Ah...October

Happy Anniversary, Steve. I'll refrain from the sappy stuff, but know that I love you and truly could not wish for more from you. Just look at our beautiful baby boy...

Sydney in his bibs. Something about a boy in bibs...

Sydney discovers the joys of pumpkins. Mommy has always been a huge fan. And she needs someone with whom to eat pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds...the list goes on...

Check out my cool camo socks!!

Sydney runs laps around the bench in the living room before pausing in the sunlight.

Mommy and Sydney on Saturday morning.

Thank you, Christal, for the pajamas! Here's the kicker...Syd is 13 months and has recently moved up to 18 month clothing in certain items. He was in the 5-10 percentile, but has always had big feet. Steve and I are wondering if this is a sign of things to come.

And the Winner Is...

Nigella. I tried the recipe from the church ladies yesterday and ran into the same problems as with my other recipes. Theirs, however, had the added effect that there really wasn't much flavor in the dough, itself. Refusing to give up and desperate for some really good blueberry muffins, I tried my last recipe. Should have started here, but isn't that how it always goes?

Nigella's Blueberry Muffins

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
I add cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg

6 Tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup butter milk OR 1/2 cup each of milk and yogurt
I used vanilla yogurt to add the vanillan flavor, too, otherwise, I would add a tsp of vanilla, as well
1 egg
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and melt butter - let it cool. Beat the buttermilk, egg, and butter together. Add in the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the blueberries and dollop in to your muffin tins (cups or greased). Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 10 regular-sized muffins, so plan accordingly.

I don't usually keep buttermilk around, unless I know I'm going to be doing a lot of baking or planning on making homemade biscuits, so I used the yogurt addition. I whisked the wet ingredients together before adding the dry, and already, I could see they would be less dense than the previous recipes. They were light and fluffy with a very nice flavor to both the dough and the blueberries. YUM! I plan on measuring out several baggies worth of the dry ingredients to make it easy to pop them out when we're in the mood for muffins. And Syd is always in the mood for muffins!

And, on a separate note, Syd finally got his 2nd top tooth!! I have never seen a child whose top teeth did not come in one right after the other, but at least we didn't have to wait another 4 months for this one! Obviously, it's too small to include pictures of it, just yet, but it looks like it's going to be as big as his other, so I expect quite a few humorous pictures to be posted soon!

Pumpkin Muffins and Pictures

I've made this recipe before, but it's been awhile. The pumpkin shortage last year put a damper on my Autumn and holiday cooking. Don't be fooled by the quantity it says it makes - it claims it makes 18 muffins. I'd like to know what sized muffins they are since I can easily get 30. I forgot to halve it this time. But Sydney liked them so much I may just keep the recipe as is from here on out. I left the nuts out for his batch so he wouldn't choke on them and he devoured whatever was put in front of him. I also always leave out the raisins. Not a raisin fan, especially in baked goods. But I did add more pumpkin than it called for...the pumpkier the better! Let me know if you give them a try. I got the recipe from, believe it or not, a coupon flier from a Sunday paper several years ago!

Pumpkin Muffins
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups canned pumpkin (or you could roast and mash up your own)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar (no wonder he liked them!)
3 eggs
I added vanilla, too

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients together and set aside. Using a mixer, combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, and sugar and beat well. In batches, add in the dry ingredients. Fold in the nuts and raisins. Pour in to oiled muffin tins and bake 20-23 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 min.

There is an orange glaze that goes along with this, but I can't help but think that these are sweet enough as they are. If you want a nice touch, dust them with powdered sugar before serving.

And, to tide you over, I finally downloaded the camera last night. Here's the most recent in Syd pics!

We've reached the 'pointy' stage. Daddy was playing along.

Syd decided he would drag around this nifty bag one day. Took me 10 minutes to figure out where he hid my pump.

Syd enjoying pumpkin muffins!!

Daddy calls him Ham'n'Eggs for a reason!

Sydney loves muffins! Here's Kathleen's recipe for blueberry!

I was wondering at what age this actually occurs...he fell asleep for the first time in his high chair. It was really quite comical watching him try to stay awake...

Playing peek-a-boo in the tub!

When we bought his swing, we got one that had 3 functions so we could use it longer. It is now his rocking chair (the swing stand is in the background), and he prefers to stand in it and rock it, or use it as a stool to see out of the window. He's all boy, isn't he??

Our newest game. Mommy and/or Daddy chases him around the kitchen before he runs in to the living room. He then commences falling face down into the pillows we leave strategically placed on the floor and rolls around while Mommy or Daddy call out "PILL-ooooows!"

Precious little guy - fell asleep on the way home from Kroger.

