Savored some precious bonding moments with oldest daughter this afternoon. She invited me to their dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s concert and at first I didn’t want to come because it was a Saturday and… too many things! to do! chores to catch up on! kids’ Latin worksheets to check! laundry to do!… and then [...]]]>

Savored some precious bonding moments with oldest daughter this afternoon. She invited me to their dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s concert and at first I didn’t want to come because it was a Saturday and… too many things! to do! chores to catch up on! kids’ Latin worksheets to check! laundry to do!… and then I thought, if I don’t go, and in a few years she happens to have been whisked away by Prince Charming, or is getting ready to profess final vows at the convent, I will so regret saying no to this day. And so I said yes. I sit here now with papers piled beside me, and laundry to do, and e-mail to write, but I had the gift of several uninterrupted hours of just being in the company of one of my favorite people. No regrets, just lots of memories and I wanted to blog about it so I don’t forget And by the way, Ais, that was really yummy lavender coffee and the spinach feta croissant was exceptional. We’ll have to figure out the Paris trip somehow… even if you have to talk to Mother Superior about getting special dispensation for it. – love, mom

A mother’s song / by Janet Lawler
A father’s song / by Janet Lawler
Marven of the Great North Woods / written by Kathryn Lasky
Pond year / Kathryn Lasky ; illustrated by Mike Bostoc *****
The magic kerchief / by [...]]]> Books he’s been enjoying since November (not including Advent/Christmas books)

A mother’s song / by Janet Lawler
A father’s song / by Janet Lawler
Marven of the Great North Woods / written by Kathryn Lasky
Pond year / Kathryn Lasky ; illustrated by Mike Bostoc *****
The magic kerchief / by Kirby Larson ; illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger *****
The end / by David LaRochelle ; illustrated by Richard Egielski *****
Snowbaby could not sleep / by Kara LaReau ; illustrated by Jim Ishikawa
The little matador / words and pictures by Julian Hector
Peedie / Olivier Dunrea
Pip in the Grand Hotel / Johannes Hucke, Daniel Müller *****
Merry Christmas, Spot! / Eric Hill
My chair / written by Betsy James ; illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma *****
Picasso and Minou / P.I. Maltbie ; illustrated by Pau Estrada (super-favorite! i love that it has the street we passed, roaming around Montmartre, where Picasso lived, or at least what looks like it) *****
A box full of kittens / story by Sonia Manzano ; illustrated by Matt Phelan
George and Martha rise and shine / James Marshall *****
All for pie, pie for all / David Martin ; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev *****
When I was born / Isabel Minhós Martins, Madalena Matoso
Mrs. McDockerty’s knitting / Ruth Martinez ; illustrated by Catharine O’Neill
A gift from Saint Francis : the first creche / by Joanna Cole ; illustrated by Michele Lemieux *****
The First Noel : a child’s book of Christmas carols to play and sing.

***** – Nino’s favorites

I have never been a celery fan. Especially NOT of those celery sticks served with ranch dip that appear at almost every party table. What makes it worse is it’s often obviously store-bought, with wilted edges. There it is keeping company with the pretend baby carrots that look dry as a bone, AND [...]]]>

I have never been a celery fan. Especially NOT of those celery sticks served with ranch dip that appear at almost every party table. What makes it worse is it’s often obviously store-bought, with wilted edges. There it is keeping company with the pretend baby carrots that look dry as a bone, AND the half-yellowing broccoli florets that don’t even look washed. Ranch doesn’t really do anything for celery — and I suspect people eat the raw veggies just for the sake of being able to say “I ate something ‘healthy’” while actually indulging in the ranch dip, which is just about the only tasty thing in that sectioned black plastic tray. Ugh. Someone should ban those from the party foods section at the supermarket already.

I *do* love celery cooked. Of course, as one of the required aromatics in a stew or soup. I’ve also, on occasion, enjoyed Julia Child’s butter-braised celery, but it seems I’m the only person in the family that does, so nix that. Celery also HAS to be in Filipino pancit and chop suey, but it is fantastic in this Szechwan celery-chicken stir fry.

Enter this crunchy, buttery salad — based on one from Melissa Clark. Her version has dates, but I’m picky about dates as well, and don’t like them in a salad, so I just left them out. I confess to buying celery now just so I can make this salad as often as I can. Heh, it helps that I have an excuse to hog it too — as most of my family either dislike walnuts or are allergic to it.

The freshest stalks from a whole celery (I save the outer ones for soup), rinsed and sliced thinly on the diagonal — use the leaves too if you like
A handful of walnuts toasted in a 350-degree F oven (or toaster — but be careful not to burn them!) for 7-10 minutes, or until fragrant and JUST beginning to turn color, chopped
juice of half a lemon
tablespoon or so extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
shavings of Pecorino, Grana Padano or Parmigiano

That’s it! Toss in a bowl and eat! You’ll be thankful you tried it.

