Right Now (Really)

What a storm!  It rushed twilight and darkened our little world.  Now we've got amazing rain and lightning.

Right Now

From breakfast, but post failed then....

A New-to-Me Poet

Having first heard of poet David Budbill from author Toni Bernhard, I tracked down some of his poetry and am really inspired by his verses, which combine his musings on life in rural Vermont with his study of ancient Chinese poetry.  You can hear his verses being read over at Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.  I'm reading his latest, Happy Life, while I wait for his two previous books to arrive.  The following reminds me of our family in the last two years (and that traditional Chinese tale about good luck-bad luck):

"A Day Off"
It's been the usual frantic spring:
     prune the apple trees, till the gardens,
turn the compost, work on the new shed,
     do the first mowings, plant
the early vegetables, set out the hardy seedlings:
     one thing after another,
day after day, no time for flutes or books,
     only time to be outdoors and
nothing but work, work, work,
      work, work, work,

until, that is, I hurt my foot and now
      I'm so lame I can barely stand,
which means, I have to spend the day in bed
     with tea, the history of
Sung dynasty poetry and the life of Yang Wan-li--
     showing once again how
misfortune
     sometimes brings its opposite.

Summer Fun: Slow Weekend

We stayed in our area today, skipping the NY Ren Faire because the weather is so darned miserable (for CT), with 94F something today and 70+% humidity.  Ick.  And because Mama has pulled a muscle in her neck and is in a temporary brace, unable to take NSAIDS because of her upcoming surgery.  At least she still has her opiates!    But we're making the most of it, playing lots of games at home--Phineas and Ferb and What's Gnu?, a spelling game (it's more fun than that sounds and the kids really enjoyed it)--and going out for Indian buffet.  The kids liked the mango lassis, of course, but were otherwise a bit wary.  They did like the fried cauliflower, lasuni gobi, and Bud liked the calamari dish (Mama, too, of course).  But they just couldn't get excited about the chicken, neither tandoori nor tikka masala.  Nor even the naan!   Mama and I liked: Pani poori and bhel poori--rice krispie street food and puffed lentil flour! (and some bean spread in a crepe) Sag paneer--spinach and cheese Medu vedai--lentil doughnuts, which I dipped in tamarind sauce Dal tadka--yellow dal over basmati rice Poriyal--beans and cabbage Bombay Pav bhaji--stewed/mashed vegetable mixture Gulab jamun--sweet milk balls in rosewater syrup Kheer--Indian rice pudding

 We also went to the craft store for some variegated yarn for fingerweaving (great tutorial here), which the kids did all afternoon while I crocheted on Mama's lap blanket.  We also watched Nemo again.  I hadn't watched the whole thing in a long time but totally understood the dad more this time!  


Tomorrow, much of the same I'm guessing, plus just a lot of rest.  We're all very tired--the kids aren't sleeping well and neither are we.  It's summer, the Olympics are on, Sis is still coughing every night (the gagging/vomiting has slowed--no worries, it's just post-nasal drip but she's very sensitive), and we stayed out late on Thursday for Mama's company's annual summer picnic.  It was wonderful, as usual, with amazing food (fish and chips, Brazilian red beans and rice which I slathered with chimmichurri sauce!!, Greek couscous salad, gyro and souvlaki for Mama and Bud, vegetarian paella, Italian ices, churros, zeppoles, crepes with creme fraiche and berries, and, of course, chicken fingers for Sis!) and fun activities (gymnastics demo which Bud stayed with for a long time trying back handsprings!, races--Bud got a silver in the egg race but didn't place in the race he ran with Mama's colleague--and Sis tried persistently and bravely but never won, caricatures, balloon animals--on headbands, so smart!--bouncing on trampolines in harnesses, and my favorite, archery--we've enjoyed it in the Olympics and Brave and loved doing it here).  


So, wiped.  There's just a lot to do and on our minds.   So, it's probably just as well that we had to stay home and rest some.  And just have some family time.  

