School plans for Tuesday, now with photos

The Bible: Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, part 2

Math Mammoth: working with metric and decimals, page 170-171

Madam and Lady Why Ch 11 "The World's End" from "Come, I say, and sit down on this bench" to "make one think that so it must have been." (pg 236-242)

Copywork: “...taking so little care and regard to their business, that now when they thought the castle was sure their own, they almost lost their city."--Plutarch

Canadian history: pp. 342-343 British Columbia joins Canada and pp. 344-347 Prince Edward Island joins Canada

And maybe a walk somewhere if the weather stays nice.

School plans for this week (Crayons' Grade 5)

These are the plans--as always, they may get shifted around and added to. I haven't included the science activities that Crayons is doing with Mr. Fixit, or things like crafts.

Monday

The Bible, J.B. Phillips translation for schools: Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21
Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Grammar lesson: Learning Grammar Through Writing, pages 30-32: agreement of subject and verb; using parallel constructions
Composer study: Johannes Brahms
French: Unit 3 lesson 23a. Conversation about telling time. Read another of the short poems included in last week's lesson. Pay special attention to new words.
Plutarch’s Life of Dion, Lesson 10: narrate orally
Copywork: "For they having nobody to command nor rule them, employed all their joy in rioting and banqueting...”--Plutarch, "Life of Dion"
Math: Arithmecode (free in the newspaper)
Readaloud: Alvin’s Secret Code: “Money from a Broken Code”
Readaloud: Alvin’s Secret Code: “A Lesson in Cryptography”  (we got ahead of ourselves)
Cryptogram puzzle

Tuesday

The Bible: Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, part 2

Math Mammoth: working with metric and decimals, page 170-171

Madam and Lady Why Ch 11 "The World's End" from "Come, I say, and sit down on this bench" to "make one think that so it must have been." (pg 236-242)

Copywork: “...taking so little care and regard to their business, that now when they thought the castle was sure their own, they almost lost their city."--Plutarch

Canadian history: pp. 342-343 British Columbia joins Canada and pp. 344-347 Prince Edward Island joins Canada

Wednesday

Makers of the English Bible, chapter 7, pages 78-83
Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Copywork: “A moment more, and, all unseen, it knows not whence, strong warm wings are beneath.”—Lilias Trotter
French: Unit 3 lesson 23b Read the story about life in Burundi on page 44 (listen to the CD). Begin working on new words from the story.
Math: continue from Tuesday
Biography of Lilias Trotter: pages 96-99
Caddie Woodlawn, chapter 15, “Fol de Rol-lol.”
Afternoon volunteering

Thursday

The Bible: Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, part 3
Copywork: “…the loveliness of the town rising tier above tier in a glow of cream colour against the blue-grey western sky.”—Lilias Trotter
Biography of Lilias Trotter: pages 103-107 (introduction to Algeria)
French: Unit 3 lesson 23b (continue) and 24a. Continue working on the story about Burundi. Conversation about things you do at home.
Canadian history: p. 351-354 "Currency in the Colonies." Written narration.
Math: online fact practice
Study for dictation

Evening: student performance of The Scarlet Pimpernel

Friday

Makers of the English Bible, chapter 7, pages 83-88
More details: Codex Sinaiticus
More details: Stuffed crocodiles
Math: online fact practice
Caddie Woodlawn, chapter 16: “Warren Performs”
Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Studied dictation
French: Unit 3 lesson 24b Review some of the verbs we have learned. If there's time, look at page 46, a list of careers--otherwise, save it until next week.
Plutarch: Dion #11: discussion questions, narrate orally
Composer study and drawing

School plans for the end of February (reposted with fixes)

These are the plans so far for this week--I'll try to flesh out the vague parts as we go.  UPDATE:  Best-laid plans and all that...Crayons woke up Monday feeling too sick to do school, so we'll have to regroup when she's over it.

TUESDAY

Bible: Gospel of Matthew
Memory Work
Canadian History:  Read page 330 to yourself.  Skim pages 331-336 with Mom, reviewing the Red River settlement.  Read pages 336-338 together, introducing Louis Riel.
French:  Mission Monde Level 3, Unit 3, Lesson 21a.  Mostly review.
A Passion for the Impossible:  chapter 7, "Lily's Choice," pages 77-82.
Copywork:  "Montagu Square was that unique household where Lily lived with her mother and brother and sisters, a place of sunny gladness and laughter, as well as varied work and interest and unstinted hospitality."
Alvin's Secret Code, chapters 1 & 2

LUNCH BREAK

Pet Shop Math with Dad
Poems
Math.  Math Mammoth Light Blue 4B, Decimals Unit, page 168.  Multiplying decimals in columns.
Crafts/sewing
Free Reading

WEDNESDAY (short day)

Bible: Gospel of Matthew
Memory Work
Grammar:  Mad Libs
Readaloud:  The Great Quillow, by James Thurber
(break)
Math:  start page 169.

World History:  Review where we left off with France and Germany/Prussia at the end of George Washington's World, last year.  Look at Brain Power World History Time Lines, pages 41 and 43. Read Story of the World Volume 4, the first part of Chapter 7, about Napoleon III of France.

A Passion for the Impossible, pages 82-88
Copywork:  "How God would use her life and her art...Lilias could not fathom at that time.  Nor did it matter.  'The one thing is to keep obedient in spirit,' she would write, 'to do otherwise would be to cramp and ruin your soul.'"
Poems
French:  Unit 3, Lesson 21b:  Reading short poems about the seasons.


THURSDAY
 
Makers of of the English Bible, half of chapter 6, "King James at Hampton Court"--read the section about Elizabeth's reign
Memory Work
Canadian History:  read pages 338-341 to yourself and narrate orally (about the 1870 Riel/Fort Garry events and the Manitoba Act).  Research question:  when is Louis Riel Day, and in what province(s) is it celebrated?
Math:  finish page 169.
Caddie Woodlawn:  Chapter 12, "Ambassador to the Enemy."  Narrate orally.
Copywork
Free Reading

FRIDAY

Makers of the English Bible, finish the chapter--short section about King James and the Authorized Version

Picture Study:  Edgar Degas (mini-study relating to Mary Cassatt)

Story of the World Volume 4:  second part of Chapter 7, "The Second Reich."  "Just as France was becoming a republic, Prussia was becoming a kingdom."  This chapter talks about Wilhelm I, Wilhelm's son Friedrich (who happened to be married to ??), and Friedrich's son Wilhelm II, the third German emperor.  Why have you (Crayons) heard of Kaiser Wilhelm I before? Hint.

