Low Carbon Housekeeping

Art by N

2011-11-16T11:18:00.001-08:00

A city and the map of surrounding area.
Recent angry birds levels.
Paintings from Sunday art class at BMA.

2011-10-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

Naftali the future architect?

Hammerman Beach

2011-10-21T19:59:00.001-07:00

Trip to the beach, which was mostly flooded. But we saw some cool hawks.

2011-10-06T16:31:00.001-07:00

Picking apples at the farm, and the fruit of our labor!

Angry Birds Levels

2011-10-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

Naftali spends around two hours a day designing angry birds levels on his easel. Today we bought six new rolls of paper, to last a month or two. Here are some recent examples.

Chess

2011-10-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

Adventures hiking with our friends in Robert E Lee park. That tiny speck of red is Naftali after climbing to the top of that rock formation. Then he got nice and muddy. This afternoon Charley and Naftali played two games of chess, and each won one game. Wow.

Cylburn arboretum

2011-09-30T08:48:00.001-07:00

Hiked and enjoyed the gardens this morning at the arboretum. We'd like to learn more about how to identify different kinds of fungus.

Rochester

2011-09-14T19:26:00.001-07:00

Our recent Rochester adventures included the RMSC, playing frisbee with Toby, and of course playgrounds.

Pimlico

2011-05-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

Our camera is broken, but will be working or replaced soon I hope. This afternoon we went to the horse races with homeschooling friends. This week there is live racing at the Pimlico track, the preliminary rounds for the Preakness on Saturday.

The words of Naftali:

They open the gates and then the horses know that they should run out and then they race really fast. If there was a line that they drew with a stick on dirt that the horses were behind and then someone said "go" just like a race with people the horses wouldn't be smart enough to do that. They were racing around and around the track and there was a screen that showed them on the other side too. And number three won the horse race. And in the first race, there was a white horse, and that was the horse which won the first race. There wasn't any white horses in the second race. The white horse in the first race who won was number two. The people who ride the horses are called jockeys and how they ride is sort of standingish.

Practice time

2011-05-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we babysat a friend's children which made for a fun and exciting morning. Then, after his nap, Kiva found time for piano practice. Naftali has been hard at work practicing sliding down the pole at the playground behind our house.

2011-05-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

How did my baby stick a yogurt top to his face?

Hummus!

Wednesday

2011-05-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a one year birthday. Our friends came over to play and we had chili and cheesecake for dinner. We all had a wonderful time, and Kiva had some help from the big kids opening his presents.

This morning we drove through the rain to a 12 month check up at the doctor (everything looks fine) and the library. This afternoon the rain has stopped, one boy is camped out at the kitchen sink doing I'm-not-sure-what kinds of experiments, and one is exploring the big wide world of the backyard.

2011-04-30T17:19:00.001-07:00

The weather has been beautiful here. Friday we rode to the playground past "buttercup hill". The boys had lots of fun playing with friends on the playground!

Sherwood Gardens

2011-04-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sherwood Gardens in a park in the Guildford neighborhood of Baltimore. We enjoyed our picnic lunch with friends there today, but the baby had to stay on the blanket because they had just sprayed the grass with pesticides. Why? Parks and People doesn't spray. Do the residents of Guilford really want their children playing in pesticides at the height of tulip season? Or maybe no one in those huge old houses has children and they value their park's aesthetics more than they do other people's health? The park is maintained by the homeowners of Guilford. I wonder who I can complain to.

Sherwood Gardens has a great climbing tree.

Goggles

2011-04-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

I used to hate mornings when we didn't go out. In fact, the biggest reason we got a car in December is that it was too cold to take the baby out to wait at a bus stop and I couldn't stand being in the house. I don't know whether it's the new house or not, but mornings at home are very relaxing now. The baby takes a nap, and Naftali and I both work on projects together or separately. This morning I did laundry and made supper and he cleaned his Monster cards and made goggles from cups and two sided tape.

Goat Brushing

2011-04-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today's picture should be the two boys brushing the goats this afternoon at the zoo. But I forgot to bring my camera to the zoo. Sorry, it was really cute.

I put my kitchen back together today (pizza for dinner! Hametz!) and labeled the placement of everything. I labeled so many things I felt a little silly. It reminded me of a passage from Farmer Boy which we were listening to in the car on the way home from Rochester. It describes watering horses and cattle in the evening. The horses you have to lead to water and back again, the cows just go and come back to their own stall with no help. Almazno says "whether this was because they had more sense than horses, or because they had so little sense that they did everything by habit, Father did not know." I totally behave like a cow in a kitchen, I work efficiently if everything is where I expect it and nothing is new or different. Right down to the placement on the shelf of my cheese grater. I reorganized everything, I might write about that another time.

Boys are feeling better, although Kiva still has a wet cough and Naftali is battling the pollen. Charley has the virus now.

Two wheels!

2011-04-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

We hacked a 12in wheel bike about a year ago to make a scoot bike. Charley took the pedals off and took the seat off and duct taped it to the frame. Five dollar scoot bike. The idea is, kids paddle, rather than pedal, with their legs. They learn the steering and balance going slower, with their feet close to the ground. He rode the scoot bike last summer and this spring we switched to a similar small bike with pedals this time (but not training wheels). He scooted around the pedals, which was more awkward, and we worked on coasting down hills. Then, a couple weeks ago, he started picking up his feet to pedal a little between "pushes". Then he informed us he doesn't need our help with a push to get started. Now he rides a two wheeler!

Photo Shoot

2011-04-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Easter morning. A band is having a photo shoot on the street in front of our house. It's the Pushovers (check them out, I heard them practicing and they sounded great!). Looks like they broke their windshield. Oops.

Friday afternoon

2011-04-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Shabbat Dinner Pesach (Vegetarian)
for 6 adults and 6 children

Matzah ball soup
Hard boiled eggs
Matzah
Grape juice/wine

Latkes with applesauce and sour cream
Quinoa
Sweet and sour cooked vegetables
Fresh raw mixed vegetables

Fruit
Ice Cream
Matzah brittle

And here is a picture of the the hardest working member of my family....

Homeschooling

2011-02-27T17:04:00.001-08:00

My son, who is not socialized in a school. (Does that mean he's unsocialized? Hmm...)

N spends every Thursday morning with babysitters, married graduate students who live down the block from us. They have keen insight into possible projects to do with a now-five year old boy: building wind chines, fixing washing machines, shredding documents, digging out bamboo, building shelves, spackling and painting. Best of all for N, they are patient question answerers. I know how much he looks forward to Thursday mornings, so I was pleased to learn this morning about how much they look forward to Thursday morning as well!

His Current Projects:

Fixing a space heater. Taking apart our broken space heater, cleaning it and poking around, putting it back together to see if it works.

Reading very easy phonics books (one each day)

Packing boxes and helping to label them (he writes "Moving Packing Box")

Upcoming projects:

Making connect the dots pictures (labeled with numbers) for each other

Making our own concrete molds and large scale sculpting with concrete.

Putting together a toolbox with a knife and learning to whittle and hammer safely.

The Sacred And Profane

2010-09-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Naftali on kiddush: when we raise our cups at kiddish we're doing cheers with God.

Also, he drew an anatomically accurate picture of a man peeing into a toilet that he was imagining (with a toilet in a thought bubble).

Akiva now has two teeth. Too many!

Tuesday is Porch Art Night.

Today

2010-09-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Freecycle is so easy! I love it.

Naftali built a machine today in the backyard using: two buckets, a cup with a hole cut in the bottom and a pencil duck taped as a handle, rope, jars of water, rocks, and an ice cube tray. It's a water machine. He also helped with weeding, not only taking branches off a weed tree, but also meticulously cutting off each leaf one by one with scissors to make a "salad".

Akiva's first tooth is all the way through the gum (thank goodness).

Tomorrow we take the bus to the Science Museum.

Staying Cool

2010-07-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

How to stay cool without air conditioning.

We've done two summers in Baltimore with no or minimal air conditioning (minimal being occasionally using a small unit in one bedroom window). There are several issues we need to deal with: daily highs in July and August are mostly in the 90s, sometimes higher, and the humidity is very high, and the nighttime temperatures during heat waves go down very little, into the lower 80s.

First you need to capture the cool air. In our neighborhood I did not feel safe leaving my downstairs windows unlocked at night so we got ironwork on all of our downstairs windows. It's an artistic design, but basically works the same as bars. At night we open all of our windows as soon as the sun is down and it feels cooler outside than inside. We run box fans in the upstairs windows blowing air out to help draw the air through the house. In the morning we close all of the downstairs windows and make sure to draw down blackout blinds and curtains by noon when the sun starts to hit our western wall where all of our large windows are.

Next you need to have air moving in the house. Ceiling fans are a must. We have two in our living/dining room two upstairs in bedrooms. We bake very little in the summer, I will either bake when it rains and cools off for a day or two, or if I need to I can bake in the evening and let the night air cool the house down. Our neighbors are building a brick oven and grill in our neighborhood community garden so I will be able to bake out there soon. Canning is a problem, I would like to get set up to do that outside also.

The last issue is sleeping. You can sleep downstairs, but that is difficult for us because we don't have a bed downstairs, and there is a lot of street light and noise all night. Everyone takes a cold shower (or sprinkler soak) before they go to bed and uses fans.

I plan air conditioned and low level activities for really hot days, lounging and reading out loud or eating ice cream are popular. And if it rains, the first thing I do is send my son out to play in it, then I open the windows and let in the cooler air, but often have to close up again after because it will heat right up again when the storm passes.

Finally, we usually plan a trip up north for the beginning of August, which is a good time to get away.

Snow Food

2010-02-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

Lots of time at home. My cooking has been somewhat scattered, I've cooked several large dishes to share with friends in our neighborhood and freeze in the chest freezer. I've also relied on some college favorite comfort food including peanut noodles with orange juice and scrambled tofu. If only I had Annie's Mexican Shells and Cheddar.

We tried this recipe for snow cream today and it was quite popular:

Mix together milk, cream if desired, sugar and vanilla or maple syrup or other flavoring (liquor?)
Mix in fresh snow until desired consistency.

My baking has been very consistent. Can you tell I'm pregnant? Lots of chocolate. We didn't eat this all ourselves, but I think I've had more than my share.

I have baked since it started snowing on Friday afternoon:
Oat Coffee Cake
Chocolate Brownies
Pancakes
Chocolate Cake
Waffles
Corn Bread
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Cream Cheese Black Bottom Cupcakes
Chocolate Chip Muffins

no cookies...yet...but I'm thinking about these. They are so good!

