Lionden Landing

We are going to vegetarian friends for Thanksgiving Day which means a very non-traditional meal.  Shabbat will have all the traditional foods instead.  Given that we will have two days in a row of heavy meals, the rest of the week is extra light. I am on break for the holiday which means the whole family can eat together. Monday - Out Tuesday - BFD - scrambled eggs and pancakes Wednesday -  Wild Rice Salad and biscuits.  This is pushing Froggy's comfort zone but expanding horizons is important. Thanksgiving - We are bringing lasagna Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish, Matza ball soup, Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Green Beans, Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Apple pie

We have two little people visiting for the summer.  That means lots of extra mouths to feed and extra preferences to take into account.  Here is hoping I get close Sunday - Pizza and Salad Monday - Grilled Hotdogs/Veggie Burgers, Potato Salad, and Veggie sticks Tuesday - Fish sticks, niblet corn and coleslaw Wednesday- Stuffed peppers and fruit Thursday - Leftover buffet Shabbat Dinner - Challah Gefilte Fish Loaf Matza ball soup Apricot chicken (double the normal amout) Strawberry spinach salad with parve feta Honey roasted potatoes green beans Chocolate Raspberry bars strawberry bread Shabbat Luncheon - out seudah shlishit  tuna pasta salad  colorful corn salad same desserts energy bars

With Shavuos, we welcome our summer schedule. We are officially done with school for the year and we head out for our first of several summer trips.  I am doing some major freezer cooking this week so that Abba will have healthy food to eat while Froggy and I are away. Monday - Chicken Pot Pie (freeze) Tuesday - Tacos (freeze) Wednesday - Summer Salad Supper Thursday - Head out of town

Sunday - leftovers Monday -pizza and salad Tuesday - Shavuot regular challah since last year's special one was a disaster spinach salad with strawberries and vegan feta Creamy Corn Chowder Maple Salmon noodle kugel roasted aparagus chocolate chip cherry cheese cake Wednesday Kiddush - out and I dont even need to bring anything!!! woohoo Wednesday Dinner - An dairy antipasto spread Challah Quinoa salad Asian Slaw veggie plate (carrots, celery red pepper, peapods) hummus a cheese plate (purchased) lox rolls tuna salad dessert kebobs Shabbat -  challah tomato spinach soup gefilte fish loaf (in freezer)  apricot chicken honey roasted potatoes broccoli leftover salads (??) peach crisp with Peach icecream

Our big objective for the summer is to get Froggy proficient in really riding her bike.  Our first adventure was almost our last.  It was a one mile ride up to the library.  Froggy was insistent she could not make it up the hill.  She turned around and headed home.  At the bottom of the hill, she asked how far we were.  I told her we were about 2/3s.  She got determined, turned her bike around and conquered that hill.  Today, at her request, we tried a much harder 2 mile ride up to the ice cream store.  She had to walk about half a block up the last bit of one hill and pause to rest on two other hills but she did it.  And more importantly she did it of her own desire and without any whining or complaining at all.  My heart just about burst with pride.

We met a friend for what I thought was a casual playdate at the park.  It turned into a fantastic nature hike.  Froggy decided early in the walk that she wanted to take pictures with my phone  We saw a blue heron not that you can tell from this picture.  And aren't the white flowers pretty.  Anyone know what it is?  And this is the fern her friend wants for her yard  pretty yellow flower  Mama and baby ducks  And the absolutely neatest tree stump ever.  Current theory is that there was a knot in the tree at this point. And a blue jay for M's bird book.

