I can't believe I forgot. Yesterday we went to Animal Control and picked out two cats to adopt! Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to fill out the paperwork before they closed, so Dean returned on his lunch hour today to hand in the paperwork and bring them home (while I dashed from dentist to home to have lunch and see kitties and then to doctor). One is between 1 and 2 years old and the other is 2 to 3 years old. A dainty little brown tabby and a medium-sized tortoiseshell. Both free, since there are so many cats there. And their names (we think): Lucy and Florence. (But Amirah insists their names are Betty and Florence.) Both are very unassuming and sweet and happily moved in. Not sure when they'll meet the chickens. :)
And can I just say... the roasted berbere (Moroccan spicy herbs!) chick peas I'm munching are one of my favorite snacks. WOW. Made them myself. We like roasted chick peas (just roast cooked chick peas at 450 until crunchy), but I'd never put this wonderful cayenne-y berbere mix I made on it. Oh, YUM.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
What a Fun Week!
And it's only Monday (??!?!!).
For several days now I've just been feeling particularly... hummy! I love having different projects happening. :)
Here's what's been going on:
•We're all finally up to date with doctor and dentist visits. Hooray! It feels like we've had an appointment or two for months for one reason or another.
•Two thirds of our fruit trees arrived today. We need to find out if we can plant them now, with preparations for keeping them warm if it freezes (one suggestion I found was to string them with holiday lights - FUN!). Or we'll just keep them potted until after danger of freezing has passed (mid-February).
•I (finally) got around to ordering yogurt culture and was THRILLED to learn that now my usual suppliers are kosher-certified for repackaging. Hooray! That means I can order just the amount I need. So while I was at it, I got yogurt culture, rennet and citric acid for mozzarella-making (thereby gleefully lopping $100 off my co-op order), and a small "try-it" kit for making two small bries and two small bleu cheeses for $7. I'm so excited! Mozzarella cheese is the highest-yielding cheese and you can get between 3/4 and 1 pound of cheese from a gallon of milk. So cheese will cost $3–4/lb instead of $5.19/lb. And basic mozzarella is pretty easy to make (though you can make fancier, more involved mozzarella too!). I'll b'n post the easy recipe I've used before... Now I have visions of a cheese-curing fridge (just alter a regular, probably small, fridge and keep the humidity high. Eventually I want to try hard cheeses too...
•I am realizing that paint stripping is much more difficult than I had imagined! The paint on our kitchen cupboards has many layers, the oldest probably being 50+ years old. In other words, stubborn. Aargh. Oh, well. I'm in no rush. The plan is to strip the cupboards, paper bag decoupage the insides, paint the outsides, paint the counters with Rustoleum counter paint, and do the floor in paper bags. I only have about 5 hours per week to devote to it. It will take a while (60–80 hours?), but eventually it will be done! It really is fun. Especially the part about it costing less than $300 to redo the whole kitchen... Please, hashem!
AND OUR LEARNING...
•Amirah has, at last, finished 2nd grade math and we are going to be zooming into 3rd grade. If we keep to the same pace we have been we *should* be caught up by July-ish. The important thing is that she understand the concepts before moving on, and I'm so glad we finally found Math Mammoth for her. It has worked SO much better than any other math curriculum. It's worked well for all the other kids too.
•Amirah has finished Lech Lecha!!!! We spent a lot of time there, having not skipped any of it. Her reading has gotten much faster, and her ability to translate is pretty good. There have been generally only one or two words in a pasuk (verse) that totally stumps her. Vayera, here we come! Avraham and Yishmael just got circumcised, and Sarah is about to find out she'll give birth to Yitzchak when she is 90 years old. I love our chumash time. I think it's the highlight of my day. The other highlight is on those days here and there when ALL FOUR children are davening together, out loud. And we love, love, love L'shon Hatorah. What a great grammar book, and not overwhelming in the least. I did decide to really plow through L'shon Hatorah to help our chumash studies. My original plan was to do 3 days of LHT/2 days of Rashi. But I've decided to do 5 days of LHT so we can finish by pesach, then we'll do Rashi after that. Learning the script won't take too long, and I've been reading many Rashis out loud to her as we go through the text. I think that will put us in pretty good shape by summer.
•Raizel has finished another level of Hebrew in Aleph Champ. She's starting Level 5 (of 8), and Eli is almost done with Level 5. Raizel should finish it in about two months. After Level 5, they're ready to start chumash (the first seven days of creation!). For efficiency's sake I'll probably have Eli wait about six weeks so they can start chumash together. Exciting!
•Eli is happily zooming through 2nd grade math. Concepts that Amirah really struggles/struggled with are second nature to him. He often pipes up with the answers to her math problems without skipping a beat! :) She takes it in good stride. He's in the second grade Handwriting Without Tears and very happy with that. Explode the Code 4 has him very fired up reading and writing lots of compound words right now. He also started spontaneously reading whole books. So Raizel did too! They both like to sit in the kitchen and read various Dick and Jane stories to me. Eli is very happy with his Hebrew too. He's overall just very enthusiastic about all of his learning.
•Raizel's most striking skill right now is her beautiful printing. She's using a 2nd grade book now too (Zaner-Bloser). Her fine-motor skills have always been excellent. She makes the daintiest, most intricate little drawings. Her writing really is better than both Eli's and Amirah's. Everything else is great - Hebrew, Writing With Ease (w/Eli), Explode the Code 2, grammar (1st grade), English reading, everything... She's a smart little cookie.
That's just a rough, hitting-the-highlights summary. Lots of blanks, but it's good for me to write it all down for my own memory.
