Bathtub Reading

Owen really enjoys bath time. Lately he will linger in there and "wim" (swim) for a LONG time. Tonight, Abram read to us from The Hobbit, and then Owen read to us from Tub-a-Tub.
Well. . . sort-of. . .

The past few nights when he asked us to read it, he would chime in:
Mama: Tub-a-Tub. Cat splashes in a bubbly tub-a-tub-tub.
Owen: bubbles! tub-tub-tub
Mama: Dog dries his ears -
Owen: Rub rub.
Mama: Yes, rub-a-rub rub. Turle
Owen: Ha, ha, ha.
Mama: Yes, Turtle plays splish splash, Ha, ha, ha.
Owen: Ha, ha, ha.
Mama: Bird sings -
Owen: La, la, la.
Mama: Bird sings in the shower, La, la, la. Rabbit waves goodnight -
Owen: Night, night! (waving)
Mama: Ta-dah!
Owen: Dah-dah!

Tonight he flipped open the page where bird sings in the shower and sang, "La, la, la!" He enjoyed going through the pages and saying the repetitive phrases. Memorizing books is an early step toward reading, and while Owen has plenty of time to learn to read, I'm so excited to see the process begin.
He has started to show how much he understands books. He has gone from repeating a word from the text here and there to telling us about the pictures, pointing out small details, and using different words for the ideas in the text. We have read "Wild" (Where the Wild Things Are) about a bijillion times in the last week. Yesterday, Owen looked at Max's dinner that was still hot and said "soup.hungry." It's just so fascinating to be able to see his wheels turning.

What's in the 'frige'?

So I know you all wonder what in tarnation we eat, right? Here's what we have in the 'frige' right now:
Top shelf (left to right):

• Cream (not really legal, raw)
• kefir (home made from a-legal raw milk -Owen and I had our first taste (in 2 months) today!)
• Cod Liver Oil (Green Pastures - High Vitamin)
• Local plums ("mums" to Owen) and organic California figs
• kimchi (home made in a jar behind the fruit)
  
• 3 dozen eggs (local, pastured, great ORANGE yolks, bought at the illegal milk farm on Saturday - We've already eaten the first dozen of 4.)
• left over spinach

Next shelf:

• scallops (1 lb. bought at the Central Market for dinner tonight - They were tasty with the bacon. See below.)
• pork sausage (under the scallops - local, no chem., only salt and black pepper added, full fat! - yum! - a steal at $4.50/lb)
  
• bacon (behind the scallops and sausage - local, no chem., cured with honey and salt and lightly smoked - delish! - bought at the Central Market for $4.50/lb., a great deal!)
• beets with the greens and an extra bunch of greens to boot - The farmer always asks if we will eat the greens. I heartily say, "Yes, we love them." He always puts in an extra bunch of greens for free; he cuts them off for people who don't want them.
• left overs - steamed broccoli, butternut squash soup, and sausage soup
• sauerkraut (home made - see the recipe)
  
• fresh mushrooms - cremini and shitake (on top of the jar of sauerkraut)
• beef stock (home made)
• kombucha (home brewed)

Bottom Shelf:

• milk (full fat, raw, not really legal, from Jersey cows eating 100% grass)
• beet kvass (home made, behind the milk)
• meat loaf (leftover - ground heart, ground beef, home-rendered lard, onions, peppers, eggs, no grains!)
• spinach (local, no chem.)
• lacto-fermented stuff (sauerkraut, salsa, beet kvass - all made right here at home)
• ketchup (GAPS-friendly with only tomato paste, honey, salt, garlic, and red pepper flakes, lacto-fermented)
• beer (Blue Moon)

Left Drawer:

• zucchini (fresh, local, no chem.)
• broccoli (fresh, organic from afar)
• kafir lime leaves (not so fresh nor local)

Right Drawer:

• carrots (organic from afar)
• celery (fresh, local, organic)

Door:

• raw butter (from a different farm)
  
• pasteurized butter (for cooking)
• organic raisins
• assorted sauces that don't get much action
• horseradish sauce bought at the Central Market, made fresh each market day
• pepper sauce with tabasco peppers that are 5 years old - We just add boiling white vinegar when it gets low, and the peppers still impart a nice, hot flavor!
• chicken fat - rendered from local pastured chickens
• fish sauce in progress - This is by far the MOST REVOLTING thing ever to be in my kitchen. It is hacked-up, raw sardines with lemon rind, pepper corns, bay leaves, salt, garlic, and water. It fermented on my counter for 3 days and is now fermenting in the cold for 3 weeks. After that, I will strain it and use it in food we will actually eat. Well, that's the plan at least. I'm not sure I'll have the ovaries to actually eat it. We'll have to see. I love commercial fish sauce, so I'm hoping this will be even better!
• Commercial fish sauce
• white wine for cooking
• more home-made ketchup and other lacto-fermented stuff
• a couple of beers that wouldn't fit on the shelf

So, there you have it. That's what we have in our Frigidaire.
We keep most of our meats frozen, and we have some onions, apples, avocados, lemons, garlic, and ginger out since they don't need to stay cold.
What's in your 'frige'?

