Circulation

I've got my 3.75 year old twins at home instead of in preschool for a short period of time, this is Day 2 of my Big Preschool at Home project- I'm hoping to keep up with the blogging, both as a record and to help anyone else who is planning something similar or wants to supplement preschool with some discovery learning and science activities.

On the docket for today: Blood, circulation and the heart, as a part of our week about the body.

We listened to the heart, breath sounds and the belly in the morning after breakfast, and I asked the kids to imitate the noises we heard. I have a stethoscope, but this could be done just by laying an ear on chest and belly in a quiet room.

Then for a short sit down lesson on blood. First we looked at pictures of the circulatory system, and I talked to them about how it is basically just a bunch of tiny tubes running through the body (we've talked before about tubes, and how the body is made up of many hollow tubes) filled with blood. Then we took a quick book break (which I'm discovering is vital to this school-at-home process and looked at vessels on our own bodies- the inside of the wrist and elbow are two good spots to see them if you have a pale kid, but gentle pressure around the adult's lower arm will make anyone's veins pop up a little, enough to be felt.

We talked about how the cells in the body get hungry and need oxygen/air, and how the blood's job is to bring food and oxygen to the cells. I illustrated this by grabbing their big toes and pretending to be a tiny big toe cell shrieking in hunger. Then I traced how the blood would come charging down to bring food to the cell.

(This could also easily be turned into a running game. One kid could be the hungry cell, some food or play food in a big pile in another area (the "stomach/belly"), and some chalk to draw the outline of the this stomach and a maze of chalk "vessels" connecting the two. One person can be the blood, running through the maze to bring food to the hungry cell. We'll probably try this out later this week.)

After they seemed like they grasped the idea of blood transporting things the cells needed through the vessels, it was time for the big fun project: DIY Giant Heart!

I rigged this up almost totally on the fly, and it really worked out well!

I got a jar and filled it halfway with water, added some red food coloring to be the blood. Then I got a turkey baster and the clear tubing from our seldom-used Nosefrida, but any clear tubing would work. I stuck the turkey baster nozzle into the tubing (it was a tight fit that kept popping out, so I duct taped it together and it worked like a charm). Next a tried to minimize mess by putting it all in a pan to catch the inevitable spilled "blood". Lastly, I got several small cups to be my hungry cells that needed blood to bring them food and air.

Before the big reveal of the project, I presented them with a problem: if the blood is in the vessel, how does it move to the hungry big toe cell? To illustrate, I got some "blood" in the tubing (before attaching it to the baster)  and showed them the hungry "cells" and asked how the blood could get to the cell. I was totally pleased with Alex's answer that we could "squeeze the blood through"!

I introduced the idea of a heart as a big muscle that squeezes the blood through the vessels, and then showed them how the baster bulb was like a big  heart that could pump the blood to the cells. They each took turn pumping the blood and holding the vessel in the cells, learning how to suck the blood back to the heart as well.

After all that kind of intense learning, I left them to play with the tubes and suction- it was awesome to hear them pretending to be hungry cells, working out problems ("No, Alex, you have to squeeze the heart, this cell needs food!"). When they spilled, I asked what it meant when blood comes out of the vessels where it is supposed to stay, and Anya chirped, "It's an owie!" so we talked about how the spilled "blood" in the pan was a bruise- still in our imaginary giant's body but not in the vessels where it should be.

After about a 45 minutes of playing with the project, we cleaned up and I briefly mentioned that the when the heart squeezes it makes a noise, which is the lub-dub we heard with the stethoscope that morning. I asked if they remembered the other two sounds we heard (they did) and introduced the idea that the lung and belly sounds are related to air and food,  two things that blood transports to the cells. We haven't started on those two yet, but I felt pretty good about all the stuff we learned about the circulatory system as a good lead in to digestion and respiratory.

All in all, it's been an amazing two days of working with the kids on some stuff that could have been overwhelming. I'm in awe of their minds, and how they are constantly learning and investigating, and the more opportunities I provide, the more connections they make.