Bon Voyage!

Wishing Mama Teacher & Co an uneventful travel day tomorrow and then a wonderful visit to the other coast to see your family!

Showing Off

This morning we had a visit from our friend Miss M, quilter extraordinaire, who brought the kiddos beautiful quilts--one with pandas, one with ladybugs (having trouble getting a good pic of this one), both in strong reds and greens (no, it doesn't look like Christmas because of the blacks and other accents)--for their 7th birthdays.  A lucky year, she said.  She, along with the other extraordinary quilter Miss M, had put together quilts for the babies at their births, piecing together squares guests at my baby shower decorated.  So special.

Then the kids, always eager to entertain visitors, started their usual show and tell.  Bud did cartwheels and headstands and then played his new tune, Au Claire de la Lune, on the keyboard.  Sis showed Miss M her Lego sets and how she fingerweaves, her new activity.  She had also helped me make what we're calling Pancake Muffins, which were extra tasty with some extra maple syrup drizzled over the top (next time, I'm thinking an actual glaze might be good).

A wonderful way to start the day . . . .

They taste better than my photo looks!

"Pancake" Muffins
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400F and grease 12-14 muffin cups or use paper liners.  Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.  In another bowl, beat the eggs until light in color and slightly thickened.  Add buttermilk, melted butter, and syrup.  Beat until just combined--batter will be lumpy.

Spoon muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Optional:  glaze with maple syrup alone or a glaze made by heating 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 1 cup powdered sugar (glaze taken from pound cake recipe by Aubrey Cook, finalist in baking contest from Martha Stewart).

recipe adapted from 500 Treasured Country Recipes by Martha Storey and Friends (they used 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon--which we forgot!--and 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans--could also be good with some oatmeal!)

Recipe Notes

Twitter-esque recipe notes for many of the kids' current easy favorite meals (sides not included--think broccoli, cauliflower, corn, fruit, cornbread) . . . 

Chicken

Gommie’s Baked Chicken with rice and gravy—15 min @ 500F then 1 c water for 1 1/2hr @ 350 or 6 hr HIGH 2 1 c water  in crockpot; gravy--4 T oil + 4 T flour + 4 c broth

Gommie’s Chicken and Dumplings—dumplings: 2 c flour, 2 t salt, 2/3 c milk, with ½ c milk added to broth

Chicken Pot Pie—crust + filling 1 hr @ 350F

Chicken Noodle/Vegetable Soup—NO tomatoes

Soy Sauce Chicken—saute chicken and flavor with soy sauce, with rice or noodles

Baked Drumsticks—marinate in soy sauce then 1 hr @ 375F

Ground Turkey

Tacos--with Goya Yellow Rice, corn,

Stroganoff—1 lb ground with sour cream and mushrooms over egg noodles

Meatloaf—1 lb ground, 1 can chicken and rice soup, cracker crumbs, ketchup/bbq sauce 1 hr @350F

Ma’s omelet—ground and scrambled egg

Pork

Smothered Pork Chops—sauteed with onions (w/water for gravy)

Pork & Sweet Potatoes—2 lb roast+ 4 sweet potatoes, garlic, 1 c broth, 1 onion @ 6 hrs LOW in crockpot

Baked Ham—325F for 1 ½+ hours

Pork and Apples—sauté pork and cook with sliced apples

Pasta

Spaghetti Pie—1 c mozz, ½ c ricotta, ¼ c parm, 10 oz. frozen broccoli, ½ lb pasta

Cauliflower Pasta—boil bow tie pasta with cauliflower florets and serve with sauce

Fettuccine with cream sauce and ham (and peas)—1 egg, 1 T milk, 1 T butter, ¼ c cheese

Breakfast for Dinner

Crepes-- 2 eggs, 1 c milk, 1 c flour, 1 T melted butter, 1 T sugar, ¼ t salt

Dutch Baby Pancakes— 2 eggs, 1 t. oil, ½ c milk, ½ c flour, 2 T sugar, ¼ t salt, ¼ t cinnamon

