Category Archives: Recreation

What’s Cooking?

The first week of January is nearly past! I have only a few minutes to write this post, so it’s a bit scattered. I signed up to participate in Creative Every Day 2009, so here’s my first post about it. For Christmas I received some culinary items: a jumbo muffin pan, four really heavy cookie/jelly roll sheets, 6 tart pans, 4 mini loaf pans, and 2 mini cake pans, along with a book called Small-Batch Baking. I really enjoy baking (even more than cooking), but most baked goods are indulgences. And as we should know but have forgotten, an indulgence is a treat, something enjoyed specially; however, the quantities most recipes create are many dozens of cookies or large pies and cakes that a family of three does not need.

This morning I put the loaf pans to use by making more pumpkin bread. I’ve found that large loaves don’t get consumed quickly enough, and another point to baking small is to reduce the amount of temptation to overeat. I was really pleased with the results and look forward to making more goodies. The recipes in the book make very small amounts; for example, a recipe for a cake makes 2 little cakes (slightly larger than a jumbo muffin) or a half a dozen cookies.

I’ve also decided this year to get creative about food in a different way. I received three other books, some of which provide ideas to ponder and one of which also has recipes. One of my relatives has undergone a significant weight loss, and she and I discussed eating habits and the need to remain healthy, and how excess weight impinges on health. Eating differently — heathfully and in less quantity — is also a creative response to environmental issues.

I realize I have, for too many years, consumed food mindlessly in quantities that would shock a large percentage of the world population. As I watch my daughter learn to eat and to feed herself, I’ve felt my conscience poked and prodded. She follows her natural hunger and satiation. It’s been so long since I stopped at satiation. I know what hunger feels like but often eat as recreation, and I often eat beyond simple fullness. So many people live on much, much less. And in fact, as my relative and I discussed, our sense of proportion is extremely skewed. We have grown accustomed to large servings and lost the understanding of how truly little a body needs to thrive. By reducing how much I consume, I can save our family money, and some of that money will go to organizations such as Feeding America and Heifer International. So the books I will be reading are:

Family Traditions

We have family we are born into, and we have family we create, and since our culture beckons us to wander in search of better opportunities, we are often far from our born family at holiday time; so we turn to celebrating with our intentional families. Today was such a gathering. The core of the group is three men who’ve known each other many years. They met “back in the day” at college and at their first professional job. They’ve seen each other through flush times and rough times, called-off engagements and divorces, the death of a parent, cross-country moves, weddings, and the births of their first children. Husband, M, and S, and those “born to” family members nearby this holiday gathered to feast and catch up today. Claire, as usual, loved the party. She is a smiley ray of sweet charm. She managed to rise to the occasion despite the discomfort of two molars pushing through (but they are almost done, thank goodness).

me and a wiggleworm

So Much Fun

We had a lot of fun in San Francisco. We started later than planned and took the car instead of Caltrain, because Claire was cranky and had a slight fever in the morning, and Husband has been sick. I wanted to see how things would settle out. But it seemed okay to leave them, and we arrived around 10:30. It was very chilly and breezy, but the sun was out, so we walked from the AT&T stadium (where we parked) up the Embarcadero for awhile. Then we caught the MUNI and went to Fisherman’s Wharf.

We ate New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, then did some shopping for gifts. Then we hiked a few blocks to look at some art at Lahaina Gallery (my eyes almost popped out of my head when I heard the prices). We looked at a couple of works by Dario Campanile — Il Banchetto (which I really liked) and La Tazza Blu. We also looked at originals and prints from James Scoppettone (the photo on the site doesn’t do justice to the vivid painting). Since we didn’t have a spare $17,000 for the original or $3,000 for a limited edition canvas giclée print, we left without purchasing anything. Then we walked to Ghirardelli Square for hot chocolate and yummies.

Then it was back to the Wharf for dinner and a little more shopping. We ate at Neptune’s Palace and saw the sunset. We had a perfect view of the bay and Alcatraz. From the angle we sat, the island looks like a large tanker ship. Then we got a trolley to MUNI and took that back to the car. We were home by 7:15 p.m., in time to see Claire a little while before her bedtime.