A Big Stick, Mama, That'll Blow Your Mind

We got this crazy wonderful machine: it turns dairy products into delicious treats. Oh, how I love you ice cream machine!

First recipe I picked up off a message board and I chose because it had two ingredients and was relatively healthy and I could whip it up with the kids without residual guilt (OMFGCHILDHOODOBESITY! DON'TLETTHEMEATSUGARANDOHMYLORDINHEAVENTHEFAT! THEFAAAAA-AAAAT!!!1!)

Orange Julius FroYo
1 quart of lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 regular sized container of orange juice concentrate, thawed
a glug or two of vanilla extract

1. Dump the yogurt in a large bowl, add the OJ and vanilla, stir till combined.
2. With the machine assembled and running, pour the mixture in.
3. Check in 20 minutes or so to see if it is churned enough for you. Freeze for an hour or two if you like your FroYo harder.

This was a huge hit with the kids, though Luke found it overly tart. I think it would be better with about 1/2-3/4 of the OJ added, or with something like an OJ-Banana or Strawberry-Banana blend. Or that tropical juice with passionfruit, that would be way tasty for something so easy.

But, really, did I get an ice cream maker for healthy frozen treats? Absolutely not.

I'm a little afraid of the madness I will create if left to my own devices, some sort of chocolate peanut butter brownie toasted almond sweet cream concoction, so I asked Luke what sort of ice cream he'd like. His reply, "Caramel Swirl"

Caramel Swirl. We need a good vanilla base, not of the heavy, egg-y sort. And while a quick check of online recipes suggested just swirling in some jarred caramel topping, that sounds so dull, so canned, like the way all budget restaurants all taste like the same Sysco ingredients cooked in the same way. And caramel is so deliciously easy!

Caramel for Swirling or Topping:

3/4 cup white sugar (though I plan to try brown sugar next time)

1/4 cup water.

1/8 teaspoon sea salt - optional and adjustable- add less or a pinch of regular salt for a more traditional caramel, add more for a truly salty caramel, which is so yummy I dream of it.

1/2-1cup heavy cream

a couple glugs of vanilla extract

1. Mix ingredients in a small heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Mixture will eventually begin to boil and bubble, allow it to cook at this rate, watching it closely for changes in color. You want a nice deep amber color- pale like butter will taste insipid, like plain simple syrup, too dark like coffee will taste burnt. Watch closely because it can go from butter- to coffee-colored 
2. Remove from heat and gently, carefully, pour in your heavy cream. Be prepared, it let loose an explosion of steam and furious boiling and the caramel will go through a series of alchemical changes, solid, liquid, gaseous, it will seem as though you have conjured a djinni  in your saucepan, but things will settle down after some stirring. I suggest a long handled solid mixing spoon for this, and watch out for your fingers and the explosion of steam! 
3. Add cream till you think you have a consistency that works for you- be aware that the caramel will get harder as it cools, if you find that it is too hard and chewy (or like a hard candy!), simply warm it over low heat with lots of stirring and add more cream- but remember to go slow, you can't make it less runny if you add too much! Let cool to room temperature before adding to ice cream if you are planning to swirl, use while still warm for a topping.

Next: Ice Cream. I used Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla as a base, though I made some changes and was very pleased with the results.

2 cups half and half

1 cup heavy cream

1/2-3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 vanilla bean 

1. Combine first four ingredients in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape out the pulp with a spoon. Add pulp and beans to the saucepan.
3. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer- not a full boil, just till you see the very first tiny bubbles start to surface. Remove from heat and chill. The flavors will meld nicely if you let it chill for a full 24 hours, but it will still be yummy even if you just let it cool the bare minimum of time. It does need to be very cold, or else the ice cream won't freeze properly in the machine.
4. Turn on your machine and pour the liquid in while it is churning (otherwise it will freeze to the sides and the motor won't be able to churn properly). Check back in 20 minutes or so and it should be setting up nicely. you can keep churning for a while longer, or go on from here. the ice cream will be soft serve consistency at this stage.
5. With the machine still churning, pour in the caramel in in a steady stream, but don't churn for too long. Working quickly, turn off the machine and transfer the ice cream to a sealable container- you don't want to so thoroughly mix the caramel in that it become caramel ice cream rather than caramel swirl; you also don't want the ice cream to linger in the frozen bowl form the machine, or it will freeze hard to the sides.
6. Try some delicious ice cream right now, or leave it to harden up in the freezer if you prefer.

