Month: November 2010

An Old Pro?

I realized for the first time this morning that Thanksgiving no longer overwhelms me.

When did that happen?

When we were first married, I remember being overwhelmed by something as small as getting a regular dinner on the table in a timely fashion. Cooking wasn’t the problem–I’ve always loved to cook, and I’m pretty good at it (if I do say so myself), so it wasn’t the actual preparation of the meals that I couldn’t do. It was the timing. I had no idea how to have the main course and side dishes ready at the same time. And if I was trying to cook two things that were supposed to be done at different temperatures? Forget about it!

Of course, that feeling of being overwhelmed went away. I’m not even sure when it happened, but I don’t think it could have taken more than a few months, because looking back, I certainly don’t remember feeling that way for long.

But holidays were different, particularly any holiday with a turkey based meal. I continued to feel overwhelmed putting that kind of dinner together, partly because there were so many more dishes to prepare, partly because the turkey takes up the whole oven for such a large portion of the day, and partly (or maybe even mostly) because there’s so much pressure to make holidays “perfect.”

Even last year, I remember worrying about how I’d get everything done. I’d write out schedules of when I needed to prepare things, when things needed to go in the oven, (and if anyone say Parenthood last night, yes, I totally sympathized with their “oven schedule!”), what all I needed to make, just to make sure I didn’t leave anything out.

But this year? No lists, (other than my gargantuan grocery list over the weekend), no schedules. I just seem to instinctively know what needs to be done when. By my count, of the ten Thanksgivings we’ve had together since we’ve been married, Ryan and I have hosted seven of them in our home, sometimes with guests, and even more often with just our immediate family. I guess there’s just something about that seventh year that makes everything fall into place.

That being said, I better be careful tomorrow, or I’ll end up ruining the turkey!

Thanksgiving School–Day Seven

Day seven was our last “serious” day of Thanksgiving School (tomorrow is our equivalent of a party day). We started by reading another book in “The American Story” series: The New Americans. This book picks up where Exploration and Conquest left off, and details how the different colonies in America were settled, and what countries were responsible for the settlement of these colonies. Turkey and Bunny like this series so much (good-storytelling and excellent artwork) that they can’t wait to read the next one, about the French and Indian War. They’ll have to wait until we get it, though!

We also read a fictional story about what Thanksgiving was like in the 19th century–An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott. This is a heart-warming story about a group of siblings who work to prepare the Thanksgiving meal for their parents when an emergency surprises them on the holiday. Of course there are some mix-ups, but they still have a wonderful holiday, and their hard work is appreciated by everyone. I have an older edition of this book, and the illustrations are beautiful–I can’t speak to the illustrations in the newer edition, though.

Our craft for the day was supposed to be a felt and pipe cleaner turkey from another kit I picked up on clearance at Jo-Ann’s. We learned a lesson about craft kits, though–sometimes they just don’t work as advertised. The directions included with the kit were incorrect, and while I figured out what they were supposed to be, the pieces just didn’t work together the way they were supposed to. We regrouped, and I came up with an idea for turkey stick puppets–not as cute as what I had planned, but at least Turkey and Bunny could actually make them successfully. I’ve seen their Pilgrim puppets hunting their turkeys, and found the turkeys riding their paper plate Mayflowers, so I don’t think they’re too disappointed that we didn’t get to do our originally scheduled craft!

Thanksgiving School–Day Six

This is a short school week for us–only three days–but we still have some fun things planned. We’re taking a break from our regular Language Arts program (which we did use all of last week), but we’re still working on math review. We’re also still learning about the Pilgrims, Indians, and Thanksgiving traditions in America.

We started with the last of Kate Water’s books about life in colonial America: Tapenum’s Day. This is a fictional story of an Indian boy, who is trying to prove that he is a man. Turkey and Bunny were very interested in how an Indian boy might have spent his day (lots of hunting), and they were surprised (and kind of appalled) at how little supervision he had as he traveled around the area in which he lived.