Pancakes—mix plus 1 egg, 1 c milk, 1 T butter

Scrambled Eggs

Other Dinners

Baked Potatoes—pierced, oiled, and salted for 1+ hr @350F (Bud won’t eat these)

Grilled Cheese

Sandwiches—ham and cheese, jelly

Broccoli Noodle Soup—onions, 6 c broth, 8 oz noodles, 2 pkg frozen broccoli, 6 c milk, 1 lb cheese

Cheese Quesadillas—flour tortillas with cheddar in oiled skillet

Processed Foods

Macaroni and Cheese (Annie’s)

Trader Joe’s frozen chicken dumplings

Frozen pot pies

Swedish Meatballs and gravy (IKEA)

Cheeseburger Macaroni (Annie’s)

Ice Cream Fun and Games

6.  Make ice cream in a roly ball.


We haven't made ice cream in our roly ice cream ball in a long time (and I can't find that original post).  Just like last time, we made vanilla ice cream and played games at the same time.  As we rolled, we named a category and came up with our favorites in it--animals, foods, movies.  Fun.  And yummy!


And, as per the LL Bean website, there are many more ice creams we can try:

Note: Most of these recipes call for half-and-half. You can substitute cream for a richer, creamier dessert. Using whole or lowfat milk (or part milk and part half-and-half) produces a lighter, lower-fat ice cream, but takes longer to freeze.

Vanilla
1 pint half-and-half
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c plus 2 T sugar

Campsite Cocoa 
1 pint half-and-half
2-3 packets instant cocoa mix

Mix ingredients thoroughly in a separate container before adding to the Ice Cream Ball.

S'mores
1 pint half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c chopped marshmallows (or mini marshmallows)
1/4 c chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars

Serve with graham crackers for dipping.

Wild Maine Blueberry 
1 1/2 c cream*
1 c wild blueberries
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c sugar

* Because of the high liquid content in the berries, we recommend using cream instead of half-and-half.

L.L. Bear's Frozen Yogurt
2 c plain yogurt
1/3 c honey
1/3 c trail mix

Maine Needham
1 pint half-and-half
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c sweetened coconut
1/4 c chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars

New England Maple Syrup
1 pint cream*
1/3 c maple syrup

* Because of the added liquid in this recipe, we recommend using cream instead of half-and-half.

Chocolate Chip
1 pint half-and-half
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars

Gingerbread
1 pint half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c plus 2 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch cloves

Coffee
1 pint half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 T instant coffee, dissolved in a small amount of hot water

Coconut
1 c half-and-half
1 c coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c plus 2 T sugar

Cookies & Cream
1 pint half-and-half
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Fruit Sorbet
1 1/2 c fruit juice
1/2 c crushed berries
sugar to taste

Peach
1 pint half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c sugar
1 medium ripe peach, sliced and pared

Add peaches after 10 minutes of mixing.

Summer Fun: A Month Left

(What's with the formatting??)


We're not quite halfway done with our list, which was intended as more of a list of ideas than of must-dos.  Which is good because time is flying by.  Sure, there is a month to go til school, but half of that month will be filled with grandparent-fun, which won't necessarily align with the list (though, Pop, we hope you grill, and Gommie flies a kite!).  


Top choices are asterisked**.

1. **Fly a kite.
2. Campout overnight downstairs.
3. Have a pj read-a-thon.
4. Fondue party.
5. A night 'round the firepit singing and making s'mores.
6. Play with one of our science kits.
7. Work on woven placemats on loom.
8. **Make paper beads.
9. Play putt-putt golf.
10. Go to a zoo.
11. Go to the arcade.
12. Go horseback riding.
13. Go to a science or natural history museum.
14. **Tie dye.
15. Have a movie marathon (Star Wars?  Miyazaki? Harry Potter?  Disney?)
16. Have an astronomy night.
17. Go birdwatching.
18. **Have a lemonade stand.
19. Do community service projects.
20. Go letterboxing.
21. Go on a sketching outing.
22. **Do a Star Wars craft.
23. Make fudge.
24. **Make sun prints.
25. Make a dance CD for a family dance party!
26. Try new grilling recipe.
27. Watch a new musical.
28. Hang pictures.

