Our new and totally AWESOME brownie recipe!! We at the whole pan in about two hours.
1/2 cup butter (preferably from grass-fed cows)
1/4 cup organic cocoa powder
1/2 cup water
1 cup organic sprouted wheat flour
1 cup organic unrefined sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt or Real Salt
1 egg, slightly beaten (ours came straight from our backyard chickens!)
1/4 cup dairy kefir (we make ours out of raw milk from grass-fed cows)
1 tsp organic, fair trade vanilla
Mix the butter, cocoa and water in a saucepan and bring just to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Mix egg, kefir, and vanilla, then add cocoa mixture. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Son, the Writer
A few days ago I was just talking (typing?) on one of the unschooling lists about children what they need to learn, when they need to learn it, and about how there is no need to force them to learn certain subjects or study them on a regular basis. People, including children, really will learn everything they need to learn when they have a reason or desire to do so. My kids have given me lots of living examples of this over the years, but now my son has given me another BIG example for me to share with everyone. People seem to be able to grasp that younger kids can learn on their own without a curriculum or formal schooling, but they have trouble with the concept with older kids. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "But what about algebra/calculus/chemistry/high school?" I'd be a very rich woman.
My son, Cameron just turned 13 and he's always been unschooled. Cameron recently decided he wanted to write a book. Not a picture book, not a childrens book, a chapter book. He came up with a unique idea several weeks ago and has been talking about it ever since. It's top secret stuff, unless you are one of the chosen few that have been privy to the basic plot, so I can't tell you what it's about other than to say it has vampires in it. I will say I was very impressed at the amount the depth in the story idea and the amount of detail he was putting into it. It was obvious that he had been mulling this story over for quite some time and was putting a lot of time into thinking it through. This week he decided to start putting his ideas into writing and he's already a few chapters into his book. He's been sitting at the computer for HOURS every day tapping away at the keyboard. He'll come ask me how to spell a word or ask me if I will proof read what he has so far, but other than that it's a very solitary pursuit.
Lots of kids probably go through a phase where they write stories, so some of you may be wondering what the big deal is. The "big deal" is that he is doing this without EVER having been *taught* how to do the things he is doing to write this book. He's never been interested in knowing how to punctuate sentences, had no interest in writing anything, let alone a full book, and didn't give a hoot about spelling. He was also a "late" reader by school standards and didn't even start reading chapter books until the last year or so. He's a very auditory learner and still prefers to listen to audio books rather than sit still and read, yet he's WRITING A BOOK.
He started by coming up with the basic story. That part took a couple of months. If some of the critics of unschooling were correct, he should have stopped right there. I mean, he hasn't been taught how to write, didn't know how to spell, had never studied grammar, etc. But he *didn't* stop. He kept going because he was doing something he had developed a passion for and he was fully engaged in the process. I could literally see the excitement, the fire, in his eyes when he talked about his book, and that light stayed there even when he got frustrated, or tired, or ran into a problem. I'm honestly not doing the process he is going through any justice. You would just have to see it for yourself to understand how *driven* he is right now. It's been fascinating to watch.
Next, he decided to study the parts of a book. I don't mean he did worksheets where he filled in the blanks with lines pointing to the physical parts of a book like I've seen school kids do. I mean he sat down with a stack of his favorite books and started really *looking* at them. He paid attention to all the parts, including those he probably skipped in the past. I'm willing to bet that he was doing the same with the audiobooks he listened to lately too, but since I can't get inside his head to know for certain, that part will remain a mystery. Then he took his stack of books, placed them by the computer so he could reference them, and started writing. First he wrote a teaser for the back cover, then he wrote the prologue. (I didn't even know he *knew* the word prologue!) That was when I got my first glimpse at his book and my initial reaction, to be totally honest, was utter shock. I had heard the basic story and knew a few details, but I had NO idea all of this was going on inside his head! It's already a really GOOD story and he hooked me with the first few lines. I could tell that he *gets it*. He's never written a book before, but he knew, from years and years of listening to stories and now reading them himself, that he needed to grab the reader's attention right from the beginning, and that's exactly what he did.
