Soup's On

My brother and his wife host our entire extended family for Christmas Eve dinner - anywhere from 30-50 people, depending on the year and who has come home from out of state.  I have always celebrated Christmas Eve with my cousins - originally at my Grandparents's farmhouse, then for many many years at my Aunt and Uncle's, and now, more recently, at my brother's house.  In days of old, we had lavash spreads with ham and turkey and meatballs and potatoes and rice and various salads and fruit trays.  Days and days were spent simply preparing food.  It was wonderful, don't get me wrong, but lately we've been trying something different.  The past few years have found fewer people in the kitchen during the evening and more of us sitting around playing games and visiting.  We've gone to a soup and salad dinner.  My sister-in-law  sets beautiful tables with white cloths, crystal glassware, silverware, plates and bowls.  My brother makes red chili.  My mom makes MN chicken wild rice soup.  And I bring a pot of split pea w/ham.  There's a green salad and breadsticks on each table and everyone can help themselves to the soup of their choice.  We have so many other holiday gatherings with all the wonderfully rich food - it feels good to have this comforting interlude.
I can never have too much soup.  So, even though we had all these wonderful selections only a few days ago, I've been craving my favorite recipe.  So, yesterday I made the Spiced Spinach Lentil Soup pictured above.  Here's the recipe:

Spiced Spinach Lentil Soup ½ pound ground Italian sausage ½ cup diced onion 1/3 cup barley 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup lentils 1 whole chicken breast (uncooked) ½ cup parsley, chopped 1 ca (15 oz.) garbanzo beans with juice ½ to 1 pound fresh or frozen spinach 1 jar (12 oz) mild or medium salsa Brown sausage, onion, barley and garlic in a skillet.  Transfer to a slow cooker or large stock pot.  Add the chicken stock, lentils, chicken breast and parsley.  Simmer for as long as you desire or until lentils are tender.  Remove chicken breast, discarding bone and cartilage.  Shred meat and return to soup.  Add beans, spinach and salsa; heat through. (Instead of canned stock and chicken breast… I boil a whole chicken with a sliced onion and a few bay leaves until meat falls easily away from the bone.  Pour chicken and liquid through strain, saving the liquid to use as stock.  Discard onion, bay leaves, chicken ski, bones, and cartilage.  Shred meat and continue with recipe. )

The Books We Opened

Every year, Santa brings us each socks, Tic-Tacs, a calendar and a new book (what more do you need, really?).  Here's a list of the books we each pulled from our stockings:
John - Hero by Mike Lupica
Kate - Son by Lois Lowry
Me - Mary Anne by Daphne DuMaurier
Mark - The Minnesota Book of Skills by Chris Niskanen

Mark also receieved a boxful of books from Kate - books that aren't on my bookshelves (yet!):
Hemingway on Fishing by Ernest Hemmingway
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Separation of Power by Vince Flynn

Full disclosure: I'm not addicted to exercising (huge understatement).  But I do love walking.  I could just walk and walk and walk.  I prefer to walk outside but...waiting under the tree for me was...the first two seasons of Downton Abbey!  Fourteen hours of viewing before January 6, when season 3 will air.  I've seen most of them already but need to immerse myself through them again and be ready for season 3.  Anyway...my point is not that'll be camped on the couch (well at least for all of it) but that I'll be on the treadmill for the next week.
I've also downloaded, however, audio versions of the three bookclub books that I need to read for...(yikes) January!  So, when I am walking outside, I'll be reading with my ears.

Today is the fourth day of Christmas and things are beginning to calm down.  Sometimes I feel like I made it through the holiday but kinda missed the whole point of the celebration.  Now is the time I'm more reflective.  Now is the time I feel like visiting, not necessarily partying, just visiting.  It's a journey.  I think often, during these 12 days, of the Biblical kings traveling through the night, following that one bright star, removed from all the hustle and bustle.  I will continue to focus and reflect so that on that 12th day of Christmas, I will arrive also.

December MN Beer of the Month

For December, our MN Beer of the Month selections are from Lake Superior Brewing Company:

I was told, by the guy at the register, that Old Man Winter Warmer is unique, as a beer, in that it improves with age.  You can keep in in your fridge for a few years, letting it "age".   Hmmm.  I only bought a 6 pack so, that's probably not gonna happen but...I'm curious. 

Taking the Time

We're only a short drive from Minneapolis (you can see the city there on the other side of the lake) and it's many lakes and parks.  We spent Christmas Eve morning walking around Lake Calhoun.  This side of the lake, at the beach, was catching a pretty good wind and the kids were cold.  Being the complacent kids that they are, they didn't complain about it at all, though. 
Right. 
There is still open water in the middle of the lake but the edges were walkable (and slippery!) 
Taking time for a walk is something I need to do more often.