Clutter Free

2010-01-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

Houses where one adult works at or from home, especially with the addition of children, tend to get cluttered very quickly. Our house is small (about 1,000 square feet) and there are between two and four or more people here during the day. Most of our eating, playing, and general hanging out takes place in the house and it can go from clean just before dinner time to a huge mess two hours later at bedtime.

This is how we stay clutter free. We donate a couple bags of clothes, books, toys, and kitchen various each month. When we get a gift or purchase an upgrade, I try to get rid of the older version right away. One skirt comes in, one goes out. Same with toys and most other things. When I look at a piece of clothing and think of a very clear reason why it is not being worn, it goes in the donate bin right away before I forget. Many books and toys go in after they've been read or played with. Our categories of toys are few: blocks, stuffed animals, trains, musical, dress up, a few vehicles and building sets, and outdoor toys. I mostly only keep non plastic toys of these types that were not made in China. I find few types of toys easier to keep sorted and ready to play with. We also have books, games, puzzles, and art supplies.

I guess I could try selling this stuff through Craigslist or consignment but I don't seem to have time for that kind of thing. They literally call us one a month to schedule a pick up, I put the bags out in the morning, they disappear on to the truck. It's addicting. After cleaning for Pesach, we sometimes will have 8 or more bags and boxes.

(from the website)
National Children's Center
Household Goods Donation Program

One source of NCC's funding is through the resale of donated goods. We accept donations of household goods and clothing and solicit these donations through various marketing approaches. We raise money for our programs by selling the donated goods through contractual agreements with qualified retailers. NCC does not own the retail stores that sell the goods.
Scheduling a Pick-up

To schedule a pick-up, please call 301.595.3840 if you live in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia. If you live in or around Baltimore, please call 410.536.4205.
Preparing Your Donations for Pick-Up

Please place your donations out by 8:00 am on the morning of the scheduled pick-up. The driver will look for your donation from the street. Label bags "National Children's Center" or "NCC" and ensure they are clearly visible from the street. If you have a long driveway, please bring the donations to the end of the driveway.

Learning to Live Without

2010-01-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

I found this article: 21 Things We're Learning To Live Without completely charming and utterly familiar. It's not often I read news articles that so accurately depict my lifestyle and values. We live without all but two: healthcare and privacy. We don't have roommates, which means we have privacy, although rowhouse walls are thin... also, I do get a yoga magazine and Charley gets an RC journal, but we don't have a newspaper or news magazine subscription. Most of these seem to me to be a recipe for easy, enjoyable, and stress free living.

Here is the short list, including some of my own comments and explanations, the article does a much better job:

21 Things We're Learning to Live Without

Monthly Payments

Window Shopping

Bells and Whistles (technology related)

Clutter

Cable TV (we have no TV!)

A Home Phone (We have one but only one cell phone for emergencies)

Privacy

Prepared Foods

Tupperware Parties

Packaged Cigarettes

Lattes

Guilt (for not keeping up with the Jones')

Extra Calories (Ok, I eat these, but for a good reason...)

Newspapers and Magazines

Healthcare

New Gifts

New Cars

Comfort (Indoor temperature, water usage)

A Daily Commute (in a car)

Fancy Dates

Debt

Doll

2009-12-23T18:46:00.001-08:00

I want to get Naftali a doll sometime this spring (so he can also have a new baby). Dolls for boys... any suggestions?

Light Reading

2009-12-22T17:16:00.001-08:00

As an AP (Attachment Parenting) parent and the wife of an RC (ReEvaluation CoCounseling) enthusiast I am familiar with most of these concepts, but pleased to find them all in one place and including some of my pet peeves about technology. There are a few concepts here that I am familiar with but don't endorse, we circumcise (because we are Jewish) and vaccinate (because in my view the needs of the many sometimes outweigh the needs of the few) but I am familiar with and respect the arguments against these practices. I also have my doubts about arguing against any use of psychiatric drugs in children, although I do agree Ritalin is overprescribed. I found John Breeding's website through an article on Mothering.com. The whole "manifesto" is here, I recommend it.

A 21st Century Manifesto For Parenting
by John Breeding, Ph.D.

I will provide protection against:

* Unnecessary prenatal trauma.

* Unnecessary birth trauma.

* The trauma of circumcision.

* The trauma of in-arms deprivation.

* The trauma of unnecessary immunizations.

* The trauma of toxic and unhealthy foods.

* The trauma of separation from nature.

* The trauma of TV and video.

* The trauma of computers.

* The trauma of a sedentary lifestyle.

* The trauma of compulsive busyness.

* The trauma of sleep deprivation.

* The trauma of adultism. (I'm including some of his explanation for this one-M) Adultism refers to the systematic mistreatment of young people simply because they are young. The key indicator is disrespect. One of the best ways for adults to assess whether they are perpetrating adultism on a young person is to ask themselves whether they would say the same thing in the same tone of voice to another adult that they just said to a young person.

* The trauma of emotional suppression.

* The trauma of condescension.

* The trauma of chronic hopelessness.

* The trauma of competition.

* The trauma of militarism.

* The trauma of unnecessary medical interventions.

* The trauma of all psychiatric drugs.

* The trauma of compulsory factory schooling.

* The trauma of illiteracy and labels such as learning disabled (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

* The trauma of a flawed view of human nature.

* The trauma of a parent unwilling to face their own traumas.

Debt Free!

2009-12-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

We are officially debt free except our mortgage. Our last payment was $1,250 to the U.S. Department of Education.

Stats:

Debt: $35,000
Charley's undergrad: $17,000
My undergrad (I'd been paying double payments for several years) $15,000
Credit card $3,000 (mostly from our wedding)

Time: 2 years Dec 2007-Dec 2009

The first year we paid off the credit card and my loan, the second year we paid off Charley's loan.

Income first year: $35,000
Income second year: $45,000
(family of three, soon to be four)

If that seems impossible: we we cut up our credit cards, grew, preserved, and traded for food, hung our laundry to dry, used cloth diapers, never went out, never bought anything, kept our heat at 60 and off at night. I worked three part time jobs this fall while pregnant and when our neighbor recently offered to paint our kitchen I had to tell her we couldn't afford a gallon of paint but...
we also had a few gifts from parents along the way :)
Thank you Dave Ramsey, we couldn't have done it without him.

Packing List

2009-11-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

I've been on too many trips where I- even with a packing list- forgot to bring something important (because I forgot to put it on the list!). I've been resolving for a year to type a go-to packing list for our family's trips, of which there are many between visits to family and gigs. This is a list which has been modified from a list on onebag.com, whose light packing agenda I generally agree with. It has one section for a typical trips and another for occasional needs.

Typical Trip:
2-4 shirts, 2+ pairs bottoms
3+ pairs socks, 3+ pairs underwear
bras, pajamas
sweater, coat
tie, scarf, hairbands, bandanna
sun hat, kippot
1 pair dressy shoes
1 pair walking shoes/boots
flip-flops, sandals, or slippers
belt
back pack or shoulder bag, lightweight shopping bag

utensils, plates/bowls
food/snacks, water bottle, water
toothbrush, paste, floss
comb, shampoo, conditioner, soap
deodorant, sunscreen, lip balm
asprin, children’s asprin
inhaler

sunglasses, case
pen/pencil, notebook, stationary
maps, membership cards
driver's license, health insurance card
travel tickets, debit cards, cash
cell phone, charger
list of phone numbers
laptop, power cord/adapters

musical instruments
mic, sound equipment, CDs, music
ipod, charger, earphones
flashlight, stuffed animal
books, children’s books
small toys, puzzles
yoga mat, strap
homework
gifts

Occasional Trips:
Jacket or suit, dress or skirt, tights/hose, dress socks
long underwear
gloves/mittens/winter hats
swimsuit
detergent, clothesline, hangers, laundry bag
umbrella
vitamins, medications
sleeping bag, pillow, blanket
passport
insect repellent
personal address book, stamps
razor, jewelry, lotion, face lotion
nail clippers
checkbook
camera, batteries, charger
Shabbat supplies (candles, candlesticks, bencher, wine, challah)

Salad Plans

2009-10-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

We're going to a friends house for dinner on Monday and bringing a dish I haven't made in years! Why have I already planned what I'm bringing when I have no idea what we'll be having for dinner tomorrow? Well, I'm crazy, for one thing.

Also, this dinner out will be a perfect storm for this dish: Spicy Pineapple Tofu Salad. It's from the Moosewood Daily Special Cookbook, which I don't have, but I had a roommate in college who made this dish and Charley and I fell in love with it. But as much as I love it, I haven't made it since we moved down here for a few reasons:

It uses both tofu and pineapple, both ingredients which we very seldom buy, I don't think I've bought either since I moved to Baltimore 2 and 1/2 years ago. We generally eat a local diet at home, so I wouldn't make this kind of thing except for a special occasion.

Not everyone likes tofu or spicy dressings and marinades, but these friends do.

Also, because it's a more complicated dish, marinating and baking the tofu, with a homemade dressing and lots of vegetable prep, I wouldn't make it for a Shabbat dinner or for a crowd, when there are lots of other dishes to worry about.

Besides, it's good, so good it's the kind of dish that pains me to bring to a potluck when I know I'm only going to get a little bit, when it's such a special treat for us.

And when I saw that Pineapples were $1.99 at Safeway this morning I knew the right occasion had finally arrived. Hurray for Spicy Pineapple and Tofu Salad!

Naftali has also decided that we're going to make gingerbread train cookies soon, so maybe I'll be posting train cookie pictures.

Yelling

2009-10-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

I was reading this article out loud to my family this morning. "For Some Parents, Shouting Is The New Spanking" (Stout, NYTimes 10/22/09). I wasn't impressed with the article, it was hard to tell what angle they were coming from, unless it was that shouting at your kids will lower their self esteem which wasn't a particularly enlightening argument. However, I did identify with this mom's description of her interactions with her child:

“I’d like to think that most of the time we have a good interaction based on reason,” Lena Merrill said of her 4-year-old daughter, whom she has never spanked. But then there are the times when “she’s done something like poured milk on the floor or ripped a page out of a book,” Ms. Merrill said. “I just lose it.”

Usually, she says, she shouts something like, “Why did you do that? Why would you do that?”

“It’s phrased like a question to make her think, but the tone scares her,” Ms. Merrill said.

