Printable Valentines and Valentine-y Baking

I love baking with the kids. Its fun for them, but its also a whole lot of fun for me - I enjoy explaining to them what each ingredient does, and math is more fun when it has a practical application. Plus, the girls get goofy and brave about wanting to try every ingredient. I warn them, "Baking soda doesn't taste good!" But they try it anyway, which is quite remarkable to me, and we have fun conversations about how each ingredient plays a different role. I reward them with a large chunk of brown sugar - and, of course, a finished cookie, too.

And I think the fact that I genuinely enjoy that time together means something to them. They can tell when I'm having fun, and it makes a difference. It's something to be remember as a parent. Anytime we're having a rough day, "Let's make cupcakes!" quickly turns things around for all of us.

So I decided to make some fun baking themed Valentines, in honor of our baking time and our love of chocolate... and okay, my love of puns, too. They're pretty bad, but oh so good, too. Here they are:

Cookie cutter: I ❤ you.
Cupcake: Be my cupcake.
Donut: I like you a hole lot.
Cookie: You're one smart cookie.
Brownie: You scored some brownie points.
Lollipops: I'm a sucker for you.

All six valentines fit on one page. The pdf includes both a color and a black/white version in case you'd like to color them yourself. Printing on card stock will make them more like store bought valentines. Just, cut them out, and write a note on the back. Of course, they'd go nicely tucked into a basket of cookies, but that's up to you. :) Download the Valentine's here.
Update: Cards have been updated and can now be found in my shop. 

I'll be coloring some with the girls and try to get some in the mail in the next week. Looks like I'll be explaining puns to them, too - that should be fun!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. I think you're all smart cookies.

Check out my other valentines: print and draw valentines

Wendy Wilson and Dog Toys

We got a new puppy this past fall. She is quickly finding her place here, as if she was always meant to be. I'm not exactly a dog person - I've had to learn how to train here. But I'm glad I did.

She is all puppy now, and chews on everything she can get her teeth on, including the bucket full of stuffed animals the girls have. So I decided to make her a quick stuffed toy or two. I made it from two layers of sturdy canvas, hoping it would last a little while. I just folded it over and zig zagged around the edges. Plus, I tucked a treat inside the stuffing, hoping she'd smell it and go for this toy over the kids' animals.

So far, she hasn't broken through it yet to get the treat - which I'm actually kind of surprised about. Maybe one layer of canvas was enough? I don't know how long the treat inside will stay good, so I was hoping she'd tear into it in just a few days. We'll see.  

How can you say know to that face? Anybody know how long the chewy puppy stage lasts?

Chicken Love

We've had chickens for many years now, but mostly they're John's chickens. I like to watch them, and occasionally throw some corn at them, and (of course) eat the eggs. But John has always been the one who takes care of them. 

But this winter, I was home without him for about a week, and so, for the first time, I took charge of the daily chicken chores: feeding them, letting them out, collecting and washing the eggs, locking them up each night, and with the freezing temperatures, replacing the frozen water in their jug each day. 

Each morning, they clucked wildly around their frozen water dish until I came to replace it. And when I let them out of the hen house, they charged me like a pack of feathery velociraptors hungry for cracked corn. At night, I'd slog out through the dark and the freezing mud to lock them in away from predators. I woke up in the night to google chickens in freezing temperatures to make sure they'd be okay.

These aren't difficult chores, but they are absolutely vital to the dear little chickens. And there is a rhythm to these chores, that settles you and softens you, and re-connects you to the external world that central-heat-and-air so often hides from us. I have been grateful that John did all the work... but now I wonder if I wasn't missing out on something?

Love begets love, and today I love these chickens.

Happy New Year!

The holidays are so often a rush and a whisper - a whirlwind of busy-ness and a call to peacefulness.  Ours has been a bit paradoxical, both lovely and lonely. And I am eager to hold on to the lingering lovely moments that we have before our routine returns, to hold on to them and plant them into our routine.