I got a new desk chair for Christmas with all kinds of fancy levers and ergo-approved stuff. 
So today I'm taking the time to test drive this chair.
30 minutes following a tutorial on how to combine all ipods/iphones to the same Apple ID without having to share the same text message/facetime IDs
60 minutes of pinning on Pinterest
30 minutes of paying bills and balancing bank accounts
60 minutes of reading all the latest posts on my favorite blogs
It's kinda like when I'm wrapping homemade caramels; one in the bowl, 2 in my mouth, 1 in the bowl...

One of my favorite things to do is...go to the movies.  Mark and John both have plans so Kate and I are taking the time to go to the movies today.  We're gonna see Les Miserables, eat popcorn and chocolate and soda... fully enjoy the big screen experience.

Every Time A Bell Rings...

It's Christmas Eve and...I'm ready.  I feel like I must be forgetting something, like I shouldn't feel so relaxed, like I shouldn't have time to post.  We're even going out for a family walk in a few minutes.  The kids sing in the Youth Choir at church this afternoon.  After our evening festivities, Mark and I will watch It's a Wonderful Life as we wrap presents for tomorrow morning.  I have our Marie Callendars Dutch Apple Pie in the freezer, ready for breakfast tomorrow morning.  We decided a few years ago that this would be a nice Christmas morning tradition - and, really, what's the difference between pie and doughnuts or pancakes?  It's all sugar.  (and so easy to pop in the oven while we check out what Santa has brought.)
These angels ornaments are two of the three we'll give this year to our three goddaughters.  We've given them a different angel ornament each year, sometimes from a vacation (a hula angel from Hawaii, a moose angel from Maine).  The above angel is from Colorado Springs.  The bottom one is from a local shop.

Everyone is Giving, Giving, Giving

Our next-door neighbors brought down this fun gift package - drinks and snacks.  It was great to pull all these treats out of the bag and just sit back, snack.  And so thoughtful for them to give.

Last year, a friend in one of my book clubs had reserved that month's book at the library.  She was leaving on vacation, wanting to bring the book to read on the plane - but, unfortunately, the book hadn't come in yet.  I'd finished that title early and so borrowed my copy to her.  While on her vacation, she bought me a souvenir bookmark, filed it into one of her other books for safe-keeping and only just ran across it a few weeks ago.  So, she gave me the bookmark at our last meeting.  I've mentioned before, I like gifts that come late - it extends the celebration - and this was such a nice gesture - a much appreciated Thank-You.

And then,....I was at Target yesterday and when my purchases were totaled, the cashier gave me a gift card, saying that a woman had bought it, told the cashier to wait a few customers and then give it to the next person - which turned out to be me.  It was $5 - a little gesture - but so made my day.

Listening to a Christmas music radio station this morning in the car and the announcer was talking about a local band, Rocket Club, who would be playing in Minneapolis tonight.  The band had been in the studio earlier this morning and sang a few Christmas songs which the announcer then played on the air.  The first one was Little Toy Trains - one of my very favorites (although I say that about a lot of them so...).  This song always makes me choke up.  It isn't a sad song at all but there's just something about the sequence of notes that match the string of words to create a heartstring tugger for me.  Maybe it is also the place it takes me back to when I hear it.  Our basement, when I was growing up, had a big rec room occupied mostly by a pool table.  Against one wall was an old fashioned bar and a stereo closet (which also held the 8mm home movie films and projector).  My Dad ran wires through the walls and the through the floor so that we could have speakers upstairs where we could hear the music that was playing downstairs.  There was something magical about that.  We had an old (well, maybe not old at that time) country Christmas album that had Little Toy Trains on it and I remember being in the living room upstairs listening to this song about little toy trains and little toy tracks and a man dressed in white and red, knowing that the music was spinning around and around on the record player downstairs, traveling through the walls and under the floor.  These are the sugarplums that dance in my head.

Serious Withdrawal

I'm so deprived of crafting time that I'm tying Kate's hair in bows!    In the last fourteen years, I've kept this household on track, given the kids the right stuff in the right place at the right times, volunteered at school, and helped friends with odd jobs but haven't worked regularly outside the house in...a real long time.  Although always busy at home, I had the luxury of doing things like grocery shopping during the day when the crowds are minimal and the kids are at school.  During this holiday season, I've been working outside of the house.  And now, doing the shopping in the evenings, everything is different and takes twice as long.  Anyway, in the process, I've lost any spare moments in which to work creatively on projects.

I recently read an article in the November 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living titled, this is your brain on crafts by Lisa Borgnes-Giramonti.  The article expounds the benefits of crafting, studied by neuroscientists, psychologists and physical therapists.  Apparently, when we craft, our nucleus accumbens (the pleasure center of our brain) becomes stimulated, a signal is sent to release dopamine (the happiness juice), our beathing becomes more regular, blood pressure goes down...all the good stuff happens.  And we like it.  And we want more.  And more.  And when we don't get it...we start tying our kids hair in bows! (actually it turned out really cute - and she liked it - cool.)

