Spring Cleaning

We have been flailing in our day-to-day life again. I am getting crankier and less productive by the day. And by productive, I mean as a mother: instead of enjoying my children's company, I am viewing them as a nuisance. How can I waste these precious years with that nasty attitude?!

It is time to get radical.

For myself, this means that the computer, unless required for a particular duty, will not be turned on until the afternoon. It isn't that I am spending so much time on it, but that it affects my attitude. Having that much opportunity for information and socializing at my fingertips is the cause of much distraction and impatience in my daily life. No more.

For the children, I will be implementing more structure into our daily life. We already have Special Time in the afternoon - after lunch and before pre-nap Reading Time - which has been terrific. [Special Time is 20-30 minutes where I get down on the floor and play with Diego (and Truen, peripherally). The timer is set, so we have a definite end. Without the timer, Special Time would go on into an infinity.] Special Time has been very good for us, forcing me to set aside time for focused attention; and of course, Diego just loves it.

So that is our afternoon: lunch, Special Time, reading, nap; but mornings are a different matter. Last winter, Diego would hit the ground running after breakfast and make a bee-line for the play table in the living room and play. Play, play, play. He would play by himself while I was able to clean up the kitchen and other miscellaneous activities. But that isn't happening this winter. He has a hard time finding things to do by himself, unless it is sitting on his potty chair and reading books for a half-hour (love it). This winter he is usually pestering the baby or creating mischief of some sort or the other. It really puts a crimp on things, as I am usually unable to do much of anything due to the circumstances (and it makes me mad).

He needs something to do. He needs a directed activity for the morning, after breakfast. I've decided to call it Work Time, where he will sit at the kitchen table and do whatever he wants: cutting, painting, coloring, pasting, play-doh, whatever. This will free me up to clean up the kitchen, prep for future meals, color with him, or whatever else pops up. Truen can sit at the table too, or run around. We started it yesterday morning and it went rather well.

New House Rules:

• Work Time after breakfast
• A skipped nap will result in Quiet Time
• Half the toys will be going into storage, for rotation
• Always keep a Star Chart on the refrigerator (a tool to look for/encourage the positive)
• A "bad" day will result in keeping Diego at my side

Working towards:

• More time outside
• A more organized daily routine
• A greater emphasis on craft/art projects
• Less of a focus on ME and my varied interests
• More attention to nurturing my wee ones
• Less clutter

A lot of this has been tumbling around in my mind for the past week or so. I have been crafting my plans while staring at the ceiling in bed, until the big picture finally came together. Ultimately, if I've learned anything as a parent it is this: most of my angst is my own fault. My children act up when I am not totally present with them. Sure, I'm with them all day, but when I am distracted and intent on my own agenda, they suffer - and misbehave to get my attention. A lot of problems would be avoided by providing them more focused attention and structure throughout the day. Even though I recognize this fact, it is very hard to implement change. This is part of my strategy: to allow change to happen naturally, once the structure is in place.

I'll keep you posted.

The bill was killed

It is back to the drawing board for South Dakota. The legislators voted 32-to-33 to not "strike the not" from the Health and Human Services committee's decision of "Do not pass". It needed 36 votes to pass. In addition to few legislators being off the floor that day, there were four legislators who had committed to "striking the not" who didn't follow through.

So here begins another year for South Dakota without legal access to Certified Professional Midwives. The movement is growing stronger with each passing year, and the South Dakota legislators are going to be dealing with many people where feelings of injustice and outrage will start morphing into RAGE itself. Especially for those in their childbearing years for whom the opportunity of having their homebirth will be gone by the time it becomes legal. They have to know that this is not an issue that The People are going to back down on... Don't they?

Onward and forward.

More frothy excitement about the Home Birth Safety Act

For those with interest and access, at 2:00 pm CST today, the South Dakota House will vote whether to "strike the not" from the "Do not pass" decision from the Health and Human Services committee from last week. If they choose to "strike the not", then the Homebirth Safety Act will be immediately debated on the floor. It should be very interesting.

If you have RealPlayer installed on your computer, you can listen to it live on the 2009 Session Committees page of the South Dakota Legislature. [You know I'm going to be glued to the computer!]