And last, rocking my awesome trainer shoes - he's got an arch already (like Mommy's feet) and needed something to keep his traction. He loves these slip-ons. His other pair is black with white skull and cross-bones on the top!

Muffins and Pedagogy

So... the muffins weren't much better. I still find them very heavy and with a profound taste of flour rather than the berries or applesauce. Next, we move on to a recipe in a cookbook put together by the ladies of the church we attended in Wisconsin when I was growing up. I'll also be trying a recipe in Nigella's cookbook. I'll keep you posted as to which I prefer, and, if successful, will use from this point forward.

On to pedagogy and my conference. I found the time and the drive worthwhile within the first two hours of the conference. If nothing else, it reaffirmed information I already knew about my 12 AP class that I needed reminding of since the summer conference. For one thing, the entire mindset regarding the class and who could/should take it is different than it was several years ago.

My class was developed entirely by a co-worker. She did an excellent job developing her curriculum, and her students' scores demonstrated that. But her class was designed to ensure that those who succeeded in the class were the ones who would succeed in college without any prompting or assistance - in other words, those who needed help, motivation, or were of a slightly less than stellar caliber were weeded out through the vigorous work load and expectation of prior knowledge.

Prior to taking over the class, I already knew that the the mindset was shifting regarding advanced placement students. In addition to this shift, our school was accepted into the VASS grant, which is specifically geared towards allowing everyone - no... encouraging everyone to take the advanced classes. Now, if I had not known about VASS (Virginia Advanced Studies Strategies) and had been told I needed to encourage everyone to take the advanced classes, I would have been very dubious of the success of the advanced programs. But VASS is not merely asking that we keep everyone in these classes; they are setting us up for success. The training I went to over the summer and this past weekend have taught me quite a few things.

1. First - that though I have a cumulative 13 years or so of experience teaching, I know nothing. Who was it...Socrates? who said that only by admitting we know nothing can we truly know everything. I must be a genius, then, because I've realized how much I have to grow as a teacher. I only hope I do not damage my students, or leave them completely unprepared for the world, as I search for my own knowledge.
2. The strategies we were taught, as students in high school as well as in our education classes in college are outdated, ineffective, and overwhelmingly work with a select minority of today's students. The days of "read, answer discussion questions, quiz - repeat" are over and if nothing else, regardless of level or caliber of student, today's kids are so much more accustomed to stimuli that we have to find the way to get them, in essence, to teach themselves.
3. To explain the tail end of #2 - our students, today, are so brainwashed to answer the correct answer only, or to listen to the teacher who explains the "correct" way of thinking that they no longer think for themselves. I've always striven to teach them NOT what I think (which is why I do not reveal my own thoughts on religion, politics, etc.), but to question and determine what THEY think. And I received confirmation this weekend that we, as a whole, are still failing in this. Increasingly, our youth are going on to life after high school simply regurgitating information they were told in life - about religion, politics, rights, biases, even how to drive their cars. Everything. And it is reflected in their inability to do even the most common free-thinking tasks. Common sense is out the window. Inference is nowhere to be seen. Cause and effect, even, is completely alien.
4. So, what should we do? We shut up. My instructor this weekend was so knowledgeable. But the real treat was when he held a discussion that explained his tactics. In retrospect, we realized that he actually taught very little. Instead, he would guide his discussions, but allow us, the student, to actually dictate the discussion. It was a way to teach the skills we needed, not simply pound information in to our heads. He would draw out certain ideas to help when we slowed down, but he did not - I repeat - did not tell us what we needed to know.
5. And, to examine #4 further - he was asked what he does when the students do not ask the "right" questions - when they do not cover something he feels is something they need to know. He answered - "I don't tell them. I simply let it go." WOW! What a concept! And what a difficult ingrained response to let go of, if we follow suit. His reasoning? He's teaching skills, not information. As his students learn the skills necessary to extrapolate all that they need from a lesson, his need to guide them diminishes. It makes sense.
6. Last, I was reminded of one very important lesson - I, alone, do not have to make sure they are exposed to everything that has ever been on the AP test. I need to keep reminding myself of this. I need to remember that it is about quality, not quantity. Ever since I received the list that states what pieces were on the test, and the years that they appeared, I've been so focused on making sure my students are exposed to the items that appeared most recently and most frequently, that I've lost the main purpose of the list. It is not to make my students drown under the weight of books they should be reading, but to make sure they are exposed to the type of writing so that they can A) be exposed to the type and recognize other pieces within that same era or genre and B) learn the skills that go with the type, not the specific pieces themselves.

Basically, I need to rewrite my curriculum. I knew I needed to do this, but didn't realize, fully, just how badly it needs to be restructured. And to be honest, I'm not sure how to go about doing this so that this year's students will be prepared for their AP test in May. Time goes so quickly when you're swamped. I'll have to keep you updated with my own progress as I strive to "know nothing."