Let It Snow!

Ahhhh...finally.  My kitchen tree has a wonderfully thick blanket of snow - and it's still coming down.  The kids were sledding today and even Rocco went out to play with the neighbor dog - leaping through drifts as they chased each other 'round the pines.  Everyone is in good moods (and more than a little hopeful for a snowday-no school tomorrow!)

What Child Is This?

This is me at 2 or 3 years old (Mom or Dad?).  See the beautiful green tree?  Oh wait, it's white.  Growing up, we always went out to a tree farm, in the snow, and sawed down our Christmas tree.  Dad let us help drag it through the snow as Mom filmed it on a huge 8mm mving picture camera.  We brought the tree home, let the snow thaw off it and put in in the living room where we sprayed "snow" on it.  My Mom also sprayed snow drifts in the panes of our living room windows.  It was so beautiful and magical.  All white and silver and tinsely.

We also had an actual silver aluminum tree that stood in the basement with colorful lights on it.  The fancy decorations went on the upstairs living room tree while the homemade or non-breakable ornaments were sanctioned for the basement tree.  The living room was rarely used during the rest of the year but during the Christmas season, my brothers and I would lay under the tree, looking up at the sparkling lights.  In fact, later,  when we had paper routes, we would get up at 3:30 in the morning to deliver papers in the snow, turning the tree lights on before we left.  It was such a comfort to come back into the warm house, lay under the tree and stare at the lights; visions of Christmas, cousins, and presents dancing in our heads.

When our children were babies, I'd sing them to sleep (I do not have a nice singing voice but...infants are very non-discriminate!)  For Kate, I sang What Child is This.  John preferred Little Drummer Boy.  Even when it wasn't the season, these were songs they quieted for, stared at me during, and listened to.  And then they slept.  Magical.

Book Sale

Today, I withstood temptation.  Mostly.  Our church is having a holiday sale this weekend: baked goods, homemade jellies, jams, sweaters and scarves...  I am helping to run the used book booth.  This morning I went in to set up, price books and get them on display.  There are hundreds of books!  My family was placing bets on how many books I would buy before I even put them on a shelf.  I only bought two, thank you very much!  And I donated eight so...I'd say I can do some more shopping when I go to work my shift tomorrow!  With hardcovers only $1 and paperbacks a mere 50 cents, how can I go wrong?!

I also donated my very favorite "book" movie - 84 Charing Cross Lane.  I only donated the VHS copy because I have a DVD copy also and decided I probably didn't need to keep both.  I love movies with bookstores or libraries in them.  Fred Astaire finds Audrey Hepburn working in a bookstore in the movie Funny Face .  And, of course, You've Got Mail.  What other "book" movies are out there?

A Little Regression

Kate has been, for a few years, a complete and utter Star Wars nerd (don't worry - she loves that term - I'm not being mean)  Until this year.  Now, she's traded Han and Luke for Hawkeye and Thor.  A few weekends ago, she had some girlfriends over for a 12 hour (10am -10pm!) Avengers movie marathon; Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers,.... 
I said:  You guys cannot just sit on the couch for 12 hours and watch these movies.  You'll have to go for a walk or something.
She said: A walk? Mom. Really.
So...I went to the craft store, looking for something to at least engage their hands while they stare aimlessy at the boob tube (Kate wants to know WHY we call it that - the boob tube?  I have no idea) and I found these Avengers coloring books and little notebooks.  I set them out on the table with snacks and the girls spent time coloring and chatting and drawing and writing and chatting and laughing.  And it was wonderful noise - beautiful noise - that laughter.  These are thirteen year old girls being...kids!  They are girls and they are teens but they are also kids, just plain old crayon coloring, outside/spy-playing, laughing, laughing, laughing kids.  And it was the best day.
Sometimes a little regression is a good thing.

Christmas Cards

December already - yikes, that went fast!  Last weekend while we were hiking, I set the timer on my camera and set it on an icy rock so we could get a family picture.  One of my brothers gave me, years ago, one of those gorilla tripods that will grip onto anything.  I think they're an amazing idea.  Except.  I never never remember to pack it with me.  So, an icy rock served fine.  The photo turned out okay - well enough to use for our Christmas cards.  When I ordered the prints, I was "awarded" six free photo calendars using any photo from my set so...we got six Rocco calendars.  Cute, huh?  Now, I've written our letter and updated my address book and am trying to get them all in envelopes so I can mail them on Monday.

When Kate was first born, we started getting so many beautiful holiday cards from friends and family with photos and letters.  I couldn't bear to throw them out after the season, so I started collecting them in an old photo album.  I added a bunch of pocket sheet protectors and bought stacks of holiday paper.  I mount each photo and/or letter on a page so we can look through them over the years.  We have three albums very full now and they are so fun to look through.