Some, like berry picking, subsequent jam making, and Solstice fell by the wayside when the windows of opportunity passed.  Or like concert-going or candle-making, just moved outside of our realm of possibilities.  Still, it's been a great list and a good summer so far--and half of it is left!

Counting Down

It's two weeks til Mama's surgery and we find our days crammed with to-dos to get ready (not only prepping the house/supplies, but also for the first weeks of school, so we're ready without last-minute rushes) as well as lots of remaining summer fun.  What there isn't is much time to blog.   But no news is good news and I'll post when it's interesting.

Summer Fun: Games Families Play

18.  Game-playing marathon.


Our first family game night in a long time, a great counterpoint to cleaning out closets and watching Olympics.


Magic Labyrinth--a wonderful, award-winning memory game where you move your piece through an invisible course with obstacles to your reaching the magic sign before your opponents.  


Slap Rat--a game Bud learned at Lego camp, played with a deck of cards equally divided and players turn over cards trying to collect as many as possible.  Face cards require another face card from opponents and you can slap "sandwiches" (A-B-A) or doubles.  You kinda have to play to get it.  I googled it to find concise rules but only see a computer game, Egyptian Rat Slap.


Phineas and Ferb card game--okay, I can't even explain this one--you're trading characters, issuing challenges (like staring contests, rock-paper-scissors), winning points through scenes (completed by collecting characters in the scenes).  And we didn't even play with the complications of Perry and Doof yet.

Beauty in our Bushes

Summer Fun: Keep Calm and Watch the Olympics

59.  Watch the Olympics.
60.  Host a culture night for England, Japan, India, Egypt, Thailand, Navajo, Ethiopia, or Carpatho-Russians.


With biscuits and candies from the European section of the regular grocery store, we spread out on the bed to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.  But we never saw the cows and sheep, only spotting the Clydesdales among the merry maypole revelers (did anyone else think Hobbits?).  I liked the four children's choirs from England, Scotland, Wales, and N. Ireland, as well as "Jerusalem." Sis and Bud enjoyed the fireworks but had a lot of questions about the Industrial Revolution--"Why would they build factories and tear up the grass?"  Indeed.  Interesting, as much as they've called it a celebration of Britain's gifts to the world (literature, music, healthcare, and industry.  And humor.), I wouldn't say the aesthetics of the factories and downtrodden workers actually made it look like a celebration of the Industrial Revolution; perhaps more an acknowledgment.  Of course, the significance of all the personages--Kenneth Brannagh, Simon Rattle, Mike Oldfield--save one, Harry Potter creator (and one of the only woman, save the hearing-impaired drummer whom we knew from "Sesame Street"), J.K. Rowling, were lost on them.  They (well, all of us) didn't get the giant baby, but we did like the focus on children's literature--but where was Winnie the Pooh?? (or Tolkien?  Or Narnia? Or Peter Rabbit?).  They found the 100' Voldemort entirely too upsetting and were glad that Mary Poppins got rid of him.  And you gotta love a country that celebrates its healthcare system, with real dancing doctors and nurses no less!  And they were good.  The kids didn't know Rowan Atkinson or "Chariots of Fire" but did appreciate his lightening up that section.  And Bud loved the fart!


Wait, I forgot to mention HRH The Queen.  But describing the mini-movie with James Bond and her very own corgis (it's been confirmed--those were her dogs and her actual page!) and especially the parachuting trick cannot be improved by my descriptions!  Talk about playing along.