Still, Ms. Merrill, a travel consultant in Rutherford, N.J., finds that the threat of yelling can be a convenient stick, much the way the threat of a spanking was in her childhood. Even her husband has taken to using it to encourage good behavior, she said, issuing the warning:

“Don’t make mommy mad.”

As we all sat on the floor I pointed out to Charley that I have similar moments and I asked Naftali "Do I yell at you sometimes?"
"Yes, you do. Why do you do that?"
"I guess I just get frustrated and upset."
"Well..." Naftali said after thinking about it, "you just have to yell at someone when you get upset and frustrated. So you just yell at me, because you have to yell at someone."

Well, that certainly got me to thinking. For one thing, it reminded me of the reason we don't spank, which is that children who are asked why their parents spank them inevitably say that it was because their parents were mad (the children don't necessarily connect the spanking with the behavior that prompted it). I guess the same is true for yelling. Also, he's right, I yell when I am at the end of MY rope, not when he does something particularly bad, which he never really does. I guess for me the biggest reason not to yell, or spank for that matter, is modeling. I don't yell at adults, I think it's even been years since I yelled at my husband in anger. I think the only person I yell at is Naftali, and that is not fair. I don't let him yell at me- I don't want him to yell at anyone- so I really shouldn't be modeling it. Easier said than done.

Midwives

2009-10-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

I had my first midwife appointment 2 weeks ago but since I am now officially done with my first trimester I can now post about it. This is why I chose a midwife this time:

I had my son Naftali with an OBGyn at Highland hospital in Rochester. I really liked my doctor, I found her very easy to talk to and very helpful in all of my visits. I had a routine pregnancy with no major complications. I was very pleased that she stayed through my entire birth (not with me the whole time, of course) and afterwords to, well, stitch me up. However, I wasn't happy with some recommendations she made early on in my labor.

I started contractions very early in the morning the day Naftali was born and he was born around 11pm. My contractions were a bit unusual I think because they clustered from the beginning, I would have two or three close together and then a long break, even when I was just starting to dialate. I called my doctor to say that some were close together and some were far apart, not really knowing what that meant, and she suggested coming in to the office, which was next to the hospital, both were just down the street from us. She checked me and said that my water had broken (really, it hadn't completely )and they recommended I go to the hospital although I was maybe only 1-2 cm dilated.

I labored for 8 hours at the hospital without food or much support from nurses or staff. I wasn't moving along very fast so my doctor suggested that she break my water completely and after that my contractions became much more painful suddenly. I wish she had told me to go home after seeing me and wait for my contractions to increase in duration and intensity. Because of the long day in the hospital and the sudden increase in pain I ended up asking for an epidural, because of the epidural I later needed petocin, and so we did not have have the natural birth we had hoped for. I must say, the epidural was amazing, I remember taking a nap and watching the Olympics while waiting to dialate the rest of the way.

I was very pleased with my doctor's decisions at the birth. We had a scare because Naftali's (then baby boy Beller)'s vitals were dropping when I pushed, a situation that often can lead to an emergency C section. She was concerned that the cord may be wrapped around his neck. But there happened to be another OB on the floor that night who had been trained and was experienced with forceps, not as common these days, and so that was how they ended up getting him out quickly. They discovered that his cord was tied in a knot, quite a feat, he had been cut off from his flow of oxygen when I pushed him. No lasting harm, luckily.

I have an OBGyn here in Baltimore but was looking for a midwife or midwife group that birthed in hospital. I'd like a midwife because I feel like I would have better advice and support early on in labor, we are hoping again for a natural birth. But I would like to be in a hospital for the actual birth, both based on my own experience, and a few friends who recently tried to have home births and ended up in ambulances and hospitals. A neighbor recommended the group of midwives at Mercy Hospital, Kathy Sloan and associates, and so that was where I ended up for my first prenatal appointment.

Bedtime

2009-10-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is Naftali's bedtime routine:

Usually we are downstairs doing some kind of activity and I tell him that pretty soon it will be time to get ready for bed. He has a snack, most often whole wheat bread with butter and honey and milk (he lives the good life). Recently it's been pumpkin pie that we made this weekend.

We go upstairs and he jumps on the bed for a little while. My job is to chant "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" while he acts out the parts. We used to pick out two picture books to read, but now we read chapter books before bed. Before we read he has to use the bathroom, even if he's "not uncomfortable!".

Tonight we will finish Charlotte's Web (last night Charlotte died, which led to a long discussion). Next we are going to read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then maybe The Little Princess, although its pretty dark in the middle.

Then I turn the light off and we cuddle and I tell him two stories, often a story about an animal that I make up or a fairytale, and a true story about when I was little, or when he was a baby, or about another friend or family member.

Then I get his flashlight, an awesome pink solar charging flashlight that we charge during the day, and his stuffed monkey, and a book or two and say goodnight. He's been going to sleep by himself since the beginning of the summer, and at this point we check on him two or three times (at first it was more like 10) to say goodnight again and give him a hug and a kiss.

He is usually asleep in about a half hour, although the other night he spent two cheerful hours talking to "slug friend", a wound-up bathrobe belt. He has several stuffed animals but the belt to Charley's purple bathrobe is his favorite.

Collaboration

2009-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Naftali and I cleaned the kitchen.

Here is what he did:

Sprayed everything including cabinets, drawers, floor, sink, fridge, oven, walls, doors, garbage can with a vinegar and water solution in a spray bottle.
(the smell was really something)

Here's what I did:

Wiped everything, than mopped the floor for good measure.

Now the kitchen is really clean. Hurray!

Pantry

2009-10-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here is what we have on out rickety pantry/bookshelf, all from picked, or farm produce:

5 quarts of cherry pie filling
3 quarts of applesauce (much more of that once the apples prices get slashed at the market!)
10 half pints of salsa (medium heat)
10 quarts of canned tomatoes (not nearly enough, we'll have to supplement)
10 quarts and 20 pints of tomato sauce (this is enough I think!)
6 pints of strawberry jam (don't really like the way it came out)
3 quarts of dried tomatoes (wish we had more, dried tomato pesto is so good!
A pint or two of dried strawberries and cherries, going fast!
2 quarts of pickled green beans, one quart of picked green peppers (I with I'd pickled more dilly beans and come cucumbers)
We missed out on canning peaches this year, but there are a couple of local farms which can their own peaches)

Freezer:
15 quarts of strawberries
5 quarts peaches
2 quarts blueberries
1 quart raspberries
2 quarts roasted peppers

Basement:
1 bucket (5 gallon) of wheat berries
3 buckets of oats
1 bucket of raisens
wine!

Still to do: collect bushels of apples, potatoes, and squashes for cold storage
Make and can applesauce
Purchase canned tomatoes and peaces
Plan and purchase more food storage

Window Shopping

2009-10-10T17:47:00.002-07:00

Ok, what I'm really dreaming about buying is a set of stainless steel food storage containers (with a plastic seal).

But here is a list of everything I covet from the Lehman's non electric catalog (not including books, toys, tools or garden tools):

boar bristle brush
horn comb
key wound alarm clock
soap making kit
rubber hot water bottle (this one I'm getting!)
straight razor set (Charley)
high output LP cookers (for canning outside)
a composting toilet, preferably that didn't need a battery
water filter (need to research)
cheesemaking supplies
butter molds and crocks
glass bottom springform pan (any round springform pan really)
cast iron skillets
pressure canner
Aladdin oil lamp and oil
simpler double wick oil lamp
broom
nonelectric doorbell (but it wouldn't work with our door)
kitchen stool/stepstool (my mother-in-law has one of these, very cool!)
hand washer/wringer (because I'm crazy!) or maybe just the small pressure washer
spinning clothes drying wrack (for the backyard)

Late Season Picking

2009-09-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

It's the raspberries, as you may have guessed if you've ever picked raspberries. They are so delicate! We picked late season raspberries at Larriland Farm this weekend and also roma and round garden tomatoes. The raspberries took more than an hour, the tomatoes were done (by one person- me) in twenty minutes. They had just opened a new tomato field so it was incredibly easy and satisfying. We didn't pick into a wheelbarrow, we filled 6 bags at a little less than 20 lbs a bag, but as we were leaving there was a family with two wheelbarrows getting ready to start. The guy working at the cash register said the largest picking he'd seen was 300 lbs, so I guess we didn't really impress him, but that was for a big church dinner and this was only for our three person family.

Here's the breakdown:
30lbs already in a tomato sauce cooking down on the stove to can
5+ lbs cut into slices drying in the food dryer to make dried tomatoes
15 lbs cut into chunks to can tomatoes packed in juice
Which leaves 50 lbs to make another tomato sauce, a salsa, more canned tomatoes and at least another round of dried tomatoes

I certainly won't need to buy or make tomato sauce until next season, and hopefully I'll also avoid buying canned tomatoes, although we may even end up doing one more round of those (I'll have to buy MORE jars, and we've already added over 50 this year!). I really, really like canning. It appeals to many of my pleasures: providing food for my family, doing a big project with a satisfying conclusion, making my house smell amazing, and having delicious ready made food later on.

The tomatoes cost 49 cents a pound so it came out to about $50. Less than we would have paid at the market by at least ten dollars, and those would not have been low spray or as ripe.

Question

2009-09-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

What do you think takes longer, picking 2 pounds of raspberries or 100 pounds of tomatoes?

Canning

2009-09-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today we canned tomato sauce. Here is what we did:

Sunday morning: Went to to the Downtown Baltimore Farmer's Market. We asked a vendor who had roma tomatoes if we could buy a whole box, which is 1/2 a bushel. They sold us one for $15.

Monday morning: Washed the tomatoes and prepared them. I cut them in half and took out the cores. Then Naftali helped me puree them. He loaded them into the food processor and pushed the pulse button to puree them. We ended up with over three gallons of tomato puree.

Monday afternoon: Charley cut up four large onions and sauteed them in water in out large steel stockpot. We can on our stove, which is glass top and not great for canning because is has a low BTU. But next year I want to get an outdoor set up like this. But I'd rather have one that runs on kerosene so I don't have to store gas, which makes me nervous. The tomato sauce is simple: onions, tomato puree, salt, sugar or honey, dried spices. The sauce cooked all afternoon and reduced by half.

For dinner: pizza using the sauce- yum!