For several days now I've just been feeling particularly... hummy! I love having different projects happening. :)
Here's what's been going on:
•We're all finally up to date with doctor and dentist visits. Hooray! It feels like we've had an appointment or two for months for one reason or another.
•Two thirds of our fruit trees arrived today. We need to find out if we can plant them now, with preparations for keeping them warm if it freezes (one suggestion I found was to string them with holiday lights - FUN!). Or we'll just keep them potted until after danger of freezing has passed (mid-February).
•I (finally) got around to ordering yogurt culture and was THRILLED to learn that now my usual suppliers are kosher-certified for repackaging. Hooray! That means I can order just the amount I need. So while I was at it, I got yogurt culture, rennet and citric acid for mozzarella-making (thereby gleefully lopping $100 off my co-op order), and a small "try-it" kit for making two small bries and two small bleu cheeses for $7. I'm so excited! Mozzarella cheese is the highest-yielding cheese and you can get between 3/4 and 1 pound of cheese from a gallon of milk. So cheese will cost $3–4/lb instead of $5.19/lb. And basic mozzarella is pretty easy to make (though you can make fancier, more involved mozzarella too!). I'll b'n post the easy recipe I've used before... Now I have visions of a cheese-curing fridge (just alter a regular, probably small, fridge and keep the humidity high. Eventually I want to try hard cheeses too...
•I am realizing that paint stripping is much more difficult than I had imagined! The paint on our kitchen cupboards has many layers, the oldest probably being 50+ years old. In other words, stubborn. Aargh. Oh, well. I'm in no rush. The plan is to strip the cupboards, paper bag decoupage the insides, paint the outsides, paint the counters with Rustoleum counter paint, and do the floor in paper bags. I only have about 5 hours per week to devote to it. It will take a while (60–80 hours?), but eventually it will be done! It really is fun. Especially the part about it costing less than $300 to redo the whole kitchen... Please, hashem!
AND OUR LEARNING...
•Amirah has, at last, finished 2nd grade math and we are going to be zooming into 3rd grade. If we keep to the same pace we have been we *should* be caught up by July-ish. The important thing is that she understand the concepts before moving on, and I'm so glad we finally found Math Mammoth for her. It has worked SO much better than any other math curriculum. It's worked well for all the other kids too.
•Amirah has finished Lech Lecha!!!! We spent a lot of time there, having not skipped any of it. Her reading has gotten much faster, and her ability to translate is pretty good. There have been generally only one or two words in a pasuk (verse) that totally stumps her. Vayera, here we come! Avraham and Yishmael just got circumcised, and Sarah is about to find out she'll give birth to Yitzchak when she is 90 years old. I love our chumash time. I think it's the highlight of my day. The other highlight is on those days here and there when ALL FOUR children are davening together, out loud. And we love, love, love L'shon Hatorah. What a great grammar book, and not overwhelming in the least. I did decide to really plow through L'shon Hatorah to help our chumash studies. My original plan was to do 3 days of LHT/2 days of Rashi. But I've decided to do 5 days of LHT so we can finish by pesach, then we'll do Rashi after that. Learning the script won't take too long, and I've been reading many Rashis out loud to her as we go through the text. I think that will put us in pretty good shape by summer.
•Raizel has finished another level of Hebrew in Aleph Champ. She's starting Level 5 (of 8), and Eli is almost done with Level 5. Raizel should finish it in about two months. After Level 5, they're ready to start chumash (the first seven days of creation!). For efficiency's sake I'll probably have Eli wait about six weeks so they can start chumash together. Exciting!
•Eli is happily zooming through 2nd grade math. Concepts that Amirah really struggles/struggled with are second nature to him. He often pipes up with the answers to her math problems without skipping a beat! :) She takes it in good stride. He's in the second grade Handwriting Without Tears and very happy with that. Explode the Code 4 has him very fired up reading and writing lots of compound words right now. He also started spontaneously reading whole books. So Raizel did too! They both like to sit in the kitchen and read various Dick and Jane stories to me. Eli is very happy with his Hebrew too. He's overall just very enthusiastic about all of his learning.
•Raizel's most striking skill right now is her beautiful printing. She's using a 2nd grade book now too (Zaner-Bloser). Her fine-motor skills have always been excellent. She makes the daintiest, most intricate little drawings. Her writing really is better than both Eli's and Amirah's. Everything else is great - Hebrew, Writing With Ease (w/Eli), Explode the Code 2, grammar (1st grade), English reading, everything... She's a smart little cookie.
That's just a rough, hitting-the-highlights summary. Lots of blanks, but it's good for me to write it all down for my own memory.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Vine Borers... Grrrrr...
Vine borers were our biggest nemesis in the garden in 2011. They completely destroyed all of our summer squash and a few of our cucumbers. The mother of the squash vine borer is the hawk moth. She lays her eggs near the base of a stem of a cucurbit (melon, squash, pumpkin, cucumber). When flying around, she flies and behaves a bit bee-like so no one realizes they are actually a moth. In retrospect I did see several of these flying around but didn't think much about them!
When the egg hatches, the caterpillar burrows into the stem and eats it from the inside.
The first evidence of vine borers is matter called frass that looks like sawdust protruding from along the stem. There are a few ways to do them in. You can poke needles through the stem until you find the offender and kill it (bleah). You can re-bury the stem at various points along the vine and it will grow roots. So even if the vine borer is digesting part of it, it can still get nutrients from the soil. Or you can use this nifty trick I learned—when the plant is young (6+ inches long) you can take toilet paper or paper towel roll and cover the base of the stem. It's apparently pretty effective at discouraging the vine borers from digging in. You can bet these will be all over our garden this year! I read elsewhere that nylons can work too. I'll be saving these as they expire both for this use and for holding heavy fruits on trellises as needed. I'm hoping (please, Hashem!) to get to complain about how I have zucchini coming out my ears. :)
Really enjoying this southern gardening thing, but I feel like I continually have whiplash.
