Books for Home Economics

Cookery

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker; Simon & Schuster Inc., 2006

More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre; Herald Press, 1975

Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind & Cathleen Hockman-Wert; Herald Press, 2005

California Kosher Compiled by Women's League of Adat Ari El; Wimmer Brothers, 1991

A Cookbook for Girls and Boys by Irma S. Rombauer; Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1952

Not Just Beans by Tawara Jean Kellam;  NotJustBeans Publishing, 2002

Ball Blue Book of Preserving; Jarden Home Brands Publishing, 2006

Etiquette

Etiquette by Emily Post;  Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1942

Good Manners for Every Occasion by Emilie Barnes; Harvest House Publishers, 2008

Caring for People

Laugel's Kitchen Caring by Laurel Robertson; Ten Speed Press, 1997

Household Management

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar; Howard Books, 2008

Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook; Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2006

A Mother's Manual for Holiday Survival by Kathy Peel & Judie Byrd; Focus on the Family Publishing, 1991

Life-saver!: The Jewish Homemaker's Suvival Kit by Sarah Glaser; Targum Press, 1996

Nutrition

Chew on This  by Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson; Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 (9th, 10th grades)

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser; Harper Collins, 2002 (11th, 12th grades)

What to Eat by Marion Nestle; North Point Press, 2006

SuperFoods by Steven Pratt, M.D. & Kathy Matthews; HarperCollins, 2004

Real Food by Nina Planck; Bloomsbury, 2006

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; Harper Perennial, 2007

Gardening

Gardening When it Counts by Steve Solomon; New Society Publishers, 2005

Mrs. Greenthumbs by Cassandra Danz; Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1993

Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon; Timber Press, 2008 (also counts for Science)

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew; Cool Springs Press, 2005

Nature-Friendly Garden by Marlene A. Condon; Stackpole Books, 2006

The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch; Workman Publishing, 1988

Miscellaneous

Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home by Mrs. Craig (Ann) Ward; Smiling Heart Press, 1995

Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton; Three Rivers Press, 2002

Country Wisdom Almanac Compiled by Amy Rost; Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2008

Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack A. Spigarelli; Cross-Current Publishing, 2002

A Return to Modesty by Wendy Shalit; Simon & Schuster, 1999 (12th grade)

Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich; Owl Books, 2001

Dominion by Matthew Scully; St. Martin's Griffin, 2002

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, PH.D; Bantam Books, 2006

Fire Safety  Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Series, 1997

Made You Look: How Advertising Works  by Shari Graydon; Annick Press, 2008

Walked in the footsteps of my forefather and foremothers at the Charlotte Museum of History.

Left Winter behind and drove into Summer.

Hugged a mouse.

Hugged a duck.

Hugged a blue alien and his Hawaiian ohana.

Lost my husband and two of my children for a day.

Met Prince Caspian.

Got freaked out by The Crazy Christmas Tree Lady, who apparently spends her days stalking Disney characters.

Took a photo of her hat.

Lamented the loss of the original Pirates of the Caribbean.

Got my youngest on a fast ride.

Went soaring over California.

Found Mary Poppins.

Met the Julenissen.

Ate some really good Mexican Food.

Watched Dopey make a break for freedom.

Heard an amazing Christmas Concert.

Got hugged by the world most loveable [and pathetic] donkey.

Went to the hot tub.

Went to the pool.

Went to the beach.

Saw Becky's new home and got to spend a few hours visiting!!

Shopped at a Piggly Wiggly.

Drove back into Winter.

And a good time was had by all!

Yes, I am a shlub.  I haven't been writing on my Blog - as my children have kindly pointed out about 100 times.  So, in the interest of time, I will complete a tag that two of my girls have sent to me:

1. What are your initials? AER

2. How old will you be in 30 years? 69

3. Where would you most like to vacation? Hawaii

4. Rainy or Sunny? Sunny!!

5. Do you make anything for Thanksgiving dinner? Yep, though less each year.

6. If so, what? Turkey, Dressing, Jello Salads, Rice Dish, Spiced Peaches,  Pumpkin Pie and anything else that my girls don't make.