Advocates are expecting for the "not" to be stricken, as the bill had to be "smoked out" [a minimum vote from the floor] to even get to this point. For some perspective, the Homebirth Safety Act, which would give SD legal access to Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), has never passed the Health and Human Services committee, nor has it been successfully "smoked out". The medical lobby is extremely strong in SD.

The fact that we are at this point this year means that (1) the grassroots campaign is gaining in numbers and strength, and (2) the legislators are starting to listen to their constituents and actively research this issue instead instantly dismissing it as "unsafe".

I listened to the Health and Human Services committee on the Homebirth Safety Act last week - the opposition presented themselves strongly, but were, at times, downright deceptive. One of the medical lobbyists gave a "fact" that 1-in-4 births have complications and should therefore take place in-hospital. What he failed to note, however, is that this is a hospital-based statistic. What this does explain is the nationwide c-section rate, which currently hovers around 30%. It has absolutely no bearing on midwife-attended homebirths. (Not to mention a very big reason why many women are choosing homebirths.)

Again, for perspective: the World Health Organization recommends a 5-10% c-section rate. This number is reasonable, and leaves room for true medical necessity. In the USA, the c-section rate for in-hospital births is 30% - more than three times the ideal. Additionally, this number has gone up 50% in the past decade. [Outrageously fishy, or what?!] Certified Professional Midwives, which are trained for the homebirth setting, have a c-section rate of 4%.

The reason for this low number is threefold: (1) Midwives work with low-risk, i.e. normal pregnancies, only. CPMs transfer care when they detect anything that moves a pregnancy out of the realm of low-risk. (2) Midwives are proponents of "natural birth". They believe in spontaneous vaginal delivery and do not induce, which often starts the domino-effect that leads to fetal distress and sectioning. Nor do they administer drugs, which can slow labor down and result in a "failure to progress". (3) Midwives are supportive throughout all of labor. They are by the side of the laboring woman, providing assistance and helping her work towards the end goal. I also believe that women in their own homes are more relaxed, which aids a gentler birth.

Ultimately, advocates for CPMs are not insisting that everyone give birth at home - they just want the option. And, outrageously, in South Dakota, people don't have the ability to choose this option. CPMs are arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for attending a birth at home. Families either (1) go it alone, or (2) cross the borders of the state to Safe Houses for a home-like birth experience. Neither of these are ideal choices.

And finally: a personal disclaimer. Because I am so enthused about this particular issue, I have found that many of my friends and acquaintances feel as if I will look down at them for choosing a hospital-birth. This is NOT the case. I am naturally exuberant and take quite quickly to championing causes I believe in. (But I don't have to tell you that...LOL) My main goal is to make sure that people know there are OPTIONS. I have talked with so many women who were upset about their experiences giving birth. It doesn't have to be like this! Do your research. Talk to your peers and elders. Know that there are choices outside of what is presented to you as a cultural norm. And then...decide for yourself.

Much love and NO JUDGEMENT from this girl...
a. borealis (aka - you know my name)

Bittersweet

I'm reading two books right now: one that has made me weep and gnash my teeth, and the other, which has made me snicker, guffaw, and feel a little dreamy. It is a good balance, one that helps my tender heart remember that life on earth is both bitter and sweet - with each extreme existing more heavily for some than others.

What is the What - Dave Eggers
Tales from Shakespeare - Charles and Mary Lamb

We had a little visitor

I think opossums are cute --

I like their long hair and pink noses.

I like their slender bare fingers,

with thumbs on both hands and feet.

I even like their tails

and their little beady black eyes --

but I don't like their teeth.

After seeing them, I can see how people

get the creeps from opossums.

But I still think they're cute.

We only see our resident opossum in the winter months.

Isn't that interesting?

I'm a Friend of libraries and sustainability

I cut my thumb with a knife last night so badly that it took 3-4 hours to stop the bleeding, with my arm in a sling and my thumb pressed against ice the entire time. Amazing. [I sliced into the top of my thumb, which is why it bled so profusely.] I was cutting up a tangelo. Bummer.