While edamame, simply boiled and salted, has its place in our diet — a quick snack at teatime, or finger food at lunch — this is our favorite, full-flavored, finger-licking-good version. And it’s almost as quick!

Bring pot of water to a boil. Drop in frozen edamame and boil vigorously 5 minutes. Drain [...]]]>

While edamame, simply boiled and salted, has its place in our diet — a quick snack at teatime, or finger food at lunch — this is our favorite, full-flavored, finger-licking-good version. And it’s almost as quick!

Bring pot of water to a boil. Drop in frozen edamame and boil vigorously 5 minutes. Drain and shock with cold water. Toss with:

the juice of half an orange
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chili oil OR a sprinkling of shichimi togarashi or other pepper mix

These are our go-to brownies for gift giving and parties. The recipe comes from “The Best Recipe”. Our now-20 year old learned how to make them when she was around 12. This and the other “regular” brownie recipe are favorites, though we don’t make this as often as we used to (owing to [...]]]>

These are our go-to brownies for gift giving and parties. The recipe comes from “The Best Recipe”. Our now-20 year old learned how to make them when she was around 12. This and the other “regular” brownie recipe are favorites, though we don’t make this as often as we used to (owing to dairy allergies, etc.). Recently I made it again for the confirmandi’s bake sale at church, so I looked for the recipe here on the blog, and couldn’t believe I had never posted it here. It’s not a difficult recipe, you’re basically making 2 batters and marbling them together.

Chocolate batter:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Cream cheese batter:
1 8-ounce brick cream cheese, at room temp (no substitutes)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325°F. Set oven rack at lower middle level. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan, or a 9-inch round pan (this will give you trim/leftovers for munching ). Line with parchment or foil with ends overhanging (this will facilitate pulling them out of the pan later). If using a round pan cut “rays” coming out of the bottom circle — these will be the “handles”. Spray again.

Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolates and butter. (This can also be done in a glass measuring cup/bowl in the microwave if you like, just do it gently, and test every 20 seconds or so.) Let cool for a few minutes, then add sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Add flour mixture and mix well.

In another bowl, beat all ingredients for cream cheese batter until smooth and even.

Pour half the brownie batter into the pan. Drop spoonfuls of half of the cream cheese batter on top. Pour remaining brownie batter on top. Add the remaining cream cheese batter, again by spoonfuls on top. Take a knife and swirl it through the batters to create the marbled effect.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a tester or toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly dry (moist crumbs are okay). Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes. If necessary, run a knife along the sides of the pan to detach. Using the foil/parchment handles, lift out of the pan and onto a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. You can cut the brownies, but it will be easier to cut them and the results will be cleaner if you refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours (or 90 minutes in the freezer). Cut into squares.

As you can see, we couldn’t wait to cut these.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic agave nectar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk + juice of half a lemon (let stand 5 minutes before using) — or use buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 cup fine-grind whole wheat [...]]]>

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic agave nectar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk + juice of half a lemon (let stand 5 minutes before using) — or use buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 cup fine-grind whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine first four ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients and whisk well. Pour into greased baking pan (I use a 9-inch cake pan or square pan). Bake 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Yummy plain, or with honey!

We didn’t sleep in and woke up the kids at 7:30 so everyone could get ready for the 9 am Mass. Before we left I stuck the turkey in the oven and the pilaf in the slow cooker, [...]]]> I think we have a new tradition that we would like to keep the next few years.

We didn’t sleep in and woke up the kids at 7:30 so everyone could get ready for the 9 am Mass. Before we left I stuck the turkey in the oven and the pilaf in the slow cooker, I figured we were going to be away for an hour and a half tops (this is probably a big no-no but I do it occasionally). Most of the parishioners must be traveling, or still in bed, or cooking for the big feast as the church wasn’t even half full. We saw a few of our favorite families and KofC had donuts for after the Mass.

After we got home, Yena and Aisa helped with the veggies, the boys and Dad helped with preparing the dining room and Nino was being all-around busybody as usual. We had turkey with gravy, the pilaf, green bean casserole, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Nothing out of the ordinary, though one big difference this year was that I hardly measured anything. That must have taken 50% of the stress off for me. Instinct-cooking, I call it, same technique my grandparents and my parents use all the time .

