Snow, Sew, and So much more

 

I remember practially holding my breath by the radio in the morning, burrowed deep beneath the covers, waiting to hear the announcer tell us if school was canceled. If we missed the announcement, there was frantic dial spinning and rapid tuning to catch it on another station. No more. Now, within seconds of the decision, my phone starts dinging with the news, heralded from far and wide.

And my kids don't even go to school!

The school decision has a domino effect, even here. No school in the neighborhood means that friends can come play in the middle of the day. It means that dance is canceled and the studio firmly closed. It means soccer becomes a last minute dcision and a moving target--everybody and his brother scrambles to secure indoor space all over the region and at all hours of the day. Why, sure, I didn't have anything planned or anything, let's just go check out driving conditions in two different counties.

School has been canceled for the whole week. They've even made the decision for tomorrow already.

"School" is not canceled in the Foss household. Actually, I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. If my children get some work done every day this week, I figure that makes up for the week when the school kids went back after  Christmas and we were still distracted by the presence of our college boys. We're all even now. More or less.

Not a lot of sewing is happening here, much to my surprise. I've been distracted away from pajama sewing by a little Valentine towel embellishment. And, as in years past, for some reason, snow means a beeswax furniture polishing blitz. We're stocked up on Daddy Van's Beeswax polish. Bored children get the polish and a rag. Kitchen cabinets, furniture, banisters--there's no end to the polishing that can be done while the snow falls and the wind howls.

We did made some really pretty snowflake ballerinas with a whole bunch of girlfriends. This craft was surprisingly successful even with tiny girls. The girl total that day was around ten, I think and everyone enjoyed the craft. I highly recommend clicking that link and giving it a whirl (or a twirl).

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 There is, of course a basket of "Snow Books." The basket grows fuller every year. Here's a list of favorites. Christine Scarlett sent me some recommendations last year (or mayb the year before) and we've added to our basket based on her suggestions. So, here's hers and mine, all together and happy.

::Our Snowman by M.B. Goffstein (I love the line, "Year after year, these things work," and I look for opportunities to say it in real life.)

::The Snow Child retold by Freya Littledale, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (other versions available)

:: The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Yaroslava (Jan Brett and others have also done this.  It is fun to do a comparison.) Jan Brett's is here.

::The Hat by Jan Brett (Hats and Mittens: they go together;-)

::  The Snow Speaks by Nancy White Carlstrom and Jane Dyer (enchanting and one of my favorite illustrators.  Pull it out again during the Christmas season.)

::  Winter Harvest by Jane Chelsea Aragon and Leslie Baker (a calming evening story)

::  Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr (Caldecott, classic)

::  Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow (nice one to read on a day of sledding, skating, or X-C skiing)

:: Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan, illustrated by Mari Takabayashi (a just-don't-miss book favorite)

::  City of Snow, The Great Blizzard of 1888 by Linda Oatman High, illustrations by Laura Francesca Fillipucci (true story)*

::  A Day on Skates, The Story of a Dutch Picnic by Hilda van Stockum (for older readers or as a read aloud over several days)

::Snow (I love the lyrical Cynthia Rylant. She does beautiful things with snow.)

::Snowsong Whistling (We pull this one out in the autumn and love it together through February.)

::The Snowy Day (Karoline's favorite for several years. We even have a Peter doll.)

::Owl Moon (Another Caldecott. I love this story of a late night adventure with Dad.)

::Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (beautiful, effortless poetry memorization)

::My Brother Loved Snowflakes (this one, with the one just below, makes the spine for really good unit study on the science of snowflakes

::Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott-worthy woodcuts, true story)

::The Rag Coat (this one makes us so grateful for warmth)

::Jan Brett's Snowy Treasury (all the Jan Brett snow books, bound together. Definitely a treasure.)