We also read Native Homes, which is a really cool book about the different types of houses different Native American tribes used to live in. Of course there are the familiar teepees and wigwams, but also some less-known structures such as chickees. It was interesting to see the commonalities in many of the homes–for example, the shape of a wigwam is seen in other types of houses, even though different methods were used to construct them. Turkey and Bunny were also very curious about what would happen to the fire in most of the houses if it were to rain through the smoke vent (we did learn that at least some of the homes had special covers for the vent, but that meant that the house would fill with smoke).

No Native American craft for us, but I found directions for a traditional Native American “stick game” for us to play. I got the directions for making the playing pieces, plus the rules of the game from a really cool book called More Than Moccasins, which is part of an excellent series of craft/activity books called “A Kid’s Guide.” I used this book last year, too, and I got ideas for games (like the stick game, and another we played last year called hubbub), crafts (grocery sack Indian vests and Indian headbands), and food (last year we made Indian fry bread from scratch, and it was amazing!). There are tons of ideas in the book, and I’m sure we’ll keep using it until–well, I don’t even know. I can’t imagine a time we *wouldn’t* want to use it!

Soup Recipe: After-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

  • 1 leftover turkey carcass
  • 3 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 2 celery ribs, diced
  • 1 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups half-and-half cream
  • 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Place turkey carcass in a soup kettle or Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carcass; cool. Set aside 3 qt. broth. Remove turkey from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside.

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, saute the onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Reduce heat; stir in flour until blended. Gradually add 1 qt. of reserved broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add cream, rice, salt, bouillon, pepper, remaining broth and reserved turkey. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.

*If you like your soup extra-thick, you can also add 1/2 to 1 cup of wild rice when adding the long-grain rice.

“Do I Look Like a Criminal?” or “Why I’ll Never be Flying Again”

(Last time I checked, in this country, people are *supposed* to be innocent until proven guilty. I guess there’s an airport exception in there that I’m unaware of.)

I was concerned when I first heard about the new airport scanners, but I mostly dismissed it, seeing as how it’s been over a decade since I’ve been on an airplane, so it doesn’t really apply to me.

But then I started hearing more about the scans, not to mention the new pat-downs, and even though I don’t fly myself, I’m absolutely incensed for those who do, my husband included. It seems as though America’s new approach to air travelers is to assume that they are all criminals, detain them, and then let them go if everything checks out, through a series of pornographic scans with unknown radiation effects and/or sexual assault via pat-down. (With apologies to people who have suffered from sexual assaults, that’s exactly what this is. I’ve heard first-hand accounts of some of these pat-downs, and if people were touched in this fashion in any other place, with witnesses no less, they would be able to call the police and press charges.)

And don’t tell me that I have given my consent by buying a plane ticket, because I would never, ever give my consent to this kind of action, and my purchasing a ticket should not negate my freedoms or violate my Fourth Amendment rights. Not to mention that my ticket is with a specific airline, but it’s a government agency doing these searches, not the airline being used. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that any consent I gave would be to the airline, not the government? And yet, even the airlines, (or at least their employees), are protesting these new security measures.

I’ve heard that if I  want to avoid this whole mess, I don’t “have” to fly. This reasoning, or lack thereof, is ridiculous–it would be like having told Rosa Parks that she didn’t “have” to get on the bus. There are many things I don’t “have” to do, but that I can do, and I expect a reasonable amount of freedoms in them all.

Perhaps we should dust off that old, offensive word–profiling. Believe it or not, profiling doesn’t have to have anything to do with race. How about we train people to look for travelers who are acting suspicious, who stand out in a crowd, and pull those people aside and question *them*? Wouldn’t that make more sense than invading the privacy and trampling on the rights of law-abiding citizens?

At what point are we going to realize that we’re sacrificing too much in the name of “safety?” Especially when that “safety” is really just a false sense of security. There isn’t actually any proof that these scanners are going to accomplish anything other than group humiliation and irritation. Maybe some more research should have been done on these devices and their effects before millions of dollars were spent to put them in every airport.

And will it stop at airports? If the government/TSA deems that these scanners and new pat-down methods are “successful” are we going to see them used in other venues as well? I’m thinking places where large numbers of people gather, such as stadiums for sporting events. It’s a slippery slope, folks, and if we tolerate this kind of violation in one area, it is very likely that we will be asked to tolerate it in other aspects of our lives, as well.