Birch Bark Canoes

A few doors down from us on the river is this beautiful barn.  It houses the Hafeman Boat Works.  Bill Hafeman started making traditional birch bark canoes in 1921 and has passed the shop down to his granddaughter Christie and her husband, Ray Bossel, Jr.  If the doors are open when you pass by, that means Ray is working and you're welcome to stop in and chat.  And he's a wonderful story teller.  We stopped in over the summer and Ray showed us every step of the canoe making process.  Ron Shara has featured Ray on MN Bound a few times - here's a link to one of the episodes - definitely worth watching: MN Bound.  (The canoe segment is 17 minutes into the show).

Every canoe is made entirely from materials Ray harvests from the forest, river, and swamps.  He has, however, switched to one man-made product - the tar.  He used to use pine tar but it didn't hold through the seasonal temperature changes without special maintenance and most customers weren't up to the maintenance so...he has switched to a man-made tar.  This is really a beautiful art.  While showing us the various sizes of canoes, Ray told us about the little canoes he made for his kids.  When the canoes are that short, they tend to be very tippy, he said, so "you need to learn to keep your tongue in the center of your mouth."
Hanging on the wall of the shop are some beaver pelts.  Ray shared this information with us about felted tophats that were the style in Europe way back when:  The felted hats were made by mixing  the fuzz from under the long fur of a beaver with mercury.  Unfortunately, this close proximity to mercury caused mercury poisoning, which led to psychological problems = "mad hatter".  I don't know if this is true but I'm betting it is.  Here's Ray price list - seems incredibly reasonable for the uniqueness AND that they are completely, fully functional, lightweight canoes!

What Do You Call This (in WI)? and Beer

We have two MN Beer of the Month selections for November.  The plan was for this to be a "field trip" tap room/brewhouse/taste testing month but...where did the month go?  Yikes!  Will do later - promise.

The first selection is from Liftbridge Brewery in Stillwater, MN.  One of my brothers went to college with one of the guys who run this brewery so it is a pick with a special connection and one that we've tried before (and continue to enjoy).  Great selection for this gift.

Our second selection is from Cold Spring Brewery, which is in Cold Spring, MN, which is almost right next door to St. John's University, which is the college my above mentioned brother attended.  There is an abbey on campus and one of Cold Spring's beers is the Olde Johnnie Abbey Amber Ale.  According to their website, it's a recipe the monks brought over from Germany in 1857.  Must be good!

Speaking of beer... and college...there were these bars I used to get in the coffee shop during college.  They were peanut buttery rice krispie bars with chocolate/peanut butter frosting.  My sister-in-law taught me the recipe but I can't for the life of me remember what they're called.  It was something with a girl's name in it...like a Lazy Lizzy or a Messy Sally or something like that.  Ring a bell to anyone?  Also, this was in Milwaukee so...Wisconsin.  So, what do they call these?  It's driving me crazy.

Hat Trick

Last week was my littlest nephew's birthday.  I wanted to give him just the perfect gift.  Then I remembered these perfect books (that I read nearly every time I'm at Target).  I have been waiting for the perfect little reason to buy them for a perfect little person.  Perfect!  And I made him this (going too far if I say perfect?) red hat.
I love reading these two books.  If Kate or John are at Target with me, I read them aloud.  (They're not really thrilled with that privelege - at all).  If not, I try to restrain myself.  Just so fun.  And they are so engaging.  Reading together, you can't help feeling conspiratorial in knowing where this plot is going.  And, oh no, it's not going to turn out well - lying and stealing - never turns out good.

(The rabbit doth protest too much, methinks.  See, you could introduce a little Shakespeare even.)
I think that hat belongs to the bear.  What do you think?
(nods) It does.  It's the bear's hat.
Is the rabbit going to give it back to the bear?
(shakes head) I don't think so.  He wants to keep it.

In the book, This is Not My Hat, a little fish takes a big fish's hat while the big fish is sleeping.  Then the little fish goes to hide.  A crab (or lobster?) sees where the little fish is hiding but promises not to tell.  So the little thief fish says he's "not worried about that."

Do you think maybe the little fish should be worried?
(smiles a little devilishly) Yeah.
Did the crab keep his promise?
No.
Is that little fish going to get in trouble?
Yes.
Is the big fish mad?
Yes because that is his hat and the little fish took it and it's not his and he's trying to keep it and you can't take stuff that's not yours.
SCORE!
Do not steal.  Do not lie.  And hang on to your hat!

The Most Dangerous Walk

It was COLD on the river over the holiday weekend but we bundled up and spent time hiking through the woods.  This sign was at the head of one trail.  What does it mean?  You can shoot here or walk here - your choice.  Hmmm.  We decided not to take this trail.  The sign brought to mind, however, Richard Connell's short story The Most Dangerous Game.  In this story, a renowned hunter, General Zaroff starts to lose the thrill of his exotic hunts and so buys an island that he stocks with human game; the only game of true competition.  Sanger Rainsford, another expert hunter, falls off his yacht and finds himself the recipient of General Zaroff's hospitality.  I read somewhere that the invention of Paintball was inspired partly by this story.  Anyway, we decided to try another route - out on the point of a lake where the wind was really wicked - brrrrr - but so beautiful.

