The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

I've spent this cold, rainy afternoon curled up with this book, and what a treat. You know the old adage about not judging a book by its cover? Well, while in the more abstract sense that may be true, when we're talking about literal books and their covers, I must confess myself entirely guilty of discovering some of my favorite books entirely based on the cover artwork. It's crossed my mind that I may be incredibly shallow, but so be it. In any event, this book was no exception. I've always taken a fancy to silhouettes, so when I saw this book at the library, I just had to check it out. And I haven't been disappointed at all. This is a children's book, so it's been a quick, easy read, but absolutely brimming with life and joy. Calpurnia Tate is a little girl growing up in Texas. The year is 1899, she is eleven years old, and the only girl in a family of rowdy, rambunctious boys. The story follows Callie through the year as she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, an avid naturalist. It reminds me of my own girlhood exploits "studying" various bugs and animals. Unfortunately, my intense interest in the natural world didn't last as long as it might have. I don't know how much of it has to do with the fact that girls' aren't really encouraged to pursue interests in math and science in traditional public schools (I think this is slowly changing for the better), or simply the fact that my natural inclinations ran more along the literature/history path, but by high school, I had pretty much abandoned any interest in a microscope. Still, this book rekindled an enthusiasm for that sort of thing, leaving me actually wanting to break out some field guides and learn more about the grandness of the natural world all around us, if only to be able to answer at least some of the questions I know Kate will soon pose. Truly, a beautiful book.

On an only somewhat related note, this story (and that picture!) make me happy.

Atoning for Blogging Negligence

I've been a bad blogger this week. I thought I'd try to compensate with a cute cat picture. Kate and George (the cat) are definitely BFF, and she loves sharing her toys with him. He's partial to Lilly, the slightly creepy baby doll Kate loves so much. Lilly is a thoroughy modern doll, and when you put her pacifier into her mouth, she makes frightening noises and crinkles her eyes up and down in a rather disturbing way that Kate finds amusing, and I just find, well, weird.

The dogwoods have been blooming this week, and are absolutely gorgeous. We also had the little nip of dogwood winter that accompanies these beautiful blossoms. But today has been warmer, and just lovely. Kate and I spent the morning in the park with some new friends. Mark and I will be playing tonight, at our regular gig here in downtown Weaverville, and then tomorrow night we venture out to Hot Springs, NC, a picturesque small town about 45 minutes away to play here. We're thinking about going to a local minor league baseball game Sunday, weather permitting. Which means that Saturday night, we'll probably have to watch this movie, to get in the mood you know. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Baguettes and Food Rituals

Even though I wouldn't classify myself as a raging Francophile, there's no question about it: those French folks do know their bread. And their butter. And their wine. And their fashion. Okay, so maybe I'm a Francophile in training. Anyway, I've been making these baguettes for a few years now. In fact, this was the first homemade bread recipe I tackled, and it has definitely become a standard in our house. Growing up in the south, most of the time, bread with dinner meant biscuits. My mom makes the absolute best biscuits in the world. Light, fluffy....truly exquisite. However, when I started making them myself and realized the amount of shortening that goes into those little pieces of heaven, well, let's just say that for me, biscuits have been relegated to the occasional splurge category. But these baguettes are simply flour, water, a bit of salt, yeast, and an egg wash on top to give them that pretty gold color. So, while they may not win any health food awards either, I think it's fair to say that compared to lard laden biscuits, they are the sure way to go. Besides, I actually prefer the chewy, dense texture. Except with gravy. With gravy, only a biscuit will do.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite books, French Women Don't Get Fat. Warm weather always brings the inevitable urge to slim down, and while I wouldn't classify myself as overweight by medical standards, like many women I've got a few vanity pounds I wouldn't mind shedding. But, at the same time, I'm definitely not the type to "go on a diet." The entire premise seems set up for failure. That's why I love this book so much. It focuses on fresh, seasonal, mindful eating. In particular, the rituals surrounding what and how we eat. As a general rule, we eat well. While we don't always adhere to strict "health food" rules, I'm pretty adamant about scratch cooking, and we steer clear of processed and packaged foods. The main area that needs work around here, is being mindful of creating and observing rituals around mealtime. We do eat most meals at home, but I must confess that sometimes rather than sitting and mindfully eating and enjoying my dinner, I'm gobbling it down, thinking the whole time about the ensuing clean up. Clearly, this is not giving mealtime the proper respect it deserves, and I'm vowing to improve.