If it was just me, and I “had” to fly, maybe I would put up with it, even though I shouldn’t have to. I can’t imagine that any TSA agent would enjoy scanning and/or frisking an overweight mother of four any more than I would enjoy having it done. But I will not ever subject my children to that. I don’t want them to think it’s normal to have what is essentially a naked picture of yourself taken anywhere. And I haven’t spent years talking to them about inappropriate touch, only to have to back pedal and say, “I was wrong, sweetie. It’s completely acceptable for a total stranger to touch you in those places as long as it’s done in an airport.” So, as long as these new “security measures” are in place, we won’t be flying. There’s no where we *have* to go, and while I was hoping to take them abroad someday, I will sacrifice that pleasure in the name of liberty.

It was my impression that we valued out freedoms in America. Apparently not so much for many of us, as it seems like many Americans are willing to just blindly accept this as the new reality, and follow the rest of the flock to insanity. I, for one, am with Benjamin Franklin:

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

The Pope Said What?!?

I was flipping through our online newspaper this morning, and I came across this headline: “Pope: Condoms can be justified in some cases.” I’m always curious when the Vatican makes a statement, even though I’m not Catholic, so I decided to read the article. What shocked me was in what cases the Pope has deemed condoms acceptable:

Condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV.

What, now? Condoms, long an accessory to a “mortal sin” for Catholics, are still unacceptable within marriage as a means of birth control, but are now OK for use by male prostitutes to use as a means of disease prevention?!?

Does it strike anybody as strange that the Pope is more likely to condemn the use of birth control than he is the practice of prostitution? Is he saying that since prostitution is going to happen anyway, we might as well make sure everyone involved is safe?

Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t seem like a very Catholic stance. I would think that the Catholic church would want to be consistent in her teaching–if the use of birth control is going to be condemned as a sin, shouldn’t also the practice of prostitution, which last time I checked, is a direct violation of one of the 10 Commandments?

I don’t get it. I guess this is why I’m not a Catholic!

Thanksgiving School–Day Five

Since we learned about the life of a Pilgrim girl on Thursday, it seemed only fair that on Friday we learn about what it would have been like to be a Pilgrim boy in Samuel Eaton’s Day. This is, naturally, set up very much like the book we read about Sarah Morton, but Samuel’s day is quite different as he is a boy, and has different responsibilities. Like the other book, this was also photographed at Plimoth Plantation, and it also gives a great idea of what it was like to be part of a Pilgrim family.

In keeping with our “boy” theme, as well as continuing to learn about real people, on Friday we focused on Squanto, in Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving. This is a beautiful book, because of the way the author makes parallels between Squanto being sold as a slave, and the same thing happening to Joseph in the Bible. It is easy to see God’s hand in way the whole Thanksgiving story unfolded when reading this story.

We also read another book in the “If You…” series: If You Were at the First Thanksgiving. There is some overlap between this book and the Mayflower story, but there is enough detailed information to make it worth it. The question and answer format continues to be popular, and I look forward to using more of these books in future unit studies.

Our craft for the day was a Pilgrim boy to match the Pilgrim girl we made on Thursday. They can both ride in our paper plate Mayflowers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they also hunt the turkeys we’re going to be making next week!

This was also field trip day–we went to the St. Louis Art Museum to view their pre-Columbian and Native American art collections.

Dessert Recipe–S’Mores Pie

  • 1 prepared graham cracker crumb crust (I use the Keebler “2 extra servings crust”)
  • 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 3 cups miniature marshmallows, divided
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream

Heat chocolate chips, 1 1/2 cups marshmallows and milk in a medium, heavy-duty saucepan over low heat, stirring until marshmallows are melted (do not overheat). Pour into large bowl. Cool to room temperature.

Whip cream in small mixer bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream and remaining marshmallows into chocolate mixture. Spoon into crust; swirl top. Garnish with additional whipped cream and chocolate shavings, if desired. Refrigerate over night for best taste.