Lovely World

Cream Puff

David is the dessert maker in the house, mainly because his sweet tooth gets the better of him quicker than mine grabs hold of me. He outdid himself and his usual repertoire of brownies and bars this week by making cream puffs. I had been out one evening and when I returned, I saw the tray of puffs, a pot of homemade vanilla pudding still on the stove, and a bowl of homemade chocolate sauce. The kids enjoyed building the puffs. We all enjoyed eating them. I particularly like all the different flavors and textures that come together, and the fact that they aren't too sweet. The easy recipe is from "Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook," a very no-nonsense guide, around since the 1930s, to making just about anything under the sun.

Keeping Warm

After all the snow and cold, blowing wind yesterday, I'm happy that I finished knitting these lovely ribby wrist warmers. The pattern is from Kris Percival's "Speed Knitting" and the yarn is the jewel-like Brown Sheep Company Lamb's Pride Bulky, which has a nice touch of mohair. I love the stitch pattern. It is so simple but creates an interesting texture. The pattern is a repetition of 2 rounds: round 1, knit; round 2, *knit 1, purl 1* repeat until end of round. I must add that the original pattern makes a very snug wrist warmer. I ripped out the first one I made and cast on 26 rather than the 22 stitches the pattern calls for. I'll admit that I knit fairly tightly, but not obsessively so.

The Gift of Soup

Not long ago my friend who lives up the road at Caretaker Farm (that is her lovely red barn in the photo) left a bag in our mudroom. The bag contained dinner. When we arrived home that afternoon from a day of skiing, I was thrilled to find that in order to put food on the table, all I needed to do was warm up what was in the bag.

At first I was puzzled as to why my friend would leave me this delicious package. She is busy with young children and running a farm, and I'm sure she doesn't regularly drop food by her neighbor's house just for the heck of it. Then I read the note that was tucked into the bag. She was bringing me this food now because she had failed to get food to me after my mastectomy surgery last year. I was so touched. Even though this dinner was coming at a time that I was feeling recovered and strong (I had spent the day skiing along beautiful trails in Vermont!), I still felt that it supported and honored all that I had been through to get to this day.

This gift held another surprise for me. The food was packaged in a recycled yogurt container, and I couldn't tell what it was at first. As I took off the lid, I could see that it was some sort of soup or stew. I got out a saucepan and poured the contents of the container into it. Oh my, I recognized that soup! It was the Gypsy Soup from the "Moosewood Cookbook." I could see all the chick peas, sweet potatoes and peppers in a broth colored golden by the tumeric, paprika, and cayenne. I had been gifted the very same soup over eight years ago, right after the birth of my daughter. My midwife colleagues at the time had organized a group of women to bring us food every day or so for the first weeks after the birth. I so clearly remember the bowls of Gypsy Soup I ate while nursing my new little girl. That soup, and all the other food that was sent our way, nourished me not only physically but emotionally as well. That food served as a connection to other women, most of them mothers. That food welcomed me into my new role, my new life, as a mother.

Consider making someone Gypsy Soup (or whatever other tasty treats you have in your cooking repertoire). Your gift of food will connect you to others. It will serve as support and comfort for another at a time of illness, birth of a baby, death of a loved one, or other time of transition. And remember, it is never too late to deliver that pot of soup.

Little Sweethearts

I recently finished making this basketful of dolls. Each one is unique, and I had a lot of fun making them. Miriam helped with certain color and design features. She has even designed and partly constructed one on her own (with sewing help from mom).

Here is an example. She is about 18 inches tall. Below is a close-up of a pair of shoes. Right now the dolls are for sale at Hudson's, in North Adams at the MassMOCA complex. Or, if you would like me to make one personally for you, let me know!

Inauguration Day (2 Days Later)

It has taken me two days to recover from the Inauguration Day excitement and make this post, but I had to share how happy (jubilant, tickled, relieved, hopeful, etc.) I am. I enjoyed a front row seat to the festivities in my living room chair - switching from CNN to PBS to CSPAN. As I find it hard to simply sit and watch TV, I kept my hands busy by folding laundry and knitting a scarf. This is my official inauguration scarf, made with the oh-so-soft Tahki Baby yarn. I love the celebratory orange.

David and I were invited to an Inaugural Ball Tuesday evening, organized by good friends. There were over a hundred people there, and everyone was smiling.  There was food, drinks, dancing, a live band, and, yes, Barack was there! I even got a kiss!

