And Yet! And Yet!

I'm taking out the garbage, and I happen to glance at the withered raspberry patch. Wait a second! There's another harvest! 

What in the world!? 

I recall back in 2010 when the same phenomenon happened with my peppers. I had put the garden to rest in my mind, but the garden had other thoughts.

But wait, ya'll: We've had frost; we've had flurries; we've even had berries rotting. Those raspberries were done.

And yet.

As I gather in the new berries, I think about harvesting words and November's novel writing mission. I had given up on fiction, but fiction has other thoughts for me. It's been a long time: story writing feels frosted over, rotting even, by now.

And yet! And yet!

The 6th Annual Halloween Boo Platter

I almost didn't make the traditional Boo Platter this year. But, if you remember, this platter just might represent my most memorable act.

The email comes in from the 3rd grade teacher that we're still in need of veggies for the class Halloween Party.

OK, OK, I'll do it. 

I love the Boo Platter. It's one of those traditions that we'll all remember in 30 years. This year, I interviewed some children on the walk to school about their favorite vegetables. Surprisingly, broccoli won as a favorite.

So, I give you. . . The 2013 Halloween Boo Platter. The spinach dip sits on the side in a bread roll. I'm going to scatter a couple of these filled bread rolls around the platter and perhaps claim they're actually severed heads with brains spilling out. Gross! How could I! 

They'll love it.

Let Them Cook

I've let my oldest daughter loose in the kitchen. We're having a great time together. It's messy, a little inconvenient, and time consuming, but cooking with my daughter is one of my favorite activities as a mom.

I'm passing something on; it feels like we're participating in the ancient rhythms of hearth and home.

We're learning a whole new vocabulary of verbs: strain, simmer, sauté. We're grasping the fine distinctions between chop, dice, and mince. We're discovering you can add too much and too little. 

We listen to Broadway musicals on Pandora. She turns the music up way too loud for me, but I remember that I'm older and she's younger. I think I know every word to every song in Wicked.

So far, we've mastered apple pie, apple turnovers, various stir-fry recipes (with various sauces--her favorite is ginger peanut), homemade butter, and potato and bacon soup. After school, we're learning Swedish Pancakes from her American Girl Kirsten cookbook. 

I have to relax my controlling urges and let kitchen art happen. Once she learned how to hold a knife and how not to catch herself on fire, she was good to go. It's worth it. Last night we ate a delicious soup with fresh bread that I didn't invent or carry out. 

Let them cook.