No Computer Day

Yesterday, the kids had the day off from school.  I'm sure they had imagined spending a large portion of the day playing computer and video games, but to their chagrin we instituted a "NO COMPUTER DAY".  Despite major protestations, I held firm.  Even I turned off my computer for the day.  At first they didn't seem to know what to do with themselves.  They ran around being silly chasing each other for a while.  Then one of them decided to bring their big set of wooden blocks downstairs.  I thought they would build a tower and that would be that.  What started out as a simple square, transformed into a project of sibling unity.  They divided their project into sections so each person could be in charge of something.  They grabbed the Lego box and their imaginations went wild.  Alyssa the naturalist, created a forest.  Science officer Jessica, created a scanning tower and Ryan took care of all the defense systems.  It took them all afternoon but they were proud of the masterpiece they created together.  Not so bad for a day with no computer.

Kathy  

Country # 45 Chile!

Alyssa cutting the Sopaipillia dough 

Our 45th culinary adventure was Chile.  It was fabulous!  I had never tasted anything quite like these dishes. I want to thank our friends Juraj Vlahovic and Mitzi Chiple for finding the recipes for us. The  Pastel de Choclo, a Chilean version of Shepherd's Pie, was excellent.  The Sopaipillias were amazing.  It was the first time I had ever had them.  Preparing them was an experience in itself. The recipe seemed easy enough.  Just flour, cooked squash, butter, some baking soda and salt.  The squash was where the difficulty started.  It called for Zapallo squash which I found out is native to South America and similar to Hubbard squash.
I found a Hubbard squash about the same size as my head.  I figured my brand new Japanese knives would make quick work of peeling and chopping it.  I was very wrong.  Instead I battled the squash for 30 minutes before finally tossing it into the pan. After adding the flour and butter, I was surprised by how smooth and elastic the dough was.  Alyssa and I rolled it out and had fun cutting it into rounds with the top of a cup.
We fried them in a deep skillet for a couple of minutes until they were golden brown.  The result was well worth all the effort.  We ate them as soon as they came out of the pan. They were delicious dipped in a tomato sauce.  They were so good that I am cooking the rest of them tonight this time with a sweet sauce.

Check out http://foreignfoodfest.blogspot.com/  for more details on our feast.

Kathy

Motivational Help

When my daughters were little we used a sticker chart for motivation. We put a nice new sticker under their name each time they picked up their toys, or when they spoke up to adults instead of freezing in shyness.  Surprisingly, this worked well for quite a while. They were happy to do something a little difficult to earn a special sticker.  One time at a Christmas party they went around hand in hand to each table. They said "Hi" to everyone. (Most of the guests were retired couples living in our downtown apartment building and they were thrilled to be approached by two little girls in their Christmas finery.)  The girls spoke to so many people that we filled up their whole page with stickers.  They were so proud of themselves.  We were proud of them too.  

Fast forward to today.  Now they are teenagers.(Well one is 12 but that's close enough!)  In the age of i-pods, i-pads and I-everything, a simple sticky piece of paper with a princess on it doesn't quite do it. I was in a quandary.  How do I motivate them to practice piano, work on extra algebra problems or do their chores on time? Nagging didn't work, that frustrated all of us.... and nothing was accomplished by asking nicely.  I decided to implement Sticker Chart 2.011 (it's the updated version).  I can't say it's working perfectly. There are still a few bugs I'm trying to fix, but we are headed in the right direction.  Of course we don't use stickers and it's not posted on the refrigerator. They helped me design the new system. We made a simple spread sheet with all the items they need to complete in a week and I award points if they are done.  At the end of the week, if they have enough points we can all go out to a movie, go out to dinner, or do some other family friendly activity.  They also have the option to save their points, and use them instead on a family vacation of their choosing.  There is one catch, we made up 10 levels.  Each level requires more work to earn points than the last.  For example 1/2 hour of piano practice earns 10 points in the 1st level but you need 45 minutes in the 2nd level to earn 10 points.  Here's where sibling rivalry comes in handy.  They want to beat each other to the highest level.  We've had this in place now for 3 weeks and they are already accomplishing more than before. With no nagging!  YEAH!  Hopefully our progress will continue.  Now I just need to motivate myself to work on those sit-ups.

Kathy

So Many Books...

Almost more than he can hold

Libraries are amazing to me.  There is something special about being surrounded by books.  Old or new, it doesn't matter.  I always start looking in the new books section, then I meander to the older collections.  By the time I reach the last shelf, I usually have chosen more books than I can carry which is also quite a bit more than I can read in three weeks.  But at this point my thirst for the knowledge hidden inside these precious pages overcomes me and I check them out anyway.
My kids are the same.  My daughters grab as many  YA novels and biographies as they can find.  My son never really wants to go to the library, but his eyes light up when he sits among the stacks of brightly colored picture books...and then he wants to bring them all home.
I wonder what it would have been like to visit the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt....I think papyrus scrolls were lighter than books.

Kathy

A Morning Blessing

A morning blessing

Why should a simple flower give so much pleasure?  I awoke this morning to a burst of orange coming from my hibiscus, lighting my spirit like the sunrise.  I smiled.  I took a moment to infuse its beauty into my soul. Then I started my day getting the kids ready for school.  The craziness after a long break had begun again, but nature's little blessing helped keep everything in perspective.

Kathy

Delicious Danish New Year

We ended 2010 with a Danish Food Fest.  I made Roast Duck with Red Wine and Prunes, Braised Red Cabbage, and Rice Pudding with Warm Cherry Sauce.
It was my first time ever roasting a duck.  This presented a few problems.  It  is a lot like making a tiny turkey.  I didn't realize until it was slightly too late that the fatty skin should be pricked to let the fat drain as it cooks.   I found out later this helps make the skin crispy. I ended up overcooking it a little but the wine/prune sauce took care of any dryness.  My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.  The kids were a little more picky.  Ryan tried one bite of duck and decided it was not for him (he's not really a meat eater unless it's steak).  Jessica has problems with any long stringy cooked veggie so her cabbage was carefully pushed to the far reaches of her plate.  Poor Alyssa, my usual kitchen helper, wasn't feeling good so she didn't eat anything and just went to bed.  The rice pudding, which in Denmark is called ris a l'amande, went over much better.  All in all we enjoyed our culinary trip through a traditional Danish feast.  Check out foreignfoodfest.blogspot.com for more details on the recipes.

Kathy

Happy 2011!

Photo by Alyssa

Wow, I can't believe how fast 2010 went.  It seems that as I get older time speeds up.  I remember as a kid I used to think a whole year was a really long time.  It is still the same number...365 days...  why does it seem so short now?
Happy New Year

Kathy