What the @$%*!! is Dermatomyositis!

I didn't know my cousin Sarah was sick, another auto-immune disease. So now I'm completely blindsided and shocked and heartsick to find out that she died last night.

She'd been a silent reader of the blog. I was hopeful that she'd be able to come and visit sometime, I've missed her since we moved away from Maryland. Having her and Aunt Erin around when Mom died and the kids were born was very important to me, and helped so much when most of my family was too far away.

And now I'm soooo sad that I'm not in Maryland, because I want to comfort my Aunt in person, to be there for her as she was there for me. Because as if this wasn't horrible enough, my Uncle Richard died just last month. I didn't get down for his funeral, but Dan and I are trying very hard to make arrangements to go down for Sarah's.

Can I tell you how much I want to scream swear words into the night.

Liquid Gold

 

I was hoping our neighbor would come by with the offer to tap our trees in exchange for receiving a gallon of finished syrup at the end of the season. But he seems to have retired. So instead, Dad dug four buckets and taps out of his barn and brought them here last weekend. We drilled on Saturday, broke a drill bit on the last tree, and now we're waiting. Daytime temps have still been around freezing, so the sap isn't flowing too strongly. But when I got home from work today each tap was dripping a little.

We don't really have the facilities for boiling. If you do it inside, you end up with steaming sap covering the walls and peeling off wallpaper. I'm thinking that I'll try to boil most of it off on the grill on the weekends, then finish it inside. Ideally, we could get as much as 4 gallons of syrup, but that would only be if we had the time and energy to boil down 160 gallons of sap, and I don't see that happening. I'll be happy with a few pints, and the fun of doing it.

My All-star

This is the finale of nearly five months of skating lessons. Nathan actually preformed much better than I was expecting, and hit most of his marks. Only one of the falls was unintentional. He's the only skater with a red shirt and black helmet, so it's pretty easy to follow him in the wide shots. Enjoy.

Feed Me

Dan's blogging again. It's all about the bread now. Just don't tell him I accidentally tried to melt his starter in the oven again today.

A Recipe For St. Patrick's Day

Irish Bread from Father Brian’s Mother

4 cups unbleached flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
6 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick of butter NOT oleo, softened
2-3 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
1 tbsp caraway seeds

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in soft butter. Add seeds and raisins. Mix well. Add 2 cups buttermilk. Mix gently – if dry, add more buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time to make nice soft dough. It will be sticky.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Shape into round with floured hands. Cut a deep cross in top. Place in buttered 8 or 9 inch black fry pan or 8 or 9 inch layer cake tin – Not Glass. Bake at 350 degrees 45 min or until it tests done.

Some folks sift dry ingredients- my mom did – I never do.
Some folks use baking soda – I don’t, unless the buttermilk is fresh. I usually use buttermilk when it is thick and glops out of the container – about 3-4 weeks old. You can tell if it is going to be good, it actually “talks” to you when you are shaping it on board. You can “hear” it rising – truly.

Good Luck. Have the kettle up for tea, with plenty of butter and jam at the ready. Enjoy.
P.S. Try it toasted (not a conventional toaster) in toaster oven. It’s super, can also be frozen.

This is the recipe my Mom always used. I love the extra notes from Fr. Jeffries mom about putting the kettle on. But I noticed as I was typing it out that it never says to split into two loaves, which is what I always do. I think it works either way. A single loaf fills the pan and leads to an even looking crust. Double loaves turn out as a more free-form circle with a crunchier crust, like scones. It's also nice microwaved for a few seconds to give the butter something to melt into. I always use baking soda, because I don't read ahead in the notes where it says I don't need it. And I never, ever, ever use caraway seeds because I hate the taste of them.

Super Duper Trooper

From the local paper:

Visit from trooper State trooper Patrick Roda visited Mrs. Martin's pre-kindergarten classroom at Lawrence Avenue recently. The children have been learning about "Our Community and Jobs People Do." Posted 03/13/08.

Nathan is #18. When Officer Roda (otherwise know as William's Dad), asked the kids if they knew what he does, Nathan raised his hand to say they "under arrest bad guys". I wonder if he told the officer that he thinks George Bush should be arrested if he ever comes to New York. It's perfect timing that he's learning about community helpers this week, because he has his first dentist appointment next week. After Mrs. Martin has him whipped into an anti-cavity, anti-sugar frenzy he'll be thrilled to see the dentist. He was especially impressed with the effects of coke on an eggshell.

If you really want to know everything there is to know about where I live, you should read this paper. It really gives a perfect impression of what it's like to live her. Especially the venting and complaining in the Sound Off section. Just don't laugh at how little there is in the Events Calendar.

Hulu watching

Have you heard of Hulu.com yet. It's free T.V. (with limited commercials), a lot of older shows, but also new stuff. Right now I'm watching the first episode of Remington Steele. My favorite show as a teenager, and I never saw the premiere and therefore never understood how Remington conned his way into Laura Holt's firm. I feel like I want to alternate with episodes of Veronica Mars (not on Hulu, alas) to see two views of young, sassy, female P.I.'s.

Doesn't this look like the perfect network line-up?

* 30 Rock
* The A-Team
* The Addams Family
* Arrested Development
* Battlestar Galactica
* Battlestar Galactica Classic
* Benson
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Dilbert
* Doogie Howser, M.D.
* Dr. 90210
* Facts of Life
* Fame
* Family Guy
* Fantasy Island
* Firefly
* Futurama
* Hell's Kitchen
* Heroes
* Jack of All Trades
* King Of The Hill
* Kitchen Confidential
* Kitchen Nightmares
* Knight Rider
* Kojak
* Lost in Space
* The Mary Tyler Moore Show
* NewsRadio
* The Office
* Outer Limits
* The Tick
* Top Chef
* Who's the Boss?
* WKRP in Cincinnati

Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I started this post a few minutes ago

I seriously didn't plan this. I made ham last night. So there were leftovers today. And usually when there is some leftover ham, I scramble up eggs for the kids to have with it for dinner. And a few months ago, I discovered how much they like to have food coloring added to their eggs. So, on Theodor Geisel's Birthday, my kids had green eggs and ham.

And then I found out from Wikipedia that his b-day was the 2nd, it's just that Nathan's pre-K was celebrating it today. So just forget I said anything.

Claire's class was "studying" clowns last week. Isn't she adorable? I wish I had a picture before all the paint wore off. She has a wonderful teacher, and each week they pick a theme. They've done triangles and pets and snowmen; all their artwork and stories revolve around the them each week. It's really cute.