Disappointing Foodie Weekend

This weekend, I went to a conference for my 12 AP class. Overnight. Away from my baby boy. That was really hard. But that's not what this blog entry is about. Anytime I go away, I fully expect to eat out. Somewhere. Hopefully somewhere delicious and non-fast food-ish. Since my conference was in Richmond, I notified my best friend from high school, Jody, who lives in the area. We made plans for Friday night to meet for dinner at P.F. Chang's.

I didn't mind where we went, and Jody was rather excited about P.F. Chang's, so I started to look forward to dinner. I was really quite taken aback. The atmosphere, for me, has a HUGE impact on the dining experience. It seems to me that restaurants are increasingly moving towards the open ceiling, open dining room, stone or brick presentation with the host/hostess podium smack in the middle. The incessant and increasing echo of conversations around me put me off. I absolutely despise having to yell at dinner to people sitting 2 feet from me. It's ridiculous. One of my favorite restaurants has a gorgeous view from the main dining room, but Steve and I always ask for the back rooms because they are naturally more sound-absorbing and less distracting and headache-inducing. Plus, the cream of brie and artichoke soup is divine.

But, back to P.F. Chang's. The food was good. I asked if any MSG is used, as this additive is guaranteed to give me a migraine within 30 minutes of eating it. They assured me there was none, and frankly, for Chinese food without MSG, it really was good food. But it wasn't the caliber of food I expect when I get an emphatic vote from Jody, and I was still hungry afterwards. Disappointing.

So, I head back to the hotel with grading in mind. I decided to order a hotel pizza - pineapple pizza and a glass of Merlot. The pizza came. The cheese was hot and melty. They used fresh pineapple - nothing canned. But the sauce was very dry and the crust had the pre-packaged aftertaste that accompanies many store-bought pastries and biscuits. I was, again, disappointed.

The hotel provided the food for the conference. That was really quite good, considering the quantity they were preparing and time frame it had to be served. The lemon/raspberry layer cake really made me want to sneak the cake pan back into my hotel room. Besides, free food is always yummy. But, the buffet ended at 2 and I was driving home for several hours. I really wanted to get home in time to give Sydney his bath, so I grabbed Wendy's at about 5:30 and kept driving. Once again - disappointed. I am usually quite satisfied with Wendy's. I like how they use whole pieces of lettuce (albeit, iceberg...) and tomato, and they keep them cold until they make the sandwich so you get this dichotomy of hot and cold in the same bite. Yum. But today's burger didn't have any flavor whatsoever, and the fries were WAY too salty. Holy cow. I felt like they were preparing me for a salt-lick and a hunter was hiding off in the woods. Blech.

So, needless to say, I've lived this entire weekend rather unsatiated. The best thing I've had to eat is the pumpkin spice latte and matching pumpkin nut muffin from Starbucks that I picked up two hours in to my drive on my way to the conference. I've recently discovered the pumpkin spice latte...YUMMERS!

Enough complaining for now. I plan on tweaking my blueberry muffin recipe tomorrow. I found the recipe I used before a little heavy. It called for a stick of butter, which I left out overnight to ensure it would blend well with the other ingredients. But since I used frozen blueberries, my smooth, though thick, dough became rather glued together as I mixed in my tiny little ice cubes. Since the dough was heavy and thick, I'm going to try using the healthier replacement of apple sauce to, not only add in more moisture (I did not crush 1/2 cup of blueberries, so I think the extra moisture is necessary), but also keep the dough from congealing when I add my blueberries. And, yes, I want to use frozen because that is the best way for me to keep them stocked, and I will not always realize I plan on making the muffins, so more than likely, they'll be frozen. Life is too harried to always remember to defrost.

Kathleen, I know this was not your recipe, but I still hope you do not take offense to my tweaking. I'll let you know how this turns out!!

Tune in soon to hear about the conference. I want the information to sink in more before I comment on it, but I've already been formatting thoughts on what I learned and heard. I hope one day I can consider myself "highly trained;" pedagogy shifts on a yearly basis, so we'll see where I end up!

Moments of Clarity

So, I drank a cup of coffee at 6 pm this evening. Never, previous to having a child, would I have done that unless I was driving straight through to visit family in Kentucky or Wisconsin. My intention was more basic - I was going to attempt, and knowingly fail, to catch up on grading. I haven't truly graded anything since midpoint, and the end of the quarter is in 1 1/2 weeks, and I have to go out of town this weekend for a conference. So, I thought I'd try to find a moment of zen, a moment of clarity, a moment of grace where I could focus on my students enough to assign a value to the work I've put in in planning, and the work they've handed in over the past two weeks.