But...I'm all bandaged up and okay, though still a little bloody.

Remember all my groaning about our little town's public library? [I'm not going to link to it because I've wondered if my complaints were too snarky - but if you're really curious, they are all filed under "Rural Life".] And remember how I participated in starting, then became the president of, our local Friends of the Library group? Yes, well.

Our first official fundraiser is in week and a half: we are having a Sunday-noon Valentine Spaghetti Meal. My role will be as "Kitchen Helper", where I will be dishing up plates of food with gloves on and my hair tied back. It should be very interesting. The main cook said to expect 200 people! We are having a selection of Dazzling Desserts to lure the after-church crowds - and hope to have a small booksale on the side.

An interesting sidenote: at my insistence, we are serving the meal on ceramic dinnerplates with metal cutlery. Not only will it cost less - in the fact that we don't have to buy the supplies OR pay to throw them away - but I also am very serious about promoting a culture and atmosphere of sustainability vs. the seemingly-unquestioned current disposable culture. How will people know it is feasible if it NEVER happens? All the charitable meals "in town" use disposable table-settings, so this is really bucking the standard.

My plan has been met with everything from raised eyebrows to an exclamation of "You have GOT to be kidding me!!" Seriously. Nobody does it, so everyone thinks it is totally looney. I decided that I am going to be the Kitchen Helper to take the brunt of the dishwashing and not allow any room for complaints. (Not that I know that people will complain.) I don't mind washing dishes! And furthermore, at family gatherings I have actually discovered the JOY of washing dishes together. It can be a such a pleasure working together. This seems to be another sad victim of our culture's obsession with working less and "enjoying life more". There is great satisfaction of a job well-done, not to mention pleasure the actual act of "working". Why do we believe the contrary?

It will be interesting to see if we get any comments.

I imn't nuts

I had some major cabin fever last year - Sandy of LCCK recommended Vitamin D (as did my mother). Because of their advice, I decided to do a pre-emptive strike and have been taking a Vitamin D supplement sporadically and Cod Liver Oil everyday (CLO has vitamins A & D, and is high in omega 3's) throughout the year. Squeeze won't touch the CLO, but takes the vit. D every day. Good boy. So while I know it is only January, the weather has been -10 to -20 for the last month and because of that, we've been plenty cooped -- and I just wanted to do a little check-in and say: I'm feeling GREAT! Seriously - very optimistic, and even enjoying the endlessly snowy days. Especially the bright and sunshine-y snowy days.

The reason I brought this up is because a couple of people within the last week have inquired if I was going totally nuts, which I hadn't been thinking about at all. Not noticing that we are cooped has led me to the conclusion that I am feeling very balanced this winter, and that feels very good. In fact, I've been downright snug and happy. I think I have my Cod Liver Oil to thank. I give it to the boys as well - they clambor over each other to get their spoonful and beg for more. (We take the mint-flavored kind, which isn't very minty at all - it is actually almost a non-flavor, if that is possible.)

We have also noticed that our family has been a lot healthier this winter - any sickness we have had has been mild and fleeting, which was NOT the case last year during the cold/flu season. I've wondered if Cod Liver Oil has something to do with our total well-being. The only other difference is the eggs we are eating: our own chickens vs. store-bought. [And...I suppose I am soaking all of our grains vs. none at all. They do say that overall health lies within our gut.]

And finally, the "imn't" in this post title is a shout-out to my dear Diego, who invented the word and uses it regularly.

Brothers in the snow

Home Birth Safety Act

The legislative season has started in SD again, so much of my computer time is taken up with following and promoting and defending the Home Birth Safety Act. Last year, the state passed a bill that allows Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) to attend homebirths, which was a strong step in the right direction. (Though very disappointing at the time.)

The problem? Roughly 1% of CNMs nationwide work in a homebirth setting. The rest of CNMs practice in the hospital setting. There is one CNM in the state of SD that attends homebirths. She had been fighting for years to make it legal, and finally - in June 2008 - was able to move her practice from WY back to SD, where she lives. Bless her.