Comments Tutorial

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Haircut

Owen had his first haircut tonight. It was a bit overdue - not long overdue - just a wee bit. As you can see, he sat up nice and tall in the special seat. He did get a bit squirmy by the end, but he handled it all very well. We dodged the special treat afterwards (a sucker); getting a big boy hair cut is a reward in itself.
He played in the indoor playground at the mall for a little while before he decided that the things outside the play area (the ones that require 2 quarters to run) were ever so much more interesting than those inside.
All that made him really thirsty. He nursed a lot after we got home and then topped it off with some water!

Cafe Press Store

No, Owen didn't get a haircut; this is just a picture from a while back. I made Owen and me a bunch of t-shirts advocating breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and the family bed. Here he was wearing the "I'm no weaner!" one. My favorite to wear is the "I make milk. What's your superpower?" one. I've gotten a lot of comments - mostly compliments! - on them, and thought I'd see if all those people who tell me they'd love one would actually buy them. So, I have opened some Cafe Press Stores also called Opining Opossum because everybody deserves the benefit of my opinions, right? There are serveral:
I make milk. What's your superpower? and I'm no weaner!
It's mean to wean.
born@home
If your diaper isn't cloth, it's trash.
I hope to add a few more of the ones I have already done the designs for in the next week or so.

A Day With Daddy

We spent all day Saturday with Daddy! We all went to Owen's second swimming lesson. Thank goodness, the pool is pretty close since Owen repeated, "'wim, 'wim, 'wim," all the way there; he really loves swimming.
Afterwards, we came home, showered off, and had breakfast. Owen loves eggs and sausage. We used the last of our eggs, and Abram's milk was getting low, so we headed out to the farm to get some more. Owen fell asleep just a few minutes after we got into the car. Swimming really wears him out.
The weather is lovely and cool, and it was perfect for yard sales. There were yard sales all along our way. I pointed out a fusball table at one, and Abram jumped on it. We turned around to take a closer look, and we are now the owners of a fusball table with a mini air hockey table underneath. It was quite the bargain at $20. Luckily it came with balls and pucks so we could give it a go as soon as we got home and Abram put it together. Owen was thrilled with both!
Later we drove out and picked up some free drapes from a FreeCylcler and visited the Ephrata Cloister (a eighteenth century Cult-Monastery - move over David Koresh!). Owen liked running over the grounds but wasn't really interested in not touching all the new-made-to-look -old items on the tour. He was tired enough to get in a rare second nap on the way home.

Beef and Artichoke Stew

We've been eating a lot of soups and stews lately. The introduction to the diet we are eating is based mainly on bone broth soups with vegetables and meats. They are tasty and satisfying and have saved us a lot of money even though a larger percentage of our diet is local and organic/no chem. than ever.
Friday night, we had one of our old favorites - Beef and Artichoke Stew. It is so rich and wonderful, I thought I'd share it.

Beef and Artichoke Stew
2 lbs. beef (lamb also works well)
fat for cooking
3 onions, chopped
8 artichoke hearts, prepared and quartered
1-2 quarts of home-made beef stock
1 lb. greens, chopped or torn
dill
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 eggs
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Cook beef in fat. (or as I did this time: Begin stock with beef shin slices or other meaty stock bones; remove meat and marrow once it is cooked and tender, and return bones to stock to continue cooking. Add extra fat if you use the boiled beef.) Then add onions and brown slightly. Add artichoke hearts (I have used canned in the past but as we are trying to avoid canned foods and artichokes do not grow here, I used frozen ones.) and enough stock to cover all ingredients. Simmer about an hour, adding stock to keep ingredients just covered if necessary. Add greens (We used a wonderful fresh, local spinach.) and dill and simmer until greens are tender. Just before serving, remove soup from heat, stir in garlic. Then beat eggs with lemon juice, and temper by adding 1 1/2 cups hot stew juices about 1/4 cup at a time while stirring. Add the tempered egg mixture back into the soup, and serve. Season with salt and pepper to taste.