Cooking School

I am embarrassed to say I forgot to blog about this! Back in March a friend and I decided we would take our girls to a cooking school...just for fun and for a bonding experience. Things did not quite go as expected and the other mother needed to spend time in the hospital, but her daughter was able to attend with her aunts. We chose The Culinary Classroom and we decided "Asian Appetizers" sounded like fun.

We gathered around her huge butcher block island and measured and mixed.

We made sushi (California sushi without raw fish)

Made steamed dumplings

and Vietnamese Spring Rolls

We loved it and came home to make more food the next week.

Discovered that you really should grate your ginger or run it through a food processor or your family will make little piles of ginger on their plates when they eat the steamed dumplings.

Shekinah cut out the circles of parchment for the steamer baskets.

The effects of watching cooking shows live on in her play-dough creations.

Someone turned 14 during this month!

This week I went to a quilting with my aunts and their daughters- my younger cousins- was an interesting noisy commotion.  At the end of lunch we were served coffee and this was my mug. 

I worked there  from 1984-1987 and I never saw mugs like this! I sat at a sewing machine 8-9 hours a day and sewed the binding at the bottom of Onesies. You sewed about an inch, inserted a "Onesie" label and sewed to the end of the front half of the shirt. The machine was advanced enough to have an electric eye and a cutting blade that cut the binding and then we started around the edge of the back flap of the shirt. We got paid by the dozen and you hoped for mostly size "small" because your pay was better with that size. In those days $7-8 an hour was good pay...but then I filled the tank of my VW Rabbit with a $10 bill.

 Last night hubby and I went to see Sight & Sound's production of Samson. At the beginning of the show they announced that they did add a few characters to the show and some details, so I set out to see if I could find them.  This morning I pulled out my Bible and read the account of Samson in Judges and am still a little embarrassed. I didn't know the story of Samson's life very well.

April Thoughts #2

We can't forget Ms/ Mr Snowman from the first weekend in April...it had a hat and scarf with  an umbrella, but after it started melting we removed the scarf and umbrella. Kinah suddenly noticed all the pine needles that were stuck in the snow noted, "It's all naked and hairy!"  After the snow man melted there was a lonely pile of pine needles.

Should have taken a better picture, but this is probably the last time she can wear that dress. I bought it for her in China, she didn't get much wider since then, just longer.

I share a birthday with at least three other people that I know...you would think I would buy appropriate birthday cards before that day....you would think.

Hubby took off work today to be my chauffeur, he took me to pick out a new (for me) office chair to replace the chair that was 20+ years old, then we went on a hot date to S*m's Club to stock up on groceries. We ate at Frie*dly's,  paid a fine at the library. Then had conversation without interruption. This conversation thing happened twice in a span of eight days!

Bought my b-day cake at Sa*m's, I mean who wants to bake their own. Joe got very excited when he heard it was cheesecake. Faith said, "No, Joe it isn't cheesecake." She was sitting beside him at the table and watching his expression. And when he responded in typical-disappointed-boy, she said,  "Mom, I made his ears go down!"

And this will be the biggest number you see on any of my cakes for a long time....

Things I like:  Lunches with my husband and FB phone chats with Parker.

Things I don't like:  Ticks that hide behind my daughter's ear and the next day one on her chest.

Thoughts in April #1

Thoughts running through my mind...what there is of it.

This morning my phone and my son reminded me that son#4 had a follow-up appointment at his Dr to get a second Hepatitis A vaccine. As I told Shekinah...it's because one day he might want to go to an area that was damaged by hurricane and help clean up the mess....or maybe return to Ch*na one day to volunteer. At any rate, he will have that vaccine off his list.

Before we could get out the door for the 8:15 appointment Shekinah needed to have her day-off-school-fit. Not sure why she does this, even she notices when she doesn't have them and comments, "mom I didn't have a fit today."  Getting out the door dressed and combed on a non-school day usually brings it on.  On another week, I needed to drop supplies off at the high school and she was only half combed...as in one pig-tail and one side a wavy mess.  I told her that we need to go to school and she is welcome to come just like that, but "what will Zeke say?"  She quickly decided to pick up all the things she had shoved off the table and pick up the chair and sit on the bench and ask nicely to finish the other side.  Inside I was dancing a jig, outside I said a pleased "thank you".

This morning the basement was too cold to go pick a dress, the food in this house was too unappetizing to choke down, and life was bad. But in the end, I was able to pick a dress (no choosing on her part) I put some dry cereal in a bag and chocolate milk in a cup. Offered to let her go to the doctor's office in her old ratty nightie and messy hair, but I think she worried about what Joe would say and with minutes to spare, we made it out the door with only a few tight muscles in my neck.

She apologized  while we were driving and we had a good day.

Two years ago, well things were a bit harder then.

We went to a big food discount store, selected goodies for the school lunches and after school snacks.

Didn't find the grape juice that DH likes, nor the 10# can of pears that Zeke needs for his upcoming senior trip to Grenada.

Mulling over curriculum choices for homeschooling Hope next year.

She loves the old Kindle I bought from a friend even if it isn't touch screen.

Spent Shekinah's nap time trying to write an article about the different types of adoption and brief description of what it entails.