When the egg hatches, the caterpillar burrows into the stem and eats it from the inside.
The first evidence of vine borers is matter called frass that looks like sawdust protruding from along the stem. There are a few ways to do them in. You can poke needles through the stem until you find the offender and kill it (bleah). You can re-bury the stem at various points along the vine and it will grow roots. So even if the vine borer is digesting part of it, it can still get nutrients from the soil. Or you can use this nifty trick I learned—when the plant is young (6+ inches long) you can take toilet paper or paper towel roll and cover the base of the stem. It's apparently pretty effective at discouraging the vine borers from digging in. You can bet these will be all over our garden this year! I read elsewhere that nylons can work too. I'll be saving these as they expire both for this use and for holding heavy fruits on trellises as needed. I'm hoping (please, Hashem!) to get to complain about how I have zucchini coming out my ears. :)Really enjoying this southern gardening thing, but I feel like I continually have whiplash.
Spring/Summer Planting Dates
This matters only to fellow Savannahians, but I calculated all the spring planting dates and thought it would be useful to store it here. It doesn't include any vegetables we don't eat. :)
1/1
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
lettuce
onion
peas
1/8
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
lettuce
onion
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/15
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/22
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/29
asparagus
beets
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onion
peas
potatoes
spinach
2/5
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onion
potatoes
spinach
2/12
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
2/19
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
2/26
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
3/4
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
cauliflower
corn
watermelon
3/11
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
cauliflower
corn
tomatoes
watermelon
3/18
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
3/25
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/1
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/8
bush beans
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/15
bush beans
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
watermelon
4/22
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
4/29
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
zucchini
5/6
canteloupe
corn
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/13
canteloupe
corn
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/20
canteloupe
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/27
canteloupe
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
6/3
pumpkins
6/10
pumpkins
That's for all the spring/summer crops. I'll work on the fall planting dates later, b'n. The original dates came from the University of Georgia in Athens, but since Savannah's last frost is two weeks earlier than in Athens I moved all the dates up by two weeks.
We've got work to do!!!!!
1/1
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
lettuce
onion
peas
1/8
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
lettuce
onion
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/15
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/22
asparagus
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
peas
potatoes
spinach
1/29
asparagus
beets
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onion
peas
potatoes
spinach
2/5
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
onion
potatoes
spinach
2/12
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
2/19
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
2/26
asparagus
beets
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
collards
kale
lettuce
onions
potatoes
spinach
3/4
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
cauliflower
corn
watermelon
3/11
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
cauliflower
corn
tomatoes
watermelon
3/18
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
3/25
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/1
bush beans
pole beans
beets
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/8
bush beans
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
4/15
bush beans
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
okra
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
watermelon
4/22
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
peppers
sweet potatoes
zucchini
4/29
pole beans
canteloupe
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
zucchini
5/6
canteloupe
corn
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/13
canteloupe
corn
peppers
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/20
canteloupe
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
5/27
canteloupe
sweet potatoes
pumpkins
6/3
pumpkins
6/10
pumpkins
That's for all the spring/summer crops. I'll work on the fall planting dates later, b'n. The original dates came from the University of Georgia in Athens, but since Savannah's last frost is two weeks earlier than in Athens I moved all the dates up by two weeks.
We've got work to do!!!!!
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Menu
Again, shabbos. B"H! I'm just not sure where the rest of the week went. Here's the plan!
For dinner:
challah
teriyaki salmon
whipped butternut squash
mashed potatoes
roasted sweet and sour mushrooms
roasted zucchini and carrots
homemade butter
pumpkin cheesecake
sugar cookies (by Amirah)
(Haven't had a shabbos dairy meal in AGES!)
And for lunch:
challah
sushi (surimi/avocado/cucumber and sweet potato/omelet/spinach)
baba ghanouj
bbq sauced chicken wings
cabbage apple slaw
rice sausage salad
cucumber tomato onion salad
pumpkin kugel
barley mushroom tomato stew
carrot salad
roasted pears
cake (from guest)
pareve ice cream (from a different guest)
and lots of wines (from two other guests)
We're having a lot of guests. :)
For dinner:
challah
teriyaki salmon
whipped butternut squash
mashed potatoes
roasted sweet and sour mushrooms
roasted zucchini and carrots
homemade butter
pumpkin cheesecake
sugar cookies (by Amirah)
(Haven't had a shabbos dairy meal in AGES!)
And for lunch:
challah
sushi (surimi/avocado/cucumber and sweet potato/omelet/spinach)
baba ghanouj
bbq sauced chicken wings
cabbage apple slaw
rice sausage salad
cucumber tomato onion salad
pumpkin kugel
barley mushroom tomato stew
carrot salad
roasted pears
cake (from guest)
pareve ice cream (from a different guest)
and lots of wines (from two other guests)
We're having a lot of guests. :)
Gardening!
We've been working hard on the garden in the small cracks of time available. We've nearly got a plastic-covered hoop up over our 32' x 5' bed to grow our seedlings. The wood chips from the former trees are starting to smell like sweet growing dirt. We found someone with a dump truck who might be able to get a (HUGE!) load of compost for us. The compost is free from the city, so we'll just pay the cost of transport. The fence panels that we bought many months ago have turned out be so very useful for everything but a fence. We're so glad to have them! They made a first-rate roof for the coop, and now they're making fantastic raised beds all around the garden.