So this year, the legislature is being lobbied to take the next step: certifying Certified Professional Midwives (CPM), who specialize in homebirths. This is their realm of expertise. That is what they do: attend homebirths. You may remember last winter, when I was all whooped up about this issue. Yes?

Currently, in the state of SD, CPMs are prosecuted and jailed for attending a homebirth. SD is one of nine states who follow that path. Can you believe it? It seems outrageous, but it is true. My very own midwife, whom we worked with this last pregnancy, is from SD and has served jail-time for assisting births in a home-setting. She was arrested for "practicing medicine without a license". She now works exclusively over the MN border until the laws change. In MN, CPMs are protected through state law.

The medical lobby is very strong in SD. But the fact remains: women and their families deserve the right to choose the care provider of their choice.

Eggy Oatmeal for the Three E's

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup water and 1 egg. I'm pretty sure that I did 1 egg to 1 cup soaked steel-cut oats. I am going to try a smaller ratio tomorrow to see how it turns out.

Steel-cut oats are a whole grain, and therefore superior to rolled oats. Rolled oats are not a whole grain, though better than "instant" oats from which the nutritional value has been all but destroyed by high-heat processing. Why soak them? Like beans, soaking grains makes them more digestible, making the nutrients more available to our systems. They also cook much more quickly. The general rule for soaking oats (or brown rice, for that matter) is 7 hours. Perfect for overnight! It takes a little planning, but the amount of work is laughable.

[For more information on soaking grains, check out Nourishing Traditions from your local library. The basic run-down of nutrition and nutrient-dense foods at the beginning of the book is fascinating.]

Eggy Oatmeal

• 1-2 cups steel-cut oats
• Water to cover
• Pinch of salt
• 2-4 eggs

Directions:

• Soak steel-cut oats in filtered water overnight
• The next morning: cover with water and bring oats to a boil, then simmer on low
• Meanwhile, warm the eggs in warm/hot tap water
• Once the oatmeal is fully cooked, crack the eggs and drop them into the hot oatmeal
• Stir with a fork
• Serve with butter and honey, or butter and applesauce and yogurt

Cook's Note:

I usually make enough oatmeal to last for at least two breakfasts. The day after, I just put the oatmeal into a pot with a little water and heat it up. It saves on a lot of forethought to do this! Also, the purpose for warming the eggs is to allow them to blend better with the oatmeal. If they are cold, your Eggy Oatmeal is going to look more like fried rice.

Real Milk: curds and whey, and butter-making

I recently found a source for raw milk.  It is delicious. Diego calls it "creamy milk" and I've been drinking it with cooled earl grey tea, which makes for such a sweet and spicy treat. 

I have also been making curds and whey and have made butter with the ripened cream.  Instructions are below.

CURDS AND WHEY

1/12/12 Note: Edited for clarity and accumulated experience. This post gets so many hits that I wanted to make it more user-friendly.

Allow the raw milk sit out for 1-4 days in a bowl until the curds visibly separate from the whey. You can do this without fear of spoilage because the lactic acid in the milk breaks down the lactose and the milk will begin to ferment.

The cream will rise to the top and thicken.  Scrape (or spoon) this off the second day or so.  Underneath, the milk may look either liquid or solid.  If it is solid, your curds have started to set.

On my first attempt I was still unable to tell the difference between the curds and whey by the fourth day.  I stirred it up a bit, then saw it: the whey is a yellowish liquid and the curds are more solid and white.  If this isn't the case for you, let it sit another day or so.  The fermentation process is slower in cooler temps; conversely, the warmer it is, the quicker it will ferment.  It pays to check it each day.

When the milk has fermented sufficiently, dump the the contents into a clean dish towel secured over a large container, then hang, allowing it to drip. Don't squeeze - just let the contents hang until it stops dripping. This usually takes a couple of days and you may have to remove the accumulated whey to make room for more. The goal is to reduce the water content slowly.

Whey dripping from the curds

Once it stops dripping, you will have a container of liquid yellow whey, and in your hanging towel, solid white curds. The curds will have reduced in size and water content significantly. It is now homemade cream cheese.