My father and I have never had a good relationship for a variety of reasons.  Start with the fact that he really wanted a son and I was the third of four girls.  I was also a fat kid with less social graces than his collegues who have preferred.  I think he tried in the beginning but gave up eventually when he found nothing worth his time in me. By thirteen, I knew he didn't like me as much as my siblings.  At fifteen, I was told flat out I was asking to visit too often and so I never asked again without need. Sixteen was the last year I received any acknowledgement of my birthday and that was several months late and only after I cried to one of my sisters about the lack of acknowledgement.  Before I was married at 22, I had stopped being invited to the family winter celebration including my sister's birthday celebration. When Abba and I decided that we were going to make a life together, he asked to meet my father and I acquiesced  to his wishes.  We had dinner as a family

The Smithsonian Natural History Muesum closed its Dinosaur exhibit at the end of April.  Knowing it was coming, we went to say goodbye.  We went with another family that was way more prepared than.  The mom made a neat scavenger hunt for the girls.  They completed it in record time. But then spent forever showing us all the things they found. We also got to visit a Touch-Me Station and talk with the docent about the fossils. This was Froggy's Favorite of the entire day Whereas my favorite was watching the paleontologists at work There was a disagreement of facts between the girls, so Froggy used the sign to win.   Once we finished with the dinosaurs, we went to the insect exhibit and saw all the creepy crawlers   including this black widow spider.

This year we went on a bluebell hike with friends who joined us on our first ever bluebell hike.  That was probably four years ago maybe more.  Two of her kids did not even exist on the initial hike. It was a very very bittersweet hike.  I was too engrossed in the hike and the company to take many pictures.      The bluebells were spectacular this year because we went early enough.  I need to remember that this needs to be right after Cherry Blossoms.  I want to know what this flower is and my google skill is failing me.  It is a wildflower and as the picture shows it is very low to the ground.  There are fields of them and they come up all around the bluebells after peak.     And this is my treasure of the day.  The two girls were inseparable the entire hike. 

Our Girl Scout Troop participated in the Jewish Federations Good Deeds Day .   We made paper flowers for a local nursing home to brighten their seder table.   We also made fortune tellers to take to the local Pediatric wing.  All the "fortunes" were good wishes and bright thoughts for the children.    Making these catchers was far more difficult than we imagined.  My coleader and I remembered them fondly from our youth.  I am not sure our girls are going to have fond memories of them.  Precision is not their high point.   But they were very proud of their completed designs.

Froggy has needed a new big girl apron for some time now.  Part of her costume for Purim was a plain white bakers apron. After Purim, we decided to liven it up a bit before introducing it to regular wear. Enter our first ever attempt at Glue Batik.  We found a tutorial here .  It looked easy enough and we had all the supplies.  The hardest part was finding the acrylic paint amidst all the washable paints. First we drew our designs on the apron.  Froggy knew she wanted a fairy theme but picking the fairy and getting the right design in the right size was a very challenging but fun project for her.  I traced each of the designs onto the apron for her using my light box.   Once the designs were in place she added the glue.  I reminded her to start at the top and work towards then left.  She did it all herself.  We let the glue dry overnight and then set to painting. She did all the details first, let those dry completely then added the background.  I wish I had taken a picture of t

Sunday -  Enchilda Bake Monday - leftovers Tuesday -Orange Chicken rice and green beans Wednesday - Tofu Curry, rice broccoli Thursday - Split Pea Soup with Thyme Dumplings Shabbat -Challah, Mandu, Miso Soup, Sweet Salmon, Terkayi Tofu, rice and green beans tiramisu, pumpkin bread

Sunday - Salad, Pasta, Marinara Sauce, Garlic Bread Monday -Fish Ala Jenn Tuesday - Pizza and Salad Wednesday -Enchilada Bake and chips Thursday - Orange Chicken Rice and broccoli Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Tomato Spinach Soup, Herb Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, Butternut Squash, butterfly cupcakes , Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal and cholent(recipe below)  Julie's Cholent  1 lb meat  3 potatoes  1/3 bag of barley  1/3 - 1/2 cup ketchup 1/8 cup hot sauce  1/4 - 1/3 cup honey 1/4-1/3 cup beef soup powder  1/8 cup garlic powder sprinkle season salt  Cover with water 1-2 in. Slow cook.

  This bottle was full at the start of the day.  And no I am not a giant lush. I am making my own extracts.        This is the first batch.  We are trying vanilla, orange and lemon.  If they are sucessful, we will do more vanilla and mint.  Right now they are curing.  We have to wait until after Pesach to test them.