She and her Daddy had a good day together, but he was exhausted. We were originally going to take a little day trip today to the coast, but since it’s cold and might rain, we might just stay home and bake cookies instead.

Here’s a photo from the other day. It was close to dusk, windy and cold, but we had to get out of the house for some fresh air. This is a sweet shot.

looking for leaves

Why Not?

Creativity is at the core of my life. At least, this is how I’ve felt for several years. So I’m diving in and will participate in Leah’s 2009 challenge, Creative Every Day 2009.

Creative Every Day 2009

I’m not sure exactly what will come of it, but the goal is to gently inspire my creativity and to see it in my life in places I would not ordinarily consider. How about you?

Fear Not

Christmas just isn’t Christmas to me without a tree. For years I had a teeny table-top tree that my mother gave me, and each year she gives me more teeny ornaments for it. Last year she sent me a slightly larger version of that tree; since horizontal surfaces are scarce, I didn’t plan to put it (or the teeny one) up this year. But Husband persuaded me that we could put it on our dining table. I went one better and put it on the counter near an outlet so the lights can be on and little hands remain safe. So here is the Grandma Tree (it is actually tucked against the wine rack and against the wall):

christmas tree 08

So LKD, now things are all better. 🙂

Art Every Day Month – Day 30

Hurray! I did it, I did it! And now it’s time for the Yule season. Given that Claire’s little hands find it hard to resist touching interesting stuff, and that holidays are about happiness rather than scolding “No, don’t touch!” we have opted out of a tree this year. Plus, we need the floor space to play, and a tree would seriously crimp that.

I’ll get out a few decorations in addition to this garland — I just need to find ways to make do without horizontal surfaces. Claire is getting into everything now.

garland - art every day month 08 - day 30

Art Every Day Month – Day 29

While including food might be pushing the definition of “art,” I decided that today’s creation would suffice for AEDM. At least it’s a domestic art, and one can enjoying looking at, smelling, and tasting it. I cooked the little pumpkin we bought last month and pureed it, and then I made the bread from a recipe on Allrecipes. (Note that I used two 9×5″ loaf pans instead of the three 7×3″ in the recipe.) It is really good — Claire devours it (and this is how she gets an orange veggie, since she refuses them in other forms), and so do my friends and I. It’s the kind of bread that tastes better after a day or two as the spices meld.

pumpkin bread - art every day month 08 - day 29

Pumpkin Bread

Art Every Day Month – Day 23

Our date was lovely. We decided that since we rarely get to enjoy a meal without refereeing someone, we would have a leisurely dinner. Then we went to a toy store to look for possible gifts for Claire (we are setting a budget) and then to a bookstore to drool over books we want for ourselves. It was a later night than usual, but I’m glad we made time for it.

Here is today’s piece. I’m feeling unsure if I can come up with stuff for the next eight days; my inspiration well feels dry. Oops! I hear Claire awake from her nap.

ornament - art every day month 08 - day 23

Subject, Predicate, and Direct Object

Tonight when playing with her father, Claire said “I see you!” in response to Husband. In a little while there will be a video uploaded at Flickr for friends and family viewers (you need to be logged in to Flickr for the video to show). (Being a private man, I don’t share photos and videos that include Husband on the blog.)

I’ve lost track of the new words she’s got now. Let’s just say that we are now spelling certain words and are very, very careful not to cuss near her. Not that we cuss much, but every now and then a damn might slip out if we aren’t being mindful.

Claire also now says yes as well as no when asked direct questions. This has made feeding her much easier. “Do you want grapes?” “No.” “Do you want pineapple?” “Yes!” Or: “Do you want to play with puzzles?” “No.” “Do you want to read a book?” “Yes!” Until recently, one-syllable words that end in “s” were pronounced as two-syllables: bus was bah-ss, mouse was “meh-ss”, and yes was “yeh-ss.” She’s getting more fluid with practice, but it’s still really cute the way she pronounces these words so deliberately in that little voice of hers.

Also, while we were at a friend’s home today, Claire interrupted her play to walk over to me and give me a kiss (she’s still learning so it wasn’t quite a pucker, but it was clearly a kiss). Then she returned to her little friends. It was really endearing.