Homemade Halloween 2012

We were in a hurry to go trick or treating so I didn't get great shots of this year's costumes. The kids were just patient enough for me to snap a couple of shots each of them.

Being the baby of the family means you get to wear your older brother's previous Halloween costume. I don't think either of my boys have actually seen the show Blue's Clues but we have a few story books with the character.

To make Link from Legend of Zelda, I used a green wool poncho we found at the thrift store. There was just enough fabric for the tunic and a matching hat. It ended up being cheaper than new fabric. The shield was a dollar store find that we painted with craft paint.

The leather trench coat for my oldest son's Loki costume was a thrift store score a couple of weeks ago. I do wish I had gotten a better picture of the boot covers. I was pleased with how well they turned out. I also wish I had taken a picture of the back of his hair. We let him grow it out for Halloween but he is getting a haircut this weekend!

Snow White took quite a bit of sewing time but was a lot of fun. I just had  regular dress pattern to work with and I had a bit of trouble getting the velvet top to fit properly but in the end it turned out pretty. My daughter made her own shoes (again, we missed the photo op for those as well) and they are darling gold shoes with bows on the toes.

Reading Buddies- Stuffed Friends

Today I'm sharing one of the fun reading activities we do at our house: Reading Buddies.

I don't always have time to listen to each child read aloud as often as I would like so I have paired favorite books with a matching stuffed animal. My sons select a stuffed friend and read the book out loud to the animal. When they are finished with the book, they must return both to the display. Even my 14 year old occasionally grabs one of the books :-). It's a fabulous way to encourage a reluctant reader and reading out loud improves fluency, whereas silent reading does not.

Here are the animals out for display this week:

Several of the stuffed animals in our collection were gifts but most were purchased for under a dollar at the local thrift store and washed in the washing machine. (I always dry them on fluff/no heat to keep the fur looking nice.) On my iPhone, I have a list of animals I want to keep an eye out for during my frequent thrift shop escapades. (Currently my list has a giraffe, a hippo and a brown mouse, among others.) Nearly all of our books were Christmas or birthday gifts or were purchased for 50 cents at the thrift store.

It's also an easy way to rotate books off our shelves that are passed over. Sometimes, the boys even ask if the stuffed friends can join us when I am reading out loud. I currently only have picture books in the rotation but have considered doing the same thing with chapter books and novels. Look for a future post with an update on that....

Raisins

My house smells absolutely glorious today. I have rosemary, mint and parsley drying in the oven and trays of grapes changing to raisins on the counter. I breathe deeply and reflect on how blessed my life is.

My three year old helped pick the grapes yesterday (four different varieties in all) and he spent the entire time with his mouth full of those juicy grapes. We have eaten our fill of fresh grapes and have plans for jelly and juice.I can't help but sneak a few of the earliest raisins and I am grateful for these simple pleasures of life.

Poppies and Irises

I have neglected my gardens for several years but for the past week, I have spent a short time each day getting my hands dirty. I had forgotten how important that connection to the earth is for me and I have recommitted myself to spending more time outside in the sun, wind and rain. Today is a beautiful Sunday morning and my late spring poppies and irises are blooming.

(I also planted tomatoes, yellow squash, lettuce, sunflowers, basil and cilantro this week.)

Reusable Valentine Napkins

Have you ever considered using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins? Cloth napkins are a fantastic way to reduce the amount of disposable waste a family creates.They can be inexpensive and the beautiful colors and prints brighten up mealtimes.

I grew up using cloth napkins on many occasions so it was only natural for me to use cloth napkins when I started my own housekeeping. (When I founded my kids' charter school, I even insisted that the lunchroom use cloth napkins for meals instead of paper napkins!)

My kitchen table has side drawers that are the perfect spot to store our everyday napkins. Special napkins and holiday prints are kept in the linen closet at the end of the hall.

We wash our napkins after every use (my four children are very messy when they eat) so I keep a laundry basket near the washer where the youngest child drops off the napkins after each meal. I throw the napkins in with a regular load of wash. No extra fuss and no extra soap or water to wash them.