Copywork

Caddie Woodlawn, chapter 13.  Read to yourself and narrate orally.

French, Unit 3, lesson 22b.  Re-read the poem about winter.  Workbook page 42, "Did you know?", about cultural differences and "third culture kids"

Time working with Dad

Free Reading

NEXT MONDAY

Bible: Gospel of Matthew
Composer Study:  begin study of Johannes Brahms
Plutarch's Life of Dion, Lesson 10
Copywork:  "For they having nobody to command nor rule them, employed all their joy in rioting and banqueting...taking so little care and regard to their business, that now when they thought the castle was sure their own, they almost lost their city."
Poems
Cooking
Caddie Woodlawn, chapter 14, "A Dollar's Worth." 
Math: page 171
Nature Study
Time working with Dad
Free Reading

What's for supper? Stuffed shells...now with recipe

We haven't had stuffed pasta shells for a long time, and both ricotta cheese and jarred Alfredo-style pasta sauce were on sale this week, so I picked up some of each with the plan of making a pasta meal.  Pre-made sauce is not usually my first choice, but it was on sale for less than it would have cost to buy the cream and make it from scratch.

Tonight's menu:

Spinach-Stuffed Shells in Alfredo Sauce
Butternut Squash
Last night's leftover salad
Maybe...Garlic Bread Sticks

And dessert leftovers from the weekend.

Spinach-Stuffed Shells

One 340 g box jumbo pasta shells...you won't need all of them
Half a 300 g package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
One 300 g container ricotta cheese (lite is fine)
One good chunk Mozzarella cheese, grated or cut up--amount is up to you
One 420 ml jar store-brand Alfredo sauce, or your own alternative
Marjoram, pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)

For a casserole that serves four to six people, cook most of the pasta shells (I cooked all of them just to be safe).  Drain and rinse in cold water.

In a food processor, combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, Mozzarella, and seasonings.  If you don't have a food processor, just stir them together.  Stuff each shell with a heaping teaspoonful of the mixture, and arrange them in a large greased casserole.  Keep going until all the stuffing is used up. Cover with store-bought or homemade sauce, put the lid on, and bake at 350 degrees for about forty minutes or until it's all bubbly.  Sprinkle the casserole with Parmesan before serving, if you want.

Crochet Class #4: Pick Your Project

At the end of the last real-life class two weeks ago, some of the girls had finished their hearts and pretzels, or were close to it, and some hadn't.  But they went ahead and finished on their own, so everyone was ready for a new project. 

Here are the notes I had written before today's class:

First, some basic techniques:

We are going to go back over some of the basics today--making sure that you work into every stitch, remembering to chain one at the end of each row of single crochet, making sure that everybody knows how to turn their work and start the next row.

How do you change colours in crocheting?  The usual way is to start a stitch with the old colour, and when you get to the last bit of the stitch (like the last pull-through), bring the new colour over the hook and finish the stitch with that, leaving a short tail.  Do the next couple of stitches in the new colour to anchor it, then pull on the loose end to firm up the first stitch.  Cut the old colour (unless you're going to be coming back to that colour in the next row or something), also leaving a tail.  When you're all finished the piece, weave in all the loose ends.  Some crochet sources will tell you to tie the two tails in a knot, after the piece is finished, and then weave in the ends.  I've never found it necessary, at least in the kinds of things I make, and I always thought the idea was to avoid knots in the first place--I just go ahead and weave the ends in unknotted.  But if you're making something that's going to take lots of stress and you think the join might come undone, then go ahead and knot.

How do you make ribbing in single crochet?  Ribbing, if you don't know, is the tight-but-stretchy stuff that you usually find on sweater cuffs and turtlenecks, with a bit of a ridge on each row.  It's easy to do:  after you've done your first row of single crochet into the foundation chain, just work each single crochet stitch  of the following rows into the back strand or loop of the previous stitch, rather than under both strands.  (You don't make rows of "regular" stitching in between--just keep back-loop crocheting all the way through.)  The leftover strands form a ridge, or bump, in the crocheting. This is a common way of starting a hat:  you make a strip of ribbing, crochet or sew the ends of the strip together, and then work single crochets (or other stitches) across the ribbing--that is, perpendicular to the direction you were going before.   

But the band of ribbing itself is our first project option today:  you can make one (without the rest of the hat) and use it for a Doll's Hairband or a Person's Hairband.  Here are the directions:  chain 7 (or desired length), single crochet across the chain (so six single crochet stitches), and keep crocheting row by row, working only in the back loops.  Note again that you're working across the short rows here, rather than deciding on the length in advance and making a really long chain--otherwise the ribbing would go along the length of the headband and you'd lose the stretch. When it's as long as you want (measure against the intended head), end off and sew the ends together.  Decorate as desired--hairbands are a good place to add crocheted rosettes and other fancy motifs.

Bonus note:  back-stitch crochet is good for more than just ribbing: you can use it for a textured effect on things like coasters and dishcloths.

The second option today is a Doll Purse--with stripes if you want to practice colour changes.   But if you don't have a doll, you can make some other kind of small bag, cozy, or case--or a larger one if you're ambitious.  Single-crochet a rectangle twice as big as whatever you have in mind--because you are going to fold it in half and sew up the sides.  With worsted yarn and approximately a 4.5 mm hook, you might go with about twelve to fifteen stitches across, for an average doll purse, and work for--I don't know, twenty rows, maybe more?  Just stop when it seems big enough.

If the doll would prefer a plain tote bag, then fold it exactly in half, and add whatever kind of handles you like; if she wants a more stylish shoulder bag or clutch, then leave enough on one side to fold over for a flap.  How are you going to keep the flap closed?  Your choice--sew on a button, a snap, some Velcro, a hook and eye--whatever you have.  If you're short on hardware, you can stitch a big French knot onto the front of the purse, and then make a yarn loop on the flap--that is, thread yarn on a needle, take a couple of small stitches on the flap, make a small loop with the yarn as if you were making a lazy-daisy embroidery stitch, and anchor it down again with a couple more stitches.  The loop goes over the French knot to hold the flap closed.

For a simple strap for the shoulder bag, attach yarn to one corner of the bag with a slip stitch, then chain for the length required.  At the end, slip stitch to the opposite corner, then end off and weave in the cut end.  Or you could use ribbon or something else for a strap.  For a wider strap, make the chain, then work back across with single crochet.  You'll end up back where you started in that case, so you'll have to attach the loose end of the strap with a slip stitch or a couple of sewn stitches.