7. What do you want to be when you grow up? A librarian with a lot of cats.

8. What is your favorite day of the year?  The first day of summer.

9. What is your favorite subject in school? History [may not by my children's favorite subject, though]

10. Look left, what do you see?  A printer, bunch of books, "Great Courses" DVDs on Mythology

11. Look right, what do you see? My daughter asking to take a shower.

12. Do you have a favorite stuffed animal? Yes; two in fact.

13. If so, what and who is it? Edward Bear and Rachel's Stitch

14. Have you written any books, or short stories? Only for myself.

15. Do you ever wish for a different hair color? At times. 

16. Superman, Spiderman, or Batman? Superman

17. Do you have a pen pal, or e-pal? No.

18. What is your lucky number? My favorite number is 10.

19. What is your favorite Holiday? Thanksgiving.

20. Who will you tag?  No one - everyone else I know has been tagged!

The newspaper The Independent reported today that children have lost touch with the natural world.  Concerned, I clicked onto the quiz thoughtfully provided for readers and called my 17yo to come take it.  I figured I would either be smug and pleased that she has an amazing knowledge of the World of Nature.......or I would be humiliated beyond belief and she would be sent right outside with her Nature Journal.

The first photo popped up.  Sarah identified the creature carefully, suspecting a trap, it was so easy.   The next one, a fruit, was a little harder [read: tricky] but she got it.   Then we got to the third photo and came to a dead stop.  It was a flower.  A pretty flower.  A pretty BRITISH  flower.  As in: not seen in American gardens unless they spend oodles of money and pamper that plant along in our wild North American environment.  So basically a flower that will never be seen in MY garden.  Sarah made a guess [by guessing the only British flower she knew and, thank you Charlotte Mason, one about which she had read in a book], I made a guess.  Sarah was right, I was wrong.  And yes, this flower IS in North America - - it just looks totally different over here.

And that was the way the quiz went.  There was not one creature that I hadn't heard of.........they just look a bit different on this side of the pond.  So I have provided the quiz link for any readers who wish to feel either smug and stupid.  A hint:  if you have seen "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe" and read plenty of English children's books, you should do quite well.  Take your best shot!

QUIZ 

We're finished with Geography!!!  Last geographical area covered: Pacific Islands:

So, I'm downloading some photos today and I came across some I had never seen before.  They were taken last night according to my camera....which doesn't lie.  And they really explain a lot about why it was SO hard to wake up the almost-17-year-olds this morning.

Exibit One:

Rosie looks on in disaproval.  Her people should not be up at this hour - an hour which happens to be 10:31pm

And here are the two culprits who have taken over my kitchen and MY camera!!

Apparently they got hungry

And decided to have a little snack

With MY waffle maker!!

The final result.......at 11:20 PM!!!

Learning happens all over the property.

Inside.....

On the back deck.....

And on the front porch...

Getting ready and trying to ignore moms with cameras!

 Getting the makeup on.

Ready to start!!

We "celebrated" the first day of May by working outside.  Rachel and Beka raked and cleared out the drainage ditch, Sarah mowed the meadow [aka: our lawn], and I attempted to break through the rocks to plant three forsythia bushes.  I only got two planted before I realized that I need a more heavy-duty pick-ax to get through the rocks out here.  So the third forsythia bush is waiting patiently on our driveway until I get up to the hardware store.

I also had to deal with yet another Eastern Ribbon Snake [what is it with this snake that follows us from state to state??].  This one, however, will not be bothering us again thanks to Sarah and the lawnmower.   The snake carnage is now at the bottom of the hill in the woods.

It's a beautiful day out here - lots of flowers blooming!  A perfect May Day!

It's hard to believe but the school year is actually winding down.  I've been using a geography program with my younger two called: "Children Around the World", which was a new program from Winter Promise.  It was supposed to be for younger students and I thought I would really have to "tweak" it to keep my 12 yo's interest.  Not so.  I have no idea how anyone younger than 10 would be able to understand everything!  It really got into the history of various countries [Japan was especially long] and I found myself having to edit what I was reading "on the fly" [so to speak]. 

Each Tuesday night we've tried to have a dinner from the country we've spent the last week studying [the geography weeks run from Wednesday to Wednesday thanks to when I can get to the library to check out the books].  Last night we had a dinner from the African country of Madagascar.  It was pretty good and will probably be something we'll have again.

Today we move back into Asia and start learning about Saudi Arabia.  Finding books on that country has been next to impossible in this area!  I don't know why our library system only has two children's books about S.A. but they are all at the northern-most library [naturally] in our county.  So we're treking north today to find out about the middle east. 