The Pine Grosbeaks have rejoined us for the winter months - all puffed up to keep themselves warm.

And we found this little thief (a weasel), camouflaged in his winter white coat, stealing food from the bird bucket and taking it up under the grill cover to his own private dinner party.

Door Knobs and Stick-Ups

First of all let me tell you that I was trying to fix our computer so that John could do his homework.  He's in a Chinese Immersion school and so our computer must also learn how to "speak" Chinese so that John can do his homework.  So after I helped it learn Chinese...John did his homework and later...went to bed.  Now, I'm sitting down to blog and I go to Blogger.com and the whole site is in Chinese.  -!-  Hmmm.  No other webpages - just Blogger.  Yeah, that's weird.  And I can't even figure out which buttons to click on 'cause...I can't read Chinese!  But, obviously, I eventually figured it out.  I thought about sharing a print screen so you could see how the blog looks in Chinese but...that would be whole 'other fiasco so...the doorknob.

The above pic is of the doorknob at my Grandparents farmhouse.  It was on the inside of the front door that led straight into the living room.  When I saw this last time, I kinda recognized it, like I knew it from somewhere else.  I know that sounds weird but something in the back of my mind was connecting the dots.  Maybe you figured it out already but here's what the dots came up with:

Close relative at least, right?  I should've been Disney!

After supper tonight, Kate and John were goofing around upstairs.  Kate has been sick all week so she's getting a little loopy and I heard her go into John's room and say, "put your hands in the air, Mister.  This here is a stick-up.  Quick, what is the most valuable thing in this room?"
And John answered...
"Me."
Oh, I love 'em!

Is It a Problem?

What do you call it when you know you have a habit that you should stop but...you don't (or won't)?  A problem, right?  I'm not admitting it.  I'm just asking.  I tried working at Barnes and Noble once, right after college.  I had a day job but I had also just bought my first house and thought spending my evenings and weekends working in a bookstore, earning a little extra, sounded awesome.  But it was too much temptation.  You wouldn't believe the stuff you can find in a bookstore if you have 4 or 5 hours to spend there, 5 or 6 times a week.  Let me tell you, you find a lot more stuff than an evening/weekend paycheck can afford.  And then its just heartbreaking.  So, I didn't sign on after the "holiday help" season passed.
The problem is I love books.  And I want access to them all the time, which means I want to own them, have them at my fingertips. 
Now,...I'm at the used bookstore last week (see, why do I even go into these places?!) and I found this little book in the above picture.  Or is it a little book?

Ha - it's a case for my phone.  Well, yeah, I bought it!  Wouldn't you have?  Well, if you were me, I mean?  So cool.  Except when I get an actual phone call.  Then it's a little awkward to open flat and hold against the side of my head.  I don't care though - it's so cool.
So, then I went to the library.  I love the library too.  I love that we can borrow any of these millions of books for free.  But when I borrow one that I really love, I kinda want to go out and buy it so that I can have it.  I try really hard not to be materialistic and, for the most part, I think I succeed.  But the book thing?  I really like having them, lots of them.  Okay, so I'm at the library because I have this sudden craving for Ezra Keats.  Remember Ezra Keats from elementary school?  That's where I first discovered him - in the book, Peter's Chair.  And it's such a vivid memory.  I could tell you exactly which shelf in our elementary school library the Ezra Keats books were - I can walk to that shelf in my sleep even today.  So, I checked out a bunch of Keats books to read with my lunch.

And I'm on my way out of the library, patting myself on the back for coming to the library, instead of the bookstore, to fill this urge.  And then I pass the "officially withdrawn" library books for sale shelf. -!- Really?  They had Matthew Pearl's The Last Dickens hardcover for only $1!  I've read The Poe Shadow and loved it.  I think I would like The Last Dickens.  Granted, Dickens isn't Poe but...(sigh)
it's a conspiracy.  (or a problem).

Save It, Freeze It

My fridge needs to be cleaned out.  The stuff (veggies) in my veggie drawer is frozen.  I've been told that happens when you have your fridge too full and air can't circulate.  The full fridge isn't a bad problem, I'm grateful for such a problem, but the veggies freezing isn't what I want to happen.  So, I chopped up the onion and red pepper, put them in freezer bags and into the freezer (where it's okay to freeze).  Now, when we make something like scrambled eggs, we just break off a chunk of onion and a bit of red pepper and saute it in the pan.  Actually, I find that we toss more veggies into our food because they're already chopped.
Also, the last time I bought oranges was a bust.  When I washed them, and cut into them, they were juicy and smelled great but...they had NO flavor.  How can that be?  I had a whole bag of them.  So...I quartered them, put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer so they could freeze individually, then dumped them into a freezer bag.  Now I stick one in the garbage disposal to freshen it up or I simmer it on the stove with some apple juice, a cinnamon stick, and a few cloves - makes the house smell so good.