I was inspired by this post a few weeks ago. With a two year old, we're still not quite at the place where we can enjoy daily candlelit family dinners and consistent stimulating conversation, but as Kate becomes more proficient at feeding herself, and the amount of food on the floor after dinner daily decreases, I definitely have hope. In any event, I'm inspired by both Amanda's post and this excellent book to treat meal time as a sacred ritual, not something to be rushed through.

Baguette Recipe

From French Women Don't Get Fat by Mirelle Guiliano

-1 tsp. active dry yeast

- 2 cups warm water

- 4 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour

-2 tsp. kosher salt

- 1 egg, beaten and mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Stir with a fork. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture, and sti in the remaining 1 1/2 cups water. Mix the dough until it is sticky enough to knead. On a lightly floured board, knead for 6 - 10 minutes; the dough should be sticky and smoth. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about one hour.

3. Punch down the dough and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each into a ball and shape into a baguette. Transfer the loaves to a lightly greased baking sheet and let rise until nearly doubled.

*My sister bought me a special baguette pan for Christmas this year that I love! If you don't have one though, you can just lay them out on a regular baking sheet. I made them without one for years. They'll still taste great, but will be flat on the bottom as opposed to the traditional baguette shape.

4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Brsh the baguettes with the egg-water mixture. Score the loaves diagonally across the top with a sharp knife.

5. Pour 2 cups of hot water into a pan and place in the preheated oven next to the baguettes to provide moisture. (If we're being honest here, I don't always do that. I'm sure it can't hurt, but I really can't tell the difference). Bake the baguettes for 15 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing.

*In related news, while doing a quick google search for the image of the book, I discovered that Hilary Swank is doing a movie based on the book, French Women Don't Get Fat. I never could find anything in terms of an official release date (and didn't spend a great deal of time looking, so it might be out there), but this article was interesting.

Weekend Snapshots

Another gorgeous spring weekend! Saturday we spent the day back in the garden, this time prepping my herb beds. More on that little project later. Of course, what you're not seeing here are any photographs from Sunday of my poor little girl with her runny nose and watery eyes, suffering through a pretty serious case of hay fever. Pollen: the dark underbelly of springtime.

British Culinary Invasion

Last year, we turned off our cable, and I can honestly say that I haven't missed it at all. We're Netflix junkies, so we still have an ample supply of tv and movie entertainment, but we're able to steer clear of annoying and consumer driven commercials (that became more important as Miss Kate became more aware of the words and actions appearing on the screen). But, I must confess, I was pretty bummed at the prospect of not being able to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. In addition to the fact that the premise of the show is noble and ingenious and world changing and all that, well, let's face it, Jamie's just a doll. I've harbored a crush on the tow headed Brit since the college days of holing up in my dorm room to watch The Naked Chef. I've always loved his fresh, spontaneous, carefree approach to food. And his cute accent.

I'm especially intrigued by the project in West Virginia, because before Kate was born, I taught for five years at a rural public high school here in western North Carolina. So I'm no stranger to the horrors that pass for "nutrition" in a high school cafeteria. It always seemed the pinnacle of absurdity to me that our district employed a "school nutritionist" and it was still deemed acceptable to serve frozen pizza, canned corn, and french fries for lunch. This isn't meant as a personal slight to the individuals who hold such positions, it's just such a blatant display of the systemic failures that impact all areas of public education. Okay, stepping off the soapbox now.

So anyway, I was beyond thrilled to discover that I can watch the show on Hulu, and that's just what I'll be doing tonight. Mark's playing a solo gig, Kate's in bed early, so it's just me and Jamie for the duration of the evening. I'm pretty stoked.

And, under the same category of cute British chefs, have you seen The Delicious Miss Dahl? It looks like Giada and Nigella may have some stiff competition for most glamorous queen of the kitchen, no? I also just learned that she's Roald Dahl's granddaughter. I doubt that's where she gets her good looks from, but still. Love her pretty kitchen, love her culinary prattle, and wish my cheeks were that rosy and effervescent. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Spring Planting and General Warm Weather Giddiness

Spring can be a fickle season here in the mountains of western North Carolina. For the past week, temperatures have been holding steady in the very summery high 70s/low 80s. After the long, bitter cold winter we just endured, I'm certainly not complaining. I could sit and soak in the sun for hours. Still, that's a bit unusual for early April, so naturally we're cautious. And while we're perfectly willing to ahead and sow the lettuce bed (with baby lettuce and kale!), plow, weed eat the perimeter, drain ditches, and generally lay the foundations for the season, we won't be doing any major planting until May.

