Fresh Winter Air and Sunshine!

Food

There are plenty of issues with our conventional industrial food system. Sometimes it's difficult to hear about their practices and even more difficult to view those practices. If any of you have watched Food Inc, you know what I mean. I think by our very nature, humans are compassionate and fair-minded. We don't like the idea that our food is being "mistreated"--from the living, breathing cow right on down to the genetically-modified seed. But when confronted with that reality, any solution seems mind-bogglingly difficult. How can I change that system? And do I have the energy or time to deal with something that should be easy in my life? [I'm not going to argue here about whether or not food--from growing, to processing, to cooking--should be "easy". Our culture demands it.]

But there is something we can all do. It starts with awareness and education. Watch the movie Fresh (streaming online for free until Wednesday). It's a wonderful documentary featuring just some of the folks who are challenging "conventional wisdom".

We are talking about the food that we are eating. 

If we think of food as medicine, or at the very least, 

as fuel for our bodies, then we should put the best inside of us. 

Here are some of the other things we can do:

#1 We can vote with our dollars. 

Shop local!! Shop local!! Shop local!!

Buy fresh foods, not processed. 

Shop the perimeter of your grocery store.

Buy organic, if you can.

Grow some of your own veggies.

Start a neighborhood garden.

Share the labor and rewards of your garden with friends and family.

Shop the farmer's market.

Buy direct. Many farmers sell directly from their farms. 

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home."   
-  Gary Snyder

Bonjour!

Yesterday I found this blog and was so excited. Erica has been wanting to learn French and my attempts have left her bored stiff. I'm hoping to find some inspiration from Katie! At the very least, it will give us some reading about all thing Francais. 

Katie also has an amazing give-away--a Rosetta stone French level one curriculum. Perfect for us homeschoolers! I hope to win, of course (which is one reason I am posting this) but it's also fun to share other people's blogs. If you are interested in french cuisine, culture, history and language, check it out!

Way back (way, way, way back) in high school I took two years of French and loved it. I was also concurrently on my third and fourth year of German. I loved French. German, well not so much. But my siblings had taken German and I think grandpa would have been very disappointed had I chosen not to continue in their footsteps. Whenever we went to their house for a gathering he would ask us "Was willst du haben?" (what will you have?) as he served everyone their drinks. I will never forget that, but most of my four years of German have leaked out of my brains.

There was something about French though. Perhaps it's just the way the language sounds, that I really loved. So I continued in college and briefly considered it as a major (that's a whole nother Oprah!), but I didn't. However I did learn how to make kick-ass crepes from the French club crepe sale. Oooooh, la la! Again, without using the language, it has dried up in my memory. Things come back, but good resources are very helpful.

One of the great things about homeschooling is the learning that you can do with your kids. I can't remember most of what I learned in elementary and middle school. So really, these past years have been like a review for me:-) Hopefully, working together, we can help each other learn to speak French. Then we can converse with each other and HE and the boy won't have a clue what we're saying (tee, hee, hee!)

Yummy Cheesey Bread

I made Mama Pea's Italian bread the other day and it was yummy! Follow the link for the recipe--I'm too lazy to copy it all down here. Plus, I'd like to send some more traffic her way and make sure to acknowledge that it is her bread and not mine.

I actually did not knead by hand, but used my stand mixer instead. (yup, too lazy). After the prescribed 20 minutes, I divided, shaped and placed on the oiled and cornmealed pan.

Then I threw it into the fridge. We couldn't wait for cheesey bread, so we only left it in the fridge for 2 hours.

Baked and viola!

So pretty!

We turned 2 loaves into cheesey bread.


Ya know how Homer Simpson drools and moans over donuts?


Insert that sound here:

Big Fire

The snow arrived just in time for our annual Christmas tree burning party.

Thank goodness..... I was a tiny teeny tad bit nervous about the open field of brown, crunchy and very flammable looking grass.

Plus, snow always makes a winter bonfire party much more festive. I can't begin to imagine what the kiddos would have done to amuse themselves if they didn't have snow to throw, dig and light fireworks in.

We made fire. Big fire.

We made chili. Big chili.

We made fun. Big fun.

Looking forward to next year....

Balmy in Wisconsin

The smell of springtime was in the air as we made our way down to the mailbox today.

I admit, it was nice.

Though at the same time, it's unsettling.

40 degrees on January 5th in Wisconsin just doesn't feel right.

It's not the first time for warmish weather this time of year, but given the lack of real cold and snow... well, it's just weird.

I was born and raised (mostly) in Wisconsin.

I love the seasons--all four of them.

When it's winter, I want it to be winter.

Bring it on--cold, snow, wind.

I don't like this.

No, I don't like this at all.

........but the bees do.