Wonder Mom Powers Activate!

Anya was racing through the house, clambering onto our bed and jumping as high as she could shouting, "Super Anya!" and Alex, laughing joyously, joined her, exclaiming, "Super Alex!"

I knew that they needed superhero capes as soon as possible.

Georgia over at Puking Pastilles has a fantastic tutorial on how to make reversible capes for your little superheroes. I let the kids pick their favorite colors and drew up a simple "A" logo for them (though she has templates for Superman, Batman, Obama, and a couple of Superwhy! characters on her site). I picked up less than $10 of materials from the fabric store (and could have gotten away with less if I had been more organized about what felt and fusible webbing I already had in the Horrible Mess Craft Box). The whole project probably took less than 2 hours of working time, including the time it took me to try to remember how to use my sewing machine. And honestly, you could hand stitch it pretty easily. I played it fast and loose with the pattern and just used her tutorial as a guide, then drew up a pattern on a big piece of paper from the kids' easel, but you can also check out her etsy store and buy a pdf of the exact pattern with three sizes.

They've been wearing the capes constantly since I finished them, and the experience has re-inspired me to make more awesome stuff for imaginative play. Anyone have any favorite ideas?

To All the Roller Girls I've Loved...

I was inspired by a friend's FB post about getting reacquainted with one's neglected blog, and although I've posted and raved all over these Internetz about my awesome roller girl, I'm going to do it here too.

Anya dragged out my old rainbow roller skates and with a delighted giggle and a wave of a dismissive hand when I cautioned her to be careful, balanced on one foot and climbed into the huge old things. Her arms out for balance and nary a stumble, she roll-walked across the living room, singing out, "Roller skates! Roller skates!" Here's some shots of her during the 45 minutes of roller skating that ensued- for those of you with toddlers, marvel at 45 minutes of ANYTHING!



Sure it's cool, and we always knew she was a crazy-coordinated little monkey, but her joy in those roller skates stirs a crazy happiness in me.

I remember my first pair of skates, black with purple laces, wheels and stoppers, so beautiful they made my heart hurt a little. My older sister who was the sun and the moon of my universe skated all the way to Berkeley High, speeding down from the North Berkeley hills and coasting all the way there. I skated in circles around the house, waiting for her to get home, hoping she would let me into her room and brush my hair and braid it so tight it brought tears to my eyes and let me watch her peer into the mirror critically and try on on earrings from her crazy beaded, feathery collection. She used to string little rubber animals at the end of 2 inch long beaded strands dangling from hooks and wear them in her ears and she was so cool and so beautiful I felt the way I did when I looked at my new black and purple roller skates.

While I waited for her to get home I would skate in circles on the hardwood floors of our big old house, my father was "taking a nap", sleeping off the Xanax and the crushing depression and the liquor and the pain and the rage; my mother was typing, always typing, clinical journal articles about the horrors of how people rule and crush and govern one another, books and papers always spread out around her like a fortress, she murmured, "You'd think it was boring. You wouldn't understand." when I skate up to her hopefully questioning. So I skated in lonely circles, living room to dining room to hallway to living room, my cool purple wheels thrumming against the floor and echoing through the wide cold house. My sister is breathless when she flies into the house, and she smells like cocoa butter and smoke and warmth. She admires my purple and black skates and notices my purple shirt and tells me to hold still while she yanks on my hair to pull it out of its bedraggled ponytail. I follow her wherever she goes and she is laughing on the phone and I hope that means that her friends are coming over, Carolyn has a voice and laugh that make the sun shine and Molly is so kind and beautiful I have suspected that she is actually one of the Greek goddesses we learned about, walking the earth in mortal form. But this time my sister is getting ready to leave, and I think about sneaking into her room after she's gone, weighing the heady bliss of sitting at her mirror opening the cocoa butter and inhaling the deep sweet smell while pretending to wear the dangly pig earrings that I covet, weighing that potential joy against the risk of making her angry and being shut out of her presence if she catches me. When she tries to leave the house I sit on her foot and wrap my arms around her leg and make her drag me to the door while I plead with her to stay. She alternates between guilty apologies and irritated frustration and finally pries me off. So I sit on the floor and lace my skates tight and start skating in slow circles around the empty house.