Lotion Bars

We're noticing the dryness in the air as the weather gets colder.  We need to moisturize.  Last winter I made these lotion bars during Girls Craft Day. (we need another one of those!)  I'd seen these lotion bars at the Little Falls Craft Fair.  Actually, I'd bought lotion bars at the Craft Fair three years in a row and loved them.  The ones I bought were citrus-almond scented - really nice.  The bar is lotion solidified.  When you rub it between your hands, it warms, melts a little and moisturizes your skin.  Perfect for in a purse, backpack or computer bag.  I found a DIY on line (I made the "luxury" bar), bought the supplies, and let it all sit on that old project shelf for awhile.
So, when the Girls Craft Day was planned and approaching, I decided I would take one thing off that shelf and DO IT!  I don't know why I procrastinate.  It was a very easy project.  I then bought these little zip bags at Ax-Man Surplus - (300 for $0.75!), and decorative waxed paper at the craft store to package each little bar.  And I want to make them again except I have so many, and they last so long.  I gave them away to other moms in the stands during baseball and softball games.  I still have alot!  But...'tis the season...I will stick new ones in our bags...and find other someones to gift them to.

The History of Love Book Club Discussion

I don't know if you can see this blogs book club tabs on a mobile device but if so, or if you're on a "big" computer, I've updated some of the book club lists and will continue to do so over the next week as more information should be decided in the next few days.
This past week, it was my turn to lead discussion on The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  I read the book last summer and just loved the language and the way it was written.  I was a little confused by who is who and which characters are taken from real life and who connects to who and so on but...I didn't really notice because the voice was so readable.  So, I suggested it for book club and then started reading it again, to take notes and glean discussion points from it.  Wow - it is rather confusing.  I love the confusion.  I like trying to figure out what's going on, it's a challenge and I like that.  (Well, as long as there really is something going on - I have experienced the challenge of figuring out what's going on in books that simply don't have anything going on - kinda frustrating!)  But, I acknowledge that not everyone wants to be challenged in this way when reading a book.  And this made me a little afraid to lead this discussion.  I thought maybe noone would show up but...we had a pretty good turn out.  In the end, the discussion went really well.  I enjoy a meeting when the discussion veers off the book (not off topic, just off book) and reflects a facet of real life or personal thoughts and philosophies - even small debates are fun.  I decided I'd share my discussion points here -  in case anyone else is faced with this book choice (a choice I would recommend). 
There aren't any spoilers here - just stuff to think about:

(1)  In two places in the book, we read about a reader being profoundly "touched" or "moved" by a book:
--the second-hand bookseller in Buenos Aires finds The History of Love in a box, sets it aside to read during a slow part of the day.  After reading it, she had a hard time putting it in the window for sale.  When David Singer sees it in the window, opens it, he knows immediately that he wants it.
--In the first letter Jacob Marcus sends to Charlotte Singer, he says he has read her earlier translation and..."It's sitting here next to me on the table in my room...I don't know what to say about it, except that it moved me in a way one hopes to be moved each time he begins a book.  What I mean is, in some way almost impossible to describe, it changed me."
QUESTION: What book(s) have moved you this way, have changed you or the way you see the world; that you may come back to and read again and again? (this was very fun to share with each other; to see what kinds of things affected each of us and why; subject matter, settings...)

(2)  This book touches on the topic of literary translation.  It is Charlotte Singer's translation is what Jacob Marcus, Alma, and even the reader get to read.  It is one of her earlier translations that "changed" Jacob Marcus.  And yet these are not books that she wrote, they are books that already existed and she translated.
QUESTION:  If you were an author (or publisher), why would it be important to choose the "right" translator?  What would be important about that selection process?
QUESTION:  A translator is like a performer, the "book" is already there (just like a score, a script, a choreography), the translator (or performer) is merely interpreting it so that the audience can enjoy it in a different way (or at all).  Why don't translators gain the same notoriety as musicians, actors, dancers?
QUESTION:  Discuss the possibility of a good translation making a book more successful than it was on it's own OR a bad translation making a book bomb when it wouldn't have otherwise.  How does this affect the relationship of author and translator?

(3)  The book is given to us through various narrators. 
QUESTION:  How do we know which character is "speaking" in each chapter.
DISCUSS:  A graphic design is displayed above each chapter, a heart for Leo's voice, a compass (Alma), an ark (Bird), or an open book (narrator).  Did you notice this?  What is the significance of each symbol to its corresponding character?

