The Three Chef-kateers!

All of you with little people in your life that want to be just like you need to get this book. Buy, borrow, or rent, just hurry, winter is coming, do it now!

A friend and I are doing a pre-school swap this semester since we both have kids who won't start kindergarten for two more years--we wanted them to get the fun and exposure to pre-school, but with a more relaxed and flexible schedule and without the pre-school cost and committment.

For the month of September we've been studying food. Where it grows, how it grows, why we should eat a balanced diet, and yes, cooking. We went to the library and looked for books the kids could read to go along with our theme, field trips, etc. There are a lot more books on the topic in the picture-book/early reader section than I would have imagined, and we came away with a dozen or so on various topics. My favorite has to be the book I mentioned at the top of the post. It's called Salad People and it's a picture cookbook with recipes even pre-schoolers can make largely themselves. Obviously each recipe has "adult-only" jobs, but after the intro page and written recipe there are step-by-step picture instructions as well.

It was my turn to host the kids, so we made a little menu, grocery shopped for the items we needed, and then it was cooking time. I was really impressed by how well everybody listened and how patient they were in waiting. Our menu: granola, focaccia bread, and cream of tomato soup. I'd be willing to guess there are a large number of adults who haven't cooked these items from "scratch" but with the instructions in this book they really were easy enough that two 3-year-olds (and a one-year-old who thinks she's three, of course) did it. :) No food tastes better than food you made yourself!

Yogurt, Yum!

Ok, so during my blogging hiatus I've finally been trying several of the things I've wanted to, but just didn't get around to. (Sounds a bit like my blogging now that I mention it...)

My favorite is the yogurt. I'd seen a lot of people posting that they'd made yogurt and it's gotten so pricey...really, .$75 for a 4-6oz. carton of NON-organic yogurt? I enjoy a yogurt here and there, but with the way everyone else in my family eats it, we'd need to buy stock in Yoplait.

Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot and worst case scenario was I'd wasted a half gallon of milk. Well, it turned out great! We're well on our way to batch #3 and I'm not rationing yogurt anymore. :) It's super simple and hands-off too. Here's my "recipe" (which I originally found here) if you can call it that, why not give it a try?

What you need:

1/2 gallon whole milk

1/4-1/2 cup non-fat dry milk (optional, will increase thickness as well as calcium/protein in your yogurt)

1/2 cup plain, unsweetened live-culture yogurt (this is your starter and can be any plain yogurt, you just don't want it to have added sugar or flavorings...I've heard Dannon naturals works well, I used yogurt from a local farm the first time and 1/2 c. from my first batch the second time.)

Crockpot

Towel

This is what you do:

Pour the entire half gallon of milk into your crockpot on its lowest (not warm) setting. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Turn crockpot off and let the milk sit for 3 hours. Place two cups of warm milk in a separate bowl and stir in plain yogurt "starter" until well combined, then return the mixture to the crockpot with the rest of the warm milk. Pour in non-fat dry milk if using.

Take the whole crockpot, wrap in a heavy towel and place in a warm place (I like to use my oven with the light on--doesn't get bumped and it stays nice and warm) for at least 8 hours or overnight.

When you wake up you will have yogurt!
Place in a large bowl and keep in the fridge, it will stay fresh about 7-10 days in it's plain form.

To serve:

Scoop out the desired amount and add honey, fruit, jam, vanilla, granola, etc. to taste. Only flavor/sweeten what you'll use at once since it becomes less thick once you add flavorings.
For an extra special treat, place the desired amount of yogurt in a coffee filter over a mug Let sit for at least two hours, then drain liquid in bottom of cup. You'll have super thick, creamy Greek-style yogurt. Sweeten and top as before!

Ignore the following if you're just in a crafty mood and don't care about the cost-benefit analysis. However, I was curious how much I was actually saving, so I did the math. I've included it below. These are based on the typical prices I've seen here in my upper-midwestern grocery store. You actual costs may be more or less depending on location, but it should give you a good idea at least. I've given ranges of price, but used my high-end numbers accross the board, results would obviously be a bit different if I had used the middle of the range or the bottom, but it should scale similarly.