And then life hit. You know - life. Sydney didn't nap today, unbeknownst to me as I lugged my bag stuffed with papers, tests, bell ringers, to my car and in to the house. I even saw Rafe on my way out - he commented on my being loaded down, and I gave a sigh and told him to ask me tomorrow how much of it I actually touched. But I digress - Life.

Sydney didn't nap, so within 2 minutes of sitting down with him to nurse after school, he was out, and out for over an hour. Now, granted, I napped, too...but he doesn't usually go out for that amount of time.

And then he wouldn't settle down after he woke up. He didn't want to go to bed so I finally left him to cry it out - took a tremendous total of 5 minutes before he was snoring along with his crib aquarium that my Dad got him for Christmas last year. We don't use it often anymore, but it worked this evening.

So, I go into the kitchen to pull out my grading, and realize I haven't had a chance to prepare for the next day - dishes, bottles, and heaven forbid I forget to set up the coffee-maker.

Moments of Zen do hit, but these days they are too few, and too far in between. But when they do, the skies open, the sun's rays shine down, and I feel as though I have a boys' choir following me around singing Ode to Joy. I am hoping the coffee I drank at 6 will last a little longer, but I've gotten so accustomed to caffeine that I fear it won't have much of an effect. Perhaps its time to show a movie in class...

Looking Out for My Family

It is Autumn in Virginia. I am most at home during this time of year - crisp days that are warm enough to wear jeans and a t-shirt, perhaps a light jacket, but no humidity. Cool nights that require me to add a blanket to the bed, and may be just too cold to leave all the windows open. These are the days that find me most relaxed and enjoying myself. The only thing that would make it better is if the leaves were to turn (which usually happens before I even realize it) and for my tiny family unit to take a trip to Mill Mountain just to walk through the crunching leaves before heading to a local orchard to obtain our pumpkins and apples.

Days like this, Steve and I usually try to determine how long we can hold out before we HAVE to turn on the heat. We both feel October is too early, but the weather ultimately dictates our actions. In the past, we have turned on our gas heater that is in the basement and left the furnace off until nearly Thanksgiving. However, in the past few days when we've gotten down to the 40s at night, I find that merely turning on the oven in the morning helps heat up the primary living quarters comfortably enough.

How sublime, then, and convenient, that we've made it a habit to have muffins for breakfast at least once during the weekend. In the past, I've kept stock of boxed muffin mix. Allow me to side-step long enough to stress that very seldom does any recipe go unaltered. I have a knack for experimenting with spice and I enjoy tweaking even the "best" recipes that I obtain from people to make them even better. Besides, if Giada uses boxed, why can't I? :-)

That being said, allow me to digress for yet another moment and state that I caught myself flipping through the channels last week while I nursed Sydney. I was snared by a show that had a woman crawling on top of her fridge, emptying her cupboards. With every container she removed, a man standing next to the fridge would read the ingredients list and point out how nearly ever box contained either corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. He then went on to explain what hydrogenated oils were and how they came to be not only in existence and accepted, but also discovered to be falsely healthy for humans.

I was dismayed to realize that my beloved muffin mix had hydrogenated oil in it. The key is moderation, but if I have the resources to make muffins from scratch, why not use them? Why risk the possible health of my husband and son, and myself for that matter, if I am fully capable and enjoy baking from scratch? The answer was simple - we used up the last box of muffin mix during the week (merely an excuse to turn on the oven, but also provided us with a yummy breakfast before running helter-skelter off to work) and I decided that I would make my own "mix."

The first step, of course, is to find a recipe that I really like. I've used a few recipes in the past that I haven't enjoyed all that much - the muffins were dry, or had an odd flavor, etc. So, Kathleen is now my guinea pig :-) I am going to try her recipe tomorrow morning. I've already measured out the dry ingredients into a bowl, sifted them all together, then stored them in a quart-sized freezer ziploc bag. I figured that if I measure out 2 at a time, and write a little note to tape onto the bag with the wet ingredients, I'll have just as easy a time getting my muffins together as I did with my beloved mix. Besides, I can easily alter the recipe this way - add or change ingredients, or even plan out a completely different muffin type. I need to get some chocolate chips and pecans before I can measure out my oatmeal muffins. But those can be pre-mixed, too! Regardless, I walked away from the kitchen this evening feeling content with how I am trying to be a conscientious mother and wife to my family.

So, here's to warming the house without turning on the furnace or lighting the pilot! Here's to making preparations to make life easier! Here's to ensuring our health by eliminating needless additives from our diet! And here's to giving me an excuse to buy new Pampered Chef measuring cups from Kristi! Bon appetit!