Our real-life class will be ending in only a couple more lessons, so we're going to be moving on next time to crocheting in the round--very useful, and a big step towards making some of the cute amigurumi stuffies that the girls are oohing and ahing over.  We're also going to make a really easy shamrock bookmark, and start learning about increasing and decreasing.

How has your crocheting been going?

Raspberry Ripple Muffins--your style

How do you make Raspberry Ripple Muffins?

1.  Make a regular muffin batter, or buttermilk muffin batter, or sour cream muffin batter, or cake-mix-clone batter, mixing in some rolled oats for texture.  Don't make it too thin, because you'll be adding fruit.

2.  Mix in a leftover cupful of the raspberry sauce that you very quickly concocted for last night's dessert (frozen raspberries, microwaved with a globule of jam that had a spoonful of cornstarch stirred in).  Don't mix it too hard or you'll lose the ripple effect.  If you don't have said cupful of fruit puree, you can always cook some up fresh.

3.  Bake in muffin papers until firm and just a bit browned.  Eat while fresh, or store in the refrigerator (I think--I wasn't sure about leaving them on the counter).

4.  If you don't want muffins, you could try this with pancakes.

That's all!

Two things we learned in school today

"[In the 1540's] men were so eager to hear the Word of God that they even clustered round the lecterns while the priest was saying prayers at the altar.  More than once some reader would slip from his place in the church as the clergyman mounted the pulpit.  As soon as the dull, creaky voice in the pulpit announced its text, the Bible reader announced that he would read the story of the Good Samaritan or David and Goliath.  There was no doubt which was the more interesting.  Before the poor parson had got well into his dreary discourse his congregation had forgotten about him and was eagerly listening to find out if the shepherd boy slew the giant or if the man robbed by the wayside really died.

"The Bible had become a part of the life of the English people."--Makers of the English Bible: The Story of the Bible in English, by Cyril Davey

"Early in the morning [of July 1, 1867], the royal salutes began. At Saint John, New Brunswick, the twenty-one guns in honour of this greatest of all modern marriages were fired off at four o'clock.  At six o'clock they sounded out from Fort Henry, just across the river from Kingston....High Mass was sung in the cathedral of Three Rivers at seven o'clock in the morning....The steamer America brought nearly 300 visitors across the lake from St. Catharines to swell the crowd in Toronto....And down the Eastern Townships all the shops were shut; the streets were bright with flags and bunting.  Down in the Maritime provinces, where the anti-Confederates watched the bright day with sullen disapproval...a few doors were hung with bunches of funereal black crepe."--D.G. Creighton, The Young Politician, quoted in Canada: The New Nation, by Edith Deyell

Photo of the Coverdale Bible found here
Photo of Prince George Hotel on July 1, 1867 found here

What's for supper when everyone's home?

It is nice to have the Apprentice with us during her week off from classes (the university equivalent of March Break).  Although she's a commuter student, by the time she gets home she's usually either already eaten, or just heats something up.  So I am trying to make some favourite family things for dinner, since everybody's here.

Tonight's dinner menu:

Crockpot sausage and sauerkraut
Kasha (the Apprentice got this started while I was on my way home from the thrift store)
Corn and peas

10-minute microwave chocolate cake
5-minute microwave raspberry sauce
Yogurt.

What's for supper? Lasagna sounds good...

Tonight's dinner menu:

Lasagna, made with the frozen/thawed remains of last week's spaghetti sauce (that was easy!)
Baked sweet potatoes
Salad

Mango-banana cake, made with the frozen/thawed remains of last week's mango-banana freeze

Happy Blog Birthday to Us

Seven years old, and still squirreling.

Photo: Ponytails, 2009.

What's for supper? (Really clearing out the fridge)

Tonight's menu: 

Boneless chicken baked with oregano, garlic, and a bit of broth--thinking sort of Greek-style here?
Potato-spinach-feta perogies (we saw them at Walmart and decided to try them)
Carrot-apple salad, or carrot sticks for the picky eaters

Squash-oatmeal muffins, very low sugar (because I forgot to put in the sugar--actually they're still quite tasty)
Coconut-fruit balls, made with apricots, raisins, coconut, chocolate, juice of an orange, and some leftover cereal
Canned pears

Photo:  By Ponytails, taken earlier this week.  Why was she taking pictures of what's in our fridge?  It was a project for her Food and Nutrition class. 

What's for supper? Swojska sausage and the rest of the food groups

Tonight's menu:

Polish smoked sausage (Swojska style--who knew there was a Sausage Wiki?) baked with sauerkraut
Baked potatoes
Baked spaghetti squash
Peas
Herbed cheddar soda bread

Banana-mango freeze

Crochet projects: hearts and pretzels

You start with a single-crocheted strip, like this...

Then sew up the long side, and join into a heart or pretzel shape.

All photographs: Ponytails. Copyright 2012 Dewey's Treehouse.
Pattern source explained here.

What's for supper? Spaghetti night

Tonight's dinner menu:

Mama Squirrel's Diner-Style Spaghetti Sauce, with linguini and Parmesan cheese
Spinach salad with carrots and sunflower seeds

Dessert:  Homemade chocolate pudding

Mr. Fixit and Crayons will have their dessert when they get back from swimming lessons.

The Apprentice will have her dinner when she tools in after a day of university classes and the commute home.

We are thankful for fridges and microwaves.

School plans for this week

We're done the Underground Railroad study, so back to our regular Term Two this week.

The Canadian history textbook moves on to the reasons for Confederation, with a special focus on the Atlantic provinces.  I'm happy about that, since all year long we've talked mostly about Ontario and the West, but haven't done  much with the Maritimes.  We might even throw in a little extra Canadian geography there for good measure.  UPDATE:  we also read the chapter about David Livingstone from Story of the World Volume 4.

We have five weeks left in the term, so we're going to work on a chapter on decimals from the Math Mammoth Grade 4B book.  Crayons is still doing Math Pet Store with her dad when he comes home at noon, but it's going slowly.  They're also doing some telephone experiments for science.

We will be getting back into Madam How and Lady Why, A Passion for the Impossible, and the Mary Cassatt picture studies.  We've been keeping up with Plutarch.

We're almost finished Silas Marner--that went pretty quickly, and I'm not sure what we'll read next for literature.  I think we'll squeeze in Caddie Woodlawn as an extra read-aloud book, since it fits with our history time period.  Also "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head," from Dorothy L. Sayers' Complete Stories.

What are you doing this week?

Crochet Class Number Three: Make a Pretzel Magnet, or a Valentine Heart, or...

