I wonder what Ernie would have to say about Indian Day
I know what his opinions were on Thanksgiving but I decided a long time ago not to use those words in my blog. But Indian Day–ok, Native American Heritage Day but I know Ernie would totally call it Indian Day–that’s something different. Now before I dig into this topic, I should let you know Ernie rarely said anything that wasn’t funny.  Sensitive issues were peppered with jokes in order to ease the blow, he had an arsenal of one liners at the ready at all times.  A seasoned veteran of tw

a good old fashioned bender
Not every day is full of disciplines and tidying up and laundry.  Not every day indeed.  Some days, in fact, are selfishly devoted to what I want to do, and apparently all I wanted to do for the last four days was spin yarn. Patient Papa, strong and flexible as always, took the helm of the household while I stared at the spin, spin, spin of the wheel and watched fiber fly from my fingertips. It started innocently with a quick upcycled project using a fuzzy acrylic and some leftover chocolate brown handspun singles…

how to cook up the best turkey ever. really.
Originally posted in November 2008. Here’s my perfect little turkey. We cook a turkey once a year. This makes it pretty tough to learn from our mistakes and tweak our technique, because by the time turkey time rolls around again I’ve completely forgotten what we even did the previous year. This is worse now that I have lived in a constant state of sleep depri

daily disciplines
I can generally tell how productive the day will turn out by 10am.  Psychic?  Nah.  It’s a simple matter of discipline.  If I get myself in gear and do the majority of my “Daily Disciplines”, then I know I’ll have a productive day.  If I falter and blow them off, then the day is already shot by mid-morning. Amazing but true. These are small practices, baby steps in the world at large, but for a mother of two tiny children I’d say it’s a pretty good challenge.

the soup.
It’s a garden, fridge, or freezer cleaner-outer.  It’s hearty.  It chases away throat tickles.  The overload of vitamin D will make you feel chipper on a gloomy day.  And it has *raviolis*, which makes it a winner in my book any day. I present our family’s Garden Vegetable Soup with Ravioli.  Don’t let your eyes glaze over at the sight of the crazy, long list of ingredients.  Add them all or throw in a few–this soup is very flexible.