Under the Tulip Tree

What They Do While I'm Gardening

While I'm off at my gardening class every Saturday, the two little beasties have their daddy all to the themselves. I'm not sure what they do all day because the house is clean when I get back and there is very little evidence of what went on. I am always assured that it was Great! and Fun! and Awesome!—especially this time because they made Brioches au Chocolat.

Hello yummy.

Arden's been checking out the book Chocolate Fantasies: 70 Irresistible Recipes to Die For  from the school library for the past year. I kinda raised my eyebrows at the title when I first saw it because it sounded like a romance novel and a little dramatic for an elementary school library. It was fine, of course (and I think out of print now?), and she's been asking for months to make something from it. But Michael is the bread-dough-baker guy in the family so he was the one to finally take the initiative. After their Saturday morning pancake breakfast, the three of them walked down to the market to get the ingredients and then came home to bake these beauties. The kids thought they weren't sweet enough (just brioche baked around chocolate) but I thought they tasted delish.

I wonder what they'll make this weekend. Something not so sweet but equally yummy, perhaps? Something their mommy can eat maybe? Pretty please?

ANY

A New Dinner Strategy

Have I mentioned how picky my son is about food? Have I mentioned how much this drives his father crazy? Have I mentioned that I used to be a very picky eater myself and that I can relate to the struggles of the picky eater? His father on the other hand, is one of those people who will eat anything, and is often confused (and frustrated) by Perry's totally rejection of, well, almost every type of food.

For the past five years, Perry has looked at his dinner plate, sighed, hid under the table, and refused to eat whatever we were having. So he doesn't eat dinner. At all. Ever. We've tried to reward him with things if he tries something, we've tried taking things away if he doesn't. Makes no difference. You'd think he'd get hungry enough eventually and eat it but he doesn't. He wakes up in the morning and says he still isn't hungry, and if I would let him, he'd go to school without having eaten anything since yesterday's lunch.

This week, I changed my strategy and I'm doing something that I am sure any professional would advise against. I'm letting Perry pick his own dinner every night. I want him to be excited about dinner and I want him sitting in his chair and not under the table anymore. A few days ago we made a daily menu of foods that he loves and never refuses to eat—Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup, Pizza Muffins, Egg on Toast, and Quesadilla with Carrot Sticks—and posted it on the fridge.

He was so excited about this. He even wanted to come grocery shopping with me and get food for his dinner that night (that never happens). Then he asked if we could make a list of foods for lunches, too, so he would know what to expect in his lunchbox each day. He listed apples, sunflower-seed-butter-and-honey sandwiches, tortilla chips and hummus, yogurt, strawberries, rice crackers, grapes, bananas, and spelt pretzels.

It's true, there aren't a lot of vegetables on these lists but when I look at them both together, they don't seem all that bad to me, ya know? And he came up with every food on there himself. I'm not sure how he'll learn to eat new foods this way but I'll guess I'll keep working on that. I'll eventually try to add a side of veggies next to the foods that he loves or start putting them in again Sneaky Chef style. The important thing is that he loves coming to dinner now and he loves checking his lists on the fridge each morning. It's really very sweet. Am I crazy? Maybe. But it won't last forever.

Meanwhile, here's what the rest of us ate last night:

From Everyday Food

One-Pot Chicken with Sausage and Potatoes
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, broken into 3/4-inch pieces
2 bone-in chicken breast halves (with wings attached if desired; 1 1/2 pounds total), skin removed, halved
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 yellow onion, diced medium
1 pound waxy potatoes, halved or quartered if large
3 stalks celery, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces, plus leaves for garnish
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown all over, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a dish. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and add to pan, meaty side down. Cook until golden brown on both sides, 10 minutes, flipping once. Transfer chicken to dish with sausage.

2. Add onion, potatoes, and celery to pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Return sausage and chicken, meaty side up, to pot and add 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove lid and increase heat to high; boil until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter. Add vinegar and oregano to vegetables and sausage and stir to combine. With slotted spoon, transfer vegetables and sausage to platter with chicken and top with celery leaves. Transfer sauce to a gravy boat and serve alongside chicken.

It was so good! The vinegar added a nice little kick and the fresh oregano was yummy and unexpected. It totally makes it into the Smith Family Recipe binder.

Happy weekend everyone!

ANY

Brothers and Sisters

My children are around each other constantly, but that doesn't mean that they actually play together. I'm not sure if it's because they are not very close in age (they're almost four years apart)? Or if it's because he's a boy and she's a girl? Or if it's because their brains are so inherently different that they can barely understand what the other one is saying.

I try to tell Arden that Perry worships the ground she walks on, and that if she could use her power for good instead of evil, she would have a most devoted follower. Unfortunately, she is of the opinion that showing her brother even a little mercy is just too taxing (most of the time).

There are some moments, and I'm still not sure what triggers them (a healthy breakfast? a good night's sleep?), when she softens and gives Perry just a little taste of what he craves each day: Her undivided attention.

