Fall comes to North Texas.

I sometimes forget while reading the blogs of northern friends, who months ago showed pictures of kids playing in fallen leaves, that winter takes longer to get to North Texas.

Yesterday was 72 degrees outside and Astrid enjoyed playing in the fallen leaves. Having sprained my ankle early last month, I hadn't even noticed the leaves changing color. Children have a way of directing our attention to the important stuff in life.

Meet Birke Baehr.

Thanksgiving Cooking.

I'm FINALLY (TODAY) getting lists made and reviewing recipes I want to use Thursday. We're having dinner at our house this year and I suppose the guest list is about 17.

For Astrid's sake, I ordered a turkey and prime rib from Whole Food that haven't been given any antibiotics or hormones in their lives. I'm hoping to use the leftovers to freeze some turkey and beef for her.

There are SO many considerations. *I* prefer one thing, the kids prefer another, Astrid can't have TOO MANY variations on a theme yet, and that's part of the reason why I always make enough food for 200 people. Each dish may only feed 6 or 8, but I make enough of them to feed more than I'll have.

I have to stop myself (MAYBE) from making a brussel sprout dish that just looked SO appealing and I know my kids love brussel sprouts. We're already having a huge salad, carrots, green beans, broccoli loaf, and a creamed corn dish and sweet potato dish provided by Dave's mom, so I don't NEED another veggie dish, but (then again) I remember one Thanksgiving where Em's brother said, "but I don't like any of those".

Em gets mad at me every time: "You make too much; we'll have leftovers through the next year!" Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Not too interested in posting of late.

My vermiposting experiment absolutely SUCKED. Turns out that the worms need to be covered from sun and/or rain and we don't have any outside coverage. So, they stayed in the house (along with their fruit-fly groupies) until cooler weather came and I could move them out to the garage (which only stays reasonably cool during the winter). By summer of next year, I need to figure out a way to keep them outside covered from the sun and rain. I need a vermiposter HUT.

STILL trying to control the fruit flies in the house! I have traps EVERYWHERE.

Em got the raised garden bed I ordered put together except for digging holes to place the "feet" in the ground.

Thanksgiving is at my house this year, so I'm trying to get that plan done (to the exclusion of others). Today, I ordered an organic turkey and roast. I make babyfood for Astrid and it's all organic; I don't think new people should be eating things containing hormones or antibiotics. So, whatever the guests invited don't eat will be cut up and frozen for Astrid.

Sorry to say that my son won't be coming for Thanksgiving this year. It'll be just Em's family and my two daughters with their families. I really don't know what happened to my son, but he's been unwilling to have his picture posted online for many years now, and has recently just grown apart from his entire family. I love him and wish him well, but it's pretty hard to take the dismissal. A cousin of mine has a brother with whom he hasn't communicated in over 30 years; he doesn't even know if he's alive or not. I hope my son's not moving in that direction because *I* still want to see him even if no one else does, but my grandfather used to hide in the basement when company came, so it's not like there aren't genetic precedents.
Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving if I don't get back here to post before then.

10-10-10 and Three-Fifty (350)

Yesterday was the day of action for 350. I'd thought about what to do on this day for about a year and when the day came I did NOTHING ... unless stirring and spraying my vermiposter counts. I'm still worried about the 2010 midterm elections, so called people a) to ask if they could volunteer and b) ask if they would PLEASE vote.

Here are some results from people who actually did something: 350 on 10-10-10.

I also took two naps during the day yesterday. My resistance is down and I seem to have been chasing off a cold.

What did you do for 350 day this year?

Don't forget to vote in the midterm elections. Avoid the rush and vote early.

Vermiposting.

Vermiposting.

Getting a move on the backyard in little baby steps. First step was to decide how I wanted to compost and I chose this method and ordered a system that hasn't arrived yet. Once it arrives, I'll take some of the kitchen waste we've been saving along with paper and brown garden waste to "start" the rotting process. The worms come a week after the vermiposter has arrived.

I ordered a smallish system because I have a smallish family and will post more details after it arrives. It'll be put in a shady part of the yard.

I look forward to showing Astrid the worms.

Making Your Own Baby Food.

When my kids were little, I thought formula was poison and was even concerned about commercial baby food. The same scares you hear about now were happening then:

Commercial Baby Food Scares.

When Astrid turned six months old, I started making baby food for her. The rice cereal was more work than it was worth. All I had to do on my end was turn the rice into more of a flour consistency, but No. 1 then had to boil while whisking the flour and it turned out pretty gummy anyway. Commercial baby cereals are dehydrated, so no boiling is necessary. You can buy whole grain, organic baby cereal. Astrid is currently on a mix of Wheat, Spelt, and Barley with no ill effects. Just squirt breast milk in with a Tablespoon of cereal in a little bowl and stir.

Banana and avocado couldn't be frozen, but were simply mashed or mashed with a little distilled water added. The first vegetable I made for freezing was sweet potatoes from my garden last year mixed with sugarless apple sauce. My sweet potatoes never grew to be very sweet. Her second dish was organic baby carrots mixed with sugarless apple sauce. Then, pears and plums from the grocery store. Then, a bag of frozen peas. This week, I got small sweet potatoes, huge peaches, and zucchini from the local Farmer's Market.

Boiling sweet potatoes from Farmer's Market after peeling and slicing:



Puree.



Once food is pureed, put in ice-cube tray. One cube = 1 tablespoon (or a little more if you want). I used trays with lids so could only make the cubes as high as the lid would hit.

If cooking more than one food at a time, you may want to label them. Peaches look a lot like sweet potatoes once pureed. Correct spelling is not important.



I let them freeze a day or two and then empty them into freezer containers to give to No. 1. [I used freezer bags] Make sure you get as much air out of the container as possible or they'll get freezer burn. At mealtimes, she can simply nuke a cube (or a cube of each she has in mind for the meal). Heat another way if you're opposed to microwaving.

If you make baby food, how do YOU do it?

More on 2010 Election.

Parts II and III published at Deanie's Blue Inkblots. Scroll down to read Part II first and then scroll up to read Part III.

2010 Election Is Approaching.

While Em's been off work until the fall season we're trying to squeeze in some little vacations along with some longer-term changes around the house. Astrid still comes three times/week (when we're not off somewhere) and she's growing up before my eyes. Six months old already! She'll be crawling and walking before I know it!

I haven't had the time or interest to blog lately, but this article caught my eye this morning and reminded me that elections will be coming soon and it's time for me to put on my political hat and get out there with my peeps to knock on doors and make phone calls.