Snow Days Cooking

Long days since I was here last. It's been snowing here and I am overwhelmed by the thought of writing about parenting my two year olds. I will ease my way back by writing what is easy and comes naturally, in the warmth of the kitchen.

South American Pork and Tomatillo Stew has become one of my favorites recently. It is a lovely dish when you are puttering at home, with no intense periods of prep work, just occasional check-ins of the stew/braise. You can make it without the meat and with veggie broth if you are serving vegetarian or with chicken if you do not eat pork.

Put your heaviest dutch oven over medium-high heat and add just a tiny bit of oil (depending, of course on what sort of pan you are using). I use a pork loin, a couple of pounds, though you could easily use a cheaper cut of meat like the butt/shoulder I just don't like the extra fat and connective tissue, and cut it into rough 1-inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper and toss into the pan, taking care to only fill the surface of the pan about 2/3 of the way so that the meat will brown nicely. If it is overcrowded the meat will steam and boil in liquid released, and will not get the browned slightly crusted exterior we want. Let the meat brown on all sides, then remove it to a large bowl while you brown the remaining batches.

While the meat browns (and it will brown better if you don't fuss with it. If you are the fussing type, these tasks will give you something to do so you aren't so tempted!). Chop an onion, I prefer sweet Vidalia onions, but a plain brown onion is fine. Take a dozen or so tomatillos and husk them. I like to rinse them under hot water to remove the husks, as there is a sticky-waxy coating on the skin that cna be a pain. Chop them into chunks once they are husked. Press some garlic, a clove or two or four, depending on your tastes. You can chop some tomatoes or used canned diced (make sure they have no added spices). If you like spicy, seed and mince a jalepeno or other hot pepper. All of these are the for the next round of browning.

Transfer the browned meat to a bowl, add a swirl of oil to the pan and add the vegetables. You can build a slightly tastier version by adding the tomatillos first, letting them brown slightly, adding the onions and letting them brown slightly, then adding the garlic and pepper for 30-60 seconds before adding the tomatoes, but if you are rushed or there are children hollering or deadlines to be made or you just can't be bothered for multiple steps you can just add them all together. Let them cook for a while till the onions are soft and the flavors have melded- this is forgiving, 5 minutes will be fine, but 15 minutes won't hurt.

Next pour about 1/2 to 3/4 of a beer in - I've tried all sorts, use what you have and experiment! Then add a cup of orange juice and a cup or so of chicken broth. It's very easy to make and freeze homemade chicken stock, but Swanson's Low Sodium Chicken Broth in aseptic packaging is good too. Then add the pork back in and some salt and pepper- not too much salt, because the beans will add salt at the end, but you want a bit to flavor the meat as it stews.

Cover and cook on low for about 1.5 hours. Longer is okay. Forgiving.

While the stew is working its magic, you can start preparing the rest of the stuff to go along with it. I usually serve this with basmati rice (not authentic, but the nutty taste of basmati is just delicious with these flavors); a bunch of add-ins the eat along with the stew: sliced avocado, roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and fried plantains or bananas. On the side I like to make an orange and red onion salad. I find that basmati is best when sauteed in a bit of butter and pressed garlic, then add water and salt and cover first with a clean kitchen towel and then with the pot cover (to soak up the steam so that it doesn't condense on the bottom of the kid and drop back down, which will encourage stickiness). For the add-ins just slice the avocado and drizzle with lime juice and salt, and buy your pepitas already roasted and salted. For the salad, slice the oranges and red onions into thin rounds and dress with a bit of olive oil, lime juice and salt and pepper. Chop some cilantro to add to any of it for those who like it- I love it, but some people think it tastes soapy and they won't like the dish if even a bit is added. Slice the plantains or bananas the long way about 1/4- 1/2 inch thick, pop a mixture of butter and oil into a pan and add the slices when the butter is done foaming, cook till you get a nice deep caramel brown color. You can dust with a bit of sugar and salt for an extra bang if you like. Do the avocado at the last minute, right before serving since it will go brown. But let's get back to the last part of the stew before I get any farther ahead of myself.

