Brussel Sprouts

When Rick was out of town the kids and I had a chance to try the caramelized brussel sprouts the Rebellious Pastor's Wife wrote about here.

It is a winner! The Artist and I loved them. The Engineer decided not to try them in favor of the other vegetable that night. For once, I let him get away with not trying. That meant there were more for the Artist and me! Seriously, though, I'm very proud of the Engineer for his sudden willingness to try new foods countless times over the last couple of months.

I do not have any coconut oil at home, but I have plenty of butter. I also have olive and sesame oils. For this recipe I chose the butter and a little sesame oil. When the sprouts were browning nicely I removed some from the pan to give others more contact with the pan surface. It was tempting to eat them straight away!

Because of using the sesame oil I omitted the lemon juice sprinkling at the end.

In the past I've taken advantage of Rick's business trips to serve brussel sprout soup or steamed brussel sprouts. Those were usually just for me. I'm pleased the Artist likes the caramelized version too.

The Kitchen Window

Outside my kitchen window I can see a portion of my driveway and a close up of a neighbor's tree. I can tell whether our gate is opened or closed. I can also see a bit of the neighbor's well kept back yard and garage.

Dad has a kitchen at the back rather than the side of his house which makes for better views in all seasons. This one is pretty,especially because he doesn't have any veggies in his garden, only blackberries which have so far been left alone.

We do see deer around our house but not usually in the daylight like this. Mostly I find their tracks in the soil.

Irish Doll

When I was a little girl I had some relatives who traveled extensively. They kindly remembered me while en route around the globe and brought home for me some delightful souvenirs. Most often, the gifts were dolls dressed in native costume from the countries they visited.

After a few years of collecting, my mother noticed I needed a way to display the collection that I was accumulating and she built for me a beautiful corner cabinet with glass doors. I still have the cabinet, but it no longer contains the dolls as they grew too numerous for it.

Thankfully, the dolls were rescued from living in storage boxes when we bought our house. The former owners had built a huge desk and hutch into a basement bedroom. The hutch shows the dolls nicely as they can be viewed from both sides.

When cleaning my office this past week I dusted off the dolls and had a chance to revisit the memories I associate with some of them.

This little lady was a gift from my relatives after a trip to Ireland. Unfortunately, I don't remember receiving her. She's been in my collection longer than I can remember. I do remember naming her Little Green Riding Hood.

Tribe Memory

While diving into some much needed cleaning of my office that dark room in the corner of the basement where I store stuff, I uncovered some Tribe memories.

I thought I spied a fallen roll of gift wrap on the floor of the closet I was cleaning. Closer inspection showed the paper was wrapped in plastic.

"A new roll?" I wondered if it was generic or Christmas or floral or masculine.

As it turns out, 'twas none of those, but something better. I'd relocated a poster from the Cleveland Indians centennial season. Nice! It must have been a premium at the ball park, because it is not the sort of thing I'd spend money on. What a nice thing to decorate a boy's room with, though. Wheels are turning in my mind. Imagine how it would coordinate with these curtains on the Engineer's window!Later, in another part of the extremely cluttered room I found three of these posters. I remember receiving them last year when we exited the then called Jacob's Field after the division-clinching game. I guess it really has been a very long time since I've cleaned this room. As we were handed them I remember wondering what happens to the thousands of posters ball clubs print in preparation for this day and then the team loses that last opportunity to clinch?

I re-rolled all the posters together, keeping them in one place this time. Perhaps when the Engineer outgrows the kites and airplanes decorating his room now he will enjoy a sports theme. He loves baseball, and hates to miss an Indians game. I am a little worried though. Twice this week he sought me out to tell me, "Seriously, Mommy, I like the Cubs." And a few days later, "I seriously like the Cubs, Mommy." Both times he had such earnest in his voice and on his face.

Hear The World

Hear the World is a game my mom had bought from Discovery Toys years ago. I'd guess 10 - 15 years ago. Both of my children have enjoyed playing it with each other, alone, or with the family. Now the neighbor children I babysit a few days a week are enjoying the game too.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any place where this toy is still sold. However, it would not be too complicated for one to make his own version. The game box holds four cards, each with nine photos on them, an audio cassette (told ya it was old!) and ten each of four colors of chips.One to four players may play. To begin, select a card and color of chip. Play the cassette, and listen to the sound. Can you identify it? Some are unmistakable, like the popping popcorn, crying baby, and thundering waterfall. Others like the dolphin or distinguishing herds of sheep from the cows take more concentration. If you have the photo that corresponds to the sound on your card, place your chip on it. You can play for three in a row as in tic tac toe, four corners as in Bingo, play until a pre-set number of pictures are covered, or see who is first to cover their whole card.

I wonder if I can record the cassette sounds on a CD to make it more likely my grandchildren can enjoy this game!

Typing

This summer the Artist has been working with a typing tutorial I found on the internet. I looked at several and she tried three different typing websites before we settled on the one that worked best for us.

I like Free Typing Game dot net (the green option in the middle of the page) because it has more than lessons that make clear which fingers should be striking which keys. This program is different in that it allows the user to adjust goals for the lessons. The Artist chooses from a drop down menu which of the 30 lessons she will practice. Then she selects her word per minute goal from another drop down menu.

New keys are drilled as they are introduced, then a review is given. I like that the reviews use real words as much as possible. The program encourages speed and accuracy in that it gives the user an adjusted WPM score after factoring in errors at the conclusion of each lesson. And as a bonus for home schoolers who keep track of such things, each lesson has a certificate that can be printed out upon completion. The certificate lists the lesson, who took the lesson, the date and the results.

Soon the Artist will be clicking on the companion program, Free Typing Tests (the blue option on the right in the link above). The tests review letter combinations and numbers in detail. And finally the student is ready for test 26 in which classic tales are typed and graded for speed and accuracy.

Laughter to Tears in 30 Seconds

Hmmm, I find myself wishing for a camera phone for the first time. This post would be funnier and sadder with photos, but it is not to be.

On the way home from a friend's house Thursday morning the kids and I saw a sign that made us laugh. A local German cultural organization had posted a sign advertising their Oktoberfest. The sign said:

Oktoberfest
Sept. 12-14

While we were still regaining our composure we passed another sign. This one I did not point out to the kids. A local church's digital sign flashed the message:

Polka Mass
Aug. 3

I can go for a good polka. Can you guess which one I might attend?