I have a couple of difficulties writing this one.  First, the real-life class has jumped ahead of the posts, but it wouldn't be very nice of me to just assume that anyone working along with us here has done the same.  Also, this week's project appeared in Crochet World, May/June 1989, and also in a book by the same publisher called 101 Fun to Crochet Projects.  So I assume that they wouldn't like me to just copy out the whole pattern as written.

However, I can give you the basic idea, and also show you how I turned the same pattern into a Valentine Heart.

But first, back to the basics.

A couple of yarn tips, in case you are not already a crocheter/knitter or just not used to buying yarn.  First of all, don't assume that, if the directions say "one skein" of something, the skeins you find will be exactly the same size as the ones described.  I have a  pattern booklet based on 8-ounce skeins of Super Saver; but all the Super Saver yarn I've seen around here is either in 5- or 7-ounce skeins.  Maybe it's like the groceries, and the packages have shrunk since the book was published; maybe it's a U.S./Canada difference, I don't know.  But just remember to check twice when you're figuring yarn amounts.

Also, most yarn labels will have a dye lot number on them.  (Some yarn is labelled "no dye lot.")  If you're buying more than one skein of the same colour, make sure it's all from the same dye lot.

New skills for this class:

By this time everybody has learned to chain, make single crochet stitches, and do a slip stitch (what you do to join the ends of a round together).  Right?

Okay--now we go from the equivalent of knowing the alphabet to really reading.  On this page, look for the "how to single crochet video" by Edna Kurtzman.  Yes, I know you know how to single crochet by now, but this time you are going to make a chain first, and then work your stitches into the links of the chain.  That's how you make the first row of single crochet, if you're working in rows--the chain doesn't count as a row.  Keep working all the way down the chain, putting one single crochet into each link, until you get to the end.  Don't work into the knot. End off when you're done (that is, cut the yarn and pull the tail tight through the last loop). That's how we made a Long Skinny Bookmark at the last real-life class--a length of chain with single crochets worked into it.  If you want a two-colour bookmark, you can make the chain and end off the yarn, then slip-stitch a second colour into one end, single crochet down the chain, and end off again. 

A couple of the young real-life crocheters found this kind of hard; their stitches were uneven, or the chain got twisted.  To be honest, working into a chain is not the easiest or the most fun thing to do.  But if you want to work in rows, you just have to put up with it to get the thing started.  And if you really, really dislike it, then stay away from afghan patterns that start with "chain 350."  Learn to crochet in the round (an upcoming lesson), make doilies or granny squares or amigurumi animals or something.  Crocheting isn't always about long chains.

Some of the girls, on the other hand, found it so easy that they wanted to know how to make the next row of single crochet.  I think the same video shows you that, but this is how:  you chain one stitch and turn your work, so that you're still working right to left, but going back across the stitches you just made.  See how the tops of the single crochets you made look sort of like chains?  Working under both top strands of each stitch in the previous row, make a single crochet stitch into each one, all the way across.  When you get to the end, chain one, turn, and start all over again.  When you're single crocheting in rows, you make the first stitch right into the last stitch of the previous row (that is, the first place you could make a stitch in this row), and work across only as far as the last true single crochet of the row before.  I'm saying that because when you get into "taller" stitches such as double crochet, the rules change: you skip over the first stitch in the row and then make your last stitch into the previous row's turning chain.  But don't worry about that for now.  Go ahead and practice going back and forth for a few rows...I'll wait.

And if you can do that, you've really learned to crochet.  There are still things to learn, like increasing and decreasing, and how to make the other stitches, but from here on it's just practice, and reading patterns.  If you can single crochet back and forth, you can now call yourself a crocheter.  You could pretty much copy the zippered case that I made last week.  Mine was done in half double crochet, but it works just as well in single crochet--it would just take a bit longer to make.  Anyway, the point is that you could make one of these, or anything else in a basic square or rectangle, with the crochet skills you now have.

By the way, this is a good time to talk about yarn tension, and how you hold the hook, the yarn, and the work without dropping it all.  You will notice, if you're watching instructional videos or looking at diagrams, that a lot of right-handed crocheters wind the yarn around a couple of fingers of their left hand, in the same way that a sewing machine has hooks and loops that you put the thread through to keep it tight.  If you do most of the hook-moving with your right hand, it's all right to have your left hand slightly "tied up" with the yarn while you work, if it helps to keep the stitches even.  You might also want to keep hold of the work itself with a couple of the fingers of your right hand, especially if you're making a long chain.  Not everyone holds the hook and yarn in exactly the same way, so just figure out what's most comfortable for you.  And again, watching a few videos can give you more of the idea.

So now we're caught up with the girls, and today they're going to make the Pretzel Magnet or Valentine Heart, which are crocheted exactly the same but just put together a bit differently.  You will need a size G/6 (American) or 4.5 mm (Canadian) hook, some worsted-weight yarn (brown for a pretzel, pink or red for a heart), scissors, and a yarn needle.  Also magnet tape if you want to make it into a magnet, and glue if the magnet tape isn't sticky-backed.  Also crystal or sparkle paint for decoration--crystal for salt on a pretzel, sparkle for a bit of Valentine glitz.  The original pattern suggests embroidering French knots for the pretzel salt; but I think the embroidery looks a bit lame, at least in the photographs.  Decide for yourself.  Also here.  I prefer crystal paint, but it's up to you.

This is what you do:  chain 51, single crochet in the second chain from the hook, single crochet all the way across, chain 1 and turn.  You have 50 stitches in the row.  Make five more rows of single crochet, making a chain 1 at the beginning of each.  At the end of the sixth row, fasten off, leaving a length of yarn for sewing.

Thread the yarn needle onto the tail of yarn.  Fold the crocheted strip in half, lengthwise.  Whip stitch the edge closed, all the way down the strip.  You will have a long, flat crocheted tube.  Lay the tube down flat, with the sewn edge facing away from you.  Mark the center of the tube (temporarily) with a pin (or a bobby pin, or a bit of yarn pulled through one of the stitches). 

For a heart, just overlap the ends slightly and sew them together, squeezing the bottom to give it a heart shape. 

For a pretzel, curl the right-hand edge 1/4 inch to the left of the center mark. Sew the end in place (see photos in those links for placement). Curl the left-hand edge over top of that, and sew it 1/4 inch to the right of the center mark.

Decorate as desired.  Glue on a magnet strip, or use in any other way you want (maybe crochet a chain to make it into a necklace?).

How else could you sew the flattened tube together?  It could be crossed over near the bottom and would resemble the different-coloured ribbons used as logos for various charitable causes.  Maybe you can think of some other variations.