Last night I wrote out our whole planting schedule, which took some doing since Savannah's weather is quite different from the rest of Georgia for which readily-available planting schedules are made. We have to start spring/summer veggies about three weeks sooner and fall/winter veggies about two weeks later. My oh my, was I surprised to discover that our busiest planting weekend will be the last weekend in January! And the bulk of this is direct-seeding the vegetables, not starting them indoors or under cover. So, we've got to hurry up and get those beds done! No rest for the weary in Savannah's 11-1/2 month growing season!
Last night I wrote out our whole planting schedule, which took some doing since Savannah's weather is quite different from the rest of Georgia for which readily-available planting schedules are made. We have to start spring/summer veggies about three weeks sooner and fall/winter veggies about two weeks later. My oh my, was I surprised to discover that our busiest planting weekend will be the last weekend in January! And the bulk of this is direct-seeding the vegetables, not starting them indoors or under cover. So, we've got to hurry up and get those beds done! No rest for the weary in Savannah's 11-1/2 month growing season!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Seed & Tree Order
Here's what's in the mail for us!
TREES
2 mandarins
1 Meyer lemon
2 pineapple guavas
2 paw paws
6 kiwis
1 fig
1 pomegranate
1 hazelnut
1 almond
1 quince
1 Methley plum
2 persimmons
1 mulberry tree
1 kumquat
SEEDS (some here; some in the mail)
winter squashes (Banana Pink Jumbo, Red Kuri, Tromboncino, Hunter Butternut)
beans (Negreta, Pinto, Scarlet Runner, Disoy Soybeans)
eggplant (Nubia, Long Purple)
greens (Mesclun, Bibb, Parris Island Romaine, Arugula, Malabar Spinach, Basil)
peppers (Jalapeño, Rainbow Mix Bell Peppers)
tomatoes (Better Boy, Big Boy, Brandywine, Supersweet 100)
peas (Melting Sugar Snow Peas, Super Sugar Snap)
beets (Cylindra, Early Tall Top)
cucumber (Boston Pickling, Lemon)
tomatillo (Purple)
watermelon (Georgia Rattlesnake)
bok choy
broccoli
cabbage (Chinese; everything else is really cheap at the store)
carrots (A#1, Danvers, Nantes Half Long, Short 'n' Sweet)
cauliflower
sugar pumpkins
ALREADY IN THE GARDEN:
onions
shallots
garlic
collards
cabbage
broccoli
mustard
lots of herbs
IN THE WORKS:
asparagus crowns
ginger
horseradish
lemongrass
mint
and enough strawberries for 100+ square feet!
We'll have our work cut out for us! Got great prices on seeds, and it should be enough for two years.
TREES
2 mandarins
1 Meyer lemon
2 pineapple guavas
2 paw paws
6 kiwis
1 fig
1 pomegranate
1 hazelnut
1 almond
1 quince
1 Methley plum
2 persimmons
1 mulberry tree
1 kumquat
SEEDS (some here; some in the mail)
winter squashes (Banana Pink Jumbo, Red Kuri, Tromboncino, Hunter Butternut)
beans (Negreta, Pinto, Scarlet Runner, Disoy Soybeans)
eggplant (Nubia, Long Purple)
greens (Mesclun, Bibb, Parris Island Romaine, Arugula, Malabar Spinach, Basil)
peppers (Jalapeño, Rainbow Mix Bell Peppers)
tomatoes (Better Boy, Big Boy, Brandywine, Supersweet 100)
peas (Melting Sugar Snow Peas, Super Sugar Snap)
beets (Cylindra, Early Tall Top)
cucumber (Boston Pickling, Lemon)
tomatillo (Purple)
watermelon (Georgia Rattlesnake)
bok choy
broccoli
cabbage (Chinese; everything else is really cheap at the store)
carrots (A#1, Danvers, Nantes Half Long, Short 'n' Sweet)
cauliflower
sugar pumpkins
ALREADY IN THE GARDEN:
onions
shallots
garlic
collards
cabbage
broccoli
mustard
lots of herbs
IN THE WORKS:
asparagus crowns
ginger
horseradish
lemongrass
mint
and enough strawberries for 100+ square feet!
We'll have our work cut out for us! Got great prices on seeds, and it should be enough for two years.
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Menu
Ah, shabbos. Early to bed tonight! Snore... :)
For dinner:
challah
beef roast in homemade bbq sauce
roasted balsamic sweet potatoes
roasted potatoes
mixed roasted vegetables
arugula pesto pasta (the garden currently has a nice arugula patch)
roasted beets
peach cake
And for lunch:
challah
liver puff pastry rolls (I called them liver puffs, but no one but me seemed to think that sounded delicious; I LOVE liver in any form...)
pastrami deli meat
spinach/mandarin/almond salad
arugula pesto pasta
apple coleslaw
beanless cholent (AKA not-cholent; we usually have beans a few times a week, so I just can't eat them on shabbos too)
homemade kishke
peach cake
For dinner:
challah
beef roast in homemade bbq sauce
roasted balsamic sweet potatoes
roasted potatoes
mixed roasted vegetables
arugula pesto pasta (the garden currently has a nice arugula patch)
roasted beets
peach cake
And for lunch:
challah
liver puff pastry rolls (I called them liver puffs, but no one but me seemed to think that sounded delicious; I LOVE liver in any form...)
pastrami deli meat
spinach/mandarin/almond salad
arugula pesto pasta
apple coleslaw
beanless cholent (AKA not-cholent; we usually have beans a few times a week, so I just can't eat them on shabbos too)
homemade kishke
peach cake
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Paper Bag Floors
A few days ago I was racking my brain about what to do about our kitchen. The paint on the cupboards started peeling a few weeks after we moved in. The former owners had just slapped down latex over oil without preparing the surface. In addition, the floors in the kitchen and dining room are bleah. On a lark, I entered "alternative flooring" in a search engine. After looking at a few other things, I stumbled on paper bag flooring and fell in love. It's beautiful!
