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Squanto

With a quick search on YouTube and Netflix, we often find a film or documentary to complement our lesson for the day. Today, even though it's Saturday, I suggested we watch Squanto: A Warrior's Tale. Trevor was enjoying the film until Dave walked in and said, "Why are you doing school on a Saturday?"

Hey Dad -- it was just a movie until you called it "school"!

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Colonial Brown Bread

I whipped up a quick double batch of colonial brown bread this morning. It rises while baking, so there's no kneading or waiting. This is a great weekday morning recipe which yields two dense, nutty, and slightly sweet loaves that are wonderful fresh out of the oven with a generous slathering of butter. It also makes great sandwiches later in the day!
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Baby Gate

Dave built a baby gate onto the deck this weekend that matched the existing railings. It looks great and makes the deck into the world's largest playpen.






- Posted from my iPhone
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Mothra

Mr. Mothra is sitting outside of our front door, looking all bad with his six-inch wingspan. I've seen these before, but they're usually in more muted colors.



- Posted from my iPhone
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Art Exhibition

One of the pieces of art on display at the Fisk Farm art show was Trevor's Tim Burton collage.





- Posted from my iPhone
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Baby Food for Grownups Too


I made baby food today because we keep running out of fruit jars. Gavin eats fruit with cereal for breakfast, then again after finishing his veggies and meat during other meals. It seems so silly to buy a jar of mashed bananas for .69 cents when I can get three pounds of fresh bananas for .39 cents at Costco.

The jars, even the stage three foods, are a little runny for a tiny guy who is having a lot of fun copying everyone's chewing motions. He's now able to feed himself little bits of cereal like Cheerios or Chex, so a glob of textureless peach puree isn't that challenging for him.

So I googled around and found a few interesting recipes for baby food. The first was a squash and apple bake with cinnamon. It smelled amazing while cooking, but needed double the listed time for the squash to get soft. I also added a splash of organic carrot juice to keep the whole thing from being too pasty.

It was ready just in time for Gavin's lunch, and though I thought it tasted great, I wondered what he would think of this chunky mash. After three bowls, it was clear that he gave it a thumbs-up. He ate so much that when dinnertime rolled around, he only ate about half a bowl -- he was still full from lunch. (Crossing fingers that a full belly means fewer wake-ups during the night.)


Even after so much eating (I'll admit, I had a forkful or two), there's a full mason jar of food left for the rest of the week and it's a pretty orange color that makes you imagine there are tons of vitamins in there.

Emboldened by my first success, I made a second batch of food right after. This time, it was Honest Fare's Baked Cinnamon Apple and Prune baby food. After three steaming apples filled with prunes and dotted with cinnamon came out of the oven, there was no chance they were even making it into the jars. Trevor and I ate all three. (I consider it a personal triumph that I ate a baked apple without a lick of butter on it.)

Rest assured, I will make Gavin another batch tomorrow. With an apple orchard just a few houses away, we're never wanting for fresh apples. I'm thinking we'll try something with broccoli to add some green to that orange. Mmmmm.
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I can do it!


Usually, when I feed Gavin his cereal and veggies, he grabs the spoon once or twice during the meal and tries to feed himself.

Last night, he wanted to do the whole meal on his own. Every time I held the spoon toward him, he reached for it instead of just opening his mouth. Who am I to say no to a little guy who just wants to learn a new skill? We've been incorporating some Montessori principles in his early learning, and feeding himself fits right in with that philosophy:

'By setting up a home environment that enables children to take care of their own self-care throughout the day, the home environment can help the child develop independence and a strong sense of self. We can support our children to be able to say: "I can do it!" and "I did it myself!"' --Montessori.org

It was the messiest meal we've ever had. There were peas down his shirt and up his sleeves, and a good quarter of the food spilled down his bib. But he was super-pleased with himself. Every time I told him, "Good job!" after a bite, he'd grin and jump around in his chair. It was so worth the 30 minutes of kitchen cleaning and the 15 minute bath afterwards.
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Italian Wedding Soup


We had friends over for dinner and board games on Friday night and dinner was King Arthur Flour's Italian Wedding Soup recipe. Trevor loves the cans of Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup that I buy in bulk at Costco, but I was nervous about trying to make this complex soup at home. (I also get a little freaked out by cooking raw meat directly in boiling soup.)

It turned out great, with a different flavor than the usual veggie soups and beef stews I make during the winter. I substituted fresh spinach for the frozen boxed that the recipe calls for, and swapped turkey in for their ground beef. No reason, just what I happened to have on hand.

Cooking the meatballs in the boiling broth made them tender and flavorful. I was tempted to brown them in a skillet beforehand, but I'm glad I resisted. They probably would have been tougher.

If you make the recipe, just keep in mind that the soup is very thick and hearty with all of the veggies, meatballs, and pasta -- and it gets even thicker as it stands and the pasta absorbs more of the broth. If you like a more liquid soup, plan to add a lot more stock.
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64th Birthday cookies again


The second batch of 64th birthday cookies came out more pastel than the other recipe. Royal icing is great for gingerbread houses, but doesn't flood properly for cookies. Next time, I'll try the icing from last time with less milk to make it thicker.

Here's a comparison of flowers from the two batches.


Both butterflies:


And this time, the peace signs are not Mercedes logos. Hah.
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Blizzard


I swear it was sunny here just five minutes ago...
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64th Birthday Cookies Beta Test

The Liloias were invited to a 64th birthday party this weekend, complete with hippie themes and optional costumes. It seemed like as good a time as any to do some more cookie beta testing for the business I'm starting in May.


The icing was a bit too runny. Next time I have a different recipe in mind. This particular icing comes out very glossy. I'm going to try a stiffer, matte royal icing recipe next time. But the cookies come out buttery and delicious -- they're not just a canvas for the design!


The birthday girl's signature colors for the party are hot pink and orange -- hence the color scheme here. The only challenge I hit was that I couldn't for the life of me remember which two primary colors you blend to make orange. Blame it on the baby brain.

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Valentine's Day German Bell



Trevor had a few dollars burning a hole in his pocket at a craft fair last December and he picked up a small paper Christmas ornament done with some kind of origami. He was thrilled to add an ornament that he paid for to the tree. I was intrigued by the construction. Can you believe I went 35 years without ever seeing a German bell?

Of course I had to try it for myself. I found these video instructions online and it looked super-easy. It really was.

I tried it with a full 12x12 sheet of scrapbooking paper. As with origami, bigger is easier at first. But it's simple enough to try a smaller version. I think we'll be seeing a lot of German bells around here this year.
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Look how big we are!


Seven months old and impervious to cold. He's a true Vermonter, all right.
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