Cooking Celebration for a Chef

Pax turned FIVE YEARS OLD last week.  FIVE!

We celebrated him this past weekend with a party that was among my most favorite birthday parties, ever:  a cooking-themed event.  Five friends and one beloved teacher joined us for a morning of cooking, decorating, and chefting.  (Chefting = engaging in chef-like acts).  Aidan and Leo were Master Chefs in the help they provided to our guests, and Master Brothers in the fun they shared with their baby bro.

Although this party had fresh and new ideas, it was actually a variation on a theme - I've kind of gotten this home-grown party thing down to a bit of a science.
I choose a color theme,

make some swag,

repurpose stuff from around the house into fresh and relevant party decorations,

and call it good.  Whabam!  Party time.


I've also learned a thing or two about how much good teaching is like good party planning:  plan every minute, then plan some extra stuff.  I get teased for the schedules I write (and especially if I waver a minute or two off the timeline) but if there is a secret to my success, it's this. It's all about the party-time management.  This time around, the party plan was as follows:

12:00 - 12:15 - Guests arrive:  Decorate aprons;

draw pictures of favorite food on poster board

12:15 - 12:30 Assemble pizzas (crust; sauce; cheese; assorted toppings, including hot dogs)

12:30 - 12:45 (while the pizzas cook...) Make fruit kebabs; listen to the story "Seven Silly Eaters"

12:45 - 1:05 Lunch on the deck

1:05 - 1:40 Chef Stations:  Sifting (flour);

Measuring (rice and cups, spoons, funnels, etc.);

Rolling and Cutting (pie crusts; rolling pins; cookie cutters); and

Pouring/Spinning (water with salad spinner, lettuce, various pouring and measuring containers)

1:40 - 1:50 Decorate cupcakes

1:50 - 2:00 Let Them Eat (cup)Cake!  And Voila!

In addition to the fabric apron they decorated, each guest left with a goodie bag that included a wooden spoon, a basting brush, a cookie cutter, muffin tin liners, a picture of Chef Pax, and two recipes -

one for "With Scratch" Brownies, (best. brownies. EVER!) and one for homemade pizza dough:

Pax’s “With Scratch” Brownies

12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups cocoa powder, sifted

6 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking oil spray.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and add the cocoa powder, stirring to combine.  Let cool slightly. 

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together, then add the sugars and vanilla extract, stirring to combine.  Add the cooled butter-chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour and salt until just combined; do not overmix.  Spread the batter evently in the pan, making sure the corners are filled.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a crust forms on the surface and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack; cool completely before cutting the brownies.

Pax’s Perfect Pizza Dough

3 3/4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons instant or other active dry yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1 1/3 cup room-temperature water

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough will be stiff, not wet and sticky. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, at least 2 hours. Divide the dough in two and shape each into flattened balls. (Dough can be frozen at this point.)  When you are ready to make a pizza, preheat oven to 500°F roll out one ball of dough in a rectangular shape and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Top as desired and bake 15-20 minutes.

Bon Apetit!  Happy Birthday, Pax!

Buried in books

We're nose deep in books these days...

Here's a quick list of what we're reading (and loving!) on the Literacy Farm:

Pax can be found with a book in his hand more often than not. (See photographic evidence, above.) Latest favorites include:
The Pigeon Needs a Bath!  (Mo Willems)
Clever Jack Takes the Cake (Candace Fleming)
Zen Shorts (John J Muth)
These Minecraft books (because he is a Minecraft savant.)
...and, endearingly, he still loves Owl Babies (Martin Waddell).  (Who wouldn't love it?  The last line of the book is "I love my Mommy," says Bill.)