We put them to bed after "Chariots of Fire" and watched the rest of it today.  Bud loved the music, though I'm not sure he cared much about the little love story.  Mama and I recognized the 80s music (No Wham!?  No Boy George?  No Elton? Much less that British creator of famous and successful musicals, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber??!!  Hopefully in the Closing Ceremony.) and some of the classics but none of the tv clips save Hugh Grant and Andie Macdowell.  Of course, we didn't know the inventor of the world wide web either (well, Mama might have).  I did like his "This is for everyone" message though--inclusive, like the rest of the ceremony.  


We raced through the parade of nations, stopping for Greece, China, Thailand, the United States, and Team GB, really liking how they planted their flags on the mock-up of Glastonbury Tor.  The speechifying and such were so-so but the torch coming in via Beckham and motor boat and then the cauldron being made of little cauldrons representing each nation was beautiful, especially being lit by young athletes!


After Paul McCartney, we began to watch some sports:  cycling road race (too bad about that crash), handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, table tennis, boxing, women's basketball, fencing (they liked that a lot), and swimming.  All while eating tasty British food we bought at the British shop a ways away:  beef and onion pies, beef and potato pies, Cornish pasties, Colliers cheddar cheese, Branston pickle, Fentiman's Rose Lemonade.  And we have a bunch more for later this fortnight, including a variety of chips (prawn, anyone?) and candy (Aero, which Sis likes).


We also pulled out our travel books and talked a bit about England--where it was, some of the history, what they might know from there.  Shakespeare was Bud's first contribution, then "the mother of Queen Elizabeth the first, who was beheaded by the man with all the wives" and "that's where the Pilgrims left from" and "They had so many taxes that the Americans left."  And "They had the Middle Ages!" There was also Robin Hood, King Arthur, Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall, castles, sheep, and discussions of my three visits there, twice with Mama.  We promised we'd try to take them there before they were 10.  I think that's when I called and left a message for you, Lambeth, my friend in England--are you going into London or staying well away for the next two weeks?


Tonight for dinner, being not very hungry, we had scones, jam, and clotted cream!  Which I prepared from a recipe from Nigella Lawson . . . while wearing my Jubilee apron!  (Bud thought I should get the tea towel that said, "Stay Calm and Drink Tea," even though he announced that he'd rather "Carry On" than "Drink Tea!")


God save the Queen!


-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Lily's Scones
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt and tbsp caster sugar if you prefer a sweeter scone
2 tsp baking soda
4 ½ tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons margarine or more butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 large egg beaten for egg wash


Preheat oven to 425F.  Sift the dry ingredients together and rub in the butter thoroughly. Add the milk and stir very briefly. Knead lightly together on a floured surface. [It's important not to overwork scone dough] Roll out to approx 1 - 1 1/4" thickness and then cut into 12 scones.  Wash with egg wash.   Bake for 10mins until wonderfully soft and slightly golden.  Best eaten warm!

Variations:  3 oz. raisins, sultanas or cherries with zest of 1/2 an orange; OR 3 oz. mature cheddar and pinch of mustard powder 

'Lily's scones' from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess
Makes 12

Congrats and Best Wishes!

To London and Lambeth, on the opening of the 2012 Summer Games!

Wishing the world a wonderful Olympics!

(And a lot less Romney!)

More Weather . . .

What a storm!  We'd been getting the Accuweather updates for hours, warning of all sorts of lightning, wind, hail (which is often like crying wolf because oftentimes recently nothing has happened).  But the sky was clear when I had to head out to PT with Mama.  Thirty minutes or so later, however, when we were leaving the sky was blackish-purple long before sundown.  Rain hadn't started so we decided to go for it.  Mistake.  The storm hit a minute or so later--blinding rain, little branches coming down, constant lightning, and that ominous green hue.  Of course, all routes home were narrow, tree-lined roads, which were concerning if something crashed; we chose the fastest but there was no place to pull over as it go bad, so we opted to keep going home.  Some of the scariest moments I've ever had in a car.  Knock on wood.

