I saw this article on boingboing. I've come to realize over the past couple of years that I feel the same way about taking care of the dead as I do about taking care of children. It should be done by people who love them.

Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Focaccia

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water, divided
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
15-20 cherry tomatoes, halved
6-10 fresh basil leaves

grated parmesan
coarse salt

olive oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water and let sit 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, yeast mixture, and remaining water.

Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and then your hands.

Transfer to a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few minutes or until smooth.

Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down and place on an oiled baking sheet, forming into an oval or circle.

Space the tomato halves across the surface of the focaccia, then sprinkle the shredded basil leaves and parmesan.

Dimple the top surface with your finger tips, and then drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake about 20 minutes or until golden.

This lasted about two minutes. He's very sensitive to any possible affront to his dignity.

You know those little 2 oz bottles of vanilla extract? The ones that cost over $7? They're just not cutting it any more.



20 vanilla beans ($10) + 1 bottle of vodka ($11) + 1 month = wow that smells good

Today I made peanut butter bars so that when Rowan quotes FredFredBurger ("Sometimes my mommy makes me chocolate chip cookies and sometimes she makes me peanut butter bars and sometimes she doesn't make me anything at all. Yes. Chocolate chip is my favorite. Yes.") it'll be true.

Peanut Butter Bars

1 stick butter + 1/2 stick butter
1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (very fine)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Line a square pan for easy removal.

Melt 1 stick of butter over low heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, peanut butter, and crumbs.

Stir until smooth, then spread in pan.

In same pot, melt 1/2 stick butter. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted.

Spread over peanut butter mixture.

Cool in refrigerator for 45 minutes.

Store in refrigerator.

We think the proportions are a bit off, and plan to add more chocolate next time - probably an additional 1/4 cup or so.

We've got six taps going.


Forty gallons of sap yields about one gallon of syrup. Based on what we've collected so far, we're hoping for a total of about eighty gallons of sap. Snow and colder temperatures slowed things down today, but seeing those jugs fill up yesterday was a happy sign that spring is on its way.

Need a snack? Try this:

Toasted Ravioli

Boil some mini ravioli.
Spray a cookie sheet with Pam.
In a bowl big enough to hold the ravioli, whisk two eggs.
In another bowl, mix 1 cup breadcrumbs, a few tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, some dried basil, oregano, and pepper.
Rinse the cooked ravioli in cold water.
Coat with egg.
Coat with breadcrumbs.
Put on cookie sheet.
Spray with Pam.
Bake at 375 for 12-17 minutes, until toasted.
Dip in salsa.

After some discussion about how much fun these things can be for poking fun at your mom, here are the answers my kids came up with to the 'questions about your mom' thing that's floating around these days.

What is something your mom always says to you?

Dagny: *whiny voice* "nooooo stopppp itttttt! Or "Dagny, (insert any type of food you could imagine cooking here) is ready!"

Rowan: fact.

What makes your mom happy?

Dagny: Being tickled. She's in denial.

Rowan: me, Dagny, Daddy, puppies.

What makes your mom sad?

Dagny: Mean parents.

Rowan: Puppies dying.

How does your mom make you laugh?

Dagny: Well...we all laugh at her when she gets the hiccups.

Rowan: um, with silliness.

What did your mom like to do when she was a child?

Dagny: Hide in trees and read books and be a snotty little Duxbury kid.

Rowan: Go down to the store with her friend and get popsicles.

How old is your mom?

Dagny: I'm not at liberty to discuss that.

Rowan: 40

How tall is your mom?

Dagny: An inch taller than me.

Rowan: 5 foot 6 in.

What is her favorite thing to do?

Dagny: Stab furry things with barbed needles.

Rowan: Playing with me and Dagny or looking up in the sun.

What does your mom do when you're not around?

Dagny: Blasts the music in the car.

Rowan: Boring Mama stuff :P.

If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Dagny: Writing a book. OH WAIT.

Rowan: Her book.

What is your mom really good at?

Dagny: Being annoying...I mean...cute.

Rowan: Being a Mama.

What is your mom not very good at?

Dagny: Preventing me from poking her bellybutton whenever I want.

Rowan: Thinking games.

What does your mom do for her job?

Dagny: Bosses me around :P.

Rowan: She is a Mama.

What is your mom's favorite food?

Dagny: Ice cream.

Rowan: Ginger bread.

What makes you proud of your mom?

Dagny: She stands up for kids who are being yelled at in Walmart? ...nah, that's just embarrassing...

Rowan: skipped this one

If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Dagny: She would be an interesting cartoon just as herself!

Rowan: Elmira maybe.

What do you and your mom do together?

Dagny: Giggle a lot?

Rowan: Play Mancala.

How are you and your mom the same?

Dagny: Um. We wear the same size clothing and shoes. It's quite useful when I've got nothing to wear.

Rowan: We like to read and I guess I kinda look like she did MAYBE.

How are you and your mom different?

Dagny: Her hair is curly. And her name is Rue.

Rowan: .....Well, for ONE I like thinking games.

How do you know your mom loves you?

Dagny: Because she says so while she's threatening to stab me with barbed needles.

Rowan: She tells me.

What does your mom like most about your dad?

Dagny: ...I don't know, you figure that out and get back to ME.

Rowan: I don't know.

Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Dagny: Her...happy... place...?

Rowan: hmm...maybe the beach.

The smell of molasses always reminds me of my mom for a couple of reasons. The first is that she used to give me a spoon of molasses (or two...) when I had a cough. The second is this recipe.

GrammaDonna's Gingerbread

½ cup shortening

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ½ cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 cup molasses

1 cup boiling water

Cream the shortening, and add the sugar gradually. Add the beaten eggs, and then the previously sifted dry ingredients alternately with the molasses and water. Beat enough to mix. Pour into a well greased 9 X 13 baking pan.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.