This afternoon I set to work to make a couple of samples. I took a paper bag, tore it into pieces and glued it to a scrap board with a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's glue and water. After it dried, I painted it with a pecan stain polyurethane. I only did one coat for this. If I actually do the floor, I would use three. I meant to paint half the board with a clear polyurethane and half with the tinted one, but I forgot. It's a little darker than I want, but I sure love the idea. Here are some pictures:
And here's a sample I mocked up using light green stationary. It's a good bit lighter and greener on the original!
Doesn't it look wonderful???
We also learned tonight that the paint on our cupboards does NOT contain lead. Phew! Now I can have fun with that too. I'd like to use paint stripper outside on all the cabinet doors, then either sand and paint the interiors, or sand and decoupage (like above) them. I'm thinking of maybe a light gray paper floor (I know, sounds crazy!), light pink cabinet interiors, pewter gray counter paint on the counters, and bright white everywhere else (walls and cupboards). Or??? I'm sure I'll rethink it quite a few times, but I am having so much fun pondering the possibilities... I think the paper bag effect is nothing short of amazing.
Meanwhile, we're making oodles of plans for the garden. Hundreds of starts to plant in a couple of weeks, hopefully under a plastic rowcover on top of a layer of black plastic. Right now I'm facing a dizzying job of trying to estimate how much of a particular vegetable we'll want (for fresh eating? frozen? can it be canned?), researching what a typical yield per row foot is, and figuring out how much we have to order or, if we already have the seeds, if it is enough. OY! At the same time, I'm making a plan to group our crops and map out a sensible crop rotation so diseases and pests don't develop. It's a little overwhelming to plan it all out. But how fun! 1,000+ square feet of veggies. That's triple what we did last year. Like an e-ride at Disneyland, if anyone remembers those tickets. :)
Back to planning and plotting...
This afternoon I set to work to make a couple of samples. I took a paper bag, tore it into pieces and glued it to a scrap board with a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's glue and water. After it dried, I painted it with a pecan stain polyurethane. I only did one coat for this. If I actually do the floor, I would use three. I meant to paint half the board with a clear polyurethane and half with the tinted one, but I forgot. It's a little darker than I want, but I sure love the idea. Here are some pictures:
And here's a sample I mocked up using light green stationary. It's a good bit lighter and greener on the original!
Doesn't it look wonderful???
We also learned tonight that the paint on our cupboards does NOT contain lead. Phew! Now I can have fun with that too. I'd like to use paint stripper outside on all the cabinet doors, then either sand and paint the interiors, or sand and decoupage (like above) them. I'm thinking of maybe a light gray paper floor (I know, sounds crazy!), light pink cabinet interiors, pewter gray counter paint on the counters, and bright white everywhere else (walls and cupboards). Or??? I'm sure I'll rethink it quite a few times, but I am having so much fun pondering the possibilities... I think the paper bag effect is nothing short of amazing.
Meanwhile, we're making oodles of plans for the garden. Hundreds of starts to plant in a couple of weeks, hopefully under a plastic rowcover on top of a layer of black plastic. Right now I'm facing a dizzying job of trying to estimate how much of a particular vegetable we'll want (for fresh eating? frozen? can it be canned?), researching what a typical yield per row foot is, and figuring out how much we have to order or, if we already have the seeds, if it is enough. OY! At the same time, I'm making a plan to group our crops and map out a sensible crop rotation so diseases and pests don't develop. It's a little overwhelming to plan it all out. But how fun! 1,000+ square feet of veggies. That's triple what we did last year. Like an e-ride at Disneyland, if anyone remembers those tickets. :)
Back to planning and plotting...
Monday, December 26, 2011
Weekday Menus
Sunday: OUT!
Monday: fish cakes, salad, baked potatoes
Tuesday: shabbos leftovers (salad, rice w/pareve sour cream, cabbage rolls)
Wednesday: hamburgers and taco salad
Thursday: pancakes and omelets
Monday: fish cakes, salad, baked potatoes
Tuesday: shabbos leftovers (salad, rice w/pareve sour cream, cabbage rolls)
Wednesday: hamburgers and taco salad
Thursday: pancakes and omelets
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Menu
Ahhhh, shabbos again. B"H!
For dinner:
challah
cabbage rolls w/homemade bbq sauce
baked chicken (for the non-cabbage roll eaters)
mashed potatoes
green salad
roasted cauliflower
roasted carrots
a dessert assortment
And for lunch:
challah
Mexican-flavored beef cholent
meat tacos w/pareve sour cream, veggies, etc.
lime cilantro coleslaw
guacamole, salsa, chipa
green salad
a dessert assortment
Good shabbos, all!
For dinner:
challah
cabbage rolls w/homemade bbq sauce
baked chicken (for the non-cabbage roll eaters)
mashed potatoes
green salad
roasted cauliflower
roasted carrots
a dessert assortment
And for lunch:
challah
Mexican-flavored beef cholent
meat tacos w/pareve sour cream, veggies, etc.
lime cilantro coleslaw
guacamole, salsa, chipa
green salad
a dessert assortment
Good shabbos, all!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Music Joke
I enjoyed this one! :)
C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "sorry, but we don't serve minors." So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight." E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "you're looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development. " Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural. Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correction facility.