Check the meat. When you poke a fork into it does it almost fall apart into separate pieces? If not let it cook some more, with the lid off now to evaporate some of the water and concentrate the flavors. If it is tender, give the broth a taste. Is it intense and delicious or is it a bit watery? Cook with the lid off for a bit. Add a can of black beans with their liquid and try again. Adjust your seasonings: for flat tastes try adding salt, for muddy tastes you can add a bit of lemon juice, for watery tastes you can let it get more concentrated with longer cooking.

Serve the stew over the rice and encourage your eaters to try the add-ins. A perfect bit is one that combines the tender pork, a nutty crunch of pepita, the rich smooth avocado, and the intense broth soaked rice and maybe a little burst of orange from the salad. Yum.

You thought you'd find my weak spot, but still, you failed

Why is that every time I check my blog it has been a month since I last posted? Where is the time going?

Luke started his own business this month, and it is brilliant and exciting and scary. it also means he gets up earlier, goes to work after the kids are asleep (but comes home every single night without fail for dinner and bathtime and putting Alex to bed because he is a superhero) and he has to carry three cell phones at all times and the motherfuckers go off at all times of day and night. Anya and Alex take serious issue with this bogarting of beloved cell phones. Sometimes when they are sobbing and grasping at his pants in a vain effort to liberate one of the cornucopia of phones, Anya shoots me a look as if to say, "Do you see this? Why the hell do I have to share if Daddy is allowed to flagrantly keep all the good phones to himself? WTF, mom, W.T.F.?"

The children were replaced by small demons this morning and I was seriously contemplating leaving them out for the Salvation Army to pick up. As Alex writhed and arched and shook his head violently screaming for forty-five minutes because I could not put his yellow winter jacket on over his red winter jacket, I kept repeating to myself "This is the worst day of my whole life. Therefore it must get better." Probably not technically true, but it got me through the morning. I also fell back on my mantra from the old days of Worcester, "If I cannot defeat this, how will I ever defeat Bane?" Man, as soon as the kids are old enough, I'm going to start reading them Batman comics for bedtime stories!


Anya had a rockstar-Britney-Lohan moment in the dollar store the other day.

And Alex is showing his Yooper heritage.

Spring Waters

Spring is finally sort of here, and the world is huge and wonderful and full of dogs and squirrels and sticks to taste and tree roots to trip over. Alex and Anya would spend all day outside if they could, and if we had some way to fence in our land, I might let them, but for now they both want to play with a large not-friendly dogs behind and invisible fence next door, or go run across the street to play with the other pack of large dogs owned by a not-friendly neighbor, or run down the street to see their best friend Finn's very very friendly dog Casey.
Notice a theme? We're thinking about when we could get a dog of our own. I've been waiting since I was 19 to get one, waiting till I thought I could provide a good home, till I could be the kind of dog owner that I wanted to be. I'm so close I can taste it!




Luke has become the sun and the moon and the shining stars in Alex's world. When Luke calls during the day, I hold the phone to Alex's ear and a look of pure joy sweeps across his face, he turns to look into the speaker and caresses it lovingly, sometimes planting a kiss on it, and says in an awe-filled voice, "Hi, Dada!"








Anya is fearless as ever, and crinkles her nose when she smiles, and smiles when she finally scales the dining room table, the stack of crates designed to thwart her, every chair in the house, the bookcase. She belly laughs and giggles and tickles her brother and bowls people and pets over with her enthusiastic hugs and kisses. She amazes me.

And Luke. Luke makes me happier and stronger every single day. I don't think I even imagined that someone as strong and amazing and loving could exist till I knew him. I am so very lucky.