Monday Evening: Canned the sauce. Filled the canner with water to heat up. Put the (new) lids and screw tops in a saucepan of water to simmer. Got out our funnel, tongs, canning rack, magnetic lid lifter (my new favorite), clean cloth, ladle, large trivet. I heated up the tomato sauce to simmering. I washed and rinsed the jars in hot water (you can also put them through the dishwasher). We made 10 pints and 2 quarts plus a pizza and a scant pint, so we had about 2 gallons. Then I moved the sauce over onto the trivet on the counter.
Take one clean jar, put in 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Put in funnel, ladle in sauce leaving 1/2 inch headspace
Wipe jar rim with clean cloth
Get one lid and cap from saucepan, screw on lid loosely, not tight
Put jar in canning rack
Put rack into canner and process at a rolling boil for 35 minutes
Let jars cool several hours before checking seal (lid should be sealed down tightly)

(Recipe from Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver)

Root Shock

2009-07-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

Although I am a young, white, raised-in-the-suburbs woman; middle class in terms of education if not income, I find myself consistently in the Sociology section of the Enoch Pratt Free Library (Central Branch) getting out books on race and urban issues. I try not to be part of a "...nation of cowards, ... simply not talk(ing) enough..about things racial." (The words of our attorney general, Eric Holder) I'm reading an interesting one called Root Shock by Mindy Thopson Fullilove. Here is a paragraph from the end of the first chapter:

"The vigor of the civil rights movement led to the expectation that black Americans would be better off when segregation was defeated. In fact, by 1970, some were but many were not. Instead, the have-nots had tumbled deeper into poverty and dysfunction. The great epidemics of drug addiction, the collapse of the black family, and the rise in incarceration of black men–all of these catastrophes followed the civil rights movements, they did not precede it. Though there are a number of causes of this dysfunction that cannot be disputed–the loss of manufacturing jobs, in particular–the current situation of Black America cannot be understood without a full and complete accounting of the social, economic, cultural, political, and emotional losses that followed the bulldozing of 1,600 neighborhoods."

So far the book is fascinating. I'm especially interested because all three "Black America" issues she lists: drugs, single parent families, men in jail, are rampant in my Baltimore neighborhood in black (and white!) families. On black men in jail: one in nine black men in their twenties are in jail, and if you read the police reports in Baltimore, there is usually a least two young black man shot every week. So why are there young black men dealing drugs on my corner, statistically headed for one or the other? For one thing, the jobs (construction, labor, trades) have completely disappeared in the city in the last year.

Something else I read in another interesting book "There Goes the 'Hood: Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up" by Lance Freedman was that the rift in families can also stratify the generations of black men: older men used to mentor younger men and get them jobs and opportunities with their connections. Many of these older men are cut off from the world they grew up in: out of their neighborhood, retired from their profession, lacking skills and knowledge about technology, and unable to mentor the younger generation. My take: in my neighborhood the older black men who don't have jobs walk and sit around talking and drinking beer all day. They're very nice, but not who I would go to for a job or opportunity. Having lived in the city for a few years now I can see why a young black man, raised in the city, would not want to leave it to seek opportunities elsewhere. It is their home, their comfort zone, but there are few legal jobs, and nothing with the paycheck that rivals criminal activity.

I find the whole situation incredibly frustrating and frankly, I think the U.S. government has a lot more to apologize for than their recent apology for slavery (kind of late right?). The destruction of black neighborhoods and the war on drugs both stem directly from policy. For me the beginning of real job and life opportunities for black men starts with the decriminalization of what they are currently doing to make money and live. There's nothing like seeing the same dealers every day to realize that they are just waking up, going to work, and eating dinner every day like you are. Years ago I would have asked "why don't they just do something legal?" but there is a whole different code of ethics in the city, the police are not always right, legal and illegal become blurry and actually not relevant, like asking: why don't you just follow the speed limit?

I have no personal experience with heroin or cocaine but I see the effect it has in peoples lives, my neighbor's lives, every day. Drug addicts are not sane people, not nice people, and I hate to see it. But every man is his own person and people have to make decisions for themselves. I think the criminalization of drugs and drug selling has been an attack now on generations of people: men shot, in jail, their families torn apart, their kids without a path to another life. So my question is not when is the government going to legalize pot but when is it going to legalize all drugs and regulate their sale?

Check out an amazing exhibit at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, designed by the talented Dawn Bennett, East Side Stories. "This exhibition of more than 100 photographs offers both a historic view of Baltimore’s East Side, and a modern focus on “Middle East” Baltimore, Belair-Edison in the northeast, and Latino communities in the city's southeast. Through audio and visual portraits, residents’ stories of family, home, neighbors, and belonging provide a mirror to East Baltimore’s past and a tour through its most recent history. The featured photographers are Ken Royster, Elizabeth Barbush of Art on Purpose, Ellis L. Marsalis, III, and Michela Caudill." Some of the neighborhoods featured in the exhibit were torn down for a new Johns Hopkins Science + Technology Park.

Spring Cleaning Overview

2009-04-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

I had a request for recipes for spring cleaning. Here are my most commonly used cleaning ingredients:

Emulsifier (plant or animal fat based soap) I use Dr. Bronners soap most often. Emulsifiers help water mix with oil or grease so it can be removed by scrubbing and rinsing.

Detergents contain surfactants which are more often petroleum based. They don't leave soap scum and make the basis of dishwashing and laundry detergents and most commercial cleaning products. But many of those products have a lot of other stuff thrown in also. I use two kinds: a mild dishwashing detergent, bought in bulk (NOT for a dishwasher, the handwashing kind) and powered laundry detergent or borax.

Acids - I use lemon juice and white vinegar

Alkalies - I use baking soda, ammonia, and bleach

I use sunlight, lemon juice, oxygen and chlorine bleach, for whitening and disinfecting diapers and white sheets.

I bought a few bottles of essential oils so I would have some nicer smells: I have lavender, tangerine, eucalyptus, and peppermint

A variety of products for preservation of wood can be made from oils and beeswax.

Sturdy spray bottles and lots of rags are pretty much what I use for cleaning. Here are my recipes:

Everyday cleaning:
Bottle #1 Water (sometimes it's all you need) and for dampening rags to dust with and the dust mop
Bottle #2 Water and Vinegar maybe 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water for mirrors, picture frame glass, windows, shower doors and most bathroom fixtures, drop of essential oil
Bottle #3 Water and soap or mild dishwashing detergent for kitchen surfaces (except maybe the water/vinegar for the sink)

Materials: caddy with bottles, rags, one scrub brush, dust mop covers, plus dust mop and broom with dust pan, mop for kitchen
I have separate rags for the kitchen which I keep in the kitchen so I don't scrub the sink and the toilet with the same rag. Our order is: Upstairs first, dry rooms before wet rooms, kitchen last. I change sheets, pick up, dust, and dust mop the floor. In the bathroom I clean the sink, mirror, shower, toilet and floor. In the kitchen I clean up, then counters, stove, sink, floor and maybe fridge. After I clean I wash all rags in HOT water in the washing machine and hang them in the sunlight or in the winter I'll add some bleach to disinfect.

The toilet gets a tablespoon of laundry detergent and occasionally a splash of bleach to sit for a while and then scrubbed out with the toilet brush

Spring Cleaning:
Bottle # 1 Water and vinegar for windows with essential oil, mirrors etc.
Bottle # 1 Quart water with 2 tablespoons ammonia and 1 tablespoon mild detergent and a couple drops of essential oil for kitchen surfaces
Bucket: Gallon of warm water with 1 tablespoon laundry detergent and 1/2 cup bleach for bathroom sinks, showers, baths, and floors
Baking soda paste for scrubbing
For the oven: I spray the ammonia solution and sprinkle baking soda and leave it over night then scrub out

Our spring/fall cleaning is: each room start with closets, everything comes out, closet clean, contents cleaned, sorted and purged, replaced. Then all drawers, then bookshelves. Everything comes out or off to get cleaned. We usually donate boxes and boxes of stuff. Anything seasonal gets packed up for the basement (clothes, coats, blankets, toys). Everything that's not on a shelf or in a drawer or closet comes out of the room or heavy furniture is moved, then walls, ceiling, baseboard, floor, windows, fixtures wiped, dusted, or painted. It's basically like moving out and moving back in again. If you do it twice a year it will only take a couple days for a small house if you have someone helping. After you're done you'll know your entire house is clean and you should know where everything is. A place for everything, as they say.

Twitter?

2009-03-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

This quote is from Mark McKinnon, on TheDailyBeast.com. Thank you to Politico's Daily Playbook for bringing it to my attention. The Daily Playbook it vital for political junkies like me:

"I tried to be Twitter hip. I even wrote a blog about how Twitter could be a useful political tool under the notion that hearing voters twitter a debate could provide unique, real-time insights into their behavior and thinking. But I'm giving it up. ... I realized the more I tried to maintain links to the ever expanding universe of acquaintances in my orbit through the ever increasing number of tools to connect with them, the less I was spending real quality time on the people who really matter to me. My old friend and political nemesis Paul Begala is one of the smartest people I know. He's also figured out a lot about life ... And he said something once that has really stuck with me: 'I'm not filling out any applications for new friends,' he said, 'until I do a better job with the ones I've got.' So, I've taken that lesson to heart. Instead of spending hours trying to add to the number of friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter, I've decided to spend that time on the handful of people I really care about. I write them real letters. I try to remember their kids' names and their birthdays. I want to know about their lives. I want to know if they are happy in their marriages; in their careers. If they're not, or if they are sick, I want to know if there is something I can do to help. Meaningful friendships require constant attention, nourishment, feeding and watering. It requires quality time. Not just a Tweet."

Esmellina

2009-02-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

These are two pictures from my violin being repaired by Michael Weller of Weller Violins in Alexandria, Virginia. My violin was made by a woman named Ivy Rimmer Owen in Leeds, UK in 1905. I never knew my violin had a name: Esmellina.

Celebrating

2009-02-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Right now my husband and I are planning Naftali's upshirin, his third birthday party and his first haircut all in one. And so we come to take a stab at a "green" simcha, a topic that is all the rage for weddings and b'nei mitzvot these days. Of course, the greenest party is no party right? No travel, no surplus food and fancy out of state foods, no party favors and table clothes manufactured and shipped. The next step would be a small, local party. But, of course it's a simcha! so how do we take steps to reduce the impact to the environment from our son's big party?

We rented space for it, since we're expecting 50+ people, but besides lights and heat (which you would need anyway for those people) I don't think that makes a big impact.