(4)   Leo's friend's name is Bruno.  Jacob Marcus mentions reading, for the third time, a book titled The Street of Crocodiles.  There is an actual book by that title, written in 1934 (originally published as Cinnamon Shops) by a man named Bruno Schulz.  In the introduction to Street of Crocodiles, we can read of these events from the real Bruno Schulz's life:
--Crocodiles was written as a correspondence, sent in bits and pieces through the mail
--although the book was originally written for one specific person, it was eventually released to the public
--Schulz also was a literary translator
--Schulz's unpublished scripts were lost after being given to someone for safekeeping
These four, unique bits of information are all in the story line of Krauss' History of Love.
DISCUSS:  Where do you draw the line when using ideas from something you've read; what is the difference between paying homage, being inspired/influenced by and...well...stealing/plagiarism?

(5)  So, back to Leo's friend Bruno.  Many readers comment on how sweet the relationship is between Leo and Bruno, how nice that they have each other to ward off total loneliness. But. What if Bruno isn't real?  What if Bruno is just an imaginary friend for Leo?  We know Leo has an incredible imagination.  In one scene, at the end, he even asks a passerby whether or not there is a girl sitting next to him.  He questions the power of his own imagination.
QUESTION: If Bruno is imaginary, why would Leo have made him up?  Why/how is he so real that as a reader, we aren't even sure if he's real?  How can we argue that he may, in fact be imaginary?  Can we prove that he isn't?

(6)  Survival requires different tactics in different environments. 
QUESTION: Aside from Alma's wilderness guidelines, what measures do the characters in the novel adopt to carry on?

(7)   Alma's brother, Bird, believes he is a lamed vovnik.  A teaching of Jewish mysticism reveals that there, at any one time, 36 righteous people performing righteous acts to save the world, the rest of civilization - they are called lamed vovniks.  These may be different people at different times but, at any given moment, there should be at least 36 people in the world who are being righteous.  If that number should fall, it could mean the end.  So, we are all to live as if we might be one of those 36 and if we act out in a way that is not righteous, we may share in the responsibility of the demise.
In the book of Genesis, God is going to destroy the city of Sodom because it is filled with so much sin.  Abraham asks God if He would consider, if there are fifty innocent people in the city, sparing the city for the sake of those innocent.  God says, for those fifty He will spare the city.  Abraham continues to lower the number, finding that God will spare the city even if there are only ten innocent people.  Because of those ten innocent people, the rest of the city's population will be saved.
DISCUSS: In both of these examples, the righteous/innocent are anonymous, perhaps not even knowing themselves that they are "saviors".  Why is this anonymity important to the overall message?  What significance do you find in the similarities of these two teachings?

These questions were gathered, gleaned, influenced, inspired by or just copied from these sources:
NY Times online book reviews
The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
Performing Without a Stage: the Art of Literary Translation by Robert Wechsler
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Pheasant Ravioli & Kitchen Gadgets No. 1

Do any of you have cupboards full of kitchen gadgets that you sorta forget you have OR they are so far back in the cupboard that you wonder if its really worth dragging out and ultimately decide that it's not?  Well, I do so I'm making a new "column" in this blog for "kitchen gadgets".  It will make me pull these things out of the cupboard, use them, take a picture of the, tell you all about it, and then put them back in the cupboard.  So, today's column features 3 such gadgets. 
The first is my Pampered Chef microwave steamer.  I go through phases of using this alot and then hardly all.  Last night we had steamed carrots with just a pat of melted butter, salt & pepper.
The second is my Cuisainart food processor.  I found this delicious Pheasant Ravioli online tutorial a few years ago, made it once, and decided to do it again.  This link will take you to the tutorial, broken into various steps.  So, yesterday my mom and I cut up three pheasants, browned them in olive oil, cooked them with shallots, pancetta, and white wine, added egg then ran them through the food processor to make the ravioli filling.  Ummm - smells so good!

Today I pulled out my pasta roller and we made the ravioli pasta and filled it with the pheasant:

These nummy little pillows should be served with a light butter or cream sauce but they smelled so delicious as they were boiling, and we were so hungry, we ate a couple plain, straight from the kettle.  Defnition of savory.  Oh...my.  I need to get them in the freezer 'cause I keep sneaking one out of the fridge and eating it as finger food...just so yummy.

