electric fans and we weren't wearing long dresses with corsets.  Still, even on such a bright day, the unlit entranceway was forboding and the back room of each tenement was dark and airless.  The three rooms in each "apartment"--four to a floor--were smaller than my living room and probably held many more people than my family of four, including employees who worked in tenement sweatshops, i.e. the parlor, for 60+ hours a week.  We were on the "Sweatshop Workers" tour and heard all about long work-weeks with no access to the downstairs privvies because it caused such delays (all workers shared the chamber pot!), the effects of the Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire, the implications of the six-day work week in factories for Jewish families and the younger generations who became more "Americanized."  It was all quite sobering, the grinding poverty and miserable conditions.  But many got out of the tenements--and descendants of the original families at 97 Orchard are still in the 5 boroughs.

I had just, purposefully, read a wonderful book, 97 Orchard:  An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families by Jane Ziegelman, which investigates the foodways of immigrants and tenement families in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The book was fascinating not only for the original recipes but also for its explications of similarities (they all seemed to eat herring in some form or another) and differences (how the Italians were very poor but dedicated to imported Italian foods while the Irish didn't have much dedication to their own indigenous foodways; also, the different relationships to alcohol) of the successive waves of foreigners.  It also provides a mini-history on immigration in this country, at least on the East Coast.  While my family immigrated here from Germany as well as French Canada (very few French actually immigrated to the US, except some of those in Canada, proportionally a very small number), ours is not the urban immigrant story.  No one went through Ellis Island--most came before that--and they all headed to the rural South--Tennessee, Louisiana, and, of course, Texas--to be farmers, ministers, and the like.  Still, I recognized specific German food traditions--dumplings and noodles, especially.  And, as a former New Yorker, I connected with this aspect of the city's history, though my own emigration--with money, English-language skills, a home, resources and connections--was so much easier.

Colorful yarn at the Green Market of Union Square

After our tour, we left the "Downstairs" aspect of our "Upstairs, Downstairs" weekend--though, really, I doubt many of those tenement girls or boys became servants on the Upper East Side, except perhaps the most menial.  We headed to Union Square, where we wandered through the tempting Green Market.  I admired some beautiful yarn and lots of produce but in the end only got a thirst-quenching citrus-mint iced-tea sweetened with maple syrup.  We had lunch at Chat 'N Chew, a comfort-food diner where we'd eaten years ago when I worked off 13th Street nearby.  We shared an amazing macaroni and cheese and house salad; Mama also had refreshing gazpacho.  And an icy Boylan's Black Cherry.

The staircase of the Rubin Museum of (Tibetan) Art

After checking into our hotel, leaving our luggage and having a brief respite, we went to the Rubin Museum of Art, a museum devoted to the art of the Himalayas.  I love the staircase, with its Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired spiral under a beautiful dome.  You have to always note the staircases in museums--they are multivalent, raising the pedestrian both literally and figuratively off the mundane ground into the high realm of art and often the main architectural statement.  The Met (and many institutions in classical buildings) does it twice--once off 5th Ave and then again up out of the lobby to the centrally-placed European art department.  MOMA does it with escalators.  The Guggenheim very famously makes the twisting ramp the actual galleries.  The Rubin has the same spiral shape, more oval than circular, but there are stairs not a ramp.

I was even more impressed with the holdings and the layout of the museum.  Even with some undergrad credits in Asian art, I appreciated the Gateway to Himalayan art galleries that elucidated iconography (Buddha, Arhats, Boddhisattva, Wraithful Deities, Tantric Deities, plus their hand gestures and accoutrement), media (lost-wax casting, scroll painting), and religious function.  There was also a first-rate handout summarizing all of it for when we went to the other floors.  I especially liked the shrine room set up to evoke a wealthy Tibetan's own shrine, with numerous statues, offerings, and the sounds of chants.  I was unaccountably moved to recite the phrases of metta as I stood there, never having been so touched in an art museum.  I was also captivated by the digital representation of the kind of visualization Tibetan monks do with mandalas.  An animated short showed a palace in brightly-colored three dimensions and the path to successive floors until you reached the top, which in the two-dimensional mandala is the center.  Fascinating.

We also liked the installation of sacred texts, with the rectangular Tibetan sutras and their wooden book covers.  They're rectangular because they were originally printed on long palm leaves.  Interestingly, there were Korans, Bibles, and other important texts on display to compare and contrast the physical treatment of sacred texts across cultures.  (Mind you, it's not often that a Bible is a "token" in an art exhibition.  Usually, it's the other way, with one vitrine dedicated to non-Western/non-Christian.)