We asked for no presents. Naftali has plenty of toys, we get books from the library, and we don't have a lot of space for more things. And as we tried to think of ways to enforce this we came up with asking for a food pantry donation so that people could come with something, just not something for him. I also like the idea that even as we can afford to have a big party for him, we remember that there are lots of people, including many of our neighbors, who are suffering without jobs, food security and health care.

We're not decorating. This might just be due to my laziness. But I can still put it down, right?

We're making most of the food ourselves from local sources. There's a song in Hebrew: on Sunday potatoes, on Monday potatoes, on Tuesday potatoes, on Wednesday potatoes, on Thursday potatoes, on Friday potatoes, on Shabbat a big surprise....two portions of potatoes!! And that's pretty how our diet goes in the winter. We had latkes for dinner tonight, actually. So there will be potato salad and of course cabbage and that winter favorite, carrot cake (as well as that personal favorite: chocolate cake!) as well as the usual bagels etc.

Plates and utensils: have not figured this one out- any ideas?

When I realized we'd probably need something for people to do we went ahead and asked people to bring their musical instruments, so no need (or want) for canned music. But we still needed some kind of activity so I came up with potting soil and seeds- late February is the perfect time to start seeds for spring planting. This covers the party favor also, people can go home with half a cardboard egg carton with their tomato and pepper seedlings. Extras can go to our community garden.

Peach Juice

2009-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

What do you do with all of the sugary syrup mixed with peach pulp after eating your canned peaches? We have been trying to answer this question in our house. We picked peaches this summer at Larriland Farms along with strawberries and blackberries. We stored these delicious Maryland peaches four ways: we dried slices in our food dryer, we froze ziplock bags of slices, we canned several pints and quarts of peach chunks in syrup, and Charley ate about 20 lbs of peaches. I guess that last one is not really storing. The dried peaches were eaten maybe the same week we made them (they were SO good!), the frozen peaches get made into smoothies, and the canned peaches are very good, but leave us with a bunch of syrup I just don't feel right throwing out.

So tonight I'm mixing the peach syrup with frozen blackberries (many of which were pretty tart) and cooking it down to make a sauce for yogurt, pancakes, and waffles. We usually use maple syrup for that purpose, but the closest decent maple syrup is in western Maryland and it does get pricey, and our homemade blackberry sauce is delicious and tastes like summer!

Popovers

2009-01-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

We are really excited about popovers. The recipe is so easy, and so delicious, especially when eaten warm out of the oven. One of the things I love about popovers is that they use no leavening (so they're kosher for passover- haha I wish!). And yet they are so light and fluffy in a way that seems completely new and novel to someone who loves bread and muffins and cookies. Add a little local butter and jam and they are perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Super easy popover recipe:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
(and a) pinch of salt

You can chant it (and my son does) over and over again and you'll have the recipe for popovers forever engraved in your memory.

We bake them in a 400 degree over (you can go hotter, we've also done 425) until the tops are golden brown- about 25 minutes for standard muffin tins. You can bake popovers in any size tin (and they do make fancy little narrow width popover tins) and their shape will depend on how full you fill each cup. I like to fill them at least 2/3 to get a big, crazy puff on top. They are sooo good hot I usually only do half of this batter, either by cutting the recipe in half or saving half in the fridge (for tomorrow!) and that makes 4-6 popovers.

Toys

2009-01-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

One or two dolls
Two stuffed animals
One set of blocks
Old clothes for dress up
Empty boxes and cans and bottles
Blackboard and chalk
Crayons and the backs of paper you've used
A few balls
A bat and a glove
A few games
One big toy- a dollhouse or battle cruiser or some trains and track

This is the list of toys, not including books, that is recommended in the book I'm reading, 'Depletion and Abundance' by Sharon Astyk. It's not suggested as a starting point, but rather as an upward limit. Now we never buy our son toys but he still has a lot, but I would say far fewer than any other kid I have seen in recent memory. But he has a lot more toys than listed here. Sharon Astyk has four boys from 2-8, and yet her toy suggestions are deprivation by typical American standards. Here is some of her explanation:

"Cheap toys aren't just bad or our kids, they are bad for everyone - for kids, for workers, for the planet, for the future. The toys are made by impoverished people who didn't get to have toys themselves growing up, sometimes by children who are enslaved in factories instead of playing at home. And for all that lead paint on Elmo's face is dangerous for our kids, it is worse for the workers who made the toys. They are the ones who work 12 hours a day with lead paint- many of them young women at the beginning of their reproductive years. The factories emit greenhouse gases that warm the planet and use up limited supplies of petroleum for what? For a toy that will be broken in a matter of days or hours? And their destruction is inevitable, because children with a million toys simply cannot understand the value of a thing...What's the solution? There is only one answer that I know of, and I hope that parents and grandparents will begin to take this seriously - many, many fewer toys, made to much higher standards."

Oops, got to go, looks like we burst a pipe!

Brrrrak Obama

2009-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Charley and I dumped Naftali at a babysitter this afternoon and walked down to Baltimore city hall to catch Obama's speech. It was around 20 degrees, not too cold by upstate New York standards but pretty cold, especially to be out for four hours, which we were. We managed to get on a bus that took us to the train station and it was about a mile from there to a big line of people waiting to go through metal detectors. At least a mile in every direction there were multiple policemen and women on every corner and intersection. Closer to city hall there were soldiers on rooftops and helicopters circling. They had a screen set up with the local news which was covering Obama's arrival in Baltimore via train. As we moved closer to the security checkpoint there were lines of vendors shouting "Obama, Obama, Tshirts, mugs, hats, $5".

Once inside we got pretty close to where the speech was happening, in the freezing cold only about 40,000 people were there. As we found a place to stand they were playing Aretha Franklen's 'Respect' and the crowd was rocking. Then the Morgan State Choir sang and they were terrific. After they sang some country music came on, which the crowd was noticeably NOT enjoying, but about 2/3 of the way through the song it was replaced by more Motown. When they started introducing local politicians (but not Sheila Dixon!) everyone would perk up at "Ladies and Gentleman" but start booing when it wasn't Obama. Finally they brought out the Obamas and Bidens and crowd went wild. He spoke for about 10 minutes. Here's a piece of it.

(listing the problems facing out country) "...A planet that's warming- although you can't tell today- from our unsustainable dependence on oil. (Woman yells 'I love you Obama!') I love you back! And yet, while our problems may be new what is required to overcome them is not new. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that those first patriots displayed. What's required is a new Declaration of Independence, not just in our nation but in our own lives and our own hearts, from ideology and small thinking, from prejudice and bigotry, from selfishness and narrow interests. An appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better agents."

We walked home when he finished, about 2 miles and it felt really good to be moving again. We got held up at the train station- all the roads going North out of downtown cross the train tracks and they wouldn't let anyone on the bridges over the tracks until Obama was safely on the train and out of downtown. Finally they let us through and we finished our walk back to Naftali. I'm really glad we went, I'd never seen a president (or president elect) before!

Home Depot

2009-01-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

I enjoy the Planet Money podcast from NPR. It started when the stock market collapsed and has continued covering the economy ever since, and the best part is that I understand very nearly everything they say about economics and finance. One of the pieces of the podcast is an often unusual "economic indicator". Thinking outside the "Dow is down 100 points" box they try to find more meaningful numbers to explain the state of the economy which is, let's face it, awful.

I thought of Planet Money when I stopped by Home Depot late morning on Tuesday to pick up some free paint sticks to make practice violins for my new violin class. When I stepped out of the car I was surprised at how crowded the parking lot was because there weren't very many cars. I counted over 50 men standing in groups or circling aimlessly around the parking lot. I talked to a guy and he said he was waiting for work- he used to come early in the morning and get picked up to work on a construction crew for the day, but now he just comes and waits. And waits. And it was cold, too.

So that's my economic indicator for the day.

Smart Strip

2009-01-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

This is our smart strip. Right now because I'm using the computer and the internet and Naftali and I just finished watching part of a movie there are LOTS of things plugged in. This power strip came to us courtesy of my wonderful mother-in-law. It's especially great for a TV/DVD/Video game set up. Of course, we have neither TV nor television related accouterments, so we finally found a place in our house where we needed a power strip: our computer! I plug the computer in to the strip and it automatically activates the computer related gadgets like printer, modem, etc. Works great and saves us both energy (because when we're not using them our electronics are not drawing power) and the hassle of constantly plugging and unplugging, a more annoying part of being energy conscious.

Curtains redux

2009-01-12T17:02:00.001-08:00

These are the curtain liners I made out of a blanket I really didn't like. I got it (the blanket) in college and while I've disliked both the color and the texture ever since, but it's a warm blanket and I just couldn't justify getting rid of it since it gets hidden under a quilt or a comforter anyway. But Charley'd been making noises about lining our windows with something heavier than our lovely summer curtains, and it was ugly blanket to the rescue! I didn't even have to thread a needle- I just cut the side of the flap along the edge and slid it on the rod! Now, since they're on the outside, everyone else on our block has to look at them all night long.

Bogo

2009-01-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

I love my Hannukah present! It's a Bogo light- that black strip is a solar panel and inside are three rechargeable triple A batteries. These batteries will give me at least 6,000 hours of light before I have to replace them (an average C or D would be around 15 hours- that's a big difference!) Best of all, when my wonderful husband got me this fashionable pink flashlight for a present he also donated one to go to someone who needed light in the developing world. Bogo particularly does a lot of work with women in refugee camps- having light at night can help keep them and their children safe. Naftali has named this flashlight "Hunky-hunky" (where does he come up with this stuff?) and wants to take it everywhere with him.

Childhood Asthma

2009-01-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

Naftali is enjoying some of our late raspberries in this picture from October. If I put up a picture of him today you would see his red, red nose- he is currently fighting some kind of infection and we've been wiping our share of snot. We've also been giving him asthma treatments every four hours or he starts to cough and wheeze to the point where he throws up. Since we moved to Baltimore, on a street with constant traffic, next to a major auto body shop and a few hundred yard from a major highway, Naftali's illness related asthma has gotten much worse. Not that I can prove it's the air quality, but I've seen the statistics on child asthma in New York City and they are ugly. Colin Beaven gets indignant about carbon related childhood asthma here, here, and here.

How do you decide what's best for your child's health? We want him to live in the city where he can learn to walk and bike and take public transportation rather than driving anywhere, which will be good for his health, but the city air in Baltimore is toxic as far as I'm concerned! My neighborhood association GRIA has recently gotten involved with Johns Hopkins students in an excellent organization, Engineers Without Borders, who may be doing an air quality study in our neighborhood. We're hoping they'll also work with us to brainstorm ideas for improving air quality. I've really enjoyed reading about what this organization does, it is very important and innovative work.

