More music

I was glancing through my old orchestra folder tonight.I couldn't remember how some of the music sounded so I looked up a recording of it being performed.

I really enjoyed listening to this version"Fiddle Faddle", which I am sure sounds about 700 times better than my high school orchestra did.

I also forgot how much I enjoyed "The Funeral March of a Marionette"

"Jazz Pizzicato" is a fun song just for being different for a few minutes. (It also inspired to write a song on the piano titled "Pizzicato".)

That's all for now. This songs bring back some funny memories, and I sincerely love the music itself.

Dinner musings

At dinner tonight-

Phebe: Is water always clear mom?
Me: As long as nothing is in the water, yes. It isn't as clear if there there is dirt or some kinds of bacteria-
P: or an octopus.
M: Well yes, it is hard to see through an octopus,
P: I don't want to met an octopus.
M: Why?
P: It would eat me.It has a big sharp beak.
M: I think you might be a bit big for it to eat. It eats smaller things like crabs.
P:Yea, crabs are so annoying. Maybe it eats giant lobsters.
M: Yea, but I don't think there are many lobsters your size.
P: I have 4 shirts on.

Thanks for the profound thoughts Phebe.

Just throw some quinoa in there

I finally took the time to cook some quinoa. I kept hearing about it and I finally cooked some I had picked up a while ago.I am impressed. It was pretty good. 

I had plenty of left overs though. So I searched around for another recipe to use it in. Eventually I just made something up. When everyone eats it, even with pre-dinner comments like "ugh, That stuff again?" you know it was pretty good. Even Phebe who has an aversion to anything that isn't a liquid, fruit or junk food said "This is fantastic! Can I have more?" I was floored. 

Here is the basic recipe-

Funeral potatoes-

INGREDIENTS

• 6 c. diced potatoes
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 c. sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 c. grated cheddar cheese, or use a mix of cheddar and gruyere
• 1/4 c. grated onion (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 c. crushed cornflakes or panko bread crumbs (optional for crumb topping)
• Additional 2 T. butter (optional for crumb topping)

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
 
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Advance prep: bake/thaw potatoes: 60 minutes

• Total Time: 120 minutes
 
• Yield: About 8 cups

PREPARATION

1. Prepare the potatoes: Scrub 6-8 medium russet potatoes and wrap in foil. Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are easily pierced with a fork but not too tender. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and dice them. If you want, you can substitute plain frozen diced (not shredded) potatoes. Let the potatoes thaw before using them in the recipe.
2. Combine soup, butter, sour cream or yogurt, milk, cheese, onion, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the diced potatoes and stir gently until combined.
3. Place potato mixture in a 2-3 quart casserole dish or 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
4. Optional: Mix 2 T melted butter with crushed corn flakes or panko bread crumbs. If using panko, season with a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle crumb mixture over potato mixture.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

I used cream of mushroom soup instead of chicken, skipped the topping and I just dumped a bunch of extra quinoa in there. Ta da! Add some extra protein and a fun texture and everyone was happy. I was seriously surprised by how well received it was. There you go, a yummy dinner suggestion. I mean, even Phebe and Victor liked it at the same time!

Things that make my heart happy

Yesterday Caleb and Phebe worked really hard as a team. They dug rocks out of the drive way. Then they presented them to me informing me that these were going to be the Christmas presents for myself and their dad. Oh,  I am sure he will be thrilled, I thought.

So all on their own they dug out wrapping paper and wrapped up strawberry containers full of driveway stones and presented them to us. Christmas was much too far away. I am now the proud owner of a carton of rocks.

Along those same lines-
( I can't get enough of Caleb and Phebe actively playing together.)

This morning Phebe wondered into the house through the front door, " because Caleb wouldn't let me in the back door". She just made me smile.

She had allowed me to elaborately braid her hair. So of course that was staring to fall out. She had a striped shirt on inside out. She was wearing her sister's much too large pajama pants. She and Caleb had drawn all overs pool noodles and then covered them with stickers. (Those are very important weapons when fighting the demon lords in the backyard. ) She had her pool noodle of destruction stuffed down the back of her shirt.

My heart is happy on these moments.

What do you need little one?

Every once in a while I have a moment where things move from my head to my heart.

I spent some time at a cousin's house not too long ago. When it came time to leave baby Ruby decided that the normal morning nap was completely unnecessary, in fact the suggestion was ridiculous.

I had 4 other children that I needed to take care of, a friend that had come along that I was trying to make sure she and her child had everything they needed. We had been working on some pretty big projects so there were lots of materials that needed to be gathered. Not to mention just getting all the stuff back to the car.

I was attempting to take the easy route. Put the baby to bed= get stuff done. Silly baby, just go to bed. I tried feeding her, diaper, letting her play a little longer. Nope just fussing. As I walked up the stairs I looked at her and said "What do you need my dear baby?"

Then the thought came to my mind." A mom. You need a mom. A mom who loves you and wants to be with you. A mom who thinks you are wonderful and realizes you are far more important than packing and 'getting stuff done.' "

 Really, what could be more important? What else could she or I need?

Minding my beeswax

Tonight I share with you my latest project! Yay! So here we go.There is lots of information about processing beeswax online. I am simply sharing with you what I did. Keep in mind if you ever want to do this at home you must get a separate pot just for working with the wax. You will never get that pot wax-free again.

Here is what is called "cappings" It is the wax they cut off the comb so they could drain the honey off. 

 Then I soaked it in water twice and drained the water off. Then I added enough water to cover the wax

Here it is boiling. Beeswax is flammable so you have to keep an eye on it. I warm up the water to about med-high and once it gets really going I turn it down to nearly low. See that brown stuff? Despite my best efforts it never melted.

You can see my non- melting brown stuff here. It was starting to cool down. At this stage all I did was set the whole pot to the side and let it solidify. Due to wax being lighter than water, it all just floated to the top and hardens. 

This it what that brown stuff ends up like. It is stuck to the bottom of the wax disc. It is called "slum gum". Slum gum is all the random debris from in the hive. Mostly cocoons from the change from larvae to bee.

Here is the top of my pretty wax disc, 

This was my very first attempt, Since then I have been putting cheese clothe over various other recyclable containers and straining the slum gum out. So that is a glimpse of what I have been working on.

Play, beeswax and a sad moment

Quick up date.

Ethan's play is over. Let me just say, it was very rewarding to watch everyone get to see how awesome he is. The lady next to me was a season ticket holder who told me " I hope to see your husband on stage again soon." Thanks, that makes me smile. He worked with a lot of really incredible people. 

I finally made something with my beeswax. I used this recipe. I even made some lotion to give to the cast as a thank you gift. 

We planted the garden last night, OK some of it. My sister let me dig some blueberry bushes up at her house and transplanted them here. Some black berry bushes came along too. 

On a completely unrelated note-

A while back a house down the street caught on fire. A 22 year old man died. Today they are tearing the house down. It made  me very sad to sit there and watch the parents witness the house their son had died in be torn down. That must be really hard. Sometimes I wish there was more I could do for people around me.