Homework this week?  Keep practicing single crochet in rows.  Make a dishcloth, a coaster, a gadget-cozy, or a teddy bear scarf.  For a long rectangle like a scarf, it's up to you whether you start with a short chain and then go back and forth lots of times, or with a long chain and make fewer rows.  If you're chain-phobic, work across the shorter rows.

I'll post another Crochet Class in two weeks to fill in some details (colour changes, ribbing, and handy stuff like that)--then we'll start increasing, decreasing, and working in the round.

All photographs: Ponytails. Copyright 2012 Dewey's Treehouse.

What's for supper? (Mr. Crockpot took care of that)

Chicken fajitas in the Crockpot (put chicken in Crockpot, put salsa on top, cook on High for a few hours)
Things to eat with the chicken:  chopped peppers, cheese, sour cream, the last of a can of olives, whole wheat tortillas, rice

Vanilla milkshakes

The cost of homeschooling: right up there with socialization

Of all the reasons for or against homeschooling, the supposed "real costs" or "missed-opportunity costs"  argument has to be about the second-oldest after the socialization question, and it's just as misleading.

The Deputy Headmistress of The Common Room has posted her current thoughts on this, here and here.  It's also worthwhile to go back to her 2005 post here, because the comments are so interesting.  I originally posted a response to that one here.  (The DHM and I have been friends a long time.)

All I can add, to all that, is this:  first, you may save money by homeschooling.  It depends on your lifestyle, your curriculum, how many kids you have, how much money you were making or spending before, and so on.  As the DHM and others have pointed out, you won't be spending money on extra shoes, band trips, and pizza days either, and you may be saving money related to daycare or other parental work expenses. But most people don't begin to homeschool solely with the intention of saving money.  As in, we can't afford to send you to public school any more, so you'll just have to stay home.  There are usually other reasons involved in the decision--academic, religious, health reasons, bullying, bad teachers, whatever.  So from my admittedly limited economic understanding, this is not something you can approach with a simple comparison of costs.

Second, as far as the actual cost of the actual homeschooling goes--that is, minus the arguments over whether or not the kids' shoes wear out faster, or whether you have lower medical expenses because they're not being coughed and sneezed on by thirty other kids, or how much money you won't have to spend on peanut-free granola bars and juice boxes--the only point that all homeschoolers* can agree with on this, is that we're in control of that cost.  If we have money to burn and count a whole lot of things as "school", we can homeschool very expensively.  If we're broke, we can scrounge and use freebies.  In most cases (see the note below), we are free to decide that this year we will or won't teach a certain subject, will or won't have swimming lessons, will or won't buy a new printer. 

Yes, you could put together some kind of an "average" family picture, and say that "most" homeschoolers pay a certain amount for math materials, reading books, computer stuff; or that people who spend a certain amount are more successful at homeschooling than others.  But what's the point?  A glance through any general homeschooling magazine, or through a week's Carnival of Homeschooling, will show such a diversity of approaches and lifestyles that such comparisons would be meaningless.  Even within our own family, every year's expenses are a little different: some years we've just re-used what we had, other years we've needed to buy new materials.

Conclusion?  There isn't one, except that, like the socialization question, the "costs" question is just as red a herring.

*"All homeschoolers" meaning all who live where they are free to plan their own work and/or choose their own curriculum provider, rather than being required to teach a set curriculum, buy required books, etc.

RELATED POST:  Frugal Homeschooling: Let Me Count the Ways

That's one frugal makeup bag (crochet projects)

This started out as an example of "crocheting a rectangle," something coming up soon in our girls' crochet class. The class project that week will be to make a small purse for a doll (since this is a class of tweenage girls, there are several doll projects--and doll projects work up quickly), but I wanted to show how the same idea--folding a square or rectangle in half--could be used to make a bigger purse, glasses case, Barbie sleeping bag, whatever.

Ingredients: one 50 cent ball of thrift-store yarn (of which I used about half), one red zipper taken from a one-dollar thrift store skirt (most of the skirt had already been sacrificed for another purpose), two red buttons, two daisy motifs from a thrifted bag of trims, and a bit of red thread. Total cost--maybe seventy-five cents?

Method: Crochet a rectangle as long as the zipper and as deep as you like. I used half-double crochet which is a good solid stitch and is easy to do, but which has one little catch if you're crocheting in rows: make sure you don't miss the last stitch before the chain, because it tends to hide. I noticed that I was losing a stitch as I went along, and wondered what I was doing wrong--so I quickly checked a video tutorial and found someone pointing out that exact problem. Oops. So I tried again and got it right.

Turn it inside out, sew up the sides, thread a sewing needle with thread to match, and sew each side of the zipper to one side of the case. Keeping the zipper partly unzipped while you sew it is a good idea, because otherwise, when you get it all sewed together, you'll have to poke at the zipper tab and open it upside down and backwards to turn it right side out, if you know what I mean.

Decorate as you feel inspired.  I happened to have the daisies and a box of buttons nearby, so that's what I used.

Crochet Class Number Two: Make a Scrunchie

Did you crochet along with us last time?

Today the girls will be getting together again, and the planned project is a hair scrunchie.   Scrunchies are endlessly variable...searching for "crocheted scrunchie" will bring up all kinds of patterns. 

The basic idea is this:  take a coated ponytail elastic, and in this case, cheaper is not better: you don't want the ends to pop apart in a week.  Make a slip knot with the yarn--any kind is fine, and scrunchies are a great place to experiment with little bits of novelty yarn.  Attach the yarn to the hair elastic, using a slip stitch; in other words, hold your slip knot against the elastic, bring the yarn over the hook, and pull that through both the elastic and the slip knot so that they hold together. It's really easier than it sounds, but if you have trouble, watch one of the videos linked below.

All attached?  The very simplest version is to single crochet around the elastic, filling it up as much as possible, just like last week's pipe cleaner ornaments. Slip stitch to end off, and work in the ends.  That's what I had the slightly younger group of girls do a couple of years ago, and some of them found it fairly challenging.  However, a much nicer scrunchie can be made by combining chain and single crochet stitches, for instance, chaining five in between each single crochet stitch.  If you're confident enough to do a second or third row, you can keep going and make an even bigger, loopier scrunchie.

Here’s a good video, except that she’s using double crochet instead of single crochet. Here’s another one I like:  (this one has a pattern of five chains, one single crochet; she also shows you how to add beads without stringing them on first). One more. (Notice that everybody has a slightly different way of getting the yarn locked on the hair elastic?)