We got home just fine and found the kids and babysitter in the basement.  The kids had gotten upset and panicky, never quite forgetting that other summer storm almost exactly four years ago.  But the lightning died down somewhat and eventually we let Babysitter leave (at least for once she hadn't biked!).  Then we watched some Claymation videos on YouTube to cheer everyone up before bed.

It worked.

Summer Fun: Recently

4.  Draw and play hopscotch in the driveway.
With their babysitter . . . .


5.  Long midday bubble bath.
She's making "rose tea" and "purple drinks" in the tub right now.


7.  Draw with chalk inside and/or outside.
Again, with the babysitter . . . this and #4 are very similar.


14.  Make friendship bracelets.
Sis used her two new bracelet kits--one with beads, one with colored embroidery floss--to make several bracelets.  I even got to make a pretty purple-beaded one.


33.  Make our own bubble solution.
We compared homemade with store-bought.  Homemade bubbles are bigger and don't burst easily (and smell like Dawn!), while store-bought solution creates lots of little bubbles that burst immediately.  

Bubble Solution

1/2 cup dishwashing solution
1-2 tablespoons glycerin (available at pharmacies) or corn syrup (but this attracts bugs)
6 cups water

Mix together, age overnight, and have fun!


from the Stepping Stones museum


35.  Write to a pen pal.
Sis wrote Gommie today.

45.  Sort through books to give some away.
Slowly working our way through the kids' bookshelves to give to a local reading charity for kids with no books (where our friend Miss M.H. works).


50.  Scrapbook
Mama and the kids scrapbooked our weekend swazu last night.

53.  Make something with Sculpey.
We had a blast making some of our favorite critters--a bunny, penguin, hedgehog, and otter.  Their uncle, Goo, via Mama, introduced me to polymer clay.  He made turtles.  I made dollhouse food and little bears years ago.

  

65.  Visit an historic house or living history museum.
Plimoth and Newport.  

Learn Something New Everyday

Our dryer quit heating this morning and Sears won't be able to come out for 8 days!  But before I got hold of friends to use their dryers (thanks, Mrs. S!  And also Miss B as backup!), I decided to put some of the clothes out on the line.

Yep, kids, that rope strung across the backyard is not there just to hang up our Scottish flag and Tibetan prayer flags!

I even had clothespins . . . in the arts and craft bucket!

Sis was most interested, helping me hang up the damp clothes.

But, as the line only held about a quarter of that single load, we were grateful to go dry the rest at Mrs. S's house (where the kids were also invited to swim in the interim!).

The clothes came out bright, fresh, and stiff (Miss B helped me take them down, reminiscing not-at-all nostalgically of growing up without a dryer in Maine and hanging laundry out everyday even in winter!) and I bet there will be more clothes on our line before it's all over.

Bread Fail

It was a teachable moment on Monday:  I carefully popped the steaming loaf of fragrant banana bread out of its pan and flipped it upright when the entire center gave way--the insides were raw!  I had baked it, 15 minutes more than suggested, and even tested it for doneness twice, clean bamboo skewer!  I still don't know what happened--I guess a pocket of it didn't bake.

With Sis keening her lost banana bread, I popped what I could back in the pan, baked it another 30 minutes, and called it banana bread pudding.  All's well that ends well--we finished it off this morning!

The Pilgrimmage

Last week we looked at the forecast and it said that Saturday's high would be 75F!  We knew we had to go somewhere outdoors and ruled out Mystic and Sturbridge Village . . . then we remembered Plimoth Plantation, the trip that we keep planning and then having to cancel for health reasons.  And here we were, relatively healthy and with good weather.  So, off to Massachusetts we went for a mini-vacation.