C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "sorry, but we don't serve minors." So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight." E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "you're looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development. " Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural. Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correction facility.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Library Experience
I have been experiencing some frustration with our local library. Some of the issues have been:
• a lack of many of the books (mostly historical fiction) that I would love access to for our homeschooling
• the fact that they hold books you reserve for only 5 days (which means if you go to the library once a week, you need to make a special trip to get your holds before they disappear)
• my account being frozen more than once for reasons that made no sense, cutting off my ability to reserve books
• the $2 they charge for sending out a late notice
• the limit of 2 renewals per book, instead of just continuing to renew it for as long as you need it (assuming no one else needs it); you can bring it in to show the librarian and then renew it again, but sometimes I just want to renew it again (and again) until it gets un-misplaced (doo-dee-doo)
• the prize drawing for the Winter Reading Program was for a gift certificate to a video game store (WHAT?!?!!??!!!!)
In the e-mail I sent requesting to have my account unlocked a few weeks ago I mentioned a couple of these things that were making the library (one of my favorite destinations normally!) a less friendly place to visit. My account got fixed right away (they are terrific at responding to e-mail requests), and they said they would forward my comments to the branch manager.
Yesterday evening, I popped in for a few minutes just to pick up some holds. The man at the checkout desk had a badge that identified him as the associate branch manager. I handed him the holds, along with an audio book that we had checked out that was missing one of the fourteen cds. He took the audiobook and apologized that the missing cd had not been noticed before we brought it home. Then (before I handed him our library card) he mentioned that he recognized my name and knew I had had a few issues recently and hoped that everything was working better now. (WOW!) I took the opportunity to mention the 5-day holds would sure be a lot more convenient if they were 7-day holds.
He said that they had recently changed their policy at that branch, and that they would now hold books for 7 days, even though the official library policy was five days. He said that's why he had recognized my name, because it was one of the comments discussed at the meeting and used to MAKE A CHANGE. I nearly fainted. To hear an institution actually took a patron's comments and right away made a concrete improvement based on those comments (and probably other similar comments!) just thrilled me. And that's what I do find about living in a small town over and over again. People really do look out for each other here. I expect those kinds of relationships in my own Jewish community, but when you can also find it in the community at large it's a very special thing.
So, for the 1,000th time, I am so very glad we moved to Savannah. I think it suits us very well! And I have many more warm feelings towards the library now.
• a lack of many of the books (mostly historical fiction) that I would love access to for our homeschooling
• the fact that they hold books you reserve for only 5 days (which means if you go to the library once a week, you need to make a special trip to get your holds before they disappear)
• my account being frozen more than once for reasons that made no sense, cutting off my ability to reserve books
• the $2 they charge for sending out a late notice
• the limit of 2 renewals per book, instead of just continuing to renew it for as long as you need it (assuming no one else needs it); you can bring it in to show the librarian and then renew it again, but sometimes I just want to renew it again (and again) until it gets un-misplaced (doo-dee-doo)
• the prize drawing for the Winter Reading Program was for a gift certificate to a video game store (WHAT?!?!!??!!!!)
In the e-mail I sent requesting to have my account unlocked a few weeks ago I mentioned a couple of these things that were making the library (one of my favorite destinations normally!) a less friendly place to visit. My account got fixed right away (they are terrific at responding to e-mail requests), and they said they would forward my comments to the branch manager.
Yesterday evening, I popped in for a few minutes just to pick up some holds. The man at the checkout desk had a badge that identified him as the associate branch manager. I handed him the holds, along with an audio book that we had checked out that was missing one of the fourteen cds. He took the audiobook and apologized that the missing cd had not been noticed before we brought it home. Then (before I handed him our library card) he mentioned that he recognized my name and knew I had had a few issues recently and hoped that everything was working better now. (WOW!) I took the opportunity to mention the 5-day holds would sure be a lot more convenient if they were 7-day holds.
He said that they had recently changed their policy at that branch, and that they would now hold books for 7 days, even though the official library policy was five days. He said that's why he had recognized my name, because it was one of the comments discussed at the meeting and used to MAKE A CHANGE. I nearly fainted. To hear an institution actually took a patron's comments and right away made a concrete improvement based on those comments (and probably other similar comments!) just thrilled me. And that's what I do find about living in a small town over and over again. People really do look out for each other here. I expect those kinds of relationships in my own Jewish community, but when you can also find it in the community at large it's a very special thing.
So, for the 1,000th time, I am so very glad we moved to Savannah. I think it suits us very well! And I have many more warm feelings towards the library now.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Weekday Menus
We've been out for channukah many nights, but here's what we ate last week!
Sunday: black bean veggie burgers and french fries (basically, felafel recipe w/black beans instead of chick peas)
Monday: leftover beef roast from shabbos and roasted veggies
Tuesday: OUT!
Wednesday: OUT!
Thursday: taco bar, latke bar, lemon cake, chocolate trifle (and Happy Birthday to AL!)
Sunday: black bean veggie burgers and french fries (basically, felafel recipe w/black beans instead of chick peas)
Monday: leftover beef roast from shabbos and roasted veggies
Tuesday: OUT!
Wednesday: OUT!
Thursday: taco bar, latke bar, lemon cake, chocolate trifle (and Happy Birthday to AL!)
Tired Muscles
We had quite a full day of hard(ish) labor!
DH worked hard to tweak and almost finish the chicken coop. We bought the "condo" a few months ago. D added the hardware cloth to the back, and re-purposed fencing for the side, and for a while we let them out and just blocked off the other side so they could hang out under the condo. Today we took fence panels that we already had and lay them from the roof of the condo to a support beam on the fence. Then lots of tweaking (to make the rain roll the right way), and the large side panel went in. All that's needed is to add the gate! The chickens love to hang out under the condo. You can just make out their shapes through the hardware cloth.