After lunch Dad the kids wanted to watch Fearless. UGH, what a choice for a Thanksgiving movie, I had wanted to watch Miracle on 34th but they vetoed that, but hubby was happy so it’s all good. We were all cuddled together on the bed except for Paco who was doing catch-up work on his laptop beside us. Until I started complaining because I’d had to cover Nino’s eyes several times, irking him no end, so Aisa relented and let us watch a bit of Miracle. Nino must have found that boring, as he asked to be brought downstairs so he could play. Excellent time to go on our planned car-hunting trip! Nino insisted on bringing his pillow on the ride so he could sleep, and we went to a couple of car dealer parking lots to look around for a van and a car for Aisa. Right now we’re liking the Odyssey, though there was a Toyota SUV that caught my eye also. We got home and Nino was still zonked so they napped a bit while I worked on the pies (pumpkin and apple) and the brussel sprouts. By dinnertime I was feeling sick, so I had a few bites and went to bed. Eventually they all made it upstairs, with Yena begging for a game of Apples to Apples. We hadn’t had time to do our Thanksgiving “activity”, so for the next hour we recorded ourselves reciting all the things we were thankful for. We must have made it through 78 or so rounds, with me and Dad giving up around 25 so we could just listen to the kids though I interjected here and there when something would come to mind. They came up with some great “thankful for” thoughts! We could have kept going but by this time it was around 10:30 and we were all tired. The kids will be hanging up their lists on their bedroom walls so when they’re feeling ungrateful (which happens from time to time in this house!) they can look at the list and see just how many blessings they have!! Apples to Apples finally happened, and hah! I won Yena was scared there for a minute when it looked like Aisa was going to win. We had promised them that the winner would get to pick the family gift, and Aisa had said she would get giant mixing bowls and color-coded cutting boards if she won. We still haven’t decided what the family gift would be, but the kids are (again) begging for an XBox (what’s this, 3rd year in a row?). We’ll see…

It was the most relaxed Thanksgiving ever. Right now I’m waiting for the bread to rise (to be served with pumpkin butter, as the pumpkin pie is ALL GONE). Cream cheese brownies are in the oven for Aisa to take to work tomorrow, as a thank you from us to her co-workers who took such good care of us when we dined there a couple of months ago. I’m making smashed potatoes as soon as I press “publish” on this post. The washer and dryer are humming.

And once again, no Black Friday shopping for us. I drove past Best Buy on Wednesday night and couldn’t believe the TENTS that were already set up, with people in them! So weird. I did manage to score, with Dad’s blessing, a 60D with 18-135mm at Amazon for about $300 less than the original price — my kind of Black Friday shopping, from the warmth and comfort of home. And the only person trampling me was the toddler, who does NOT like being called HIJO for any reason at all. Life is good

from the University of Pittsburgh

from Sheet Music USA Page 1 and Page 2

From 8notes.com

This is how homeschooling works here — you go with the flow… this week’s major interests include [...]]]> Something triggered Yena’s interest in the Star Spangled Banner so I looked for piano sheet music for her.

from the University of Pittsburgh

from Sheet Music USA Page 1 and Page 2

From 8notes.com

This is how homeschooling works here — you go with the flow… this week’s major interests include Ireland, nuns (Dominicans in particular), sewing, and this. We’ll see if this leads anywhere else. Meanwhile, I’m also keeping these links here for the next Flag Day.

Getting dizzy yesterday from the huge array of choices, so this should help to narrow down some:

Understanding [...]]]> Putting links/notes here for the grand research…. not getting it yet, as I still have a list of tasks I’d like to accomplish before I reward myself, but these will come in handy sometime soon.

Understanding Canon’s EF Lens Lineup
Canon’s EF Lens Chart
for the more visual buyer
Lens Compabitibility Information from Porter’s

There were also useful charts I found at this forum (registration required).

and for Nikon: Nikon SLR Camera to Lens Compatibility

Right now, I’m looking at:

Canon 60D + 50mm f/1.4 + 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 zoom

OR

Nikon D5100 + 35mm f/1.8 + 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 zoom

It’s been frustrating not having a good camera around for the past few months, especially when Nino gets into his monologues, or when I’ve cooked something particularly colorful. I’m shooting for (no pun intended) Christmas, and if not, my birthday.

Another smoothie that doesn’t need sugar:) Wasn’t such a big hit with the kids, because of the pumpkin seeds. Maybe next time I’ll powder them in [...]]]> 2 mangoes, deseeded (Champagne if available)
1/4 cantaloupe, deseeded and chopped roughly
1 16-oz bag frozen pineapple
handful pumpkin seeds
water to keep blender moving

Another smoothie that doesn’t need sugar:) Wasn’t such a big hit with the kids, because of the pumpkin seeds. Maybe next time I’ll powder them in the coffee grinder before I add them in.

3 frozen bananas
3 tablespoons protein powder (I used Genisoy Soy Protein Shake)
3 tablespoons almond butter
3 handfuls baby spinach
1 tablespoon cinnamon
enough water to keep [...]]]> That’s what my kids called it. And two of them didn’t like it, but the rest of the family did

3 frozen bananas
3 tablespoons protein powder (I used Genisoy Soy Protein Shake)
3 tablespoons almond butter
3 handfuls baby spinach
1 tablespoon cinnamon
enough water to keep things moving in the blender

Hubby and I loved it so there will be lots of repeat performances. And hah! The kids’ remark about it being “liquid banana bread” gave me an idea (heh-heh-heh): next time I make banana bread, I’ll sneak in pureed spinach into the batter.