Pick the lump of cream cheese off the towel and put it in a glass dish for storage.  This should keep for several weeks as-is.  Scrape the extra bits off the towel.  Put the whey in a glass jar for cold storage.  This will keep indefinitely; you will use it before it goes bad.

The reduced curds and whey

The whey can be used in conjunction with salt to ferment vegetables.  It can also be used as a preserving force to add shelf-life to homemade mayonnaise or ketchup. Or use it to soak grains and legumes, as the acidic medium to neutralize phytates, adding 1-2 tablespoons to the soaking water.

The cream cheese reminds me of goat cheese.  I've been eating it with dill flat bread . . . delicious.  It can also be added to soups or other dishes, adding a nice tang.

I followed the instructions from Nourishing Traditions to make curds and whey.

BUTTER

When the cream ripens, it looks not unlike sour cream. I put it in the blender and blended it on and off, on and off - giving it time to rest - until it thickened even more (and began to look like butter). I then scraped it out into a bowl with ice-cold water and "paddled" it with two flat wooden spoons until the water ran clear.

I salted it, and then...my, my, my...we ate it with dinner than night and it was unbelievably delicious. So soft and tasty. It beat store-bought butter hands-down. I couldn't believe it.

One-half gallon of milk yielded the equivalent of one-half stick of butter. Like my MIL said, "No wonder why butter is so expensive!"

To make the butter, I referenced The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It as well as following butter-related conversation on my Traditional Foods yahoo group.

* * * * *

A few people have recently questioned me on how I have time for experiments like these with two little ones. I have already responded to them, but I thought I would add my conclusions here as well.

First off, I do pretty much all my experimentation while Squeeze is home. Enough said.

Secondly, cooking from scratch is both a mindset and a lifestyle. It does take planning, and though I am long past the point of no return, I don't make allowances or keep processed foods in the house. Processed "food" just doesn't taste good - and there are many, many recipes that are quick and easy to make (and I keep a lot of soups on hand for last-minute eats).

Finally, I am driven by enthusiasm and curiosity. It means a lot to me to feed my family nutritionally-dense foods.  But even more than that, I enjoy eating REAL food. Junk leaves me unsatisfied and unhappy.

Diego this, Diego that - and Special Oatmeal

Diego had a quick fever-and-vomiting spell yesterday. It lasted from early afternoon through the evening, starting with complaints that his head hurt - a first. I gave him a warm bath with lavendar oil; he drank chamomille tea and had a slight temp at 100.2 and pecked at his lunch. He took an early nap and his temp was 101.7 upon wakening; then laid around listlessly and eventually threw up in early evening; and with that, his fever began to subside.

I found great comfort in my children's home health reference book: Naturally Healthy Babies and Children by Aviva-Jill Romm. Instead of feeling frazzled and mystified by his sickness, I was able approach it calmly and recognize that his fever was actually a good thing - creating an environment inhospitable to bacteria and stimulating his immune system. Perhaps some of my calmness was also afforded by experience, but I give major credit to Romm's book. It is filled with practical advice and insight, home remedies, encouragement, and best of all, it is specifically geared for children. If you have children, I highly recommend this book.

Another issue we've had recently is Diego refusing to eat eggs in any form. He says they want to make him gag. Funny, because he used to steal eggs right off my plate and beg for more. But such is the way with younglings: I'm not going to force him eat anything, though we do a form of the "No thank you bite", which I think is a terrific idea. I've read that it can take a child 12 times tasting a new food before they accept it. I find it too easy to just give up, but I've resolved to continue with asking him to take one bite of something, then being able to choose whether he will eat it or not. This kid is going to like squash (some day).

Back to eggs: I ran into the most fantastic idea this weekend. Oatmeal with eggs mixed in! I found it in Real Food for Healthy Kids, a book I have on loan from the library. It is a pretty good book, they opt for organic and even mention locally produced foods, but I cannot abide for their recommendations to keep things low-fat. Ay! Children need good fats for growing, and I cannot understand why we are still not over the outdated mantra of low-fat everything. I don't buy it. Whole milk, butter, full-fat yogurt and sour cream, olive oil, coconut oil, and yes, lard. Everyone needs fat; but especially growing kids.