While DH was tweaking the chicken coop, I was working on our beds and paths. Our entire yard was covered in 5-12 inches of chipped wood from the trees we took down several months ago. B"H it killed most of the grass, except in one corner of the yard where the layer was thinner than elsewhere. I dug out a main 4-foot path, and several 2-foot paths. It's not all that visible in the picture. It's much clearer in person! The middle circle on the right is where BE"H the fish pool will go. There's a 4-foot path around that circle for full access. Then lots of rectangular beds. I piled the composting wood chips from the paths onto the beds. Some of the beds are built up a good 15 inches. Next we're going to keep it well-watered and add great quantities of nitrogen to help break down the wood chips. If all goes well, we should have plantable soil by February. We also would like to get a fresh delivery of (free!) wood chips to fill in the paths so if all goes well we can repeat the process next year. The price sure is right! The city recycling center has free compost, but we would have to hire a dump truck to get the quantity we needed. We have a very miniscule budget for this, and the idea was given to us by Dave, our local county extension advisor. With so much mulch, the nice thing is that even when it pours we don't get muddy areas.
We had such a great day today. It is very satisfying to work hard like this all day and then sit back and feel like you've really accomplished something tangible. And D. and I are both so enthusiastic that it is a big pleasure to share the time together. The kids had a great time too! Eli's becoming very handy with an ax. Amirah loves to snuggle with the chickens. Avi likes to walk around banging the ground with sticks. And Raizel loves to keep everyone organized and on task. :)
On a completely different subject......... this is my sweet little talmid.
He loves, loves, loves this Hebrew book. Can you see how utterly plain it is? He loves it, and his reading is getting much faster and I am so much looking forward to reading chumash with him, especially now that he has a more experienced chumash teacher! Poor Amirah, my guinea pig. :)
And now to bed, to, please Hashem, wake up with renewed muscles and a good Monday. The last few Mondays have been much too whiny/grumpy so I'm really hoping we can get this one off to a good start! We're not really taking much time off now - maybe a day or two - since we had our nice two-week vacation in November. So... onward!
DH worked hard to tweak and almost finish the chicken coop. We bought the "condo" a few months ago. D added the hardware cloth to the back, and re-purposed fencing for the side, and for a while we let them out and just blocked off the other side so they could hang out under the condo. Today we took fence panels that we already had and lay them from the roof of the condo to a support beam on the fence. Then lots of tweaking (to make the rain roll the right way), and the large side panel went in. All that's needed is to add the gate! The chickens love to hang out under the condo. You can just make out their shapes through the hardware cloth.
While DH was tweaking the chicken coop, I was working on our beds and paths. Our entire yard was covered in 5-12 inches of chipped wood from the trees we took down several months ago. B"H it killed most of the grass, except in one corner of the yard where the layer was thinner than elsewhere. I dug out a main 4-foot path, and several 2-foot paths. It's not all that visible in the picture. It's much clearer in person! The middle circle on the right is where BE"H the fish pool will go. There's a 4-foot path around that circle for full access. Then lots of rectangular beds. I piled the composting wood chips from the paths onto the beds. Some of the beds are built up a good 15 inches. Next we're going to keep it well-watered and add great quantities of nitrogen to help break down the wood chips. If all goes well, we should have plantable soil by February. We also would like to get a fresh delivery of (free!) wood chips to fill in the paths so if all goes well we can repeat the process next year. The price sure is right! The city recycling center has free compost, but we would have to hire a dump truck to get the quantity we needed. We have a very miniscule budget for this, and the idea was given to us by Dave, our local county extension advisor. With so much mulch, the nice thing is that even when it pours we don't get muddy areas.
We had such a great day today. It is very satisfying to work hard like this all day and then sit back and feel like you've really accomplished something tangible. And D. and I are both so enthusiastic that it is a big pleasure to share the time together. The kids had a great time too! Eli's becoming very handy with an ax. Amirah loves to snuggle with the chickens. Avi likes to walk around banging the ground with sticks. And Raizel loves to keep everyone organized and on task. :)
On a completely different subject......... this is my sweet little talmid.
He loves, loves, loves this Hebrew book. Can you see how utterly plain it is? He loves it, and his reading is getting much faster and I am so much looking forward to reading chumash with him, especially now that he has a more experienced chumash teacher! Poor Amirah, my guinea pig. :)And now to bed, to, please Hashem, wake up with renewed muscles and a good Monday. The last few Mondays have been much too whiny/grumpy so I'm really hoping we can get this one off to a good start! We're not really taking much time off now - maybe a day or two - since we had our nice two-week vacation in November. So... onward!
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Menu
Shabbos, almost! B"H!
For dinner:
challah
persimmon spread
tilapia (from our guests!)
beef roast with cranberry sauce
roasted butternut squash
pumpkin kugel
spinach salad with macerated kumquats
roasted beets and carrots (pretty!)
roasted garlic potatoes
apple crisp
persimmon sorbet
For lunch:
challah
persimmon spread
cholent (from our guests!)
pastrami
pumpkin kugel
cole slaw
spinach salad w/mandarin oranges and almonds
beet/carrot salad
apple crisp
persimmon sorbet
Good shabbos!
For dinner:
challah
persimmon spread
tilapia (from our guests!)
beef roast with cranberry sauce
roasted butternut squash
pumpkin kugel
spinach salad with macerated kumquats
roasted beets and carrots (pretty!)
roasted garlic potatoes
apple crisp
persimmon sorbet
For lunch:
challah
persimmon spread
cholent (from our guests!)
pastrami
pumpkin kugel
cole slaw
spinach salad w/mandarin oranges and almonds
beet/carrot salad
apple crisp
persimmon sorbet
Good shabbos!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Weekday Menus
Here's what we've eaten this week. Haven't posted that in a while!