**Hitting the virtual pause button for a moment to admit to my wee bit of jealousy as well as huge amounts of admiration. My first attempt at writing a book was a complete disaster. I was so traumatized by it that I didn't attempt to write another story for pleasure again until just recently. That first attempt was 30 years ago!**
I won't say that his writing was perfect. Far from it. But he was open to learning how to make it better. He asked me to help him with the spelling and punctuation, so I told him how to spell the words he got wrong, showed him how to punctuate dialogue, and corrected a few homonyms. He took the criticism without the slightest bit of irritation, then sat down and got back to work. Over the course of the next couple of days he worked off and on, only coming to me when he couldn't figure something out on his own. I haven't been invited to see the latest chapter yet, but I'm really looking forward to it!
Will he finish his book? I don't know. Does it matter? I don't think so. Lots of professional authors have multiple books that they've never finished. Finishing really isn't the point. The point is he's doing something he's absolutely passionate about at the moment, and in the process - purely as a byproduct of following his passion - he is learning things in a matter of *days* that, had he been in school, he would have spent *years* studying over and over and over. He is proving, once again, that compulsory school is both unnecessary and monumentally inefficient.
My son, Cameron just turned 13 and he's always been unschooled. Cameron recently decided he wanted to write a book. Not a picture book, not a childrens book, a chapter book. He came up with a unique idea several weeks ago and has been talking about it ever since. It's top secret stuff, unless you are one of the chosen few that have been privy to the basic plot, so I can't tell you what it's about other than to say it has vampires in it. I will say I was very impressed at the amount the depth in the story idea and the amount of detail he was putting into it. It was obvious that he had been mulling this story over for quite some time and was putting a lot of time into thinking it through. This week he decided to start putting his ideas into writing and he's already a few chapters into his book. He's been sitting at the computer for HOURS every day tapping away at the keyboard. He'll come ask me how to spell a word or ask me if I will proof read what he has so far, but other than that it's a very solitary pursuit.
Lots of kids probably go through a phase where they write stories, so some of you may be wondering what the big deal is. The "big deal" is that he is doing this without EVER having been *taught* how to do the things he is doing to write this book. He's never been interested in knowing how to punctuate sentences, had no interest in writing anything, let alone a full book, and didn't give a hoot about spelling. He was also a "late" reader by school standards and didn't even start reading chapter books until the last year or so. He's a very auditory learner and still prefers to listen to audio books rather than sit still and read, yet he's WRITING A BOOK.
He started by coming up with the basic story. That part took a couple of months. If some of the critics of unschooling were correct, he should have stopped right there. I mean, he hasn't been taught how to write, didn't know how to spell, had never studied grammar, etc. But he *didn't* stop. He kept going because he was doing something he had developed a passion for and he was fully engaged in the process. I could literally see the excitement, the fire, in his eyes when he talked about his book, and that light stayed there even when he got frustrated, or tired, or ran into a problem. I'm honestly not doing the process he is going through any justice. You would just have to see it for yourself to understand how *driven* he is right now. It's been fascinating to watch.
Next, he decided to study the parts of a book. I don't mean he did worksheets where he filled in the blanks with lines pointing to the physical parts of a book like I've seen school kids do. I mean he sat down with a stack of his favorite books and started really *looking* at them. He paid attention to all the parts, including those he probably skipped in the past. I'm willing to bet that he was doing the same with the audiobooks he listened to lately too, but since I can't get inside his head to know for certain, that part will remain a mystery. Then he took his stack of books, placed them by the computer so he could reference them, and started writing. First he wrote a teaser for the back cover, then he wrote the prologue. (I didn't even know he *knew* the word prologue!) That was when I got my first glimpse at his book and my initial reaction, to be totally honest, was utter shock. I had heard the basic story and knew a few details, but I had NO idea all of this was going on inside his head! It's already a really GOOD story and he hooked me with the first few lines. I could tell that he *gets it*. He's never written a book before, but he knew, from years and years of listening to stories and now reading them himself, that he needed to grab the reader's attention right from the beginning, and that's exactly what he did.
**Hitting the virtual pause button for a moment to admit to my wee bit of jealousy as well as huge amounts of admiration. My first attempt at writing a book was a complete disaster. I was so traumatized by it that I didn't attempt to write another story for pleasure again until just recently. That first attempt was 30 years ago!**
I won't say that his writing was perfect. Far from it. But he was open to learning how to make it better. He asked me to help him with the spelling and punctuation, so I told him how to spell the words he got wrong, showed him how to punctuate dialogue, and corrected a few homonyms. He took the criticism without the slightest bit of irritation, then sat down and got back to work. Over the course of the next couple of days he worked off and on, only coming to me when he couldn't figure something out on his own. I haven't been invited to see the latest chapter yet, but I'm really looking forward to it!