Remembrance

2009-01-07T03:34:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about our beloved Rabbi from Beth David in Rochester, Rabbi Laurence Skopitz z"l. It's only been around two years since he passed away and we miss him very much. Below is a transcription of a phone message I received from "Rabbi" as I used to call him, about setting up a meeting from several years ago. I had this message saved on my phone until we broke our contract with Verizon and got out of the cell phone business, at first because it was so funny, and later because it was funny, and sad also.

Uh, Megan, this is Rrrrrabbi....um, I eh have a conflict tomorrow so I'd like to put off our get together for one week, that would be a week Thursday and we could do it at one o'clock, and I guess we could go over to the, um, uh, place at twelve corners...uh...either that uh Great American Pizza place which has nice salads or across the street to bagel, that bagel place that, uh, has soup and salad, and, well, has soup anyway or we could go to the- uh- the other place at- uh- next to Eye Openers and- um- *sigh* and uh th- the jewelry store there and why I'm blocking on the name I have no i- idea because I know these people very well and uh not that I'd buy anything there (cuz who can afford it) but I digress.....anyways, that plaza up uh there uh.......the Great Something or Other Factory- or something.......uh the Atlanta Food Whatever.....anyway, the Atlanta Bread Company! got it- Mann- next to Mann's Jewelers! its coming back! your y-y- you are witnessing the return of sanity of lucidity here- anyways- um uh next Thursday one week from tomorrow at twelve or one or whatever uh let me know any other place that you have in mind would be fine too around that part of the world uh ###-#### sorry to make this message so absurdly long bye bye hope to see you soon.

(This post was originally entitled "This Post Might Make Marcy Cry")

Pizza

2009-01-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Pizza is literally what I make when it's an hour before dinner and I have no idea what we're going to have. Not ordering pizza, making pizza. But you can also make the crust in the morning before work, use a minimum of yeast, and let it rise in your cool house while you're at work. We always have some kind of cheese in the house and if we don't have fresh tomatoes and peppers we'll at least have onions and garlic which can be sauteed and put on top. We canned tomato sauce twice over the summer so we can use our own homemade fresh tomato sauce- next year I want to can enough tomato sauce to be able to use it through June (when you can at least dream about early tomatoes).

Here is the pizza I've been making lately, from Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barabara Kingsolver with adjustments by myself to cut the recipe in half

1 tsp. yeast
1 cup WARM water
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cups white flour and/or whole wheat flour

To make crust, dissolve the yeast into the warm water and add oil and salt to that mixture. Mix the flours and knead them into the liquid mixture. Let dough rise for 30 to 40 minutes.

1 cup sliced onions
1 peppers, cut up
While the dough is rising, prepare the sliced onions: a slow sauté to caramelize their sugars makes fresh onions into an amazing vegetable. First sizzle them on medium heat in a little olive oil, until transparent but not browned. Then turn down the burner, add a bit of water if necessary to keep them from browning, and let them cook ten to fifteen minutes more, until they are glossy and sweet.
Peppers can benefit from a similar treatment.

Once the dough has risen roll out 12 inch pizza crust on a clean, floured countertop, using your fingers to roll the perimeter into on outer crust as thick as you like. Using spatulas, slide the crust onto a well floured pan or baking stone and spread toppings.

16 oz. mozzarella, thinly sliced (or sharp, or any combination of other cheeses)
2 cups fresh tomatoes in season (or sauce in winter)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
Olive oil
Layer the cheese evenly over the crust, then scatter the toppings of the week on your pizza, finishing with the spices. If you use tomato sauce (rather than fresh tomatoes), spread that over crust first, then the cheese, then other toppings.
Bake pizza at 425° for about 15-20 minutes, until crust is brown and crisp.

Piano Time

2009-01-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

My son is playing a duet with Jason Paul Peterson in this picture. An outstanding pianist I was lucky enough to work with at Eastman and who just released a new CD "with support from the Peabody Institute and the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar . . . The program: C major Scarlatti sonata, K. 159; Schumann's "Kreisleriana"; the opus 79 rhapsodies of Brahms, and two pieces for left hand alone of Alexander Scriabin." We've been playing a lot of music lately and having a great time. I find it very relaxing to end the day with music, but I have to fight the feeling that there is something else I need to get done.

Jason is a great guy with quite a distinguished career ahead (and behind!) him. If you have a chance, check him out.

Blocks

2009-01-02T05:32:00.000-08:00

I have wonderful memories of playing with these ubiquitous wooden blocks growing up. I believe my uncle, a carpenter, made our set which was enormous. My favorite thing to do with them as I grew older was to build castles with my father. Each castle would also be a marble run, and when I got old enough to encounter the new trend in plastic toy ball runs I realized that it took most of the fun out of it if you didn't get to design the whole thing from scratch. Now we have a set handed down from a friend and Naftali still gets to enjoy my uncle's handiwork (above) when we visit him. Best of all no glues, dyes, sounds, batteries, off gassing, choking hazards, or breakable parts.

Keeping Apples

2009-01-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

When our guests get the tour of the guest...suite...they sometimes ask about the apples in the bathroom. Or the potatoes.

There are two large city farmers markets in Baltimore. One is the Waverly Market, walking distance from our house and open all year round. Unfortunately it's only open on Saturdays and off limits to us because of Shabbat. The other Sunday morning market is under Highway 83 downtown and runs from May to December. That leaves us with approximately 4 and 1/2 months without a large farmers market, the easiest place to find local fruits and vegetables, juice and cider, dairy, eggs, honey, nuts and more. We still enjoy visiting our local neighborhood market and find a smaller selection.

The last day we visited the Sunday market we bought a bushel of apples and half a bushel of potatoes. They are delicious! But in order to keep them in good shape for a couple of months (if they last that long) they need cold storage. No room in the fridge, and our basement isn't very cold. In the future we could wrap our furnace and water heater in insulated blankets (which we really should do anyway) and section off a part of the basement for storage, but for now our uninsulated guest bathroom works just fine. And sitting on a 30 degree toilet? Really fun- I keep tell Charley he should try it.

I check over the apples when I'm in there and pick out ones with spots- they're great to use right away but if left they will rot. This is our favorite way to use leftover apples for dinner:

Pink Saute:
One large apple, diced
One medium onion, diced
1-2 cups of purple cabbage, sliced thinly

Saute onions and apples in oil until softened, add cabbage and a touch of brown sugar and continue, stirring until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. If desired add a dash of soy sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds and/or chopped cashews. Serve with brown rice.

Candlelit Dinner for Three

2008-12-31T04:26:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of different reasons for our new dinner routine.

First, we went to a neighbor's house for dinner on Saturday and had a great time and one thing I noticed was that she had set up candles for dinner and turned the rest of the lights down. When we sat down for dinner it seemed a little gloomy- we light our Shabbat dinners very brightly ala our dinner party mentors from Rochester. But once I had adjusted to it I really liked eating by candlelight.

Next, we are in the middle of adjusting our sleeping hours back to an early schedule after getting a little lazy over the holidays. A two hour shift in wake up time from 8 to 6 is a very big adjustment around here and I've been looking for ways to help everyone get to sleep earlier by keeping the light lower in the evenings.

Last, we got our electric bill for November/December and it was a fright, we used 50% more electricity and three time as much gas as the month before. This, just as we're thinking seriously about aiming for the 10% mark. (Some folks over at the Riot 4 Austerity are trying to reduce their carbon emissions to just 10% of the national average- more on that in the future if we decide to do it)

So this week we've been eating dinner by candlelight, aiming to eat just after twilight so we can keep our lights off an hour longer. My mom made it all possible, giving us candles for Hannukah this year and gorgeous candle sticks last year. We all like it a lot, it makes the dinner feel very special, and it really helps you value daylight to experience what the shift into night feels like. In the city here we also get a lot of light at night from the street light outside our house. You could sit outside on our steps and read by it, although when it's warm enough to enjoy sitting outside after dark it's also warm enough for the rats to be out!

Caulk

2008-12-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

Today we caulked. I really had no idea before I owned my own house what caulk or a caulk gun was or how to use it. Actually, I don't think I understood how a kitchen is built, with cabinets and counters bolted into the walls instead of just growing (or being built) there. My grasp of construction and design could be better. When we put in our new IKEA cabinets we never caulked between the counter and the wall. Didn't really occur to me until I started trying to get to the bottom of an annoyingly persistent fruit fly problem this summer. Sure, it's Baltimore and it's hot and we're in a row house but even with everything spotless and dry and no food left out anywhere I still had fruit flies! I started to think water was draining down between the counter and the wall and festering under my cabinets. Bingo. So we finally this morning got around to doing something about it, and Naftali has been playing with the caulk gun (minus caulk) for the rest of the day.

Play Dough

2008-12-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

A story from last year about our first experience with making play dough. A friend gave us this homemade play dough recipe. Here it is from memory:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 T oil
2 t cream of tartar
food coloring
Cook, stirring, in a pan on low heat until it forms a ball

It was from a book called Mudworks by MaryAnn F. Kohn and it was called “Salty Oil Dough II”. I figured it might be just the thing to keep Naftali happy in his high chair or the vicinity of the kitchen while I am A) preparing food or B) washing dishes. So I went to the grocery store to get the only thing in the recipe that I didn’t have: cream of tartar. We have a Safeway down the street from us so I stopped by, got a couple of other things for dinner, and started looking for cream of tartar. Twenty minutes of wandering around did not result in finding it, and the person I asked also couldn’t help. I finally remembered something about people eating tarter with fish, so I went over to the fish section and presto! Tartar sauce. I figured it was the same thing and got it. Of course, if you’re reading this and you have any experience in these matters, you probably know, as I did not, that they are not the same thing. Cream of tartar is “obtained when tartaric acid is half neutralized with potassium hydroxide, transforming it into a salt” (ochef.com) and Tartar sauce is mayonnaise and pickle relish. So I made the play dough using tartar sauce instead of cream of tartar, and you would think that the bits of pickle relish would have revealed my mistake, but no, I also mistook the T (tablespoon) of oil for a c (cup) of oil, and it was hard to find anything under all the oil. Well, I figured, it’s called salty OIL dough. Maybe it’s supposed to be…really oily. Naftali, all of the utensils I got out for him to play with, the table, chairs, hair, clothes, and floor all got REALLY oily before Charley got home and we figured out what had gone wrong. So Charley bought some cream of tartar (available in the spice section) made the next batch, green, and it came out beautifully.