Plimoth Plantation
I thought Plimoth Plantation was wonderful, from the recreated English village to the Wampanoag homesite, from the 17th-century food in the cafe to the children's discovery center.  But best of all were the costumed role-players who portray actual 17th-century folks, complete with one of 17 or so regional British accents!  It took a bit of practice to talk to them without referencing anything after 1627, and the kids were too shy to try, but I had several conversations with various women and men and learned so much.  We arrived just in time to talk to one of the role players who was cooking the noontime meal, dinner, in the one-room thatched houses; she was making a boiled chicken with sorrel sauce over a fire built right on the dirt floor which smoke went up the open chimney (no damper to keep rain out!).  She talked a lot about how she preferred English onions and garlic to native grown, couldn't really find uses for any native plants!   They apparently even got their butter from England!  And she didn't think much of cornmeal cakes for bread.  Other interpreters talked about how they sprinkled water on the floor to dampen down the dust but couldn't waste ox blood on it (their cattle were mainly for work--if there were no oxen, men had to to do labor--and were trying to increase the herd), though it would really seal a dirt floor; how kids didn't do a lot of the chores we think of--like hauling water or helping with cooking or milking cows--because it was too difficult or dangerous (they could milk goats, though); how they brought all their furniture over with them, which cost a fortune to pay sailors to move things so they didn't bring much, but as everyone was a farmer in the plantation (until they worked 7 years to pay off the company for their travel, etc) and couldn't practice trades, they had to get everything like furniture, flour, even clothes from England; how they were in church all Sabbath "because it's the Lord's day not the Lord's hours!"; how they said "just so" for yes and "win-e-gar" for vinegar; me as an interpreter; how they ate "sallat" of various greens and boiled egg dressed with sugar and "winegar" and oil of olive with the knives they wore attached to their belts.  Oh there was so much more but I might just bore you with recitations of pilgrim stuff.  Especially if you did read Mayflower!  I also really liked their costumes--the rough, heavy materials, the thin leather shoes that tied on, the tight white caps and high outdoor hats.  Makes my 18th-century costume look very comfortable!


We had a fun lunch in the cafe, which offers some period foods:  peppery stewed "pompion" pumpkin,  cucumbers in sugar, sauteed squash, peasecod (kinda like a colonial samosa!), stuffed quahog, Indian pudding, rosewater cheesecake with almonds and raisins, spiced Shrewsbury sugar cookie, succatash with lots of meats and corn and limas, plus fried fish, lobster roll, and modern Thanksgiving dinner plate.  


Then we visited the Wampanoag homesite.  Here, actual Native Americans, many of them descendants of the original Wampanoag, populate the village engaging in 17th-century activities while maintaining their 21st-century attitudes.  I understand the rationale behind the lack of role-playing Indians, which can be highly offensive to them.  However, many of the interpreters seemed, well, bored and pissy.  A few stressed that this was just a 9-5 job, that they appreciated that the museum tried to include them but . . .  Of course, that sounds like I wanted happy, cooperative natives, but I think what I really mean is that because most of them seemed unhappy, it reminded me of 19th-century exhibitions of native peoples for the pleasure of white Western audiences.  And that is neither pleasant nor a good precedent.  Now, it wasn't all of them:  one young man talked to the kids and I about the gauntlet he was sewing in leather for his bow arm, the mishoon they had hollowed with wood, the fishnet he would be working on again soon, the training of interpreters with the Mashantucket Pequot museum (which he had heard was closing?!).  I think he is the reason--plus the games of skill and coordination (ball and cup, catch with fur-stuffed leather bags)--that the kids liked the Wampanoag site better than the Pilgrims.  


We finished our visit at the discovery station, where Sis dressed up in pilgrim play clothes and we cooked clams and baked bread while Mama and Bud played Fox and Geese, a marble strategy game.  Oh, and we quickly went through the Thanksgiving exhibition and movie, which wasn't very meaningful to them as far as offensive stereotypes of the pre-PC era go.  At one point, Bud asked where the 3-D IMAX was, and I laughed and replied that the 3-D pilgrims were down in the village!