I make my own napkins out of cotton fabric that I buy either at the local fabric store or repurpose from second-hand sheets and tablecloths. There are many reasons that environmentally conscious families avoid cotton and some people prefer linen napkins but I have found cotton fabric to be inexpensive, readily available in many prints and colors, easily obtainable. (I don't like the commercially available polyester napkins. They aren't particularly absorbent and just smear the food around.)

I made new cloth napkins for Valentine's Day this year. I selected a red print that I fell in love with and cut 15 inch squares.

I serged the edges and then hemmed them. (Sometimes I just serge the edges of my napkins and occassionally, I even let the edges fray in the wash.)

Using cloth napkins isn't a new idea but many families still think that paper disposables are more sanitary and convenient. A few people even claim that paper napkins are more environmentally conscious. (I disagree with their logic.)

Are you ready to switch to cloth napkins?

Heart Pancakes

As a general practice, I don't do elaborate celebrations for holidays but I do think a few simple touches can make the day special. Today's is Valentine's Day and one of our favorite traditions is to make heart pancakes.

To keep it quick on a school morning, I used a "Just Add Water" pancake mix and added some extra water to make the batter runny. I did large open hearts, small hearts and XXOOs. Sometimes, my kids like to help make the shapes. That's part of the fun.

The secret to is to pour the batter in a picnic-type squeeze ketchup bottle. This gives the best control over the designs. I have previously done quite intricate designs but it is more difficult to flip them and I admit that I was in a hurry this morning to get kids off to school so we kept it simple.

These are small enough to pop in your mouth without any toppings like syrup or jam and make great snacks for the rest of the day. Happy Valentine's!

Chinese New Year 2012

This past week brought the Lantern Festival which marked the end of the two week long Chinese New Year holiday. For our family's celebration, I chose a new dinner recipe and had my children make the decorations. We set the table with chopsticks, small goldware forks I inherited from my grandmother and our red Christmas damask napkins. It was simple but elegant.

DECORATIONS: One of my seven year old son's teachers taught him how to make paper lanterns at school. He came home and began making colored lanterns to decorate the entire house.They are pretty simple: fold a piece of paper in half longways and make three inch cuts perpendicular to and across the folded edge of the paper. Open the fold and secure the two shorter sides of the paper with glue or staples. Add a handle if desired.

Another of our decorations was the vase of "cherry" blossoms. I cut a few scraggly branches off of my Hawthorn tree. The red bark was the perfect match. My teenage daughter hot glued crumpled squares of leftover pink tissue paper in clusters along the branches.

MENU: This year, our dinner menu consisted of noodles, rice, honey-walnut shrimp, spicy egg drop soup, jiaozi and, of course, Mandarin oranges.

Unfortunately, I can't take credit for honey-walnut shrimp recipe, but I can certainly offer a fabulous review. I found the recipe online at Rama Malaysia. It was easy to make but I did make a few small changes to her original recipe-- I decreased the shrimp to 1/2 pound of smaller sized shrimp, used walnut pieces (and increased the amount), added an extra 1/2 tablespoon of honey and increased the sweetened condensed milk to 2 tablespoons.

Honey Walnut Shrimp
1 lb. 51/60 count shrimp
3/4 C walnut halves
3 T mayonnaise
1 T honey
2 T sweetened condensed milk
1 t lemon juice
1 egg white
1/2 C corn starch
2T oil for frying

For the walnut glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Peel and deveined the shrimp. Pat dry with paper towels, add the egg white, mix well with the shrimp and set aside.

Rinse the walnut halves with water, drain and set aside. Heat the water until it boils and add in the sugar. Keep stirring until it turns thick and golden color and then add the walnut pieces. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a greased cookie sheet to dry.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat.

Coat the shrimp with a thick layer of corn starch and then and then fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Remove the shrimp from the wok and drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey, condensed milk and lemon juice. Add shrimp and toss with the mayonnaise sauce. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.