Weekly Happenings: Ellen, Interrupted

We've been ridiculously (some might say stupidly) busy in the past week that I've neglected both my blog and my blog-reading, heretofore happy habits of mine. I've missed both. I've also neglected housework (hard to do when one is not home), friends, and a responsibility or two. So now I've settled in front of my desktop with a cup of PG Tips and some cold Zaxby's french fries, ready to roll. Folding laundry can wait.

Big News: we found a new pony for Tiny Girl! Yes, after trying eleven -- count 'em, eleven -- we found one we liked enough to bring to our barn for a ten-day trial. Max is a medium Welsh pony, a larger version of Tappy, whom Tiny Girl has sadly outgrown. Since we had only ten days to ride with him at our barn, we spent at least two hours at the barn every day this week. Max had spent a long time hanging out in the field at his place, so he was peach-colored when we got him, thanks to the local clay. A bath was beyond necessary. Thank heaven for OxyClean!

Tiny Girl, Miss Priss (see her head?), and our trainer
giving Max a much-needed bath.

Yesterday, we took him out to our nearest equestrian park to school him, just to see how he behaved "out and about," so to speak. He was great.

Tiny Girl schooling Max.

Last weekend, we had a frigid cold front move through. I cut my blooming daffodils to save them from the freeze. Fortunately, they weren't all killed, and some of my creamier varieties are blooming now.

For Valentine's Day, I baked Himself his favorite peanut butter cookies. I'm certain the girls and I ate more than he did.

One day this week, Miss Priss called me to the window to see a small flock of birds in our front yard. They were unfamiliar to us, and all our identification attempts have failed thus far.

They are about robin-sized, black with a small orangey stripe, and orange underneath their wings. Do you recognize these birds?

Miss Priss's theatre troupe is about to roll into crunch time. Their production of Wonderland! begins March 8 through March 10, and the two weeks leading up to showtime (AKA "crunch") begins February 27. She'll be in rehearsals from 4:00 until 9:00 every weeknight except Wednesday and Saturdays from noon until 5:00. AND my trip to the UK is during that same time....
 
The girls have been reading quite a bit in the last two weeks. Miss Priss has read Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink, Ramona Forever, by Beverly Cleary, and The First Four Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (all for the second time), and Caught in the Act, by Joan Lowery Nixon. Tiny Girl has read Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes, Crispin and the Cross of Lead, by Avi, and The Last Wilderness, by Erin Hunter. Both girls read Our Only May Amelia, by Jennifer L. Holm.
 
Thanks to our increase in outside activity, we've had to finish our schoolwork several evenings this week. I've learned this is not ideal for anyone. By evening, we are tired and want to do our own things. But it's served as a good lesson in diligence and responsibility. Even (especially?) for me.
 
Enjoy your weekend!

Always Inventing: A Biography of Alexander Graham Bell

On its Year 5 curriculum booklist, Ambleside Online (AO) schedules a biography of Alexander Graham Bell for term two and suggests two titles. We selected Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell, by Tom L. Matthews. This has been an excellent choice.

• The engaging text is well written, easy to read, and easy to understand, a very important element when discussing scientific matters.
• Photos, illustrations, and explanatory captions grace each two-page spread. More than simple (or simplistic)additions to break up the text, we've found these to be absorbing on their own. We especially appreciate artwork of Bell's various inventions, which are too difficult to envision based on written description alone.
• Some Bell quotations, from letters and the like, are also used as design elements on several pages.

Although an older child could easily read this book on his or her own, we've enjoyed reading it together. We pause often to remark on a photo or discuss more fully a diagram. Sometimes we merely marvel over Bell's intellectual curiosity and fortitude, which never lessened his kindly nature and moral uprightness.

I highly recommend this book as part of your science or biography studies.

"The study of Nature is undoubtedly one of the most interesting of all pursuits. God has strewn our paths with wonders, and we certainly should not go through Life with our eyes shut."

Scout Camping Trip

We're off on a camping weekend with our Scout troop! The forecast calls for rain, which is just perrrrfect.

Happy weekend!

Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Surprised by Yogurt Success!

This totally should have been a complete failure. It was a yogurt do. Here's what happened.

First off, someone used part of my half-gallon of whole milk. So I had to use approximately half whole milk (that sounds weird!) and half of my watered-down whole milk, which we use daily.