I don't have a photograph to represent our afternoon activity:  tea at Lady Mendl's, which is inside the Inn at Irving Place, where we were staying.  We showered first--mercy, did I mention it was just crazy hot?--and put on our fancy clothes.  And really just relished the entire experience, all five courses of it!  From an amuse bouche of butternut squash tartlet to various tea sandwiches (the usual egg, cucumber, turkey and cranberry, and salmon), from delicate butter scones with very authentic clotted cream and jam to a slice of signature Lady Mendl crepe cake, to assorted cookies (Eh, mediocre.  Cookies at these teas always are) and a chocolate-dipped strawberry.  I had a pot of Marbury rose tea (Marbury was the last name of Lady Mendl's female lover of many years . . . before Lady Mendl married Lord Mendl!).  We talked about all the times we've had tea together, beginning at the Palmer House in Chicago, then tea all over England (Leeds, York, Marlborough, Salisbury, Fortnum & Mason's in London, which doesn't include my tea with Lambeth at the beautiful manor), Silver Tips in Tarrytown, Alice's Tea Cup, and the British Shoppe in Madison.  It's one of our favorite things to do and Lady Mendl's was a high point.

In the kids' section at the Strand

We waited until sundown and a drop in temperatures below 90F before heading out again to the Strand, our current favorite bookstore.  What's not to like about 18 miles of books?  Except maybe not being able to peruse even a fraction of it in a single visit.  We spent a lot of time in our favorite sections--Buddhism, cookbooks, children's, manga/graphic novels, audiobooks--and ended up with three heavy bags of purchases, most of them half price.

New veg fast food in the city--a great snack!

After another respite, we headed out for a late-night snack, our fifth of the day (including an unremarkable breakfast in CT before we left).  Maoz is a European import with outlets mainly in big cities (and Austin, TX, I think).  The main food is a falafel and eggplant pita, with hummus, with all the salads you can stuff into it, like marinated beets, tabouleh, chickpeas, marinated carrots, marinated broccoli and cauliflower) plus garlic sauce and tahini, with a side of Belgian-esque fries (seemed like steak fries to me) and a mint iced tea (or was it lemon?).  We reveled in ours while watching the action in Union Square.  I wished they'd had Maoz when I lived in NYC.  Mmmmm.

Our home-away-from-home--the Inn at Irving Place

We'd been in and out of our hotel several times throughout Saturday and ended the evening just enjoying the space.  The boutique hotel has 11 rooms in two early 19th-century mansions, which are now joined and decorated in what I lovingly called shabby Victorian chic.  Downstairs is Lady Mendl's tearoom, as well as the little lobby, which was redolent with jasmine and other scents from these Trapp fragrances (Bob's Flower Shop, actually).  We didn't play chess but did borrow some books, one on tea houses and the other on women in art.  Yep, books.  Our room--the O'Henry--also had books, real ones, including O'Henry's stories.  

The Lobby/Parlor

Our room!!

Anyway, it was absolutely lovely, totally relaxing and comfortable, enveloping us in peace and tranquility, all with an historic flair.  Just the opposite of the Tenement museum, though pretty much concurrent with it.  Talk about haves and have nots.  

Sunday Chocolate Brunch @ Max Brenner's

We luxuriated in the room until midmorning, with a breakfast of almond and chocolate pastries and more tea (this time I tried lavender mint and Mama had peony, neither as great at the night before).  We then browsed Forbidden Planet and headed for brunch (yes, we squeezed in as many meals as we could).  Mmmm, chocolate brunch at Max Brenner's.  We started with beer batter onion rings with Ranch-cocoa dressing (no you couldn't taste it) along with a hazelnut milkshake and dark chocolate granita.  Mama had a skillet breakfast (eggs, onions, mushrooms, cheese, potatoes, spinach etc) and a side of baguette with milk and white chocolate dipping sauces.  I had dark and white chocolate blintzes with milk chocolate sauce.

With that, we were all done.  With breakfast, with our hotel, with our weekend in the city.  Re-entry into the real world of parenting and work was messy, but much of the rest and relaxation of the weekend (along with the jasmine scent because I bought some spray!) have stayed with us.

Mommy and the Giant Falafel

We're reading James and the Giant Peach these day and got a tickle out of coming up with other titles:

• Bud and the Giant Strawberry (Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry . . .)
• Sis and the Giant Chocolate Chip
• Mama and the Giant Potato Chip
• Mommy and the Giant Bean
• Bud and the Giant Fish Ball
• Sis and the Giant Baguette
• Mama and the Giant Half-Sour Pickle
• Mommy and the Giant Truffle

Summer Fun: What a Weekend!

So much to tell you about the weekend, which we referred to as a "nano-honeymoon."  We spent 24 hours all by ourselves in Manhattan, first on the Lower East Side and then around Union Square.  It was wonderful!  Highlights to talk about later ("camp" is over for me, so it might take a bit):

• delectable doughnuts from Doughnut Plants
• the Lower East Side Tenement Museum
• walking the LES
• Hot hot hot
• the Inn at Irving Place
• Chat 'n Chew
• Greenmarket
• the Rubin Museum of Tibetan Art
• tea at Lady Mendl's
• Strand Bookstore
• Maoz vegetarian fast food
• brunch at Max Brenner's

Just call it our "Upstairs, Downstairs" weekend.