Sunday
eggplant/onion/tomato/feta pizza and a plain cheese pizza
(for savta and kids; we went to the shul fundraiser)
Monday
stir-fried beef and broccoli (a lot more broccoli than beef!)
rice
chicken noodle soup
Tuesday
eggplant parmesan
cheese lasagna
spinach salad w/macerated kumquats* and almonds/onion/feta
rosemary onion rolls
Wednesday
crockpot chicken and rice w/preserved lemons
salad
broccoli
Thursday
breakfast night! (eggs and pancakes)
*I love kumquats, and am so excited thinking about planting a kumquat tree in the front yard! I slice the kumquats thinly and let them soak in a combination of rice vinegar and sugar. After a few hours, they can be used in salads. I also put some cream cheese on a cracker and topped it off with a few slices of kumquat. WOW! Delicious. They're pretty expensive - $4 for (I think) 12 ounces but it only takes about 3 ounces to have a nice effect on a salad.
Sunday
eggplant/onion/tomato/feta pizza and a plain cheese pizza
(for savta and kids; we went to the shul fundraiser)
Monday
stir-fried beef and broccoli (a lot more broccoli than beef!)
rice
chicken noodle soup
Tuesday
eggplant parmesan
cheese lasagna
spinach salad w/macerated kumquats* and almonds/onion/feta
rosemary onion rolls
Wednesday
crockpot chicken and rice w/preserved lemons
salad
broccoli
Thursday
breakfast night! (eggs and pancakes)
*I love kumquats, and am so excited thinking about planting a kumquat tree in the front yard! I slice the kumquats thinly and let them soak in a combination of rice vinegar and sugar. After a few hours, they can be used in salads. I also put some cream cheese on a cracker and topped it off with a few slices of kumquat. WOW! Delicious. They're pretty expensive - $4 for (I think) 12 ounces but it only takes about 3 ounces to have a nice effect on a salad.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Weaving
Usually, I'll bring out a new activity and know right away who will glom onto it. Sometimes I get a surprise! A few days ago, I took out a loom that I had never taken out for the kids before, and guess who was immediately interested and has been working on it diligently ever since? ELI!
He is fascinated with how the strings connect together, with weaving terminology, with the colors and textures of the yarns, with thinking about how this could be his new pillow. Here's what he said yesterday about it all: "Mama, when you first showed me it, I thought it would be so, so boring, but it's NOT, not at all, not one bit. I love it!!!!" I'm glad he's enjoying it. And if he ever pauses long enough to let someone else weave, maybe the others will too.
He is fascinated with how the strings connect together, with weaving terminology, with the colors and textures of the yarns, with thinking about how this could be his new pillow. Here's what he said yesterday about it all: "Mama, when you first showed me it, I thought it would be so, so boring, but it's NOT, not at all, not one bit. I love it!!!!" I'm glad he's enjoying it. And if he ever pauses long enough to let someone else weave, maybe the others will too.
Chickens!
We are loving our little chickens. They've been staying outside for the last six nights. I miss hearing their peeping all the time, but it sure makes cleanup easier. They're now 6-1/2 weeks old, and look at their feet!
They love pecking around the yard when we let them out under supervision. (Their condo is all set for them, but we're still working on the enclosure. The proverbial "we" that is!) They stretch their wings and race at lightning speed across the yard, then settle into a close little group by their condo pecking around the ground. Sometimes they follow us around too, looking at us expectantly. They love to be picked up.
And their names? Drum roll...
They love pecking around the yard when we let them out under supervision. (Their condo is all set for them, but we're still working on the enclosure. The proverbial "we" that is!) They stretch their wings and race at lightning speed across the yard, then settle into a close little group by their condo pecking around the ground. Sometimes they follow us around too, looking at us expectantly. They love to be picked up.
And their names? Drum roll...
EGBERT
COFFEE
PECKSY
SAMMY
&
GERTRUDE
PECKSY
SAMMY
&
GERTRUDE
Yes, Egbert is a boy's name, but Raizel was absolutely set on it and wouldn't hear of a name like Eglantine. And can I tell them apart? NOPE! :)
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Menu
This is the FIRST time I've cooked for shabbos since, well, um... October 28! I think that must be a record. :)
Here's what we had this shabbos:
challah (made by Eli)
roast chicken
roasted bok choy
roasted mushrooms/zucchini/onion
roasted eggplant halves
green salad w/kumquats (macerated in rice vinegar/sugar), pears, avocado, crushed almonds
mashed potatoes w/gravy
chocolate/vanilla marble cake (made by Raizel) with raspberry sauce
and for lunch...
beef tacos
beef barley soup
lime cilantro coleslaw
guacamole and homemade pareve sour cream
veggies from diner
cake from dinner
YUM!
The tacos were really great. Those will definitely have to make a regular appearance. And I love the pareve sour cream. I think it tastes better than dairy! :)
Here's what we had this shabbos:
challah (made by Eli)
roast chicken
roasted bok choy
roasted mushrooms/zucchini/onion
roasted eggplant halves
green salad w/kumquats (macerated in rice vinegar/sugar), pears, avocado, crushed almonds
mashed potatoes w/gravy
chocolate/vanilla marble cake (made by Raizel) with raspberry sauce
and for lunch...
beef tacos
beef barley soup
lime cilantro coleslaw
guacamole and homemade pareve sour cream
veggies from diner
cake from dinner
YUM!
The tacos were really great. Those will definitely have to make a regular appearance. And I love the pareve sour cream. I think it tastes better than dairy! :)
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