But this past weekend's gardening preview was absolutely delightful. It felt so good to dig my fingers deep into the earth, and obviously, Miss Kate couldn't agree more. I don't believe those little hands will be clean again until Thanksgiving, but I don't even care. My little one is quite the enthusiastic fan of dirt and worms, and planting lettuce and kale was the most fun she's had in ages, after being cooped up all winter.

I've always sort of enjoyed winter. I wouldn't call it my favorite season, but there is something to be said for the quiet, peaceful contentment of engaging in the more sedentary pursuits of reading and watching movies, curled up by a roaring fire. But this winter was so extreme (again, I'm from the south, so this is all relative), that even I tired of it. We all suffered from cabin fever in the very literal sense. Needless to say, I've been overjoyed to see, hear, smell, and taste the bustling of the natural world coming back to life, the budding trees, the buzzing bees, the daffodils, the dandelions! I'm just thrilled. In those dark days of winter it was hard to imagine, but spring, of course, always comes again.

Happy Easter!

Well, I had intended to wow you with some fancy photographs of the festive hot cross buns I got up at 5:30 this morning to make. Unfortunately I scorched the little beauties, and while they were still edible (after we sliced off the crispy, black bottoms), they were hardly photogenic. The tops were quite delicious, and I'm going to definitely try the recipe again, at a lower temperature. Knowing that my oven tends to run on the hot side, I should have automatically done this, but ah well. I'm no stranger to domestic catastrophes. So, we have a gratuitous cute kid with Easter eggs picture instead.

We had a family lunch over at my parents' house this afternoon, followed by a big Easter egg hunt. Or, more accurately, several mini-Easter egg hunts. Kate was quite the enthusiastic egg hunter, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be bombarded with requests to "find eggs" for the next few weeks.

Even though my poor hot cross buns didn't pass muster, I did much better with Kate's Easter basket. It was so much fun to put together, so I thought I would share what we included:

The Story of the Root Children: This is a charming, nature focused story about the coming of spring and the changing of the seasons. Gorgeous, whimsical illustrations.

Emily and Daisy: This is a lovely story about a little English farm girl. When my dad saw this book, the first thing he did, in all seriousness, was give Kate a lecture about how she was NEVER to pull our cows tails like the little girl on the cover of the book. :)

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes: This is a sweet story, and in my opinion, will appeal to grown-ups as much as children. Again, such pretty, colorful illustrations.

Stockmar Crayons: I debated long and hard over whether or not I was willing to spend $12.99 on a box of crayons (you'll note that they're actually $18.95 on Amazon; I found them cheaper at our local food co-op.) But, I'm glad I did. Kate was fascinated with the color blocks (and the cute tin they came in), and when we tried them out, they really do have a simultaneous vibrancy and transparency that Crayola can't quite compete with. Assuming we don't lose them within the week, I'll consider them a good investment.

Jewel's Lullaby CD: Arguably this was as much for me as Kate, but I expect we'll both enjoy it. Jewel's voice is beautiful to the point of being surreal, and is especially well suited for the dreaminess of these beautiful lullabys. You definitely don't have to have kids to enjoy this album.

You may notice an absence of candy, but lest you give me credit for being a more health conscious mother than I deserve, I should point out that I knew perfectly well that she would also be getting Easter baskets from grandparents, aunts and uncles laden with Cadbury eggs, Jelly Beans, and chocolate bunnies galore. Deprived she is not.

*You'll note that I've linked to Amazon, but that is just as a matter of convenience. I'm not an affiliate, and in fact, would always recommend searching your local independent bookstore if possible!

Watching.......The African Queen

We watched The African Queen last weekend. It was the first time I've ever seen this film, but it's one of Mark's old favorites. He had been disappointed because it wasn't available on Netflix for ages. That struck us both as sort of odd, considering it's such a classic, and has big name stars like Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, but when we saw the credits we learned that it was restored in 2009, so I guess that's why it was out of circulation for awhile.




Anyway, to be honest, at first, I really didn't like it. In fact, I voted to turn it off, but was vetoed. And I'm glad I was. This film should definitely not be judged by the first 10 -15 minutes. It's like they were really rushing through all this dramatic stuff (Germans marching in, villages being burned, etc.) to get to the part where Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn (or Charlie and Rosie I should say) get on the river in the African Queen. From that moment on, it's an excellent movie. The scenery is gorgeous and Bogart and Hepburn are superb together. It's not a particularly believable movie (especially the ending), but it is a grand, incredible adventure, and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. I loved it! I'm also overcome with the desire to go whitewater rafting, which I've never done before. Maybe this summer!