::The Three Snow Bears (another Jan Brett favorite)

::Katy and the Big Snow

 Here are some more links for snow discoveries:

• Six-fold symmetry of the snow crystal (click here and then click on "Nature, Number, and Geometry")HT: Kim
•   Make a virtual snowman
• The Snowflake Bentley Website
• Learn some new facts about snow
• Intermediate level list to help understand winter weather
• Snow art, snow castles, virtual snowflakes, and lots of snow info
• The official site of the Snowman story , with some games
• The FEMA Winter Storm site for kids
• Jan Brett activities

::And, finally the popcorn and marshmallows. This is standard snow food, but my littlest children probably don't know the whole meaning behind the tradition. When Michael was little, there was snow predicted one day. I made a big deal, stocked the snow books, talked it up in a big, big way. He was so looking forward to snowballs. No snow. So, I popped popcorn and made popcorn "snowballs." Saved the day. Now when snow is forecasted, I stockpile the ingredients for popcorn balls. That way, we have big, round, white balls no matter what.

 

Melt two sticks of butter in a very big pot.

 

While the butter is melting, pop 1 cup of popcorn, the old fashioned way.

Dump a bag of marshmallows into the melted butter.

  Stir until melted.

 

Pour the popcorn into the melted marshmallows and stir well.

 

Generously grease your hands with butter. As soon as the marshmallow-coated popcorn is just barely cool enough to handle, form into balls.

Even if you don't have snow, read the books and make the popcorn balls. Childhood should be sweet.

So, what about you? Is it cold and snowy there? How are you spending your days. Of course, please tell us about your sewing and your reading. And also, let us know if you have any snow links to add to the list.

And the snow,

while it is here,

reminds us of this:

that nothing lasts forever

except memories.

~from Snow

 

needle & thREAD (and a bonus recipe)

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Life's been a mixture of Sugar Plum and Maple Cinnamon Butter lately. Sounds like the kitchen, but it's really the sewing room. Well, and maybe a little kitchen, too. Take a little waltz with me through the pretty pictures?

Mary Beth was pretty bummed when she tried on the costume destined to be the Sugar Plum Fairy costume. I snapped a picture of her in it because my mind started spinning pretty much the moment I saw her face. I'd love to show you the whole picture, but she'd be horrified. I promise her face was well worth a thousand words and none of them were lovely. I did send the picture to K. C. of That's Sew K. C. with Mary Beth's permission. K.C. is the tutu queen and two days later, a box of her beautiful lace arrived at our house. We began the tutu transformation in the studio, where Mary Beth's ballet teacher offered both practical and moral support. The girls were rehearsing. Helen and I were stitching. Oh, and then we moved to some other costuming issues and watched Paddy play soccer at the same time. 

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I was on a roll after I left the studio and my mind was whirling with ideas. I had Mary Beth try it on at home and did some pinning. I handstitched late that night (she had her first performance the next day) and awoke early to get back after it. When I read the bodice parts, I felt like the stitching would be better if it were actually being worn while being stitched. Mary Beth was still asleep and I wanted to surprise her anyway. So, Katie volunteered to be my mannequin and Karoline took up the camera. 

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Mary Beth was pretty thrilled when she awoke. (And truly, Katie and Karoline were so excited that their enthusiasm carried me for days.). I don't have any pictures of Mary Beth wearing the newly decorated tutu, but she took this one with her  phone. 

 

Oh, dear. The Snow Queen's costume is looking a bit shopworn next to the Sugar Plum. Whatever shall we do about that;-)?

There is some Christmas crafting underway at last. A dabbled a bit with this tutorial and that. And I've done a whole lot cutting and a wee bit of sewing. I'm pretty tickled with the results and looking forward to doing a whole bunch of these in the very near future. 

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And a little something sweet to go along with the dish towels? Cinnamon Maple Butter! Yes, ma'am.

Cinnamon Maple Butter

yields about 3 half pint jars, with a wee bit left

Ingredients:

3/4 cup REAL maple syrup

2 cups butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

 4 half pint canning jars

Cream the butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon in an electric mixer with a whisk attachment until it's all smooth. Spoon it into the canning jars and tie with a scrappy bow. The butter needs to be refrigerated and it spreads much better if it sits out a bit before serving. I'm not eating bread or muffins or all those typical things upon which one might spread this heavenly butter. But, oh my heavens!, it takes baked sweet potatoes to a beautiful, beautiful place.