Cost analysis: This is a great way to save a bunch of money! For traditional yogurt I figure the total cost for one batch (~1/2 gallon) is between $1.50 and $2. Cost for organic is between $3-4 per batch. A typical single-serve(4oz.) traditional yogurt costs between $0.40-0.75 per container and organic is between $.75-1.25 per container. Greek yogurt is even pricier, costing between $1.25-2.5o for a single serving. Each batch of homemade yogurt makes about 16 single servings (or 12 servings of Greek-style once you pour off the liquid). Using these numbers the costs for homemade yogurt per serving is as follows: $0.125 per serving for traditional, $0.25 for organic,

or $0.16 for Greek-style. Total savings for one batch of traditional yogurt? $10 ($12 for 64oz. purchased yogurt in single-serving containers-$2 for 64oz. homemade yogurt.) That's quite a bit of saving!

#100

No, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but August has seemed to fly past. I have a whole bunch of topics I WANT to post about, but lack the time/motivation to actually post about them.

So, look forward to posts about the yogurt I made, our anniversary get-away, our first meeting of my way-too-cute nephew, or the little "face-lift" projects we've been working on around our houses. I'd also like to do a fun, interesting, and/or witty post about reaching entry #100.

But, the kids call and dinner needs to get made, so those will have to wait for post #101. For now, Happy 100th, little blog, and thanks to those of you who have been keeping up with us for all or part of the past year and a half! :-)

Gone

Remember this guy? He's been such a happy, easy-going, low-maintenence part of our family for a year and a half now. Yesterday he left us.

He went out in a most dramatic way. When we left to run errands he was fine, doing swimmingly even... It all happened so fast. (Or maybe it was slow? We were gone.)

When we returned home from the library and grocery store Joshua was the first in the door. I walked in to hear "mommy there's a fish on the floor by our deck." My first thought was What?!? But I looked over and sure enough, there was Michael, flopping on the floor by the patio door to the deck.

As far as we can figure, the water was a bit higher than usual and he jumped out. But, instead of staying there and waiting for help, he started on an adventure turned suicide-attempt. Somehow he survived the four-foot-drop off the island cupboard and flopped the 10 feet over to the deck door. The kids have never even watched Finding Nemo, so he couldn't have gotten any inspiration for an escape from that...but to the door he was drawn nonetheless. And there we found him, in rough shape.

I thought he was a goner for sure. But, to be a good (albeit very surprised) Mommy, I got the fish net and scooped him up and plopped him back in his bowl. And started warning his owner of his likely approaching death.

He made it all afternoon and into the evening, though I was pretty sure he wouldn't fully recover. We left for a walk and when we returned he'd finally given up on recovery. Joshua found him and was quite stoic, saying "he's got one of his wings (fins) up in the air, I think he's dead" Lydia is confused: she keeps saying Michael. Potty. Flush. Gone. and going in there to see if he's come back. Joshua asked to hold him before his "flushing ceremony." This grossed Mommy out a little, but it's his fish and he hasn't been able to touch for over a year, so we (well James, actually...thanks honey!) wrapped him in plastic wrap and Joshua said his good-byes.

It's only a fish, but it's really our kids first personal experience with death. Joshua got teary after he was gone and wanted answers about where Michael was now and if we'd see him again. How do you re-assure a 3-year-old about death while being honest but not scaring them? We held him and talked about what a good pet Michael had been. He liked the idea of Michael going down the pipes to the sewage plant and eventually "becoming dirt." It is the life cycle, but it's never easy.

He's now looking forward to the next fish, which he's already told us will be blue and named Pipp. Ah, resiliency, it's how we get through life with a pre-schooler--everything is dramatic, but at least he recovers quickly.

Good-bye, Michael, you will be missed as much as any fish can...!

Concerts on the Square

In case I haven't mentioned it here recently, I think Madison's a pretty cool town! There's the zoo (it's FREE), a great children's museum, and of course the farmer's market.

But, although we've been here for four years now (wow, has it really been four years already?!?) we're still discovering and becoming part of other Madison traditions and opportunities.

For example, Concerts on the Square. I know free concerts in a park with some sort of live musician(s) are not a tradition original to Madison. My first experience with one of these was in London, actually, but I know it's common all over... However, it's something that happens every summer in Madison, on the capitol square (the orchestra plays on the steps, pretty cool), and not just one week, or two, but for every week for six weeks each summer!