Son#1 and his family were here for supper tonite. We made ham and cheese roll-ups (in pizza dough) and pizza stromboli.   Marveled again at Parker's language...tonite when Faith asked him what he was doing he said, " I'm working on...daddy's green car."

It's amazing how people's 9:30 bedtime never gets honored anymore.

Last night after managing to force her small hand through the handle of a mug and apparently struggling awhile before Shekinah noted "mom, I'm gonna have to sleep like this tonite!"

How Does He Do That?

On Friday night our elementary school students had their Spring Program. Elementary school programs are usually....well...just OK. I mean you have little kids with wobbly voices, loud voices and/or off-tune voices. They are usually only exciting because your kid is in it.  Another thing I've noticed over the almost-eighteen years we have had children in school, are the stories that come home from school about the stress of practicing for the programs. "Mom, the boys were SO BAD in music today, the teacher got SO MAD today in music, we had to stay in for recess today because we aren't getting the song right.  (Keep in mind, my kids have gone to a number of schools and had a number of teachers for music and these comments have happened over the years)

Until this year, this year we had a new music teacher and I sorta rolled my eyes (inside my head) and thought, "poor guy". Middle school students vary so much. Then I started hearing Mr S quotes...."Mr S. did this, Mr S did that, Mr. S is funny, we got to play a game during music, he told us we are awesome."  I jokingly told my husband that I would get rich if I had a quarter for every time that teacher's name was mentioned.

The Christmas program rolled around and I waited for the frustration stories. I heard none. I wondered if they would get ready for the Christmas program, if they kept playing games during music class. They had a wonderful Christmas program!

Then the Spring program happened and I was IMPRESSED!  Sixth grade boys singing out and singing well. Seventh and eighth grade boys singing audibly, not just audible they song was great! I expected the girls to sing, but they outdid themselves.

So how does this teacher pull that kind of cooperation out of the students?

Somewhere between Christmas and Spring, I had a few opportunities to eavesdrop and I heard a few things that might play into it...a few lessons for me too. I don't believe I ever heard a teacher so full of compliments to his students, they weren't fake-y empty ones he seems to genuinely like his students. I pondered how he kept order in his classroom, wouldn't the students just run all over him. Somehow he knew just when to get serious and just when to tell a story. Possibly he needs to write a book.

Thank you students and Mr S for a very enjoyable evening.

Dear Shekinah sporting her new glasses and her new dress.

Ready for the performance

April Fool's Day

People in this house have been looking forward to this day for a variety of reasons. Hope had a Current Events speech, but she has them about once a week so that isn't anything new. Ezekiel had chapel this morning and I was scheduled to feed 110 students and staff at the high school.

This is the fourth time I've made this meal. It is traditional at our high school for the senior's moms to make a lunch sometime during the school year. If each mom takes a turn we have "hot lunch" almost every Friday for a whole school year. The students each pay ($4 this year) and the money is used to help fund the senior class trip and graduation expenses. If there are more Fridays than moms you can choose to do a second hot lunch to help your child's fund. That would be why this is the fourth lunch, I did it twice for our eldest.  After that I had too many children that I DID know what to do.

The very first hot lunch that I made was the Chinese/Hmong/American meal meal similar to what I made today. It was totally my suggestion and totally my choice...but then it was a TRADITION and you know what we do with TRADITIONS!

If you start a month ahead of time, it really does not take a lot of work to throw it together. Who am I kidding? It was work, but I enjoyed it.

I made 250 egg rolls and put a sign out limiting them to 2 egg rolls until all were served, I should have just let them eat, we would have been fine. I cooked rice this morning, I tried a different method from last year and I think I like it the best so far....well tho' the first year my friend Houa cooked the rice the proper Hmong way and I picked it up at her house all hot and ready to go. Last year I baked it in the oven, covered with plastic wrap topped by foil, it worked but I thought the rice was more gummy.  This year DH lined the ice chest with 2 layers of foil, I preheated it with a jar of hot water (covered), then I cooked the rice in batches of 4 cups at a time and kept it covered  with a layer of paper towel. Extra moisture is your enemy when you are making rice, that is why your rice will turn gummy and glue-y. ( Jasmine rice is the BEST and you cook it one cup dry rice to 1-1/4 cup water)

Then the chicken with a General Tsao sauce and mixed veggies, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.

I had great help today, my hubby, my friend and my niece and we actually finished a few minutes before 11. It was great to not run around like...

Anyway Zeke had the school chapel topic and picked April Fool's day as the subject. He gave examples of different familiar "good" quotes by famous dictators and despots. He had them look up  a few Bible verses and then had them look up Hezekiah 7:14 , paused a bit then started reading " And in the fourth month, on the first day of the month, ye shall put that day aside for the public humiliation of those who know not the scripture."
Some people were a bit annoyed at being caught.


Now I can concentrate on the rest of April....things like finishing up the taxes, my newsletter and maybe that dress that is cut and laying on the sewing machine.


Quote from Shekinah: "It's just rain, you won't melt, sugar melts and you're NOT sugar."

PS: We don't share a family toothbrush. Joe got a job for the summer with more hours!!