(Note: Like most things in life, this is all the better if you scrape a vanilla bean into the mixture:-) 

As for reading, I'm pretty much enchanted by Amy Welborn's new picture book, Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing. It's the sweet story of a little boy who visits his grandfather in Italy. Amy Welborn does a masterful job of bringing Italy alive as the little boy learns lessons in craftsmanship, forgiveness, and generosity. We learned a bit about the traditions of the presepe and Bambenelli Sunday, enough to want to research more and we all decided that this book went nicely with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey (Is it possible that this book is out of print???). And of course, we have to make our own Bambinelli (Sculpey, clay, wood, peg dolls? A little of everything?)

There's a live event today. Join host Judy Zarick and author Amy Welborn as they introduce her new book for children. Just in time for Christmas, Bambinelli Sunday tells a wonderful story about sharing, comfort, generosity, and forgiveness though the lens of a long-standing Italian tradition. 
Join us on December 5th at 3:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. PT).  Log in and ask questions through the chat area.  Amy Welborn will answer them during her presentation. You must register first.

So tell us all about your reading and stitching!

needle & thREAD

Happy morning!

I think I might be addicted to the smell of steaming cotton. A part of me worries that it's actually finishes and dyes I'm inhaling and I do consider from time to time that perhaps I should only sew with organic cotton. Mostly, I push those thoughts aside. There is something about the smell of steaming cotton and the feel of flannel between my fingers that is soothing and comforting and inspiring all at once. It's Stitch Therapy and for me, it's very effective.

I spent all last week, most of this week, and much of the week before last with my heart in my throat. Every time I came up for air it seemed, someone I loved was in crisis. They were not small crises and not a one of them was within my control. I couldn't fix a thing. Instead, my role was to absorb. Fear, grief, panic, loneliness, more fear--I listened and I absorbed. Perhaps that's not my role. Perhaps I'm supposed to listen and deflect. I don't know. I just know that right now, I'm wired to absorb. And a person can only absorb so much before she is uncomfortably bloated with the pain of other people. 

Enter cotton. I can't explain it, but the creative process brings me back to a place of peace. Maybe it's the control. I can subdue the fabric. I can cut and stitch and press it into something beautiful. Or maybe it's just the peaceful relaxation that comes with inhaling the steam of fabric dyes and finishes:-). Whatever it is, keep me pointed in the direction of my sunny sewing studio, please.

I have nearly finished this top for Karoline. It could easily have been ready to wear last weekend but I deliberately didn't hem the sleeves or add the elastic to gather the shoulders. I want it to be her birthday shirt and her birthday isn't until tomorrow. If I'd finished it early, she'd have worn it early. See? There's an upside to procrastination!

I've got two books going, each very different from the other. I'm reading Living into Community in the quiet of the mornings. It's a meaty, thought-provoking book that cannot be absorbed whilst surrounded by the cacophony of life in this home:-). A quiet book that challenges me to push beyond my reluctance to enter into groups. Any groups. I'm wary of groups and yet I'm starved for community. This is a conundrum I must resolve. The author, Christine Pohl, suggests that healthy communities are sustained by four things: gratitude, promise-keeping, truthfulness, and hospitality. I'm not far into the book, but I find myself looking again and again at that list and checking it against the relatinships in my life--the ones that remain strong and enduring and the ones that have failed. Yes, those four pillars are there in the strong ones and at least one of them is consipicuously absent in the ones that have failed. Something to think upon.

The other book is a cookbook. I bought The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen years ago and then I sent it off to a friend whom I thought would get more use out of it than I would. Tonia mentioned she was reading it the other day and was kind enough to look through her copy and see if it were worth my buying again or if there were just too many wheat recipes to make it worth my while. She encouraged me to get it and I'm glad she did. Mediterranean cuisine--particularly authentic Italian food--is my touchstone. When I call to mind "home" in the sense of my family and certainly in the sense of comfort food, it tastes of tomato and basil and garlic.The essence of family has always been time in the kitchen and lots of time at the table. My cousin Ellie compellingly captures it here. This cookbook is a nice guide to embracing the best of the Mediterranean diet--the vegetables and the legumes. It's so good that I don't think anyone would miss the meat and I can easily work around the gluten. Oh, and cheese. See? I've already forgotten cheese;-). It's that good.

