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Once or twice a month, the kids and I try to make a trip to our county zoo. Going that often is a very different experience from the trips we used to take in grade school every May. For one thing, I don’t have to worry about where to sit on the bus. My seat is pretty much assigned these days.

The biggest advantage is that we get to know the animals better. The elephants are my favorites – I’m convinced they remember us. But we also find fun in unexpected places, sometimes spending extra time on the seemingly insignificant animals. (more…)

A quick catch-up list:

1. We had our first snow of the season Tuesday evening. (more…)

(Fair warning: If you’re squeamish, you might skip this post. It’s for my teenage brother-in-law. And for his pet carp, may he rest in peace. 🙂 )

My in-laws came for a visit last week. I’ve explained some of their story in a previous post. It poured rain the entire weekend of their visit.

Two of my husband’s younger brothers came along, as well as the youngest sister. My husband took the brothers out to the creek. They caught fish with a net and moved them to a deeper pond. A few of the fish they brought home! (more…)

This has been a busy week – no time for cooking adventures.

I did make some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, though.

A new friend made these when I went to her house to meet her for the first time recently. We sat on her comfortable sofas and had a refreshing polysyllabic conversation that did not involve her asking me to fill a sippy cup with milk. Not even once. (more…)

This has been such a busy week, and Wednesday has already come – the day I would normally post on my blog.

I haven’t had time for cooking adventures or for processing pictures this week. Instead, today I’m leaving a post that I wrote a few weeks ago. (more…)

For years, I’ve been looking for THE perfect book to teach me to cook. I’ve assembled quite a collection of cookbooks in the process. Many of them have failed to inspire, and I was ready to decide that cooking is just one of those things that I’d have to buckle down and do, with or without inspiration.

This past week, though, I may have found it – THE cookbook that may end our family’s long history of meal flops.
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If I had known from the beginning how long we’d deal with infertility, I might have made a conscious decision (more…)

Recently my husband and I had a bummer of a few days. We really needed an evening at home together.

A night finally freed up for my husband… but then of course, I couldn’t be there. I had to take the older two kids to a class.

I was just pulling out of the driveway when our horses escaped the paddock. With a fall nip in the air and some sprinkling rain, all five horses were in high spirits. They raced across the front field, galloped down the dirt road, and settled down just as they reached the center line of a moderately busy paved road.

I decided I’d better stay to help (or, at the very least, to spectate).

We have fantastic neighbors, and soon the horses were back in the paddock, thankfully without incident. But we were too late for the kids’ class.

We thought that a suddenly free evening in late September was perfect for an impromptu family bonfire!

We had a pile of debris that needed to be burned. We’d had some rain, so this was a good time for it. My husband kept the garden hose close at hand, though.

Fire is mesmerizing.
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To kick off my year of focusing on cooking, I made an easy penne and spinach salad. It has a unique flavor – and a bit of a bite!

This recipe comes from a Cooking from A to Zest video. My kids love watching this series of instructional cooking videos. I hope they grow up loving to cook!

To make the salad, boil a pot of water, add some salt, and pour in the penne. Cook the penne as directed.

Fill a salad bowl with fresh spinach leaves.

To make your own garlic paste, mince the garlic, add some coarse salt, and press and grind them together with the flat of a knife.
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