Nevertheless, RFfHK was a good brain-stormer, providing lots of ideas to expand mealtime endevours. It is way too easy to get stuck in a rut. They describe the oatmeal with eggs as "custardy" and it most certainly was. I thought it even smelled a little like waffles. Eggy-oatmeal is an extra bonus for me, because I have always needed breakfast protein. The days of cold cereal always felt me feeling a little sickly and over-hungry by mid-morning. I still can't eat 'just' oatmeal for breakfast, unless I load it down with walnuts or almonds. I need the staying power of protein.

So...I soaked steel-cut oats overnight (soaking grains makes them more digestable, just like beans, and they cook up SO much faster), and warmed the eggs in the shell in tap water prior to stirring them into the fully-cooked oatmeal. Breakfast was served with bit of butter, apple sauce, and plain yogurt mixed in. I called it Special Oatmeal - Diego has a special fondness for oatmeal, so Special Oatmeal was very exciting indeed. He wolfed it down and didn't know the difference. I did tell him that Special Oatmeal has eggs mixed in - but he didn't buy it and asked for more this morning.

I am so pleased to have found a tasty way to get more good-fat and protein-packed eggs into his diet. The more I parent, the more I learn.

Untitled

I was so mesmerized by this cabbage:

I cut it open for soup this weekend

and felt sorry that I couldn't stare

at it forever

Patience as a goal, and a check-in on anger

Patience is a virtue - and one I feel that, at times, I have a tenuous grasp on. Motherhood pushes patience to the limits, of course, and that is exactly the reason why I'd like to cultivate it in my life. I suppose letting go of selfishness is part of the process, but what else? Counting to 10? Cooling off alone? Explaining yourself? These things have worked for me some of the time...

I find that there is a strange dichotomy within myself: at times, my self-control and endurance is deep, while other times...yikes...it is all I can do to control my irritation. And therefore, this very thing - growing patience within myself - is my next big personal goal, now that I am gaining ground on anger and better at understanding (and dealing with) it in my life.

Angrrrrr ---
I feel like I have done very well working towards identifying and understanding negative feelings, gut instincts, and anger flashes since reading The Dance of Anger and pondering it within my own life.

This has been huge. As a spouse, I can be a terribly frustrating person to argue with at times; because I can be very confused and confusing, with looping arguments and seemingly incongruent ideas and opinions. With a this-or-that and cut-and-dried sparring partner, spouse or otherwise, it can be a nightmare. I am learning how to say, "Hold on a minute...let me figure that out" during disagreements and better yet, to be able to mentally/emotionally grasp what I'm feeling before I open my mouth.

But best of all, instead of feeling grouchy about an upsetting feeling, say an unhappy gut reaction to something, I am learning to say to myself, "Why?" and then give myself an answer. I feel so much freedom with that: instead of paddling in a pond of confusion, I am learning to get out of the water and walk on dry land. And that, my friends, is quite refreshing.

I'm reading like a madwoman

You haven't heard from me all week because I am obsessively reading through No Logo during any and all spare time. I consider myself a fairly quick reader, but when the book is 500 pages thick, and filled with lots of gnaw on, combined with about an hour of reading time per day (more or less)...it takes a bit of time.

Bit by bit, this book is blowing my mind. It is, without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with.

