Capable Cook Recovers Food Slump

Toast after Canary is finished with it-I'm not kidding

I have a friend, Bantam Hen, who doesn't plan a menu and NEVER makes the same meal twice.

Really. She subscribes to several food magazines and visiting one of her dinner parties is a trip for the tasetbuds (in more ways than one). I don't know which is more amazing, the fact that she does this or that her family of 7 goes along with it. She has said that this freedom to create keeps her cooking. That otherwise she would probably get bored and loose interest in the kitchen pretty quickly.

Back at my place, I am, yet again, I having a food slump. I'm not talking about Louisa May Alcott's cozy comfort food, the apple slump. Whose recipe can be found at the cleverly titled Paper & Salt. I am referring to the medical condition  where an able-bodied mother is no longer mentally capable of creating lovely meals for her family due to an increase in complaining and apparent decrease in appreciation.

It can be seriously detrimental to a family's well being--but I somehow develop it routinely. Since no prescription (or subscription) can pull me out of it I have a go-to plan, and it's not beans and rice for a week (I tried that once and it went over like a chicken with clipped wings). Insetead, I do this:

I get dressed up. I go to Zuppas cafe, and I read:

The Capable Cook's Credentials which are:

1. The Capable Cook plans meals ahead of time. Make sure I am planning out shopping list, menu, etc. just so I don't think about it more than I have to.
2. The Capable Cook serve meals on time. For us that's 7am, 11am, 6pm and no random snacking in between. More about that here.
3. The Capable Cook offers a variety of healthy options. One mother told me she always offered for dinner a main protein, salad, vegetable or fruit, and starch if not in the main dish. She encouraged her children to try everything and left it at that. That has worked better for me that requiring each bite of one dish. I was taught a parent's responsiblity is to provide the food; a child's is to eat it.
4. The Capable Cook remembers to include family members in the process. "Mmmm, this are good rolls--wonder who made these." (That's Mockingbird either fishing for compliments or experiencing amnesia)
5. After all that, the Capable Cook creates a mealtime atmosphere where food is not the focus. "Father Franklin thought that good talk around the supper table, sharing ideas and discussion, held the family together. The talk was usually so interesting they hardly ever noticed what the food was like."-- Poor Richard. (And candles so dim they can't see what they are eating helps too.) More about that here.

The Cooks Credentials are those things which entitle a Family Cook to confidence, competence, and authority. One of the best things I've learned about motherhood is that whining is inevitable. It is simply the result of vocal individuals expressing their right to an opinion with a very limited vocabulary, the poor dears. But, if I'm doing these 5 steps, then it's not something I need to feel responsible for. I just patiently move on to the next course, "Brussel sprouts, anyone?"

But to motivate myself further, I might also go watch Martha Stewart, visit the library for cookbooks, or go shopping for new candles with smaller wicks.

Art Class: Ceramics 1

Coil Animals

7y/o beginning working on his coil base

I reviewed how to make a long clay snake, then coil it flat to make a base, up to make a wall. We also talked about how to smooth the wall with our tools and use slip and texture to secure layers.
We looked at some images of clay birds, cats, and a particularly cute hedgehog online to get the wheels turning. I encouraged them to not necessarily do something representational, but have fun.

Cat chasing Mouse by 12y/o girl

 I have about 3 sets of ceramic tools for everyone to share and little bowls of water on the tables. This clay cleans up really easily once dry, which you will find out if you put your feet up for half an hour after class and don't even think about cleaning until it's time to make dinner.
So I eventually scrapped the protective tablecloths. Sometimes we did use a gessoed drop canvas I have to work on the floor and easily "peel" off a wet piece. Jackson Pollock-like it has led a colorful life.

Birds. By Bowery Bird.

We still don't know where this tattoo came from.

Looking Like October

Mockingbird had to have two teeth pulled so that the new ones could come in straight.
I tried to play it cool, and forget two years ago when my wisdom teeth were removed. Which really wasn't that bad by itself, but thrown in having had a baby 4 weeks prior, and nose surgery two weeks after and it was a streesful time that this only resurfaced.

We there are both doing well, when the nurse leans over to to her coworker, "They're going to be sawing."
Wha-? I sit in disbelief.
He didn't hear so she repeated, pantomiming a handsaw in motion this time over Mockingbird's reclined head.
Soon I realized she wasn't talking about a dental procedure, but the landscapers outside, as the sound of a chainsaw tore through the window. This was a relief, but  unsettling itself. Mockingbird seemed fine and I tried to pat her leg every once in awhile. But when I glanced up to see at just the right angle what was going on inside her mouth, I took a deep breath and decided to just keep my eyes on my book.
Our visit was a total of 15 minutes, 15 long minutes.
Mockingbird wiped her eyes--brave girl--got her toy, and we left.