I made an absolutely beautiful loaf of bread, but didn't bother to photograph it until it was almost gone. Yet, its beauty persists each morning as we eat another toasted slice. 

And despite our abnormal schedule and irregular appointments, we are still pouring two cups of coffee each morning and washing the dishes [most days]. This is beautiful, too. This is life and it persists despite our disrupted routines.

I have no idea what is in store this year, what projects we will undertake, what joys and tragedies we will face, but I am going in with my eyes wide open. I am determined to make this a year of love and not argument. I am looking and looking. Wishing you much love and beauty this year!

"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty... 

And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also - and this is not always as easy - with regard to groups of people or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. 

Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. 

Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live." - Met. Anthony Bloom

Christ is Born!

In fact, Christ is born all over our house, in a variety of manger scenes finally being completed! My favorite certainly being this little doll in the wooden manger John made. He's just a bit too long, but still I think he looks rather comfy on his bed of hay.

I made the head Waldorf style - although I just did it from memory, and I'm sure I didn't do it quite right. The body was just sort of a stuffed tube that the head was stitched onto, and the swaddling clothes stitched on permanently as well. We'll keep him around for the 12 days of Christmas before hiding the baby away for next year, when we will marvel again at the baby who comes to bring peace to the world. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

American Lussekatter

I might as well say "Lucy Cats" since there is nothing Swedish about my bread. I saw lots of talk about St. Lucia day, and since I love an excuse to make shaped bread, AND I loved Kirsten as a kid (and in fact have her tucked away in the attic. Shhh! I don't want to tell the girls I have her until they finally sit through one of the books!) I thought we should have a little last minute St. Lucia day celebration, too. 

At first, I dreamed of the girls letting me sleep in, and then waking me, dressed in pretty gowns and bearing fresh-from-the-oven sweet bread and hot coffee, to serve me breakfast in bed.

But then I woke up and decided a tea party was a better idea.

Unfortunately, I had already started mixing the ingredients before I learned of the vital (and rare and expensive) ingredient saffron. Even more unfortunately, I realized too late that I didn't actually have enough flour to turn this batter into bread. So I stuck the goopy mess in the refrigerator. Yes, this is how I roll.

The next day, I added some flour and cinnamon and a few other entirely non-Swedish-tradition ingredients and braided up this bread.  I intended to shape them all into the cat shapes (sort of a cross made of 2 S's), but it was messy and the kids were yelling, and so I quickly braided the rest into a Lucia crown, and threw them in the oven. 

It was quite ill-planned - nevertheless, we sat down to our tea party with sweet bread, cocoa, candles and a little reading from the end of the Kirsten book. (spoiler! It's St. Lucia day and guess who gets to be St. Lucia!) The girls loved the story and (surprisingly) the bread, although the cocoa was a touch too hot. It's amazing how sticking a candle into your food can get everyone in a festive mood, and plenty of sugar glaze will keep everyone quietly licking their fingers while you read. Yes, it was a good time. 

Herod in His Raging

I'm overwhelmed by sadness today.  I had never heard this beautiful Christmas hymn until yesterday, which tells of the innocent children Herod killed in his search for Christ. It is unfortunately so fitting. Peace to you all.  

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh,

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Space Stations, and Meteorites and Holy Nights

We've enjoyed being outside with the girls and especially watching the sky with them. Its very dark at our new house since we are far from any street lights, which makes the star gazing absolutely amazing. Seriously.

This week has been especially fun, with all the organizing credit going to John (okay, and the folks at NASA, too). John signed up for Spot the Station, a free program by NASA that will send you text or email alerts telling you when the International Space Station is visible in your area. John has been spotting the ISS for a few months now, but this week the timing was at the perfect time in the evening when we could all bundle up and sit outside together. It was very cool to see and to think about the astronauts on board (the NASA website is also very cool). Space stuff is always a little mind boggling to me in all of its paradoxes: far away but visible, empty but infinite.

Left to Right: Windows, Space Station, Jupiter

I know you're amazed at my crazy photography skills. Yes, that dot of light is impressive. But seriously, it's fun to watch and it passes over fairly quickly, so check it out if you can.