The atelier-office-gunroom-studio project is coming along in Kream style (by which I mean slowly).



I just finished painting the trim for the shelving and I'll be painting the bigger pieces this afternoon.


Then Jon can finish up the ceiling (we learned that drywall doesn't like it if you keep the heat off), and we can lay the floor, build the shelves, and actually set up the room. Finally, finally, my mom and I will get to refinish this table.


(That big crack on the top of the table is gone. We fixed it up with some glue and really big clamps.)

See the masking tape in that first picture? This is what Jon has to deal with. I don't draw, so when I want us to build something I draw on the wall with masking tape and he figures out how it will stay up and how many bazilliondy pieces of wood I need to paint.

Get yourself some really good bread. (The potato bread Jon made is perfect.) Mix this up. (I skipped the olives - yuck - used white onion since I hate raw red onion, skipped the parsley cuz who has parsley? and went light on the oil.) Toast your bread, spread on some chickpea salad, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Delicious.

Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs. Great recipes, interesting writing, beautiful pictures, and a healthy dose of chocolate.

No longer content merely to dream in color, Leila has resolved to live in color as well.

Here's a favorite I'll be making today:

Spinach Artichoke Dip

10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed
12 oz jar artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup cream cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar

Heat oven to 400.
Squeeze spinach between paper towels to remove moisture.
Combine ingredients.
Bake in oven-safe dish until lightly golden, 20-30 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips or toasted bread.

I'm keeping very busy in etsy-land. I was featured artisan on byhand.me, where I of course mentioned unschooling, and also featured here. No rush of sales going on, but I'm having fun.

Rowan's joined a chorus. Why am I telling you this? Because I have 'Consider yourself at home. Consider yourself part of the family.' stuck in my head, and I think you should too.

I made it into a treasury for the first time, and it's a really pretty one!

This weekend Jon tried his hand at bread making. This resulted in a colossally messy kitchen and some really good potato bread. Bread likes soup, so try this:


Roasted Tomato Soup

• 6-7 tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled (I did 8 cloves. That’s a Ruel: always double the garlic)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups stock
• 1/4 cup cream (I used more like ½ cup)
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375.

Cut tomatoes in quarters and lay cut side up in a roasting pan. Add unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes until the tomatoes and garlic have started to caramelize.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat, then add the diced onion and cook until translucent — about four or five minutes. Add sugar, then stock. Bring to low boil.

Remove paper skins from garlic. Add the tomatoes and garlic to the pot with the stock and let it cook for a few minutes. Pour everything into blender and whiz until velvety smooth. Add cream or milk and whiz for another minute.

One thing I'm really, really bad at is promoting things I make. (Just ask Kelly Lovejoy, my most diligent butt-kicker.) This week I've been stepping waaaayy out of my comfort zone, actually trying to get some of my work noticed. Here's the first result of my efforts: Songs in the Key of Color.

I like this post on that blog. How cool is it that our brains pull beauty in from around us and our hands translate it into a whole new kind of beauty?

Valerie Fitzenreiter commanded that I watch Surfwise. I always do what she says. (Everyone's read her book, right? Go here.)

You can watch the movie on Instant Netflix. I found it really sad. This family could've had it (It. You know what that is, right?) and what they do have is so completely opposite of it.

It is good.

I've had a special request from Diana for Grandma Carolyn's Hamantashen recipe. At Grandma's house you're only allowed to make these for Purim. At my house (being that I'm a heathen and all), you're allowed to make them any old time.

Hamantashen

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup shortening

3 tsp baking powder

½ cup orange juice

4 cups flour

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

pie filling or thick jam (our favorites are apricot and strawberry)

Cream sugar, oil, and shortening.

Add eggs and juice.

Mix well.

Divide into four parts.

Roll out each piece (fairly thin) on a floured surface.

With rim of glass (depending on desired size) cut dough into circles

Place 1/2 -2/3 tsp filling in middle of circle (learn from my mistakes – do not overfill.)

Pinch bottom two sides of circle then the top of the circle to form a triangle.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until just starts to brown around edges.

Here's what's cooking at our house today:

Grandma Carolyn's Spinach Squares

4 tbsp butter

3 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 lb cheddar, grated

2 packs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 tbsp minced onion

Preheat oven to 350.

Put the butter in a 9x13" pan and let it melt in the oven while you're mixing the rest of the ingredients.

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl.

Add flour, milk, salt, and baking powder.

Add cheese, spinach, and onion.

Spoon into baking dish
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

I think they could more accurately be called cheese squares, given the pound of cheddar. Carolyn first gave me this recipe when Dagny was a peanut of a one year old and everyone wanted us to fatten her up a bit. Genetics seem to be winning out in that department, but we do like the spinach squares.

Check out melon mouth.

Babies are busy.

Today I made veggieburgurrs. Not Homestar's recipe, but quite tasty all the same.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

2 large eggs

6 scallions, both white and green parts, minced

A handful of chopped fresh cilantro

1 whole head of garlic, roasted

1 jalapeno, roasted

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons honey
Juice of one lime

Coarsely chop the garlic, jalapeno, and 2 cups of the black beans.

Add whole beans and remaining ingredients.

Form into patties.

Chill in refrigerator.

Fry in butter about 5 minutes per side.

Read my blog? Get 15% off at my etsy shop 8pm tonight (Thursday) til 8pm tomorrow night (Friday), my time (est).

Maybe you need a necklace



or a doll



or a bowl




or a purse.


Just place your order as usual, add a note to seller that you read my blog, and I'll refund 15% of the item price.

Look who got a new camera.