Meanwhile, the kids had their first sleepover at Ma and Gong's, enjoying the beach and the ice cream truck, hanging out with Goo and watching a movie (the Depp Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and eating a ton of food and playing with all of the toys, including new remote-control cars.

Which means we crossed more items off our list (we didn't all do them altogether but that's okay):


21.  Sleepover with Ma and Gong
24.  Go to an art museum.
30.  Go to the beach.
31.  Build sandcastles.
61.  Visit an historic house or living history museum.

Now, we're home, with Sis at camp again this week and Bud here with me.  We've already built a furnished house out of Legos, been to swim lessons, and watched "Phineas and Ferb."  Soon he'll be going with me to Pilates and then he might be having a playdate with a friend. Whew, plus kung fu tonight (he's on the team, now, to see if he likes it, and it meets for two hours twice a week) and it's a long day. 

Whew!

Crossing

Into another world for the weekend.....

Another Camp Recipe

Damp and dirty from a day outside in 96F weather and clutching a bag of trinkets from the camp trading post, Sis came home brimming with excitement about vanilla ice cream:

Camp Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
6 cups half and half
2 cups whipping cream

She got to add the vanilla extract!

Sounds like enough for the entire camp!

Right Now

Outdoor camp is over for Bud, aka Camper of the Week, "for being well-behaved! "

What a Mess!

With leftover ingredients from Mama's birthday Pavlova, I made the famed British dessert, Eton Mess.  It's true that it's not attractive, but it tastes delicious (I actually first connected the two dishes here).

Eton Mess
whipping cream
meringue cookies
strawberries
sugar

Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries and macerate them with some sugar.  Whip the cream until soft peeks form.  Crumble in meringue cookies (I used one 4-5" Pavlova cookie, but you can use store-bought cookies).  Fold in strawberries.  Serve immediately.

inspired by Nigella Lawson

Thank You, Haters

One of my favorite blogs, by Toni Bernhard, was hit by a troll this week.   No need to air the troll's absurdities.  I just want to dedicate this wonderful video by Isabel Fay and Clever Pie to that troll and others out there:

Camp Swapportunities

Sis had a big day at camp yesterday.  She tie-dyed a t-shirt.  She made whimsy bread and s'mores.  And she continued working on her pieces of Gimp.  Then she came home and made more "I love S'mores" swaps for today's camp activity.

 Whew!

She came home clutching a wet blue and pink t-shirt, which she had twisted herself (though they didn't let her color it, which seems odd), but she was more excited about the cooking they'd done.  She proudly relayed to me the recipe for Whimsy Bread, having memorized it so we could make it again (she'd shaped some before but without mixing it together.)  "Four cups flour, two cups water, one tablespoon sugar, one tablespoon yeast."  She even knew that it baked 40 minutes. That is, after you sprinkled your shape--hers was a bunny, of course--with cinnamon and sugar.  She's thrilled that they'll make dump cake next week.  "It looks awful, but it tastes good."

And the Gimp, which is multi-colored, braided plastic often used for lanyards and keychains, is now a family favorite--she's taught Bud and both have shown me.  I never made it at camp but have seen it plenty of times.  Babysitter last night remembered it from her camp days and was thrilled to get to make some with the kiddos.  They know the box and the barrel stitches but want to learn something called "Super Gimp" (see this site for instructions for different stitches.)

I wonder what delights she'll do today--in the 96F heat!

-=-=-=-=-=-

Whimsy Bread
4 cups flour
2 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
cinnamon and sugar

Mix flour, water, sugar, and yeast, stirring until it forms dough.  Divide and create whimsical shapes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.  Bake for 40 minutes (I'm guessing it was 350F or so).

Girl Scout camp

New Blooms

A few new buds are opening up while others, like the lobelia and lantana, are past prime.

Another One Bites the Dust

First Mothering, now the magazine Brain, Child has folded.  I missed the announcement conveyed via Motherlode earlier and only learned about it with my last issue today.  I'm sad.  I liked that the magazine, like Mothering, treated moms as intelligent, thoughtful, curious women and not as competitive consumers of trends and information (I'm looking at you, Parents and Parenting) or as bubbly, fun, full-time camp counselors (FamilyFun and Kiwi).  I'm glad I got through the baby years with the magazine on my nightstand. . . and have my back issues.  Still, the world of parenting got a little bit narrower today.

EWWWHHHHH!

Oh, ugh.  I was just outside, taking out recycling, putting some donations in my trunk for later, preparing for a visit from a grad school friend who's been researching at the Beinecke (miss it, Mommy Goose?).  When I got back inside, I felt something crawling on my stomach . . . a beetle had decided the shade in my shirt was better than the rising temperatures.  I'm not such a good vegetarian or Buddhist that I didn't squish him like a . . . well, you know.

A Happy, Healthier, More Hopeful Day!

The Supreme Court upholds the healthcare law!