We've made a concert intentionally one other time since moving here, and another time we happened to be downtown when it was going on, but before this summer one child or the other was not really big enough to last for a whole concert. We've made it twice now this summer, and I think we'll continue to try to be there regularly.

Basically, the whole lawn of the capitol square becomes a giant picnicking/relaxing/chatting sprawl of concert attenders. To take part you simply place blankets or chairs or much more elaborate set ups on the lawn. (I didn't get a picture of these, but some people actually have custom made tables just for this purpose and bring/buy a gourmet meal and sip wine while the concert moves along--sounds relaxing to be sure, but we are not in that life stage right now!)

It's an eclectic mix of young and old, dressy and casual, well-to-do and working class. There are kids playing and dancing on the mall and collections of seniors in their rocking lawnchairs tapping in time to the beat and a lot of everyone in betwen. Everyone comes together for one purpose and puts aside their differences for the evening. And it's totally Madison. Love it!

We really enjoyed the music both times, though I'd have to say as much as I enjoy classical music, hearing an orchestra playing movie themes live just really cannot be beat, so the week the whole program was epic movie themes has to be my favorite. The kids enjoyed the music as well, but hands down their favorite part was the treat we got the first week. Rather that purchasing individual ice cream cones for everyone from the vendor and spending a good chunk of the entertainment budget for the month in the process (somewhat defeating the whole point of a FREE event) we instead stopped at a corner grocery store and got a 1/2 gallon and a package of cones. Total cost: just shy of $4, and out of the grocery budget to boot. :) Extra bonus: the kids thought nothing could be cooler than making their own ice cream cones and eating straight from the carton. Mommy loved the fact that it was all outside and everthing that got coated in sticky ice cream hands could either be left behind, wiped down, or tossed in the washing machine upon our arrival home!

We're loving summer time here in Madison (though it's been a bit chilly) and are looking forward to the fun continuing into fall, which somehow seems to be just around the corner. How about you? What's your favorite free summertime activity with or without kiddos?

Precious Little Feet with Big Shoes to Fill

This is our entry for iHeartFaces special "feet week" edition.


I love this picture! It was taken last summer as part of a larger set in which Joshua is playing with a caterpillar. He randomly decided that it would be fastest to take a pair of James' shoes outside instead of putting on his own. The result is precious. I've always loved it when my little boy decided to wear his daddy's shoes--for me it just captures all of the awe, respect, love and wonder a son has for his father. And it's a bittersweet reminder that someday in the not-too-distant future, those shoes won't be to big for him, but he might be too big for them.

But, for right now, I'm going to enjoy him like he is--curious, inquisitive, sweet and busy, busy, busy!!

Click on over to this week's iheartFaces post and browse the other fun entries.

A Tale of Two Half-Birthdays

The nice part about having kids with birthdays two days apart is that with a mostly-combined birthday celebration on their actual birthdays, I actually have some interest and energy for their "half-birthday(s)."
I remember several years as a child when we got to celebrate with a half-birthday-cake and I still remember it fondly. I've never been super disciplined about it like I know some people are (my mom has a friend who celebrates her "birthday" each month of the year!) but I think it's fun for my kids especially while they're this little--a year is a long time when you've only celebrated three...or one! Anyway, we actually made a "half" cake this year. (I took one layer of cake and split it in half and stacked it so only half of it was there.) It looks a bit worse for the wear since the kids wanted our fresh homemade strawberry-mulberry jam on it in addition to the frosting and the humidity was high. But, it was tasty anyway, and the kids (who helped me make it) were very excited for their "cup-cake" as Lydia referred to it. :)
Candles and sprinkles are requirements for any "celebration" as Joshua called it, but I don't have a clue where the birthday candles got put during the move, so as you'll see we had to make do with a decorative candle, but they didn't seem to mind. It was fun for all of us, you just can't help catching the excitement of your kids!
Here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Lydia's still a novice, it took her a couple of attempts to blow out the candle...

Joshua's quite the expert, however!

Ready to dig in! (Joshua kept running to find James or me saying "hurry it's time for our celebration!")

Verdict: It's good...

It's very, very good....

I think this face says it all...

Happy 1/2 Birthday Babies!