Rainy day mosaic

Warm food, finally... and Julia Child

My head has been a little obsessed with homeschooling lately, and I've neglected other aspects of this blog -- like the warm food quest I was on. Several of you generously shared your ideas for warm, nourishing snacks, and I never got back to the subject! So, here I am, trying to make it up to you.

The fried parmesan broccoli and cauliflower topping for this Giada DeLaurentis recipe was a hit with two out of three of my kids. (The third doesn't like cheese, go figure.) Cut the veggies into bite-size florets, dip in egg batter, then cover in grated parmesan. Crisp up in hot oil in your frying pan, and salt to taste. Yum! (Put the fried veggies over baby spinach with a little lemon vinaigrette for less guilt.)

Roasted sweet potato fries (or russets, if that's what you've got, for some reason I took a photo of the russets, but not the sweet). Preheat oven to 450. Peel and slice 2 medium sweet potatoes into strips. Dry the slices. Put in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil until coated. Sprinkle with pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. Flip over, and bake another 10 minutes or until browned. Sprinkle with salt.


Easy nachos. No veggies here, but they're a yummy, warm treat! Spread a few handfuls of corn chips on a baking sheet, and shred cheddar cheese over the top. Bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Here are some more warm treat ideas from my helpful readers!

Herbal tea, warm vanilla milk or hot cider instead of hot chocolate.
Fruit breads instead of cookies.
Hot fruit sauces with granola topping instead of smoothies.


And, just in case you wondered... Julia Child's recipe for Beef Bourgignon from "Mastering the Arts of French Cooking" is just as fantabulous as Julie Powell said it was.

I saw "Julie and Julia" with my mom in the theater, and then we watched it again as soon as it was out on rental. LOVED it. Of course, I had to make the highlighted dish. I just took a while getting around to it, as usual.

It's a four-hour recipe, so it took a little planning. Plus, I had to save up for my first enameled casserole. (Its pretty French blue has decorated my stovetop ever since.) As soon as I brought my Le Creuset home, I stole the cookbook from my mom's house, and got to work. I made the sauteed mushrooms and braised onions just like Julia directed. (Can you believe I'd never braised anything before?)

When it was done, I wanted to eat the whole thing straight from the pot. Luckily for the boys, they got home from kung fu just in time...

Sonflower Sisters

I'm a little late on this, but I wanted to let those of you with daughters know about Deb at As We Walk's fabulous new mother-daughter discipleship group, Sonflower Sisters.

She's been doing this locally for awhile, but has just begun offering the curriculum online for those who wish to join her. I'm waiting for your mother-son group, Deb!

Where to begin?

Whew! It's been another full week, but I really didn't mean to desert the blog. January has been blowing by like the winter winds, bringing changes and lots of learning.

We've made our exodus out of Egypt and across the Mediterranean for a study of Ancient Greece this week. Scott and the big boys have been enjoying "The Lightning Thief," the first book in the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. It's already whet their appetites for Greek myths and history. The books I requested finally came in from the library, and we're all excited!


This morning we listened to the story of Perseus and the Minotaur and I took the boys to see our own local Labyrinth.


It's always nice to hear, "That was awesome, Mom."

Earlier in the week, we spent two days visiting friends in the mountains -- alas, we missed most of the snow. But the kids had a blast anyway, and the mommies got lots of chatting in. Scott and I have been contemplating a change in the underground structure of our homeschooling, after much cajoling encouragement by our enthusiastic friends. ;) More on that in another post, as nothing's confirmed yet anyway.


Back at home, the boys kept themselves pretty busy...


After two weeks of rain, the garden was begging for attention, so we headed out to clean up and weed. I also need to get some more seeds in the ground before it's too late for cool-season veggies. Winter arrives, and just as we start to enjoy the break from outdoor chores, spring is here demanding we get back to work!


In other big news, Middlest has begun violin lessons. He's spent the last two years with unwavering interest in learning the guitar, but never directly asking for lessons. And then, to my surprise, he asked for violin lessons a few weeks ago!

So, I've found a teacher who can do both, but he'll start with the violin. He was nearly glowing with excitement and anticipation this week, and has already practiced his homework three times since his first lesson ended 24 hours ago.


And today, both Eldest and Middlest have a belt ceremony for Kung fu, and are expecting to move up to green and second-degree orange, respectively.

Well, now I feel caught up. If you're still reading this, I know you must love us. ;)