Leo reads on his own a good deal, but still loves (and prefers) read-alouds with his dad.  Recently, they've read
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
Holes (Louis Sacher)
...and are currently devouring The Lightening Thief (Percy Jackson Book 1, R. Riordan)

(but if you're looking for the best-ever read-aloud for younger kids, the hands-down winner is Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Grace Lin)

Aidan reads almost as much as I do.  He's currently reading
Son of Neptune (Riordan),
but other recent favorites have included
The Mysterious Benedict Society Series (Stewart)
Out of My Mind (Sharon Draper)
and next on his nightstand is
Charles and Emma (Deborah Heiligman)

I try to avoid reading more than one book at a time, yet I've found myself in the middle of three (!!) excellent books.  I'm reading...
Let the Great World Spin (Colum McCann)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
The (Un)Common Good (Jim Wallis)

My most favorite recent read, though, is The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)

Jeff has even found a few minutes of spare time between graduate class work to enjoy some pleasure reading.  Aidan has been asking him to read his #1 favorite book, and Jeff was happy to oblige.  Wonder by R.J. Palacio is nothing short of a true literary wonder.  It is unequivocally the most important book a young person might ever read in his or her growing-up years.

And finally, a book that the whole family is enjoying is Dinner: The Playbook by Jenny Rosenstrach, the same author as Dinner: A Love Story (both cookbook and blog).  Aidan, Leo, Pax, and I spent an afternoon earmarking recipes we'd each like to make (Aidan wants to make hoisin turkey burgers; Leo's going to make chicken chili and compare it to his favorite turkey chili, Pax decided on a new recipe for sloppy joes; and I want to taste her shrimp and grits recipe) while Jeff simply drools over the photos and asks us

"How long until dinner?"

"Not until I finish this book," one of us is likely to reply.

Beginnings and Endings

Our dear friends Rick and Gretchen gave us a gift a few years ago that has become a dinner ritual most nights.  This blessing bowl is an enhanced version of the "good part, bad part, silly part" of dinner conversation we've enjoyed for many years; the blessing bowl adds a little direction and reflection to the daily events of our lives.  Each piece in the bowl is symbolic for something important:  gratitude; kindness; valley highs; mountain lows; remembering; loss; sacred moments; beginnings and endings. Last week, the two pieces that were selected the most were the "beginnings/endings" piece, and the "sorrow/loss."  To me, in the contexts in which they were used, the two are interchangeable.  This past week, it certainly felt so.

Last week was the Beginning:  of a new school year; of new opportunities; of trying new things; of a new season.  We celebrated the beginning of the school year by shopping with Grandma for new shirts; going out to lunch with her and eating celebratory ice cream; meeting new teachers; packing up new school supplies; learning new bus routes, routines, and schools; choosing special dinners for the nights leading up to the first day; a last hurrah on the lake.  

And yet as proud and happy as I was to have three children eager and excited to go back to school, it was also an ending.  I felt keenly the loss of summer, of days that stretched before us without the constraints of time and schedule, of memories that I was largely responsible for creating, the ones my children store in their treasure box labeled Childhood.

The first days were very good, and the beginning of the school year - total success - was something to celebrate.

(Studious and ready for work at Preschool.)

But then, at the end of the week, Jeff and I flew back to California to be with our family.  We went to bid a final farewell to our beloved, Leo Vanoni.  Hundreds gathered at the fairgrounds and lingered through the day - telling stories, sharing tears and laughter.  "Family is everything and everyone is family," that's the motto by which Leo lived his entire, amazing, inspiring life.  Leo's life philosophy didn't click for me until this farewell trip: Leo Vanoni was a man of great faith who quietly and humbly lived out that faith in every action he took.  His heart was huge; his spirit, gentle and kind; his words and actions, loving and affirming.  In death, he has awakened me to something new about him.

The marquee at the fairgrounds says it all; dozens of photos cataloging a life well-lived; Leo's Fair Chair and hat; a gorgeous photo of Leo, holding an avocado, by his talented granddaughter Nicole Ennis-Brooks.

Jeff and I said our own private goodbye to Leo on this quiet stretch of the Pacific Ocean, opposite the fairgrounds.
Jeff and his cousins each wore a Bolo tie, one of Leo's own, as requested by Leo.

As we made the exhausting flight home on Saturday night on the red-eye, eager to see our kids, I gazed out the window at the gorgeous, gorgeous moon.  An ending.