Second, I did not unplug my crock pot after two and a half hours. I thought I did, but I was mistaken. When I finally unplugged it, at least another hour had passed. After consulting a friend, I planned to let the milk cool for four hours instead of the usual three. But I had to leave the house for a few hours, and I'd miss the timing to mix in the half-cup of yogurt (starter). So I only cooled the milk for three hours and then mixed in the starter.

As you can see, I'm breaking rules all over the place. I figured I'd just see what happened.

Due to all the extra time, I had to get up at 1 AM to pour the yogurt into containers and refrigerate. Right away, I noticed it seemed thicker than my earlier batches. This was an interesting development.

This morning, when Tiny Girl and I took a peek, we were delighted with the results. My homemade yogurt resembles more closely store-bought yogurt in thickness. For Tiny Girl's breakfast, we chopped up some maraschino cherries (her choice) and stirred them in a small bowl of plain yogurt. She deemed it not sweet enough, so we added some sugar. Twice. (!!!!!)

I'd expected a total loss, but have now decided to change my original recipe. Since this kind of thing rarely happens to me kitchen-wise (total losses are nothing new), I'm thrilled!

Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Our Daily Bread in a Crock

Okay, so you've probably heard about this bread-in-crock thing. I'm a little slow with news flashes. In case you're like me, I'll fill you in. Basically, you mix up a bunch of bread dough, let it rise a bit, and then store it in the fridge to use in the next week or so. One recipe supplies enough dough for several bread needs: pizza crust, rolls, country loaves, sweet rolls, etc. After some research, I opted to give French Tart's (love the pseudonym) recipe a try. I've now made two batches, and here's what happened.

Miss Priss measures the flour.

I read all the comments on French Tart's recipe and printed several of them to help me with my endeavor. I learned I might need to experiment with oven temp and baking times. I also got some ideas on gussying up the basic recipe. With my first batch, I made rolls in a six-cup muffin tin, a round loaf of cheese bread (which was underdone), and cinnamon rolls.

Each time I baked something was a learning experience. I found with each baking that I needed to let my dough rise more than the suggested 20-30 minutes. With the cinnamon rolls, I made them the night before and let the rolls rise overnight in the fridge prior to baking the next morning.

To be honest, after my first attempt, I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole thing. Everything was tasty, but left something to be desired (except the cinnamon rolls, which were fantastic). But I knew I must be missing something because there were so many positive comments on the original website. So I decided to try again.

The remaining two cinnamon rolls. We scarfed the others down immediately.

The mixed dough.

With my second batch, I let the dough rest on the fridge for a few days before I baked anything. Then I tried my hand at parkerhouse rolls. As you can see, I started out with too much dough per roll, because they rose to a massive size.

These look like something out of a science fiction movie.

They tasted pretty good, but still. A few days later, I was tired of having a big bowl of dough taking up so much room in my refrigerator. I pulled it all out, shaped an oval-sized loaf, and set it to rise. I ended up with a gargantuan, flat "loaf" that I almost threw away. Himself said go ahead and bake it and see what happens. So, with a cynical heart, I did.

The blob.

Quelle surprise! The resulting bread may have looked less than I'd hoped, but it tasted wonderful. The several days' rest in the fridge brought out a sourdough flavor, and the crust was baguette-crispy.

Delish!

I'm still not sure, however. I didn't have as much success as I'd hoped to have, so I'm not sure it's worth the (albeit small) trouble or refirigerator space. Also, I'm not at all certain if I have the heart to continue experimenting with the recipe. Have you tried anything like this? What's been your experience?

Adventures in Frugality: Homemade Slow Cooker Yogurt

I love yogurt and eat a lot of it. I eat it straight from the container, I use it in smoothies, I strain plain yogurt to make it Greek-style, I play around with it. But I'm not so jazzed about some brands' ingredients, so I'm careful what I buy. Oftentimes, being careful what one buys equals paying more for what one buys, since quality can cost more than, you know, not-so-quality.

So I was excited to discover Stephanie O'Dea's recipe for slow cooker yogurt on her website. (Thanks to Tricia at Hodgepodge for the link!) I've made two batches and feel confident enough in the process to write about it.

The first time I made it, I used two percent milk and nonfat yogurt as my starter. This was in direct disobedience to Stephanie's advice, which stated whole milk, especially for one's first attempts. The resulting yogurt was tasty but quite liquidy. It made great smoothies without adding any extra liquid. I strained some of it for a thicker yogurt, and this was successful. But I wanted to try whole milk the next time, which I did.