It's taken a lot to get used to living out here in what one would consider "the country".  Driving half and hour to go into town.  Waiting in line at the post office while the person in front of you chats with the postal clerk about a mutual friend and his troubled offspring.  Having a DMV office in the back of our local grocery store.....these are all things you can expect when you live in the boonies.  Here are two items from our local paper, The Rural Virginian:

First Stoplight Comes to County

              ~and~

Squirrel Starts Brush Fire

As you can see - we live a dangerous life out here.  So today, my oldest and I went over to check out the new stop light.  First we went to the main street of our town - which is actually the county seat.  "Main Street" was all of one and a half blocks long and a narrow little lane.  We did make one circle around the courthouse and, yes Dad, the DAR had sent a canon for the courthouse square!  Eventually we actually found civilization.........in the form of a CVS.  It's all over from here on in - - CVS has discovered our little town.  And because of that, a stop light was deemed necessary.    If only it had been because of a Trader Joes....

Hey, what happened to spring????  The birds are still outside, singing and fighting over the bird feeder.  The daffodills are still blooming and now we've got cherry trees in bloom - very beautiful.  But the weather!!!!!  Chilly.

Our field trip today is to our state capital.  Not to actually see the capital, mind you.  No, something much more important.  We'll be visiting a dance store to get the girls outfitted in new tights, new leotards and [most important] new pointe shoes for Beka.  I actually thing her feet have stopped growing and now we can get serious in finding shoes that really work for her.  Afterward we were going to go down to River Park, but I'm thinking that probably wouldn't be a popular choice today.  So, just for Rachel, we'll head over to Borders and browse the bookstore. 

It is a beautiful day out here - if only the temperature would climb a little [a LOT]!!

 AND a big thanks to Sarah for getting the Melwood sign in place!!!!

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Somehow I missed the crocuses this year......but all the daffodils are in full bloom.  And down in Richmond the trees have blooms on them.  The weather is temperate, the breezes, if not warm, then something close to it.  And yesterday I spotted an Eastern Bluebird hanging out in our neighbor's yard.  All the rain we've recieved in the past few weeks has taken us out of "drought conditions" [though we are quickly reminded that those conditions could return at anytime]

I'm listening to a CD of Shakespeare music that I picked up in California [thank you, Mom and Dad for having a membership to the Huntington Gardens and their great bookstore!].  It's very light and airy and very appropriate for spring.

And with spring comes [ta, da, da datadaaaaaa!!] gardening!  Yes, it's time to battle the elements and the backyard and plant some stuff.  My goal for this year is to find tough plants.  You know - the kind that will grow no matter what.  Plants I can't kill.  Fortunately I have two very good books.  One is a book my mom bought me years ago: TheGarden Primer by Barbara Damrosch, and the second is a book my Aunt Ann gave me for my birthday a few years ago: Better Homes and Garden Complete Guide to Flower Gardening.  Between these two books I *should* be able to find some tough, good-looking-yet-hard-to-kill plants!

THis article is for anyone who thinks nothing good comes from California:  http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080306/D8V7UBJ80.html

It seems a 14yo boy at South Pasadena High school has taken it upon himself to clean up his town by starting the No Cussing Club.  And for this first week of March it is "No Cussing Week" in South Pasadena - a charming town full of nice people.  A town that, incidentally, separated from it's larger neighbor to the north in 1888 partially because it's residents were unhappy with saloon trade in Pasadena [shameful!!].  It is truly, a lovely town.

I think I can safely say I grew up in Hollywood.  No, Hollywood isn't an actual place, it's part of L.A., but any of you who grew up out there [and there are a few of us] you know what I'm talking about.  It means growing up in an area where the billboards are all about the movies.  It means checking the Calendar section of the LA Times every day to get your news - before you go to the front page [if indeed you ever do read the front page of the Times].  It means hardly ever venturing onto Hollywood Blvd because that's where the tourists go.  And, in our family, it meant that once a year Dad got gussied up in his tux and headed out to pull an all-nighter for the Today Show. 

 Yes, it's Oscar time again!  Last night Sarah, Beka, Rachel and I got all gussied up in our comfy clothes/pjs and sat ourselves down in the living room to watch this salute to "Hollywood's finest".  {A-hem, a-hem}  Because it starts so late on the east coast we actually watched the Red Carpet walk this year.  The dresses looked [for the most part] lovely - thank goodness the classic look is back and we no longer have to look at half-dressed women.   The men, however, seemed to still be going for that half-shaved retro-Don-Johnson look.  It looked dumb in the 80's....it looks dumb now.