With Abba is out of town Monday and Tuesday and all the baking of the past couple of weeks, I have decreed this week a "stay out of the kitchen" time Monday -  Mac and Cheese and peas all from the freezer Tuesday - BFD - Eggs and Pancakes Wednesday - Fish ala Jenn, Rice and Broccoli Thursday - Chana Dal and Naan Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Matza Ball Soup, Apricot Chicken,mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans, chocolate caramel tart , banana blueberry bread

 Even Purim morning I was still putting the finishing touches on my part of the costumes for Froggy's Purim shpeil.  I made "Chip" and "Cogsworth". Our shul always picks a theme for the year.  This year it is the 60s in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding in 1964.  I went as Jane Goodall and Abba went as the Disney version of Pooh first pictured in 1962. That really was just an excuse because he always goes as Pooh Bear.  Froggy wanted to be Queen Esther regardless of the theme. Luckily Gramma keeps supplying Froggy with new dressup clothes so there is always queen clothes available. We made a ton of Mishlach Manot baskets.  The list of recipients is mostly done although I expect it will continue to grow right up until Purim.  The final total was 23.  We included 3 different foods  (although it ended up being only the requisite 2 brachot) Spiced almonds, clementines and 3 different kinds of Hamentaschen, funny ones, chocolate ones (either th

Sunday - Orange chicken rice and broccoli Monday - Pasta, salad and garlic bread Tuesday -  Chana dal, naan sub and broccoli Wednesday -  Pizza and Salad Thursday - Leftovers Shabbat – Asian Theme -Challah,mandu,Miso Soup,Salmon,Rice, cabbage salad with peanut dressing, Broccoli,Birthday cake Purim Seudah - Challah, hummus, crudite, Shredded brussel Sprout salad , lentil salad , Meat burekas, potato burekas and of course all the various hamentashen.

So I finally got to try my new toy this week while making this recipe   I made beet "pasta" with golden and regular beets.  Once I figured out how to load the machine properly, it was super easy and fun.  The interesting shape enticed Froggy to try it and made it more fun for everyone.  The lemon "cream" sauce was delicious.  Although as I suspected it made way way more than anyone could ever use.  I considered cutting the recipe in half and I absolutely should have.  I will next time.  In the first pass, I left out the lemon juice by mistake and the sauce tasted so flat.  The lemon juice gives it a brightness and richness of flavor that brings the whole dish together. And here is the finished product.  Amazing presentation factor.  Unlike many times I have made a totally unfamiliar recipe, this one did not take significantly longer than the estimated time.  And other than the sauce there were no leftovers. 

Abba and Froggy discovered a new fun activity to do together, ice skating. She did eventually get brave enough to try a trip around the rink without holding onto Abba

Sunday - Dinner out with Friends Monday - Split Pea Soup with Thyme Dumpling Tuesday - Pasta, Homemade Sauce, Salad and Garlic Bread Wednesday - Leftovers Thursday - Beet “Pasta” with Lemon-Creme Sauce and Broiled Salmon Shabbos Dinner Challah hummus and guacomole  Gefilte Fish Loaf Matza Ball Soup Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad Apricot Glazed Chicken Garlic Mashed Potatoes Sauted Green Beans Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert Lunch Challah Same Salads and dips Enchilada Bake Banana Bread

Today while we are bracing for another six inches of snow, it is fun to look back and remember last weekend when our Girl Scout troop went on an amazing hike Our leader found this great nature center which is only 5 minutes from our shul where we meet.  They have amazing trails with lots of child-friendly signs and touchables.  The staff is very supportive of scouting and willing to run programs on Sundays for our troop.  We found several old old trees which had been felled by storms.   And we scoped out this spot for our Bridging Ceremony  After the hike, we stopped in to the Visitor Center where one of the staff bought out a friend to meet the girls.     He was shy but once the girls simmered down he was brave enough to enjoy a snack of bu They have a dinosaur playground that we explored after the Visitor Center.  This helps me remember that Spring is coming.  Look at all that sunshine and the girls with no coats. It was a glorioug glorious day.