Hours later, I watched the sun rise over the horizon, 3,000 miles from where I'd last touched ground.  Beginning.

CA Adventure Part 3: Palm Springs

During the bleakest days of February, when I am chilled to the core with no end of winter in sight, I dream of California.  I dream of running through orchards full of tree-ripe avocados, lemons, limes... of wading into the cool waters of the Pacific... of lingering over memories and meals with family I'm lucky to call my own.  And I dream of palm trees, hot, sunny days, cold, frothy drinks - and the time to spend with friends, and to savor it all.  I dream of this:

Our tour of Southern California would be incomplete without time to spend with our beloved friends, the Grants; the line between family and friends on this California adventure is very blurred, indeed.  The boys picked up right where they left off last summer, when the Grants were in Virginia, and seemed more like brothers than ever before:

In Palm Springs, we held diving contests:

...while the biggest boys worked to perfect their "leisure dives.."

Um... I think you need to keep working on this, Jeff!

Practically website-worthy...

Meanwhile, Em and I made sure to stay well-hydrated...

 ...while a certain Carter child made sure to hydrate us from the OUTSIDE:

Lest you think it was all fun and games, there was serious work to be done.  Phone conferences were conducted:

...and important meetings were held:

A train was formed to transport important cargo:

...but eventually, the work gave way back to play.

We played nine thousand rounds of this game.  Because it *never* gets old.

This "all-play" relay was a huge hit with our crew!  Kids v. Grown ups... and they beat us.

Glo-sticks = fun times

We decided on a formal group shot this year:

 ...and clearly nailed it with just 57 takes!

When the nearing-the-end-of-vacation blues got us down, we embraced the motivational decor of the rental house and made it our own personal motto:

But then, seriously, we looked at these faces and felt happy again.  The grown ups can claim a friendship of 14 years or so... but these boys?  can claim it for a lifetime.

As I remind my kids from time to time, all good things must come to an end.  After four days of respite, relaxation, and rejuvenation, we said a tearful goodbye to the Grants and began the long trek home.  

Remember that blissful day of travel we had out west?  Yeah... not so much Eastbound.  L.A. traffic is nightmarish, which we knew.  But that morning, despite leaving 4 hours before our flight, we hit horrible traffic and crawled to the airport.  We finally pulled up to the terminal 55 minutes before our flight was to depart.  I unloaded all the bags and the kids, then Jeff dashed off to return the car.  25 agonizing minutes later, he returned.  I had to pretty-face my way through security and sweet talk them into letting us cut to the front of the line.  (You can imagine how popular we were.)  After making it thorough the checkpoint, we sprinted toward our gate, holding backpacks and Pax as I ran. I passed him off to Jeff at some point, then dashed ahead.  As I made my way to the finish line gate, the friendly agent greeted us - "Oh, you must be the Carter family! You're here now, you can relax.  We actually have a teeny bit of a wait."  She checked us in, we boarded the plane - sweating, gasping for breath, and still recovering from our white-knuckled drive through L.A. - only to hear the pilot announce, "There is currently a 2 hour delay out of the gate.  You are free to leave the plane." 

We recovered; the plane finally took off; but the kids were grumpy, we were all so tired.  There were no in-flight movies or television; it was a long 5 hours... with a few very beautiful moments mixed in:

Without prompting, Aidan and Leo journal-ed their CA adventures

Once on Virginia turf, we eventually collected our bags (after much delay) and went to find our shuttle to the hotel where we'd left the car.  With 15 people wanting 8 spots in the hotel shuttle, exasperated and exhausted, we hailed a cab and inched our way back to our car, which has never looked more inviting to me in my life.  We hit up Wendy's drive-thru at 10:00 p.m., then made our way home.  It was midnight when we pulled down our drive; nothing could have felt better that day. 

With the memories of our adventure playing on a continual track in our minds, we eased back into the waning days of our summer break, glad to be home again but wishing we were still adventure-ing...

Till next time --