2008 Booklist: Completed

• Chez Panisse Vegetables - Alice Waters
• The Heirloom Tomato From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit - Amy Goldman, Photographs by Victor Schrager
• The Read-Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease (2007 Edition)
• The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds -Amy Goldman
• Good Poems: Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor
• Sugar Blues - William Dufty
• The Music of Failure - Bill Holm
• Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance - Marthe Jocelyn
• The Read-Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease (1983 Edition)
• The Dead Get By With Everything - poems by Bill Holm
• Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy - Shoda Blumberg
• Author Talk - Compiled and Edited by Leonard S. Marcus
• Boxelder Bug Variations: A Meditation on an Idea in Language and Music - Bill Holm
• The Happiest Toddler on the Block - Harvey Karp
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health - Toni Weschler
• Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues - Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Stephen Hines
• Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Life as a Pioneer Woman - Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Stephen Hines
• Positive Discipline for Preschoolers - Nelsen, Erwin, & Duffy
• The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships - Harriet Lerner, Ph.D.
• Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom - Virginia Hamilton, Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care - Jennifer Block
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto - Michael Pollan
• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan
• Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish - Joe Mackall
• Storey's Guide to RAISING CHICKENS - Gail Damerow
• Chickens: Tending a Small-Scale Flock for Pleasure and Profit - Sue Weaver
• The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook - Sharon Kramis & Julie Kramis Hearne
• Smart Soapmaking: The Simple Guide to Making Traditional Handmade Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably, or How to Make Luxurious Handcrafted Soaps for Family, Friends, and Yourself - Anne L. Watson
• AFFLUENZA - De Graaf, Wann, & Naylor
• The Discipline Book - Sears & Sears
• Honey for a Woman's Heart - Gladys Hunt
• Good Poems: Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor

Waf-f-f-f-f-les

I have finally reached the domain of recipe-tinkering in my Kitchen Skill Set (to slang around some corporate jargon). It feels so good! My journey to 100% scratch cooking has been in process for 4-5 years now - before that, I subsisted on bagels & cream cheese with cut-up vegetables, taco salad, the occasional baked chicken breast, and spaghetti. And restaurant food, when I wanted something warm and filling.

But no more: I can cook. I can bake. I know many of the rules therein. Looking at a recipe doesn't intimidate me like it used to.

And so, this past Christmas week, when we wanted waffles for breakfast, I tinkered with a recipe from my favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman --- and ended up with a scrumptious masterpiece. I may be bragging, but they were definitely the best waffles I've ever eaten. Period.

Fabulous Whole Wheat Waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups yogurt
2 TBSP honey
2 eggs, separated
4 TBSP (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Mix the dry ingredients
• Mix the wet ingredients, holding back the egg whites
• Mix wet and dry together
• Beat the egg whites until you see soft peaks (I used my handy-dandy non-electric hand-mixer, where I actually turn the crank - it belonged to our beloved former Minneapolis neighbor, Wilburn. The amount of tools he bequeathed us is astounding, and we use them practically every day.)
• Add the airy whites gently to the batter
• Cook, eat, then smack your lips and ask for more

And to all a goodnight --

Nothing to see here

I have many things to say, but no time to write them up. It has been cold-cold-cold here, and it is so thrilling. The temps hover around zero, getting down to the negative teens at night. Everything is white. It is lovely.

My brother is on his way here as I type, to stay with us for the week. I'm looking forward to relaxed conversations, a dance party or two, and perhaps some new poetry. For Christmas last year, he wrote up a compilation of poems for each person in our family as well as the extended family on my mom's side. It was one of the best Christmas presents I've ever gotten. Memory and mood in written verse: what could be better?

Toodle-loo!

I expound

I realized today that my enthusiastic ravings about No Logo the day before yesterday might be overly vague, so I wanted to follow up with some thoughts.

I have always felt extremely affronted with the breadth and depth of marketing in our lives. It is everywhere. While I don't think it is wrong to sell a product, I do think that we have reached the maxed-out level of insanity where living in an ad-saturated environment is so normal that it doesn't even phase us anymore. Or, even worse, we don't know what life is like in any other climate than this. It is normal to be advertised at, so much so, that I think a lot of the population would ask, "What is the big deal?"

Klein talks about "branding", where the product companies sell takes second place to the allure of the image they are hawking. They are selling an aura - an essence - a lifestyle. The public is being sold a dream - the promise of greater affluence, beauty, intelligence, even creativity - by a carefully crafted media blitz. What they are selling isn't even tangible, which is what makes this book so terrific: it actually provides form to the mist-like vapor of the promise of consumerism in our lives. (Even the government tells us to spend more, as an act of patriotism.) This lie is extremely seductive for all ages and people, even those who are aware of it. No one is immune.

If you have any interest in this topic at all, No Logo is an astute cultural criticism and wickedly funny. I'm about half-way through and have found myself chortling frequently. It is well-worth the read.