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Pumpkin Spice: Hot or Cold, either way it's healthier than at Four-bucks

As the season changes, I'm drawn to those orange chalked signs that promise steaming mugs of fall, complete with whipped frothiness and steam infused with nutmeg. 

They cost a small fortune. They require leaving home. And really, they're sticky sweet.

We can do better.

My friend Sarah has her hands full these days. She's got three babies under two and they have three siblings. Busy, busy. And sleep deprived beyond imagination. Sarah has sacrificed milk in order to try to conquer her wee ones' tendency towards ear infections. So, she's been drinking Pumpkin Spice Via mixed into coconut milk. She froths it with a handy-dandy dinglehopper. It's quick and tasty. But the mama bear in me says,

"Girlfriend, you are demanding incredible things of your body. You're depriving it of sleep. You're the sole source of nutrition for two babies who have deliciously fat cheeks and thighs. You need to take care of you. So let's make this sweet indulgence a little healthier."

We have two choices here, the hot and the cold.

First the hot:

12 ounces warm coconut or almond millk ( I prefer almond) Homemade almond milk here for people who aren't loving on twin babies right now.

1 teaspoon instant expresso (or just plain old instant coffee)

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup canned pumpkin (or up to half a cup, which is a legitimate vegetable serving)

scraping the seeds of a vanilla bean into this mixture makes it an exceptionally undulgent luxury

sweetener to taste:  here's where you can make a huge difference. I think PSLs at Starbucks are too sweet for my taste. Pumpkin Spice Via has 60 calories--all of them sugar calories, the equivalent of 4 teaspoons of sugar. I drink my version with unsweetened almond milk and just one teaspoon of raw honey. You can play with this to your taste; think maple syrup or molasses or honey or even sugar if it's just too much work to look at alternatives. It's unlikely that you really need 4 teaspoons of sugar, though.

You stir it all to blend and then froth it with a dinglehopper. Alternatively, you can put it all in the blender and give it a whirl. Sprinkle the top with more pumpkin spice.

The cold version:

This is a legitimate breakfast. Real food:-)

12 ounces milk or milk alternative

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon (or more) raw honey or maple syrup  (if you like)

1 teaspoon instant coffee or expresso

the seeds of a vanilla bean if you are so inclined

Blend all of the above until it's smooth. Then add a handful of ice and blend again. Pour and sprinkle a little more pumpkin spice on top. 

[Alternatives: You can eliminate the coffee altogether. You can add half a frozen banana. You can freeze brewed coffee into ice cubes and use those instead of water ice and in place of instant coffee.]

So, there you go, a healthy alternative to pricey autumn-in-a-cup.

While the apple cake baked...

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We read some more apple books.

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The Apple Cake This is a charming story about an old lady who wants to make apple cake but has plums instead of apples. She chats along and trades, continuing to give up what she has to meet the need of somoene else. Nicholas baked a delicious, yeasty apple cake using the recipe on the back of the book with 

Alyosha's Apple This is a lovely fairytale told and illustrated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. A young orphan girl ventures bravely into the forest to seek healing for her borther.

Brother Bartholomew and the Apple Grove Sadly out of print, this is a beautiful parable of humility and stewardship.

Apples to Oregon Papa moves from Iowa to Oregon and the whole family and lots fruit trees go along for the ride. There are plenty of facts mixed in with the tall tale.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World This one is a classic favorite. Gather the necessary ingredients for an apple pie from locations all over the world and have a grand time enjoying the process.

Folks Call Me Appleseed John This is the legend of Johnny Appleseed told by John Chapman himself.

Rain Makes Applesauce This one is pure whimsy. It was introduced to me by a friend who came to stay in my dorm. Her boyfriend lived in the suite downstairs and when she came from New Jersey during her senior year in high school to visit Patrick Murphy, she slept in my room. Later, she, too, went to UVa and she was a sorority sister of mine. She could quote this whole book by heart and she did frequently when it rained. My friend Patrick died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and somehow this book has become part of our repertoire on that day. 

For more about our Storybook Year, read here. 

You can find the cake pan here.