On my second attempt, the result was thicker than the first batch but still runnier than store-bought. Refrigeration helped. But let me hasten to add that the texture and taste are both marvelous. Never has such silken loveliness graced my tastebuds. Tiny Girl and I experimented by adding strawberry preserves to a bowlful and then freezing it. More like a granita than ice cream, our fro-yo was delightfully tangy, sweet, and strawberry-y.

In another experiment, I strained some of the whole-milk yogurt, which resulted in a super-creamy, rich, and thick yogurt for which there are no words to describe its magnificence. It was better than the strained yogurt from my first batch. I swirled a touch of honey atop a dollop of strained yogurt and was in heaven (or at least my imaginary approximation thereof).

I learned that some folks add gelatin or other ingredients to their homemade yogurt to get more of a store-bought texture, but I prefer not to do that. To me, homemade yogurt's texture is far superior to any gelatinous goo from the grocery.

Homemade yogurt is incredibly easy and frugal, but it seems luxurious. What a perfect combination!

Weekly Happenings: Excitement Galore!

We're clicking right along with life. Good stuff going on!

The most exciting news for me: I wrote my first-ever review for The Curriculum Choice website! I reviewed Spelling Power, which we've used for almost two years. If you are looking for an effective and easy-to-use spelling curriculum, pop over and read my review. I highly recommend Spelling Power. I'll be contributing regularly to The Curriculum Choice, so look for me (and other great reviewers) there.

In other exciting news: earlier this week I had my first-ever unqualified bread-baking success when I made sandwich buns. Of course I blogged about it; I had to brag and I also included a link to the recipe. If I can make these well, anyone can. Trust me.

The girls are playing "Fur Elise" for their piano practice this week. I never get tired of listening to that piece. Tiny Girl has selected it for one of her recital pieces. She'll often plop down at the piano and play it. Both my daughters play well, but Tiny Girl plays for enjoyment; Miss Priss plays out of duty.

The weather has not been conducive to riding, so we've stayed home more this week. Today was pretty but chilly, and Tiny Girl opted to wait until tomorrow to ride. We're still searching for a medium pony for her. It's hard to find just the right thing.

The girls have been reading a lot this week. Miss Priss read Savvy, by Ingrid Law; The Wish, by Gail Carson Levine; and In the Face of Danger, the second of Joan Lowery Nixon's Orphan Train Quartet. Tiny Girl read The King's Equal, by Katherine Paterson; Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes; and The Mysterious Miss Slade, by Dick King-Smith. I'm thrilled that they are readers, but it can get in the way of actual lessons. Miss Priss in particular is loathe to interrupt reading a "fun" book for something so mundane as lessons. I can empathize, but school must go on.

For Christmas, Miss Priss gave Tiny Girl a Michaels gift card, and with it she purchased a triops kit. Triops, for the uninitiated (which included me before she bought the kit), are freshwater crustaceans (shrimp) that one raises from tiny eggs. Their scientific name is Triops longicaudatus. Some websites refer to these creatures as "prehistoric monsters," which I find hilarious. They are not monsters; they are small shrimp. One of their names, in fact, is "fairy shrimp," a name which does not strike fear into the hearts of humans. Several eggs hatched initially, and the biggest one, whom she named Lionel, after Lionel Hardcastle in the britcom "As Time Goes By," ate up all but one. The remaining victim, Leonardo, was moved to another tank to keep him away from Lionel. This isn't a great photo, but here is Lionel. As you can see, his water is a tad yucky:

See him down in the corner?

Here's a better photo from mytriops.com. This is not Lionel, of course. But he looks just like it.

Tiny Girl keeps both small tanks in her closet with three lights on: the overhead, a lamp, and a fish tank light. Needless to say, it's warm in her closet. Just right for egg hatching!

Tiny Girl also took time to tackle a puzzle. She and I enjoy puzzles, but not the insanely difficult 500-piece (or more) variety. We bought this one at Dollar Tree (350 pieces), and she did 99 percent of it herself pretty quickly. It's amazing to me how she can pick up pieces and just know where they go. Sometimes she has to play around a bit, but most of the time she simply fits pieces in like magic. It's kind of weird.

Did I mention she's also a natural with math? Did I mention than I am not? Here's the finished picture. It's called "The Wishing Well." My guess is that the kitten is wishing he could snag those titmice before they fly away.

Look for posts this weekend about my yogurt-making and rustic bread-baking adventures. I've lots to say -- both good and meh -- about those topics.

Happy weekend!