One thing to remember from today's lesson is that chains are used in more than one way in crocheting.  When you learn to crochet, you're probably shown chains as just a base for learning to make the other stitches: you make a chain of a certain length, then you work crochet stitches into those chains (something we'll be doing in the next class).  But they're also used within the crocheted work, both to begin rows (getting the row started at a certain height by making one or more chain stitches) and to make spaces or loops.  Lacy doilies are full of chain stitches.  If you've ever seen something crocheted in a mesh pattern, or filet crochet, that's usually a combination of single crochet and chain stitches.

Another example of chains used to leave a space: when I crocheted a hat for a doll with a ponytail, I just stitched along to a certain point and then made a chain of about ten stitches, skipped over the same number of stitches in the previous row, joined the chain back to the work with a slip stitch, and then kept crocheting.  When I got back around to the chain, I worked ten stitches over the chain (just like crocheting over the hair elastic) and then just kept going from there.  That created a big "buttonhole" in the side of the hat.

Last example of chains as spacers:  last week I made a big "granny square" for a baby afghan.  The granny square has been a popular crocheting motif for years; usually you make a lot of small ones and sew them together, but I hate sewing things together so I made one big one instead.  Anyway, the pattern for a big or small granny square is the same:  you work, usually, in blocks of three double crochet stitches (double crochet is a bit taller than single crochet--you "yarn over" first, and then bring the loops off in two steps) with a chain stitch in between each group of three.  Corners are made, usually, with two groups of three double crochet stitches, and three chain stitches between those--that's what makes the square corners.  If you want to know more, check out You-tube videos on granny squares, or most basic crochet books will show you how they're made. 

Does all that sound like too much information if you're just trying to make a scrunchie?  Well, the point of this project is that you can think of the chains as loops to dress up the scrunchie, and the single crochets more just as "connectors."  Use whatever combinations you like with this project--you really can't go wrong.

And next time we'll get into the "real stuff": figuring out where the stitches go, when there isn't an elastic.

What's for supper? (Day before groceries)

Broccoli quiche, made with Parmesan cheese, yogurt, leftover vegetables, powdered milk, eggs, and a whole wheat pat-in crust
Leftover sausage and a bit of perogy casserole
Baked potatoes
Rye bread
Carrot and celery sticks, canned black olives

Peach crisp with milk or yogurt (canned peaches and peach jam)
Extra cookies and fruit, because we ended up having a friend stay to supper

Baby afghan, baby "stress toys" (crocheting)

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver (mostly.  I think the dark brown might have been another brand--I bought that awhile ago).
Pattern: Just a big granny square
Photos: Mr. Fixit. Copyright 2011 Dewey's Treehouse.

What's for supper? Sausage and things

Tonight's dinner menu:

Perogy casserole, made with shell pasta instead of lasagna noodles because that's what we had
Farmer's sausage baked with sauerkraut
Broccoli

Banana muffins and brownies

What's for supper? Chinese Beef Thing and Baked Squash Doughnuts

Sounds luscious, doesn't it?

Actually, this was the menu:

Rouladen-cut beef (we get it already flattened at the store--resembles minute steaks), cut in strips, cooked slowly in a covered skillet with hoisin sauce, beef broth, and a chunk of ginger, and with frozen green beans added towards the end
Brown rice

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts, but made with a mixture of cooked butternut squash and apple butter because we didn't have any canned pumpkin.  It worked fine!

Crocheting check-in, and a note on gauge (now with photos)

Last weekend I posted some notes about our first crochet class. The girls (and a couple of moms who came) all did splendiferously. Later that day I went to Walmart and picked up a big skein of blue Red Heart Super Saver, and two smaller multicoloured skeins of the same. You'll see complaints about RHSS all over the Internet, but I like the colours and it's affordable (especially at Walmart), so I keep using it.

I decided to use some of the blue yarn to make a hat for the Apprentice, like the red one shown on the cover of that pattern book. I often do "forget" to do a sample swatch and check the gauge before jumping into a project (yes, I know it's one of the ten rules), but this time I wanted to be really careful. Good thing too, because it took three swatches and two changes of hook before my stitch size lined up with the pattern. But I got it worked out, and the Apprentice liked her hat fine. (Photo coming)

So I started a second hat, using the Primaries mix above. This time I didn't bother to check the gauge, since I had worked it all out the first time. And you can guess what...it turned out bigger than the first one. Not miles bigger, but enough that I probably should have gone back to the original hook size. Same Red Heart Super Saver--but the multicoloured yarn was slightly heavier and also had a bit different texture (what RHSS critics call "scratchy").

Go figure.

Crayons said she would like that hat, even though it was a bit big, and she also requested a smaller one for one of her dolls.  The doll has a side ponytail, so I left a gap for her hair.

I also brought home some scrap yarn from the thrift store: the fuzzy, furry eyelash kind. I used it to make a long, skinny boa scarf--two strands held together to make a long chain and then three rows of double crochet. Almost three, because I ran out of yarn just before the end of the last row, but it's not too noticeable. Fuzzy eyelash yarn isn't a great choice for beginners, because it's really hard to see where your stitches are--I just guessed as I went along. On the other hand, it's very forgiving, even if you run short of yarn or have to work in a lot of ends (the yarn was in small balls and scraps that I had to work together), because mistakes just disappear into the fluff.

Did any of you try the bead bracelets or the snowflake ornaments? Have you been making anything else? Crayons has been making jewelery for her dolls this week. My friend Krakovianka does awesome things with thread--but if you want a lesson in that, you'll have to go to Krakow.

What's everybody doing today?

Just in case anyone was expecting a crochet lesson--our next gathering isn't until next weekend.  But maybe I'll post a "weekend update."

The Apprentice is at a weekend conference on the theme of Failure.  (Yes, really.)  Well, actually it's about interdisciplinary education, but the speaker topics are on failure.

Ponytails is going bowling with two friends from her improv comedy team.

Crayons is going to visit a friend that she met years ago in a dance class and who's now in the Saturday sewing/crochet group.  Turns out she lives only a couple of blocks away.

Mama Squirrel and Mr. Fixit do not have any meetings to go to or classes to plan for or anything else too pressing today. Mama Squirrel wants to go to the library.  Mr. Fixit will probably work on his clocks and radios.  And there are always groceries...and some snow to shovel...

How's your weekend shaping up?