On the way home I tried to make things lighter.
"Wow, it's officially October now isn't it?...Overcast skies, crisp air, yellow leaves, and pumpkins out-"
"and bloody teeth" Mockingbird mumbled around her gauze. (Twice because I couldn't understand her.)

Those Wicked Apple Trees

"Are you hinting my apples aren't what they ought to be?"

"Oh no. It's just that she doesn't like little green worms!"

Actually, I don't mind the little green worms. Only pesticides can promise pristine produce. What is that saying about my food if even bugs won't eat it?

But that's not my point. Today we went gleaning for our morning break.
I was hearkening back to the peasants in my pedigree as I crawled up the overgrown apple tree near our home that sits on some odd corner of ignored property and shook the trees till fruit rained down and the children said it looked like the Apple Tree in the Wizard of  Oz.
Mockingbird shouted out "Ow! Yow! Hey!", not because she was getting hit but, "because it's fun to say!"
Bowery Bird found me sticks to bat at the high branches full of more fruit she found.
Kingfisher collected apples with grass stuck through them from it hitting the ground so hard & Canary, we just tried to keep track of.

More on gleaning at the Utah Society for Environmental Education blog.
Great links can be found at the end of the article.
Comment if you know of others to add.

Life Skills

I have a love hate relationship with my washer and dryer.
After 9 years of marriage we finally had them in our own home. Luxury! Modern Marvels! Bliss...Until they stopped working.
First the dryer stopped moving. "I'm a smart person. I have a college degree. I can hot wire a car (not really) but if a 15 year-old can do it--how hard can it be? It's just a machine with parts and directions...to be found somewhere, I'm sure. And I can not go another week with dirty laundry."

Boosting my morale with sentences like this (especially the last) I did it. With a great YouTube home video (the Southern drawl eased my anxiety), and some duct tape I replaced the drum belt for $10 in 15 min.
Then 2 weeks later it stopped heating. This time my husband ended up replacing the thermostat for $50.
A few months later the washer stopped moving. We replaced the feed dogs for $10 in 5 min.

We saved money not needing a repairman or entirely new washer & dryer, but the best is yet to come.
A couple more months and somehow, a fully dressed clothespin doll fell from the craft shelf above, into the lint trap. But, from my earlier intimate dealings with the dryer, I was able to not only remain calm, but remove the back panels of the dryer and get it out in less than 10 min--then go on with life. Amazing. I had never repaired anything more than a broken hair clip before this, and here I was welding power tools like a pro! Life Skills at work.

Then a month later a spool of wire fell down the lint trap. Really? Is this a joke? Is some one trying to make a point?
Here, for your reading pleasure are

Helpful Sources  in Teaching Life Skills to Children:

 Life Skills for Kids by Christine Field is a thoroughly covers topics from Time Management  to Navigating the World without it seeming overwhelming.

The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Browne Boyack has, in my opinion, a terrible cover that belies the powerhouse of information within. Her conversational message to parents is that we should give our children the opportunity to take responsibility and control of their lives early. Then they can make mistakes in the safety of our home, and not have to as adults when the stakes are higher, or--Horror of Horrors!--just opt for the safety of perpetually living with mom and dad FOREVER.

What Every Child Needs to Know Along the Way by Gail Martin, I need to check out.

"Family Work" is a thought provoking article on family work by Kathleen Slaugh Bahr and Cheri A. Loveless that has personally altered my thoughts on family and work. Go figure.

Ironically, it is the very things commonly disliked about family work that offer the greatest possibilities for nurturing close relationships and forging family ties. Some people dislike family work because, they say, it is mindless. Yet chores that can be done with a minimum of concentration leave our minds free to focus on one another as we work together. We can talk, sing, or tell stories as we work. Working side by side tends to dissolve feelings of hierarchy, making it easier for children to discuss topics of concern with their parents. Unlike play, which usually requires mental concentration as well as physical involvement, family work invites intimate conversation between parent and child.

 Adventure to Inspire has impressive and detailed lists of life skills to download. The checklists for obtaining skills, with privileges attached are pure genius.

The Art of Manliness has 31 life skills for men ranging from "Managing Your Online Reputation" to "How to Tie the Half-Windsor Necktie Knot". I smell cologne whenever I go to this site.