The Thrill of the Hunt

There are certain things that I've always wanted simply because they are so old-school, just so cool; like a library card catalog cabinet or a sewing bobbin drawer or...an old type set drawer (I guess I like things with lots of compartments!)  I found this type set drawer in Stillwater last week.  I eyed it at an antique mall, way back in the corner, and rushed over casually so that noone else would notice my interest and get there before me.  Nevermind that there were barely any other shoppers there and that two of them were my Mom and my Aunt.  It was a great price and I grabbed it, carried it around for awhile, and started thinking...ugh...can you imagine the dust in these little pockets.  I am not a clean freak (not even on the same planet) but the dust, I can just imagine the task.  And, really, I thought, what would I do with it?  I'm not a knick knack person so I have nothing to display in it.  It could just hang on the wall as kind-of-architectural-art.  But, again, is the dust worth it.  So, I put it back.  Then my Mom had a GREAT idea and I ran back and scooped it up again, paid for it, and took it out to the car.  You, however, will have to wait until I have the idea fulfilled - I will show you then.  Oooooh, the suspense.
When Mark and I visit garage sales or antique shops with the kids, we've always made a game of it.  Before anyone can get out of the car, they have to name one item that they're looking for at this sale.  Whoever finds their item, wins a point.  We don't actually buy the items...it's just the thrill of the hunt.  So, while we were shopping in Stillwater last week, my aunt kept feeling the bottoms of coffee cups.  And then my mom was.  So, I asked them, why are you doing that, what are you looking for?  Flat Bottoms.  They're looking for flat bottomed coffee cups that won't collect water in the dishwasher.  I cracked up.  That was our joke for the rest of the day - looking for flat bottoms - ha!  By the way, they are very difficult to find.

Have I mentioned that John loves trains?  He got an awesome electric train set from Santa a few years ago but it needs a very large table to be set on.  So, I bought two identical folding banquet tables which work wonderfully.  They have to be the same height because, as with real life trains, the engine can only handle an extremely slight inclination.  The tables are identical so...perfect.  Until.  My family, my extended family, spends every Christmas Eve together.  This means somewhere between 35-45 people and we share a sit down meal so we need to bring extra folding tables and chairs.  Last Christmas Eve, we brought our banquet tables...without our names on them.  Yep.  At the end of the festivities,we brought home two different tables.  And it has taken us until this past week to figure out who we need to trade with to get our identical heights back.  So, what do you think John wanted to do this weekend?  Uh-huh.  But one of his favorite boxcars had a coupler (I think that's the right term) that needed to be replaced.  Mark was deer hunting so it fell on my to fix the train.  We got it taken apart and I got everything back in place.  Until we turned it rightside up and everything fell off.  (This was, unfortunately, after I did my little victory dance and reminded John, see, Mom can do everything Dad can do - apparently not)  So, off to the hobby store to find out that the threads inside the train are worn and...wah, wah, wah, wah (the Charlie Brown voice).  I'll have Mark fix it.  But...

on the way home from the hobby store, we stopped at a consignment store.  I've never collected these Christmas village sets but John found this train station and wants to create a village to set inside the tracks.  I agree...that would be cool.  I know it may sound boring to just flip a lever and watch the train go round and round the track but...try it...it becomes fascinating and you want to slow it down when you come to the curve.  And, of course, you want to stop when the train pulls up in front of the station.  It is...fun!

And so, I'll end with a book recommendation - train related.  If you haven't ever read Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, you really should.  (1) Because it is Agatha Christie AND the Orient Express = perfect combo, (2) it's entirely unique in it's adherence to the "mystery formula", and (3) it is Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, for goodness sake!

If you like mysteries, are interested in writing a mystery or would enjoy hearing an author speak, I recommend, if you're in the Minneapolis area, going to hear Ellen Hart and RD Zimmerman talk "mystery" on Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 at the Elmer L. Anderson Library on the University of MN campus.  I attended a mystery writing course led by Ellen Hart (that's her pen name, can't remember her real name) years ago.  She is a wonderful teacher and great speaker.  I don't know RD Zimmerman, but I bet he's great also.

Why Not a Parents' Room Redo?

Painting the dressers for Kate's room redo went so smoothly, that I decided to paint the hand-me-down that is in our bedroom as well. 

Our bedroom decor has been sadly neglected for some time.  We had most of our windows replaced a few years ago and the curtain rods originally above our old windows ended up hanging 3 inches below the tops of the new windows.  I just haven't taken the time to fix them.  But when we re-did Kate's room, she decided not to hang curtains with her shades, so I grabbed her rods and stuck them in my closet for when I'd get around to switching them out.  Remember the pile of projects in my sewing room?  Well, these curtains (on the top right in the linked photo) have been sitting there for...um...a long time.  There were only two panels and I need four so...the project involved cutting each panel in half, re-sewing the top casement and the bottom hem, and finishing the side hems.  Plus they're lined so...just never got that motivated.  Until now.  And it feels so good to have the new rods up (above the windows!) and curtains off the project pile and onto the windows.

We desperately needed some wall art but it is very difficult (for me anyway) to choose wall art for a bedroom.  Well, I had these canvases in the sewing room from another project I abandoned long ago and so I printed out lines from "our song" and modpodged them onto the canvas - I really like the "wordy"ness way it turned out.
So, all of a sudden, we have "new" dresser, curtains, and wall art - I'd say that counts as a redo!  AND the stacks of unfinished projects are getting smaller - yay!