Crayons' Year 5: A quiet Friday

On today's homeschool menu:

Singing "Holy Holy Holy" (not the Heber hymn, the Schubert Sanctus that I learned during a brief stint in the Presbyterian Church of Canada)



Singing "Ontari-ari-ari-o" (we usually sing something Canadian on Friday mornings)

Online math game

Reading about William Tyndale in Makers of the English Bible

Short keyboard (music) lesson

Plutarch's Life of Dion, half of lesson 4. King Dionysius keeps the philosopher Plato trapped in his palace in Syracuse, and sends Plato's older friend Dion off to Greece, because he wants Plato to be his (and only his) best friend forever. 300ish B.C. is not that far removed from the experience of some ten-year-olds!

(short break here)

Picture study: Mary Cassatt, Woman and Child Driving.

Cursive writing practice

Silas Marner, most of chapter 10, and written narration

Lunchtime:  reheated minestrone, bagels, and Magic Milkshakes (Mama Squirrel recently received the lovely gift of a Ninja blender, so we're making things we haven't had for awhile)

Helping shovel snow, and sliding down our hill

That's about where we're at now...some things left to do like laundry and cleaning.  Also we're going to work in a chapter of Ballet Shoes.

And it's the weekend!

Written narration by Crayons: Silas Marner

Silas Marner's comfortably isolated existence has been interrupted by the theft of all his savings.  Although the robbery devastates him, it also brings him into closer contact with his neighbours. This narration is from a section near the end of chapter 10.

Dolly Winthrop came to Silas’s cottage one afternoon with her little son Aaron and a basket full of lard cakes Silas greeted her a little shyly “I suppose you didn’t hear the church bells?” she asked “I did.” He said “but don’t you know this is Sunday?” she asked “I do.” He said “but you were working!” she accused “well I always do.” He said

“Um well yes…” she said slowly “I brought you these!” she handed him the box of lard cakes. “Thanks” he said then she talked for a while about church and then she said: “Well now Aaron get up and sing your song!” Aaron did and the only thing Silas thought he could do was give the boy a lard cake then she talked some more about church then said: “Well we most be going. Do consider church. Goodbye. Aaron, bow!” Aaron bowed and then they left Silas was a rather glad they had gone.

Illustration found here

Learn to sew like it's 1889: from a vintage Home Journal

HOW TO TEACH OUR GIRLS TO SEW.

I would like to make a practical suggestion, and tell exactly how I made of my own little girl an accomplished needlewoman. I commenced when she was eight years old by cutting and planning her doll's plain clothes for her, such as skirts and aprons, making myself the more particular things, such as dresses, drawers, sacques and bonnets. I taught her to hem, fell, overseam and gather. Early in life she learned that no really first class seamstress ever finished the making of a set of undergarments with uncovered seams. She was taught, as a little girl once said, to "gather like a lady," and always to use a double thread.

When her gathering had been finished, I taught her to lay gathers without the aid of pin or needle. I find many ladies who still adhere to the old time custom of "stroking" them, which is tedious and often injurious to fine, thin goods. For those who do not understand this particular "knack" I will explain. When the apron, or other garment, as the case may lie, has been gathered, draw up the thread as tightly as possible, stick in the needle and wrap the thread around it to prevent slipping. Now take the gathers in the left hand between the thumb and forefinger, and with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, pull tightly over the nail of the forefinger of the left hand, and if done according to directions, beautifully laid gathers will be the result. In this, as in everything else, "practice makes perfect."

For a number of years this little maid has taken upon herself the making of the pillow cases for "Papa's" night pillow, and receives for her work, from the aforesaid "Papa," a little money consideration, and from her "Mamma" a great deal of praise for well executed work. I cut and baste them for her, she then overhands them, hems and finally puts on the finishing touches in the shape of neatly worked buttonholes. A pillow case, by the way, is an excellent article to commence your instruction on, as it embraces the most important kinds of sewing, and is plain, straight work throughout.

When she was proficient in plain sewing I taught her to darn, first of all giving her a gay bright darning bag, to hold her unmended hosiery. This bag was supplied with embroidered flannel leaves containing some long slender needles. The pocket held a pair of scissors, thimble, cards of black, brown, navy blue and white darning cotton. This pretty bag I gave her when she was ready for her first lesson, with the request that when her work was finished the cotton, scissors and thimble should be put in the pocket, the needles in the leaves, and the bag hung on its proper hook. I gave her her first lesson on a pair of stockings very little worn. Seating her at my side I showed her how to go back and forth with her darning needle, until the hole was covered, then to cross it, weaving in and out until a smooth, flat surface was the result....

After she was thoroughly up in the rudiments of sewing she was encouraged to do some fancy work, which, from her knowledge of plain, prosaic work, will bear the scrutiny of close attention much better than if she had been allowed to commence with the ornamental first. At fifteen she is nearly as fond of her dolls as at eight, and so proficient has she become in the art of sewing, that she can make from a Parisian hat down to a pair of well shaped crocheted bootees.

It was not always "clear sailing" in these lessons of ours, little tempests sometimes arose that seemed likely to upset the frail bark, the thread would snarl or break at the most inopportune times, a pucker would sometimes appear in the heel of the stocking, but patience and perseverance, those wonderful elements of success, finally conquered. --Annie Curd.

From Ladies' home journal and practical housekeeper, Volumes 5-6, July 1889

Teaching a crochet class: here are the rules, and here's how we're starting

This weekend Mama Squirrel has agreed to start teaching some of Crayons' friends how to crochet. (The same girls who usually sew together on Saturdays, only we're doing crochet for awhile instead.) We did something like this two years ago in a homeschool co-op, but the girls there were slightly younger. This time the average age is ten, plus there are a couple of moms who want to hang around and learn as well, so I'm hoping we can do a bit more than we did in the other class.

Want to learn along with us?  For the first class, you will need some worsted-weight yarn (not too dark a colour), a few pony beads to go with your yarn, a crochet hook somewhere between 4.5 and 5 mm (that's metric sizing--Americans need an H hook, or something around that size), and a yarn needle for weaving in loose ends.  Also some white yarn and a pipe cleaner, plus a cookie cutter for shaping the pipe cleaner into a nicer shape, plus some sparkly fabric paint or other trim of your own choice.

Here are Mama Squirrel's Rules for Crocheting.

1. If you make a mistake, go back and fix it. It’s easier to fix it NOW than to wish you had at the end.

2. Make your hook do the work. Don’t pull the yarn off the hook with your fingers.

3. Don’t work too tight.

4. Don’t let the yarn split.

5. Don’t work too long without a break—do something else and let your muscles relax. Otherwise you can hurt yourself.

6. If you’re following a pattern for something where size matters, make a sample swatch (test piece) first and measure the gauge (the size of your stitches). You might have to change hooks or try another kind of yarn. But if you are making a small item, or making up your own pattern, it’s not so important.