Will he finish his book? I don't know. Does it matter? I don't think so. Lots of professional authors have multiple books that they've never finished. Finishing really isn't the point. The point is he's doing something he's absolutely passionate about at the moment, and in the process - purely as a byproduct of following his passion - he is learning things in a matter of *days* that, had he been in school, he would have spent *years* studying over and over and over. He is proving, once again, that compulsory school is both unnecessary and monumentally inefficient.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Box Elder Bug Coinkidink
I just walked into the bathroom, saw a cool looking bug hanging out on our shower and wondered what it was. We just happened to be looking at science blogs at the time. I was about to open a new window to look up "my" bug, but decided to click on one more science blog entry first and, lo and behold, there was "my" bug on the computer screen! LOL What a coincidence! So, the boxelder bug gets our nature find of the week award thanks to a well timed entry on a blog around the clock.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Cameron's Recommended Books
The Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
The Redwall Series by Brian Jaques.
Anything by Neil Gaiman!
The Oliver Nocturne series by Kevin Emerson
The Skullduggery Pleasant series by Derek LandyThe Kids' Garden
Catherine's mini bell peppers. She harvests a pepper or two from this every couple of days.
Catherine and our Japanese bantam, Sakura.
These Jack-be-little pumpkins are growing like wildfire all over the kid's garden. We've already harvested about a dozen and there are still lots of little green ones on the vines.
Cameron and Peony, the most pampered chicken in our flock.
The kids' bean/gourd teepee is taking over and we have gourds galore!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sewing & Cooking
The kids have been on a cooking and sewing kick for the last few months. Cameron has been sewing on the machine and by hand. A few weeks ago he made a bunch of bags made out of some funky brown batik fabric that he thought looked like tree bark. They were all different sizes from dice bag size to small shoulder bag size. They were primarily for his Richard Cypher costume that he's been putting together. Last week, he created a custom belt bag for his heelies wheels out of denim.
And here are some of Catherine's creations. She's 5 and has never done hand sewing before, yet she made these by herself over a couple of days. She only asked for help getting the needle through the fabric on the bottom seam of the blue doll and sewing up a couple of small holes where her stitches were loose. She copied the pattern from a book, traced it onto the fabric (different fabrics on front & back), sewed them, stuffed them, & sewed on the buttons. She has carried these everywhere and even sleeps with them.
Cooking is an ongoing interest for my kids, but once in a while they get in the mood to find new recipes. We took a trip to the library and these are some of the ones they checked out and made things from:
Well, except for that Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook in the upper left. That was my favorite cookbook when I was a kid and I went on a search for it a few months ago. Found a used copy in really good shape on amazon and snatched it up. The kids love it as much as I did! They've made almost every recipe in it several times. Here are the "Batnana Split" and "Batnana Sundae" that they came up with because of a recipe in that book:
They were made with homemade cottage cheese instead of ice cream, homemade yogurt, bananas, strawberries, and raw nuts.
And here are some of Catherine's creations. She's 5 and has never done hand sewing before, yet she made these by herself over a couple of days. She only asked for help getting the needle through the fabric on the bottom seam of the blue doll and sewing up a couple of small holes where her stitches were loose. She copied the pattern from a book, traced it onto the fabric (different fabrics on front & back), sewed them, stuffed them, & sewed on the buttons. She has carried these everywhere and even sleeps with them.
Cooking is an ongoing interest for my kids, but once in a while they get in the mood to find new recipes. We took a trip to the library and these are some of the ones they checked out and made things from:
Well, except for that Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook in the upper left. That was my favorite cookbook when I was a kid and I went on a search for it a few months ago. Found a used copy in really good shape on amazon and snatched it up. The kids love it as much as I did! They've made almost every recipe in it several times. Here are the "Batnana Split" and "Batnana Sundae" that they came up with because of a recipe in that book:
They were made with homemade cottage cheese instead of ice cream, homemade yogurt, bananas, strawberries, and raw nuts.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Snakes & Rats & Chicks...Oh My!