Last night, we bundled up for another adventure - watching a meteor shower! The peak time was at 3:00 AM, but there was no moon or clouds, so they were visible for most of the night. We took the girls out from 7-8PM and made a cozy bed in the back of the truck and watched patiently. We probably saw two dozen shooting stars, and the girls were thrilled with each sighting. You can keep up with what you can see in the sky each night at EarthSky, although John says sometimes you have to google around for meteor showers and comet sights. He got up again at 3 to watch at the peak time, and said he saw 75 shooting stars that were brilliant! I'd say that was worth losing sleep.

It seems fitting to marvel at the stars during the Christmas season.  It reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas Carols, O Holy Night. I prefer the version with the coffee commercial, but I couldn't find it, so here's one with a scene from the Nativity Story. Happy star gazing to all!

Yummy Yummy Vegetables

I've been plugging away on the Rose Creek Farms CSA blog, with 2 recipes each week. I'm learning so much about vegetables, and we are eating new foods each week. If you're wondering what to do with your kale, turnips, cauliflower or kohlrabi - be sure to check out my recipes. I've been wondering the same thing! Come check out my recipes, but please share your favorites, too.

Apple and Turnip Pot Pie

Cauliflower Soup

Kohlrabi Quiche

Acorn Squash and Broccoli Rabe Flatbread

Lamb Sausage Balls and Greek Yogurt Dip

I'll admit I get goofy excited about taking these food photos. Plus I get to play with all my fiesta dish colors. Too fun. :)

Updated 12/13/12 to add: Okay, I just realized that Lamb Sausage Balls are not vegetables and so they sorta don't fit here, huh? Nevertheless, the lamb sausage did come from our CSA, and I did post a recipe, so there you have it. 

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

"It's been a long journey from the Fourth Century Bishop of Myra, St. Nicholas, who showed his devotion to God in extraordinary kindness and generosity to those in need, to America's jolly Santa Claus, whose largesse often supplies luxuries to the affluent. However, if you peel back the accretions, he is still Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, whose caring surprises continue to model true giving and faithfulness." - from the Origin of Santa at the St. Nicholas Center

I hope you all have a lovely St. Nicholas Day! Learning about St. Nicholas is a beautiful way to delve into this season with a spirit of giving, and take a step back from the tensions and commercials that can overwhelm us this time of year.

We started the morning with just a few small treats in our shoes - a candy cane for St. Nicholas' staff, gold coins to remind us of his generosity, and a few small stickers just for fun. We read this story of St. Nicholas over breakfast (which was half chocolate coins, I'm afraid), and this afternoon we'll make cookies.

My intentions of making this day one of meaningful charity have fallen through yet again, and I marvel at those like St. Nicholas, for whom charity was a daily activity. Alas, the girls and I will make Christmas cards and cookies to give away, so that we can at least think of others throughout the day.

from the Life of St. Nicholas, at the council of Nicaea

Last year, I shared a picture of the story of St. Nicholas and the dowries from the St. Nicholas center, but this year I'm enjoying reading the stories about St. Nicholas at the council of Nicaea and the role he played in defending the doctrine of the Trinity. One retelling is here: Bishop Nicholas loses his cool.

Theology nerds will enjoy this silly song to the tune of "Supercalafragalisticexpialadocius" about the doctrines formulated at the council:

 [chorus] Superchristological and Homoousiosis Even though the sound of them is something quite atrociousYou can always count on them to anathemize your GnosisSuperchristological and Homoousiosis

One Prosopon, two Ousia are in one Hypostasis.
At Chalcedon this formula gave our faith its basis.
You can argue that you don't know what this means,
But don't you go and try to say there’s a "Physis" in between!

Go the St. Nicholas center to see the full song and the definitions of all the greek words.  And be sure to browse the stories, activities, and recipes. The makers of the St. Nicholas Center have filled it with buckets of information, stories and links. Enjoy!