MLK

"I have a dream that one day...little black boys and black girls will join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."  - Martin Luther King

Snow #3

Ice is technically not snow, but winter certainly brings the pleasures of ice skating. My son's Kindergarten class is taking an ice skating lesson every friday as part of the school's Winter Sports Program. My daughter takes the downhill skiing lesson. I love that the whole school stops academics each friday, for eight weeks, and heads out to play and learn in the snow or on the ice. The pre-schoolers even get to go sledding! As I sit here and write this, I am watching a steady snow fall outside my window. I'm thankful for the gentle softness it adds to the morning, and anticipate the fun we will have a little later as we head out to play.

Handmade Gift

As a family, we are hoping to give handmade gifts this year - whether handmade by us or by someone else. My daughter was invited to the birthday party of a classmate today. This friend is a great animal lover, and is particularly passionate about horses right now. I made a little horse out of felt and wool. It is adapted from a pattern in "Feltcraft." Miriam made the barn out of cardboard she cut from old cereal boxes. I love the little gate. We also included the book "A Field Full of Horses" which someone had given my kids a while back. My kids had shown no interest in the book, so we thought we would pass it on. I think this is called re-gifting.

At one time I would have felt uncomfortable giving someone something used, but I've come to see that it is a fine option, socially and environmentally. When I was pregnant with my daughter, a midwife colleague gave me several recycled gifts that had been her daughter's. One was a CD of lullabies by Judy Collins that helped me get through a month of collic-filled evenings. The fact that the CD had not come to us wrapped in plastic in no way decreased the pleasures we derived from it.

It takes a while to rethink traditions and begin to "break" the rules in terms of our material consumption, but it seems to me that our planet deserves better treatment. By giving handmade, vintage, used, or repurposed gifts, we can tread a little lighter on earth. And, we can avoid all that irritating packaging that comes with new items. I'm sure I will continue to buy my fair share of new things this year, but I am going to go about my purchases mindfully. If you are feeling particularly radical, try and image not buying anything for a year except basic necessities (i.e. toilet paper). I read a book, "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping," last year. I really liked the book and think it brings up a great number of important points about our consumption habits.

Buttons

I needed buttons to embellish some dolls that I have been making. I have a small basket of buttons, but couldn't quite find what I needed in it. So, I went to my mother. I think I have mentioned before that my mother is a lifelong seamstress and maker of all sorts of crafts. She is also a collector, a hoarder. She has supplies on hand to make just about anything you could dream up. I went to her house a couple of days ago and asked her for buttons and she handed me a box filled with jars and baskets of buttons. She had collected these over the years. Several jars were from my grandmother. A number of baskets had belonged to an elderly neighbor. It seems that people used to wear clothes until they wore out, and then clipped off the buttons and tossed them in the button jar. As my kids and I sorted through these little treasures, we talked about what sort of clothes they might have adorned in the past. Such beauty in such a small and unassuming package.

My kids were very tired and cranky after school yesterday. When I pulled out the box of buttons and told the kids to sort through them, they instantly became calmer, focused, and pleasant to be around. It reminded me again that kids need very simple things to make them happy. I have my old stamp collection hidden away for the next cranky afternoon - I imagine sorting through stamps would have the same calming effect.

Snow #2

Our kids have become quite the little skiers this winter, both alpine and nordic. I am especially pleased to find that even Adam, at age 5, has developed solid endurance for nordic skiing. This means that we can ski together as a family, rather than having one parent hang out in the lodge with Adam. I do remember the days of pulling the kids in sleds (called pulks) behind us while skiing. I found this very uncomfortable, but David seemed to feel that it enhanced his workout to pull the extra weight.

The lovely snow has helped seduce the kids onto their skis. Over the weekend we made tracks all around the yard and up into the woods. We also headed up to Prospect Mountain Nordic Ski Center in Woodford, VT for the day on Saturday. Prospect is a fantastic place to ski, and often has snow when it has long melted elsewhere nearby. They emphasize family skiing and have lessons for kids. One trail is called Hobbit Hollow, which leads you to an actual Hobbit house. There you will find a mailbox, filled with paper and pen so that you can leave a letter for the Hobbit family. And, to boot, the Hobbits will write you back - the letters being posted on the bulletin board in the lodge. For kids, it doesn't get much better than this!