7. If you’re using a new skein of yarn, pull from the inside.

8. Ask for help if you’re not sure of something. If you can’t find someone right there who knows, there are lots of places to find crochet help online.

9. Don’t crochet while eating chocolate-chip cookies.

10. Don’t crochet in the bathtub.

In our first class, we're going to start by learning to chain stitch--what else?--but we're going to jazz it up a bit by stringing pony beads on the yarn first, and incorporating them into the chaining (slide them up as you want them). Instant friendship bracelets. We started doing this last summer at VBS, and the kids really liked it. Some of them chained with hooks, and some just used their fingers--it works either way.  Leave a decent-length tail at the beginning (for a wrist tie), then just start chaining--chain a few stitches, slide up a bead, chain a couple more stitches, slide up a bead, and so on until it's long enough.  End off (you can find out how to do that online--really simple), and leave a tail of yarn the same length as the other end.  Tie around your wrist.

After a break, assuming everybody's caught on to chaining, we're going to single-crochet around pipe-cleaner loops. The advantage to this is that you can concentrate on making the stitches without having to worry about putting them into chain stitches, which can be a bit frustrating for beginniners. If you've ever tried to learn to crochet, you'll know what I mean.  Make the pipe cleaner into a circle, attach the yarn with a slip stitch (look this up online if you don't know how--leave a bit of a tail), and start single crocheting around.  Keep going until the pipe cleaner is covered.  Join the two ends together with a slip stitch and end off, leaving a tail of yarn.  Either tie the two ends together in a bow for a hanger, or weave them into the crocheting with the yarn needle.

The pipe-cleaner loops will probably be finished for homework. Next time, or whenever they're done, we'll shape them around a snowflake-shaped cookie cutter, and then paint them a bit with glittery fabric paint. I had planned on using sparkly yarn for this, but couldn't find anything thick enough; so we'll just use plain white yarn and add the sparkles afterward.  I used two strands of white cotton yarn, which looked pretty good; but when you're just learning, I think one strand is a better idea.

If you don't have a snowflake cookie cutter and want to try this, you could use green yarn and call it a Christmas wreath.  Or use another shape--a heart would be nice, if you can find a cutter that is about the same size around as your pipe cleaner.  (Cut the pipe cleaner first if you need to.)

The nice thing these days about crochet class (or just about anything else) is that if you get home and forget everything you learned, you can easily find an online tutorial.  Ehow has good ones for basic crochet stitches.

Let me know if there's something you can't figure out!

Back to school: all we've done so far

I did have a schedule for today, but we seem to be going at it very slowly.

As of lunch, we have gotten through one chapter of Silas Marner* (first chapters of things are always slow), two pages of math, and one history lesson about what happened when the prairie people started doing all their business with the Americans down south, in the middle of the 1800's. (One factor that led to Confederation a few years later.)

Just call it quality rather than quantity.

UPDATE: In the afternoon, we watched a Wishbone episode, started reading a French story, and practiced some chords on the digital piano. Crayons also did some Pet Store Math with her dad.

*Yes, we are making the experiment of reading Eliot with a fifth grader. Or at least trying a few chapters and seeing how it goes. We got through Great Expectations last term, and that's really no harder.

Do we pick our mental mentors, or do they pick us? (and more long sentences)

Best thing I read in this weekend's papers:

“Who are these figures who take residence inside our heads,” Pico Iyer asks in The Man Within My Head, “to the point where we can hear their voices even when we’re trying to make contact with our own?”

“Who put them there?... “ Iyer adds, noting how, if he were to choose a “secret companion, an invisible alter ego,” he would select someone more “dashing” than British novelist Graham Greene. Greene, he admits, “is not a hero or a counsellor” to him. Instead, he is the ongoing presence who whispers the “secrets and fears” that burrow to the core of Iyer’s preoccupations. --Charles Foran, "He shoots! He waits! How a young writer found Samuel Beckett", in The Globe and Mail

For Pico Iyer, it's Graham Greene.

For Charles Foran, it's Samuel Beckett.  Foran doesn't try to write like Beckett, he says: "Much as I adore his mordant, cadenced prose, I’ve never tried to write like him. Nor do I have either the temperament or courage to address so frontally the strangeness, and unease, of being human. Most writers, it should be said, stop short of where Samuel Beckett starts."  For him, Beckett is more of a reminding voice, something that keeps him on track with where he wants to be in his own writing.

George Bailey: Well, you look about the kind of angel I'd get.

Do you have an imaginary "mentoring relationship" with someone you've never met?  Is it someone you "chose", or did they "choose you?"

P.S. Pico Iyer has an essay here called "The Writing Life: The point of the long and winding sentence." "Not everyone wants to be reduced to a sound bite or a bumper sticker."

Pearl Bodine's Sweet Potata Pie

Mr. Fixit got a Beverly Hillbillies DVD for Christmas and we've been watching some of the early episodes.  I had a video on this post showing Cousin Pearl and her friend Homer Winch ("do this and I'll bake you a sweet potata pie"), but it's been removed from You-tube--sorry!

There are lots of ways to make sweet potato pie. This is the way I made one tonight, out of leftover mashed sweet potatoes. The recipe is actually "Squash Pie" from Food That Really Schmecks, but it works fine with sweet potatoes too. It's a lot less spicy than most pumpkin pie recipes, which I think some kids would like.

Pearl's Man-Catchin' Sweet Potata Pie (or Squash Pie)

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (I used a deep-dish pie plate)
2 cups milk (I used slightly less because I thought the sweet potato might be a bit wet)
1 1/2 cups pureed sweet potato or squash (if you've just cooked it, let it cool slightly--otherwise just use it chilled)
1 1/2 tbsp. flour
1 1/4 cups sugar (I used only a cup)
1 tsp. salt (or less, I used less)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Cinnamon (or cinnamon-sugar), nutmeg

Combine sweet potato or squash, eggs, flour, salt, and sugar; gradually add the milk. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. (If you have too much filling, you could bake some in a separate dish without a crust.) Sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar and a bit of nutmeg. The recipe says to bake it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set; I gave it 10 minutes at 425 degrees and then turned it down to 350 for about 45 more minutes. When I took it out, it still seemed a bit jiggly, but it did slice without a problem about ten minutes later.

Homer would have been mighty pleased.

Linked from Four Moms and Sweet Thangs, Feb. 9/12

We celebrate Epiphany

The Magi

W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

Now as at all times I can see in the mind's eye,
In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale unsatisfied ones
Appear and disappear in the blue depth of the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones,
And all their helms of silver hovering side by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
Being by Calvary's turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.