Cornbread

2008-12-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

We eat lots of cornbread, and it's pretty fast to prepare and bake. I use this recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, which is the third most used cookbook on my shelf:

Basic Corn Bread
2 T butter
1 c cornmeal
1 c flour (white or whole wheat or a mix)
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c oil or butter, melted
2-4 T honey (I like 4!!)
1 c milk

Preheat oven to 425
Put butter in 8 inch square baking pan and set in oven while it's heating. Stir together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Remove pan from oven and brush melted butter around the edge, pour the excess into the wet ingredients. Mix the dry and wet together, then pour into pan and bake about 25 minutes until golden brown and edges pull away from pan.

It's delicious hot and for a day or two with butter. Then, with stale cornbread I heat a couple of tablespoons of butter in a griddle and fry thin slices of cornbread until beginning to brown. Then pour maple syrup into the pan (maybe...2 tablespoons?) and tilt pan to get all the slices, then flip the slices and pour in another helping of maple syrup. I leave them over heat a little longer and then remove. You can serve this hot, warm, or cold, alongside savory food for dinner or for dessert. It never fails to please.

Aprons

2008-12-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

I wear aprons when I'm doing housework and although I generally take them off when guests come, I do get weird looks and comments when friends- especially younger friends- see me cooking in an apron. Oddly, although my mom always wears an apron to bake and almost always to cook I never liked wearing one (hmmm...maybe that's why) and avoided them until I met my husband and noticed he always wore one to do the dishes. I thought it was cute, and I tried it and noticed that I could lean up against the counter comfortably without worrying about water splashing on my clothes- it made dish washing (which we do a lot of, having a dishwasher but not using it at all) a whole lot more comfortable. Then I started baking seriously, trying to make our bread, muffins, pies, cookies to our specific tastes and the flour got everywhere! Aprons to the rescue.

I definitely have an appreciation for dressing our bodies for specific tasks. Most religions have a overt or subtle dress code for prayer. We wear different clothes for sleeping, working, playing, socializing. I really like having aprons for kitchen work and cleaning. Aprons take less fabric and are easier to sew than dresses (or in this age, shirts, skirts, and pants) and can be made out of old sheets, clothes, and tablecloths. They then take the brunt of dirt and allow you (along with appropriate undergarments) to wear your clothes for days! before washing them. Since I wear long skirts as a general rule, I like the bistro style because it covers the whole skirt and the bottom of the shirt, which tends to get grubby. Still, I hope to make some serious smock style aprons soon.

Advice for Expectant Parents Part 2

2008-11-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

Toys:
Can be mostly pictures of mom and dad, grandparents, and whatever looks nice you can cut out of a magazine. Tape them near the car seat, basket, diaper change area, crib, etc.

Pillows:
You need lots of pillows. 5-6 Regular pillows, maybe a big body one, save one of each shape of bobby you’re given, but don’t buy one because many people find them useless. Any pillow that helps- pick up one or more. You will save yourself so much pain and soreness if you pack on the pillows when you nurse and when you are lying down: pillows behind your back, between you knees, etc just like when you were pregnant, and around the baby when you practice nursing lying down which you should do ALL THE TIME until you master it.

On Cosleeping:
Everyone worries about rolling on to the baby, but the reality is you don't roll off the bed when you're sleeping and you won't roll on to your baby either. In deep sleep your body is completely relaxed, not moving. The times when you are moving in your sleep coincide with lighter sleep. We never had any problems, and everyone got more and better sleep in the same bed, especially after my son learned how to nurse lying down.

Diaper Changing Table:
Don’t buy anything fancy. Newborns can’t move at all. At this point the bed, the crib, the table, the couch, the floor, everything works. Just don’t leave them alone and they’ll be fine. Seriously, they can’t roll yet (but this will not last for ever). We loved using the crib and just kept all the diapers and wipes and stuff right in there. I found it easier to change a diaper with the baby’s feet towards you (perpendicular) than with the baby sideways.

Bath:
If someone gives you disposable presoaped washcloths they are kind of handy, otherwise just use mild soap on a washcloth. You need a space heater in the bathroom to make it extra warm. Bathing is terrifying- make Dad do it! We did a bath maybe once a week and didn’t even worry about the hair until later. The little tub is nice- you can put it in the big tub- but a kitchen sink washing tub works great too. They will cry a lot (again, make Dad do it so you aren’t gushing milk all over). Once they start to like it you can do it every day with warm water and just do soap/hair once a week until they’re eating food and it starts to crust on. Then it’s time for soap. We don’t have a bathtub and at almost two my son won’t shower so we use a big plastic storage container as a washtub. He loves to sit in there and play with his toys, and it uses a lot less water because it’s smaller than a bathtub.

Lists:
You need people to call when you need help during the day and at odd hours (good friends or in laws)
People who offer to help or pick something up
Jobs for said people (laundry, dishes, vacuum, errands, grocery shopping, making the bed) Then when someone calls or visits and offers to help force yourself to say yes! There’s a list of jobs on the fridge. People LOVE to help new parents and you’ll be happier with clean clothes and dishes and food in the house.

For Mom: books, magazines, stuff to read. Stuff to watch also (DVDs, TV) because sometimes reading is too much effort. I used a music stand by my nursing chair to read. Lots of bottles to fill with water and stash all over the house. Lots of food that’s easy to prepare. Post a list of good snacks on the fridge. If someone comes over and you’re hungry ask them to get you a snack and some water. You will only have time for nursing, eating, and sleeping until you and the baby get better at nursing: AT LEAST SIX WEEKS. You will have to sneak in showers where you can. LOTS OF PADS (like for your period) of different sizes. You’ll be wearing them for about a month. The biggest thing mom and baby need is TIME together. Clear you schedule as much as you can and don’t let anyone try to convince you that you need a “break” from the baby- you didn’t have one for 9 months it will be another 6-9 before you two are ready to be apart for very long. That being said, The first time I ran an errand while my son stayed with his Dad the feeling of being truly alone was really nice for a change. But I worried the whole time.

Visitors:
Charley didn’t let anyone come over for a week until my son’s bris and it was great. You will have HUGE breasts that leak constantly for weeks, so visiting, especially with men or non-moms who might find your milk soaked shirt a little weird will be awkward. It is totally fine to say “things are crazy, can you call back in a couple of weeks?” Also, it may take you and the baby 5 seconds to 3 minutes to even get started nursing (baby screaming the whole time and your milk (and possibly tears) running everywhere).

Nursing gear:
I love the Target nursing tanks. Don’t buy more than one of any bra/tank until you try it for a while and really, really like it. You want to keep fabric off you as much as possible anyway at the beginning to keep your nipples from getting raw. When there’s no one else around just don’t wear a shirt but have lots of rags and washcloths ready for when you milk lets down (as soon as the baby start crying!). I would wear Charley’s T shirts mostly and hold a rag against which ever side I wasn’t nursing on. You’ll need a bra and cloth or disposable pads for when you go out anywhere. It’s much easier to go to someone’s house than anywhere public until you get more comfortable with nursing. I used a Pump in Style and liked it fine.

Frame of mind:
A nursing frame of mind goes like this: thank goodness I don’t have to be standing, walking, or listening to crying right now. I can just nurse, and hopefully read something interesting or eat a snack. Later on I’ll clean up (whatever is driving you crazy) or get someone else to. Right now I’ll just nurse, and, if I’m lying down, maybe nap. Remember, they will be glued to you nursing for six weeks. Do not expect regular hours or much nighttime sleep. Don’t expect them to sleep through the night until they’re at least two. Then if they do you will be pleasantly surprised. No amount of wishing will help this or formula or cereal.

Finally, Useless stuff:
Bassenet: When we needed the baby to sleep someplace that wasn’t our bed, we used the car seat. It works great: it rocks, and it hold them a little upright, and it’s cozy. Naftali hated the bassenet. He didn’t like the crib too much either, but we used it once in a while. The whole SIDS thing is a little scary but not too much to worry about- they do sleep more soundly on their tummys but they don’t sleep all that soundly at first (would you?) so we just put him down however he seemed to like most. It takes a certain touch to put them down after nursing without waking them up- eventually you and the baby will both learn this but until then just try to wait always a little longer than you think you have to so they can go deeper into sleep. Then, when you make the transfer, be fast and confident. If one parent has a better touch let the other one get practice- that’s how they learn. Most of the stuff I haven’t mentioned here is useless for many babies. But go with your instincts, they are never useless and will lead you in the right direction.

Advice for Expectant Parents Part 1

2008-11-29T06:02:00.000-08:00

We recently had the opportunity to share our "baby manifesto" once again.

Advice Part 1:

Don’t buy anything. If you need something new take back some fancy outfits and use the credit. Save receipts and tags on clothes. People will give you more stuff after the baby is born, save that to take back also.

Hospital:
Take out food, pads, nursing and baby books, cell phones and chargers, infant shirts, one sleeper for going home. They’ll have diapers and blankets. I wanted a radio to listen to the news.

For a Newborn:
Clothes For inside: a bunch of long sleeve hand cuff cross over snap shirts, soft stretchy blankets for swaddling, gowns- maybe 2, not too many socks, no shoes, lots of HATS
A couple of warm sleep and plays & sleepers for going out in the car or on walks
As you get closer to 3 months you’ll just use cotton sleep and plays. Get ones with zippers. It’s worth taking snapped ones back and getting zippers instead.

Diapers:
We used disposable for the newborn phase but now we use cloth and love them. We like prefolded cloth diapers that you can bleach and rubber pants to cover. You need to get hand me downs or get them on the internet. We keep a bucket filled with soapy water with a splash of bleach in the bathroom to throw the cloth diapers in and wash them every other day in hot water. Wipes. We never needed ointment until he started eating something besides milk. You may want powder for cloth diapers to dry off wet behinds before the new diaper goes on.

Diaper bag:
Get or use something you’ll both like- not too cheesy or big because for now you’re just carrying diapers, wipes, extra clothes layers and blankets, and your own snacks. All that fancy stuff with diaper changing pads that fold out, cooler parts, all useless. Just get a big purse or something. Diaper pail - its just a trash can, any trash can with a lid will work as well.