Plymouth
For dinner we ate at Wood's Seafood in Plymouth Harbor--it was fabulous!  Mama and Bud shared a lobster, meaning she did all the work and he ate it all (he'll still eat almost anything but potatoes).  She also had a seafood platter with scallops, shrimp, clams, etc.  And I had fried fish (because sometimes I'm not a vegetarian, especially on vacation when I don't just want mediocre iceberg salads).  We walked the wharf with ice cream from Ziggy's (Grape Nut!  Maine Black Bear!  And of course strawberry and chocolate), watching sunset and waiting for first star, which is so much later than the kids usually get to stay up

On Sunday morning, we breakfasted at the All-American Diner, which had great food--crunchy French Texas toast, buttery grilled Morning Glory muffins, corned beef hash Egg Benedicts--and the grumpiest waitress.  It was one of the themes of the day.

The Mayflower II was our first sightseeing stop and was just as informative and interesting as Plimoth Plantation.  The pilgrim in the hold, who was sewing on a poppet, told us how it was dark (windowless and candleless), airless (and they couldn't go above deck), and so scary with the storms, illness, and prospects of the new world for them. And the ship was small--smaller than the Morgan, the 19th-century whaler at Mystic!  I really don't know how they did it, though I suppose once you were on board it was too late to change your mind.

The Rock.  It's a rock.  I didn't know they'd moved it several times, breaking it in the process.  Nutsy.

Newport
So we headed home via Newport, RI, stopping first at Beavertail Lighthouse sitting on an outcropping of rocks on Narragansett Bay.  We couldn't climb the current tower but did sit on the ruins of the 18th-century tower, enjoying the breeze and the view.  We're hoping the kids get lighthouse fever like we have and made a point of showing them Rose Light, which you can actually stay in--maybe for Mama's 40th birthday!

In Newport, we had lunch at Brick Alley, which had great food but another grumpy waitress.  When she brought me the wrong bruschetta appetizer, instead of getting the right one, she tried to bring me the bits of it--raw--to cobble together my own and was shocked when twice I had to tell her that it wasn't going to work, that I wanted the dish I ordered the way it was meant to be (broiled and melted not cold and raw!).  And then she took offense!   Seriously?  I'm guessing they have a policy that she would have to pay for the mistake, which is why she tried so hard to have me take it.  It was good, though--bread with sauteed spinach and mushrooms with melted gorgonzola and walnuts and a  balsamic reduction.  Mama and Bud shared some mussels.  Bud had a lobster mac and cheese while Mama had a lobster roll.  I had a delicious lemon piccata scrod (yep, fish again).  And Sis got bacon mac and cheese.

Fortified, we drove around Newport, admiring the great colonial houses--so many and so well-preserved, but our goal was the Breakers, the Gilded-Age Vanderbilt mansion.  We got the audio tours but gave up on them pretty quickly as one headset broke and we realized we were like automatons (I know, I'm a museum educator, but I really don't like audio guides for myself.  I'd much rather have the text to go at my own pace, skip stuff, dwell where I want to).  So we took them off and I gave the tour!  I mean, I've been there before (with Mama and Gommie years ago) and seen enough Gosford Park and Downton Abbey to make sense of a great house.  Their favorite part was the dumbwaiter!  Bud wants one for our house, four of which could fit in the great hall alone.  Sis wants both an internal and external balcony.  And they liked the soccer-field sized yard for somersaults and cartwheels.

A few last notes on our wonderful weekend:

• Thank heavens for audio books, without which they'd never put up with such long car rides.  We almost had a crisis because one of our stories wasn't engaging and another had a damaged disk, leaving Little House on the Prairie as fallback.  We always travel with several.
• There were no Starbucks where we were, which was surprising.  Lots of Dunkin Donuts, though.
• Traffic was a big issue, both to get to Plymouth and just in driving around Newport.  I mean, Newport was worse than midtown NYC!
• MA coast is very quaint and picturesque and touristy and fun and historical; I'd love to go back there and visit many other places.
• Next time, we should picnic for one meal a day--it takes too much time to eat out two meals.
• Coming home late on Sunday is ok (we usually avoid it) . . . until Monday!

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