First of all, Uno the snake has found a new home. We took him (her?) to the local nature center last week and they thought he was just as cute as we did! They also thought that since they didn't have a snake like Uno that he'd be a good addition to the animals that they use for kids' programs. The fact that he has is so tiny and also has that "awwww" factor because of his missing eye, they thought he would make a perfect snake for kids who think they don't like snakes. So, now he's living at the nature center and (providing they can get him to eat) we will be able to visit him when we're there. And thanks to the naturalists we found out that he is a brown snake. No wonder he had us so stumped! He wasn't either of the snakes that we usually find on our property. Brown snakes are apparently very common around here, they just aren't seen much because they're so small and tend to stay well hidden. Now if we ever see another one we'll know what it is. Of course he was the first one I've ever seen in all these years, so who knows if we'll ever see one again!
Aren't they sweet? It's been difficult to keep the kids from holding them ALL the time, but then the little fluff balls are rather irresistable. The two bantams get held the most of course. Cameron's Japanese bantam is particularly fond of him. She falls asleep in his hand almost as soon as he picks her up and starts rubbing her tiny little head, and she eats right out of his hand. He named her Sakura because she's sweet as a cherry blossom. We named all eight of them flower names - Lily, Daisy, Orchid, Poppy, Rose, Sunflower, and Peony -so I sure hope there are no surprise roosters in the bunch! We've spent a lot of time today just watching them go about their chicky business. I'm sure that in a few weeks we'll be ready for them to go to the barn, but for the time being we're enjoying watching them and trying to figure out their personalities. Poppy the Polish crested is definitely the quirky one of the bunch, but then that's why we picked a Polish crested. We like quirky. Lily the Easter Egger is already showing top hen potential. She tends to walk all over the other chicks (literally). Catherine's silky bantam is Rose and she's a sweetie. I think my favorite is probably Daisy the Golden Laced Wyandotte, but I'm not sure because they're all so cute. The others all have very similar markings and personalities so they're difficult to tell apart unless they're all right together. I've just been calling them the triplets and probably will continue to do so until their feathers come in and I can tell them apart more easily.
The second happening in the pet department was "the rat accident". Catherine fell a few days ago while holding her pet rat, Cornflower, and the poor rattie was injured. The skin was scraped right off the toes on her back foot and her toes were swollen and red for a couple of days. She's recovering well and her toes don't seem to be broken as we feared, but she sure gave us all a good scare! Cornflower was going stir crazy by the time we took her out this morning because she was confined to her cage until her foot healed enough for her to put her weight on it again. That's apparently torture to a hyper, free roaming rat like her, but she survived and is extra happy to be held and cuddled now.
And just today the chicks we've been waiting so long for finally arrived. We were just getting ready to head out the door for a day at the park when someone knocked at the door. I was expecting the chicks this week, just not TODAY. They were supposed to call the morning they came in so that I would know to expect them and not leave for the day like we were about to do. Anyway...here's the sight that awaited us as we pried open our cheeping box:
Aren't they sweet? It's been difficult to keep the kids from holding them ALL the time, but then the little fluff balls are rather irresistable. The two bantams get held the most of course. Cameron's Japanese bantam is particularly fond of him. She falls asleep in his hand almost as soon as he picks her up and starts rubbing her tiny little head, and she eats right out of his hand. He named her Sakura because she's sweet as a cherry blossom. We named all eight of them flower names - Lily, Daisy, Orchid, Poppy, Rose, Sunflower, and Peony -so I sure hope there are no surprise roosters in the bunch! We've spent a lot of time today just watching them go about their chicky business. I'm sure that in a few weeks we'll be ready for them to go to the barn, but for the time being we're enjoying watching them and trying to figure out their personalities. Poppy the Polish crested is definitely the quirky one of the bunch, but then that's why we picked a Polish crested. We like quirky. Lily the Easter Egger is already showing top hen potential. She tends to walk all over the other chicks (literally). Catherine's silky bantam is Rose and she's a sweetie. I think my favorite is probably Daisy the Golden Laced Wyandotte, but I'm not sure because they're all so cute. The others all have very similar markings and personalities so they're difficult to tell apart unless they're all right together. I've just been calling them the triplets and probably will continue to do so until their feathers come in and I can tell them apart more easily.
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