Car seat:
We got the kind that comes out- YES! We LOVED having a mirror in the car so we could see him in the rear facing seat. When they cry it’s nice to know they’re not dying back there.

Stroller:
Don’t bother with a stroller yet (or don’t take it out of the box!)- baby won’t want to be so far away from you anyway. But you want to keep him sleeping in the car seat when you go out so get a frame that you can use with the car seat. Buy a stroller later on (4-5 months+ or in the spring) when you can try them out to see what you like and he can actually look around and enjoy things.

Sling:
Pick up hand me down slings wherever you can to be able to try different ones out. You can your husband should spend lots of time learning to use one- it is almost as good as nursing, and your husband doesn’t have breasts. You’ll want to be sitting a lot but you all should try to get comfortable with a sling in the first 2 weeks BEFORE colic hits. I read in a book to put the sling on first thing in the morning and wear it all day putting the baby in and out until you go to bed. Learning to nurse in a sling is so useful.

Rags

2008-11-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

Before there was Goodwill, and before you could just go out and buy a shirt or new socks or underwear when the styles changed or the old ones got holes, you wore your clothes (dresses, if you were female) until they wore out. Then a women would take the seams out of her dress, patch and repair, clean and iron, and sew it up inside out to look newer. Continue the wearing and patching as the dress's use shifted from best (church) to 2nd best (school/visiting) to everyday to work to messy, dirty work clothes. Then you'd have material to salvage for curtains and aprons, and you'd have rags. Yea for rags! I'm a rag convert. I love my rags. They take the place of almost every disposable paper or plastic product in our house. Yea for family cloth and baby wipe rags. The bulk of our rag use goes toward cleaning purposes, in the kitchen and in my cleaning supplies. Here is a breakdown:

Instead of sponges...rags!
Sponges: yuck. Possibly the dirtiest things on earth. Bacteria and mold love dark, damp places, therefore loving sponges, and we actually use them to clean what we eat off of. Throw them away! Plus, you have to keep buying new ones that need to be manufactured. A rag can be as clean as anything: I wash mine in hot water with bleach and in the summer I hang dry them in the sunshine. I have two drawers for cloth in the kitchen. One holds dish clothes for washing dishes and rags for cleaning the kitchen. My kitchen rags are old dish towels which helps me keep them separate from my bathroom rags. Seems like two purposes that should be kept separate. In the other drawer are dish towels for drying dishes.

Instead of paper towels...rags!
I use my cleaning rags in the kitchen for wiping spills, instead of paper towels, as well as cleaning. Dish clothes and towels do not go on the floor to wipe up grape juice: that is a job for a rag.

Instead of microfiber clothes...rags!
Wait- a microfiber cloth is basically just a fancy rag that you pay for! What!?! Don't buy rags- make them (and see below). Soft white rags are great for dusting. A pile of white or almost white rags for wiping bathroom fixtures. I keep them with my cleaning supplies. And you know what, my mirrors don't have streaks- it turns out there was a way to wash mirrors and windows before paper towels were invented.

How to make a rag.
I like to use pinking shears. Those are the big scissors pictured above. Look around for some, maybe ask your mom if she has some from a sewing kit. Next, take a few old kitchen towels, a sheet or two, and some old Tshirts. Cut some different sizes. The smallest size I like is about twice the size of my hand. The big ones, like half a worn out towel, are nice for big spills and really dirty windows and corners. The little ones are great for routine wiping of fixtures and dusting.

Rain Barrel

2008-11-27T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is our new rain barrel. Charley made it at a workshop at a local "green" festival. Our roof collects enough water in a storm to fill several of these so we're hoping to chain some together because at the moment we're watering 6 young trees and a fairly large garden. We use "gray" water inside by saving bathwater and dish water for flushing toilets and now we can save rainwater outside for growing food. Our local garden center has a very attractive rain barrel that looks more like a traditional barrel but costs twice as much.

Yogurt

2008-11-26T06:25:00.000-08:00

Say goodbye to plastic yogurt tubs. We've started (again) making our own yogurt, thank goodness. Here's the recipe we use, which is from an early No Impact Man post.

1) Boil whole milk (for some reason it doesn't come out right with less than whole milk) in a large pot until it boils and foams at the top. Shut if off before it spills over. (I find all kinds work fine -Megan)

2) Let the milk cool off until you can keep your pinky finger in the milk for 10 seconds without burning it.

3) In a small bowl (that holds about 2 cups) add one tablespoon of live yogurt (we like brown cow if we don't have any of our own yogurt -Megan) and beat it until smooth. Slowly add to this starter one cup of the milk from the pot stirring slowly until combined.

4) Transfer this mixture (in #3 above) to the pot of boiled milk slowly pouring it in the pot while mixing the pot of milk the whole time to combine thoroughly (with a spatula or long spoon).

5) Pour into glass or plastic containers and seal them.

6) Arrange the containers together and cover with 2 to 3 towels keeping them in a warm place of the house (and no, you don't need some sort of a yogurt maker gadget to keep them warm). Let them sit overnight.

7) In the morning place them in the refrigerator and they will get cold. Yogurt is done.

We don't have trouble with keeping them warm in the summer, not having air conditioning in Baltimore, but it was harder in the winter. We finally would put beans up to cook in the slow cooker overnight and keep the yogurt next to it. We also put it in a big thermos with hot water and leave it there overnight.

Cookbooks

2008-11-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here are cookbooks from my collection.

Use at least once a week:

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
By the Moosewood Collective
Best for getting an easy dinner on the table. Uses common ingredients and designed to be quick and straightforward. All of the stews are excellent and the brownies and chocolate cake are fast, easy, and delicious.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison
When I have an ingredient and I’m not sure what to do with it I look it up in here. This is a huge cookbook that has won numerous awards- basically the Joy of Cooking for vegetarians. Her recipes are exquisite.

The New All Purpose Joy of Cooking
By Rombauer, Becker, and Rombauer-Becker
My go to for traditional baking. Our macaroni and cheese, pancakes, muffins are all from here.

Once a month or so:

Flatbreads and Flavors
By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguis
Not just flatbreads, but traditional accompaniments. Fell in love with the pita bread, the sambar and dosa, and the hot peanut chutney.

Moosewood Cookbook
By Mollie Katzen
Old school vegetarian recipes, heavy on the cheese.

The Tassajara Bread Book and Tassajara Cooking
By Edward Brown
Wonder what you’ll eat when you finally quit packaged foods altogether? These cookbooks from a zen collective have it all. I love the quickbreads and casseroles, Charley likes “Pile of Cabbage”.

Few Times a Year (mostly Jewish):

Olive Trees and Honey
Gil Marks
Jewish recipes from around the world.

Vegan Planet
By Robin Robertson
Some good pareve desserts

New Kosher Cuisine
Collected authors
Check out the apples onion & cheese quiche

Classic Indian Cooking
By Julie Sahni
Maybe you won’t buy every ingredient, but boy she knows her stuff.

Spirit and Spice of Kosher Cooking
Edited by Ester S. Blau
Great challah, blinzes, and traditional foods.

Homemade Cleaners

2008-11-24T05:05:00.000-08:00

There was a discussion on a parenting listserve I frequent about "green" cleaning and homemade cleaners. I posted this after reading people's recipes that included washing soda and vinegar, or borax and lemon juice. Don't know why those are a bad idea? Read on:

There is a pH scale of cleaners that ranges from 13 (Lye, a very strong alkalie used in conventional oven cleaners) to 7 Neutral (water, milk) to 0.8 (Hydrochloric Acid, a very strong acid used in toilet bowl cleaners)

A quick warning against mixing acids and alkalies (also known as "basic"). They tend to neutralize each other, so although ammonia cuts grease and vinegar removes soap scum, mixing the two won't do both- it will leave you with an unknown and probably less powerful cleaning agent. Mixing products with baking soda is also common, but baking soda is a buffering agent and tends to bring everything towards 8.35, almost neutral. But because it's just on the alkalie side, it makes a great shampoo, cutting the oil and gently abrasive to your hair and scalp. Either way, it's not useful to put two strong cleaners together that cancel each other out, and could be risky.

Alkalies are good at cleaning acidic, fatty, and greasy dirt (for laundry and kitchen)
Acids are good for cleaning soap scum and hard water deposits and discoloration (windows, mirrors, and bathroom)
I use closer to neutral cleaners for weekly or biweekly cleaning but if I've missed a couple of weeks or when the seasons change I haul out the strong stuff. Even when
I use the gentler products, I still dilute them with water. I would research carefully before trying a homemade recipe using a strong acid or alkalie. And mixing chlorine bleach with anything but detergent is a very bad idea. NEVER mix bleach with ammonia or any acid. Here is a scale for you:

Alkalies, strongest to weakest
13 Lye
11.8 Washing Soda
11 Ammonia
9-11 Detergents
9.28 Borax
8.35 Baking Soda (also buffers, brings whatever you mix it with to this almost neutral pH)
8.1 Soap

7 (Neutral) Water

Acids, weakest to strongest
6 dishwashing liquids
5.1 seltzer water, cream of tartar in water
5 Boric acid
3.1 white vinegar
2.3 lemon or lime juice
1.1 Sulfuric acid
0.8 Hydrochloric acid

(Scale from Home Comforts by C. Mendelsohn)

Challah

2008-11-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

I baked challah this week. This is the recipe I use. Thanks to Roey Mendel, who knows more about Jewish housekeeping than anyone else I know, and her challah truly is a wonder.

Sponge:
2T Dry yeast
1/2 c Warm water
2t Sugar
Combine and let rise double (I usually warm the bowl)

Combine the following(in a warmed bowl also- and the eggs should be room temperature)
2/3 c Warm water
4 Eggs
3t Salt
1/2 c Sweetener (half honey half sugar works well)

Add sponge and stir in

Add 2/3 c Canola oil (or butter for dairy challah)
Start adding flour
Stir, blend, knead and keep adding until slightly tacky
Knead until totally blended
(I do that in the kitchen aid with the bread hook when I’m short on time or energy)

Let rise double, punch down, let rise double again
This double long rise gives the dough the amazing taste but you need to be scrupulous about keeping the dough moist with plastic wrap, wet towels, in the oven with a pan of water, whatever works
Roey leaves it to rise overnight Thursday and her husband does the punch down at 5am
Knead, braid, let rise double (don't let it dry out) brush with egg, sprinkle with seeds

350 till brown

I've used half white, half whole wheat pastry flour with good results, traditionally challah is made with white flour.