Perfect for a Cold Winter's Night

Spiced Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

I thought I'd share one of our favorite crockpot soups since the weather right now pretty much demands a warm, hearty, soul satisfying soup such as this one. It's pretty work intensive in the beginning, at least compared to other crockpot favorites perhaps, -- lots of chopping etc-- but the pay off - a home smelling so scrumptious all day- is certainly worth it, in my opinion.
Auora, always at my side in the kitchen, did lots of 'helping', including peeling the carrots and pouring everything into the crock. She was very interessted in the butternut squash, kept calling it melon and trying to eat pieces. The ingredients, as you can see, lend themselves nicely to a discussion about color. Perhaps with an older child, you could note that the colors are also that of the Irish flag, and then dig out the encyclopedia (or hop on google, lol) for a lesson on national flags. The garam masala called for in the recipe lends lots of flavor with out a lot of heat- just right for the little ones in the family.

So, now the recipe:

1 Cup dry lentils
2.5 Cups peeled butternut squash, cut into 3/4 inch dice
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped carrot
1/2 Cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced, as preference
1 tsp (we use 1.5 to 2 tsp) Garam Masala
4 Cups Chicken broth

1. Rinse and drain lentils. In Crockpot combine first 5 ingredients. Sprinkle garilc and garam masala over. Pour broth over all.
2. Cover and Cook (crockpot) on Low 8-9 hours, or High 4-4.5 hours.

Enjoy!!

By the way, the bread pictured is Tassajara yeasted bread from the Tassajara bread book. Our first attempt. It wasn't bad, but I think I'll add a bit more salt and a tad bit more sweetner next time around. It does taste good toasted with nutella though ;) 100% whole wheat bread makes nutella a healthy snack, right?

random cuteness....

Explaining the virtues of a Montessori education to Turtle

Because Mickey ears and sparkly ballet shoes always go together, no matter the occasion.

Doesn't everyone play the xylophone with their feet?

With Maddie at Jungle Jim's, an indoor playspace.

Give aways!

The Crafty Crow has some great give aways today- 3 actually. Head on over and check them out.

Happy Homemaking

Here are some things I'm loving today:

This apron, a late Christmas present (Pete and I agreed to set aside a little mad money for me to use on Etsy as my gift)to myself, purchased from Boojiboo on Etsy. I. Love. This. Apron. It's easier to wash dishes wearing an apron this beautiful. It really is. I put it on in the morning and it keeps me going all day.
Also from Etsy, from Maine Woods Yarn this time, a beautiful drop spindle kit. It came with both top and bottom whorl spindles, beautiful hand dyed roving and some undyed merino roving to practice on. You can see the undyed roving, my first attempt at spinning, on the bottom whorl spindle below. Sorry about the picture quality. I am very excited about this!!! Although, it is a bit harder than I expected. Thank God for You Tube tutorials.

For my birthday, my grandmother had given me a gift card to Macy's. Unfortunately, my two year old doesn't seem to appreciate all the beautiful things at Macy's, making shopping with her quite difficult (she knows that there is a pet store at the mall, and she wants to see those puppies, like, now). So, when Pete finished the semester in December, I still had the gift card in my wallet, and off to Macy's I went-- toddler free.
I got this beautiful Martha Stewart 7-qt enameled cast iron dutch oven.
In which, pictured, are the beginnings of a very yummy tomato sauce (thank you Jamie Oliver),
which became this very yummy pasta al forno con pomodori that Pete and I enjoyed (and Aurora refused to touch) for dinner last night.

I also used the gift card to get a yogurt maker, which experimenting with has proven to be much fun. Here you see the fruits of my first attempt-- Lemon Curd and Blackberry. Both were very yummy, though I prefer the lemon.

You can also see, that I need a better camera. Or to improve my photography skills. Or both :)

Quick and Easy- bringing a book to life

A favorite book in this house is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault.
I made this very quick and easy palm tree, inspired by Lois Ehlert's illustrations, out of felt with the intention of making a whole felt board story. After finding out that my Sizzix machine doesn't cut felt quite as well as I thought it would, the project got put on hold, as hand cutting all the letters wasn't very appealing in the Pre-Christmas crafting rush. Then Aurora got this Melissa and Doug wooden magnetic letter set. Perfect! I put it up on the fridge with a bit of double sided tape and it's been getting a lot of use since then! I know they have felt already adheared to magnetic sheets at the craft store-- I think I may remake it, and also include the sun and moon to complete the story.

Imaginary Play : a sailboat

Constructed with the pull out bin from her playtable, cardboard brick blocks for the mast and a playsilk for the sail.
Anchors Away!!

a bit of Montessori

So, Pete and I have been reading into/researching Montessori education a little bit more. And have found quite a bit that we agree with. There's a lot that we love about Waldorf -mainly the emphasis on nature and rhythms- but it's not a perfect match for us as a family or for Aurora. While I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of play for young children, I also believe that more formal 'learning' has it's place as well. Montessori alone isn't a perfect match either -we love the practical life skills, emphasis on independence, more traditional academics ect..., but feel it is lacking somewhat in imaginary play and the creative arts. A combination of the two, however, fits our family nicely I think.

Here's Aurora doing some of her 'work' (she loves doing her work, by the way, and will do almost anything if you call it work or a job).

Transferring lentils from one bowl to another with a spoon:

Vacuuming up her room (she later did the living room and helped sweep the kitchen)

I've been pretty amazed at the level of concentration she employs when doing her tasks. She worked hard at the lentil transfer activity- and got each and every one- she figured out to tip the bowl as it started to empty, and if she spilt a couple she put them back on her spoon and continued. Everything we've read has talked about this- the deep and extended concentration, respect for the materials and activity at hand when it's presented as work, the confidence (which you can clearly see in her eyes in the first picture) that builds as they complete a 'job'- but I've been surprised to see so much of it in my two year old.

So, we've got more books requested from Yale and the collegiate inter library loan, both Montessori and Waldorf. I think it will be a happy blend.