So onto the show.  I can sum it up in a word: Yawn.  I have seen many, many Academy Award shows - this one takes the Oscar for Most Boring Attempt in Entertainment.  I know the writers have been on strike but, c'mon!!!  What WAS that opening monologue about?  Well, I did hit the mute button during the political endorsements.  I can get that from CNN, thank you.  But the rest of it - blah, blah, blah.   And what about the big opening number?  I know it's cheesy but it's usually fun!  And if they were going to have montages throughout the show [you know, to make up for the lack of writing due to that writers strike which, FYI, is over!!!] why not make them good montages the way they've been in years past??  The musical numbers were pretty good, but who decided to have Amy Adams sing "Happy Little Working Song" without her happy little workers?  There were plenty of backup dancers and extras for three other songs [though the song that acutally DID will the Oscar kept it nice and simple] so would it have killed them to beef up the first number?

Watching the Oscars I got the feeling that everyone was pretty much calling it in, last night.  There were a few exceptions in the acceptance speeches - a few emotional people - but the biggies seemed to be rather blase [Oh gee, we just won for Best Director and now they're calling us back out for Best Picture - ho hum...]  The classiest, most Oscar-like moment happened when Honorary Oscar-winner Robert Boyle took the stage and gave a beautiful acceptance speech [and notice they didn't dare "play him off" with the music].  Thank you, Mr. Boyle for reminding us how it used to be.

I think the best way to summarize last night's show would be to say it ended before midnight back East.  That is, by 9pm in the West folks were heading out to the post-Oscar parties.....which were infinitely more entertaining, I'm sure.  As for my father, the tux is gathering dust in his closet [that is, if he hasn't given it away by now] and he is no longer required to pay any attention whatsoever to the Academy Awards.  If my mom had her way last night they were tuned into PBS, to watch Elizabeth Bennet get her man.

Well, well, well......  The birds are singing, the wind is warm, the windows in the house are open, and the children are playing outside.  Is this really February 5th?  Now, this is my kind of "winter weather"!

The only downside is that Sarah's cat is freaking out and running from window to window meowing his little kitty brains out - why are his people outside?  Why have they not invited HIM to join them??  Why is THE DOG out there????

It's 77 outside!! 

1) The Blue Ridge Parkway - beautiful and close by

2) Four Seasons without being ridiculous.  I fully expect Spring to arrive in March [when it should!] unlike other states....Yankee states.....when Spring may or may not arrive sometime in May.

3) Southern Food.  Need I say more?  No, I don't think so.  Those who don't appreciate Souther cookin' should stay far, far away.

4) Polite Children.  Even in Walmart the moms insist on making their children apologize {"Say I'm sorry to that lady you just ran down with the cart ,or you'll get what's coming to you!!"}

5) Slow Drivers.  All this driving-10-miles-under-the-speed-limit-on-state-roads is probably good for me.  I'm learning to take deep cleansing breaths and repeat the mantra "I'll get there eventually.  I'll get there eventually."

I will not be giving away the ending to any Jane Austen book [though how in the world you didn't know the ending to S&S, Becky is totally beyond me!!  Didn't you see the movie??? ]

Instead I will talk a little about our jaunt through Geography this year.  We're using a program called "Children Around the World".  It's a fairly good program, thoughI have had to do some major "tweaking" to make it fit our family.  It's the first year this program has been available so I think there are still some bugs to work out.  Since I have children on the older end of things [4/5th grader and 7/8th grader] I've eliminated the more crafty items [like keeping a travel journal - neither of the girls went for this idea] and introduced the idea of a Geography Notebook. 

Each week we study a new country - this week is Greece.  For some reason our weeks tend to run Wednesday-Wednesday.  So tonight we say good-bye to Greece with a Greek dinner [lamb kabobs over rice]  {even though it would be tastier and more authentic to roast a whole lamb over a spit in our front yard, for some reason my husband did not go for this idea} and tomorrow we start in on India.  Now here's where the tweaking comes to play.  According to the Instructor's Guide we should be moving on to the USA.  But I'll be covering that this summer with a drive across the US.  Right now I want the girls to learn about China during the Chinese New Year.   To make that happen we have to learn about Asia a little earlier than the guide instructs.  So it's India, Japan and then China during the New Year.   And then we'll head back to the Americas [Canada, Mexico].

So, there you go, Becky - no giving away plot lines.....just getting ahead of you in Geography!