On this particular occasion, Perry had just given Arden's rat a piece of cereal. Normally this is not a problem, but Arden was in the process of teaching Peanut to come out of her cage to get treats. When we ever so gently reminded Perry that we shouldn't feed the rat through the cage anymore, he threw the rest of the cereal on the floor and ran to his room, embarrassed and crying.

Arden turned to me with a sad little look then followed him into his room. She asked him if he wanted to sit on the hammock with her and tell jokes. I don't know how she came up with that but it was exactly what he needed. He emphatically agreed, of course, and they skipped out together onto the hammock. I sat at my computer and pretended not to notice what was going on.

The two of them sat there smiling and telling jokes until a yellow jacket came and scared Arden out of her mind. They both flopped around and giggled and as quickly as it had started, the moment was over. I don't remember what happened next but I'm pretty sure they came back inside and started bickering, forgetting about the moment completely. I didn't, though, and now I'll have the pictures to remind me that every once in a rare while, my kids can play.

ANY

Me & Him

This picture was taken 20 years ago, almost to the day. We were sitting on his bed, in his old apartment on John Street at U of I, and I think it was taken by one of his roommates. George, I think it was. I had just turned 18, he was 20. I was a brand new freshman, he was a junior. I was studying to be a photographer, he was studying to be a sculptor. He played the guitar, I made bracelets. We grew up a few blocks away from each other but didn't meet until I was 16. We started dating almost immediately after we met. The first time I saw him, I remember thinking I was looking into a mirror, like his face was as familiar as my own. I said to my best friend (who'd been trying to introduce the two of us for months), "How funny, I'm going to marry that guy." She thought maybe I should take a breath.

Four years after this picture was taken, we got married. I was 22, he was 24. We'd already been together for six years. We moved to Eugene, Oregon, and lived together for the first time. It seemed so novel to be so young, playing house like that. I remember finally being able to live the life I always wanted.

Eight years after this picture was taken, I was pregnant with Arden. My sister had just gotten her leg run over by a garbage truck and the world seemed to be falling apart. He held mine together.

Eleven years after this picture was taken, I was pregnant with Perry. It was the scariest time of my life. My world was falling apart. He held it together. He still holds that part of me together, every day.

Twelve years after this picture was taken, I was done with Eugene and I thought if I stayed there another day it would be the end of me. I begged him to move us to Portland, or back to Chicago, or to anywhere else, and he listened. With Perry in my arms and Arden by my side, I watched him pack up our house and carry it all away. For us. For me.

And seventeen years after this picture was taken, I made him do it again.

He makes me laugh, a lot. He thinks he's smarter than me and I think I'm smarter than him. Perry says that Mommy knows a lot about people and Daddy knows a lot about the world. I do know that we've been together so long that there really is no before for us, it's just simply always been.

And I know that I never, ever, ever want to be without him.

Sixteen years ago today, the two of us got married.

ANY

To the Beach

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We made our way to the beautiful Long Beach Peninsula a few weeks ago. It's just over the Columbia River from Astoria and it was a part of the coast we hadn't been to before. It was beautiful, expansive, quiet, grassy, not windy, and it felt very different from almost all of the coastal towns we've been to in Oregon.

We did our usual exploration of the beach and flew our kites and roasted marshmallows and then we tootled around the little town. It was over-the-top touristy (which I love) so we rode the bumper cars and the carousel and took a carriage ride and ate fish tacos and too much ice cream. And of course you can't go to Long Beach without going to Marsh's Free Museum. It really is an odd place filled with so much stuff you think your head will explode. It's like part coastal gift shop, part creepy fun house. The kids were delighted and disturbed by the taxidermy (I'm not showing any of it here because the pictures are just gross) and they thought the dusty carnival games were hilarious.

But you know something I didn't like about Long Beach? So much so that we probably won't be going back? They let cars and trucks drive all over the beach. All the time. I was pretty much watching the sunset with one eye and with the other eye, watching the party-goers do donuts in the sand and hoping they wouldn't lose control of their stupid trucks. I really did hate that part.

In spite of all that, we had an amazing time together. The kids were good little travelers and I think more than ever, they were interested in all of the sights. I will always remember the lush, grassy path down to the shore. I think Michael will remember his early morning walks with Arden, looking for shells. Perry will remember digging moats in the sand. And I'm sure Arden will remember the funniest part of the whole trip, when Michael found her sleeping in the bathtub, the bathmat wrapped around her little toes, as she found a quiet place to rest, away from a snoring Daddy…

ANY

Gardening School

September is one of my favorite months of the year but it's one of my least favorite months in the garden. I can forgive the fall and winter gardens of their imperfections but the September garden has the unfortunate task of being constantly compared to the summer garden. Knowing that things were lush and full just a few short weeks ago makes me even irritated with the September garden.

I spent hours and hours this summer, watering and babying the plants so that they would withstand the dry, hot sun each day, only to watch them (naturally) wither away again in August. It always makes me wonder if it was worth all the fuss.

But I can't be sick of my garden yet because I've just started an intensive, 11-week course in Organic Gardening through our county's Extension Service. It's sort of like a traditional Master Gardener program but with an organic, food-production focus. I was worried about taking it during the fall (when all I want to think about are cute boots and cardigans) but the money was already paid and I couldn't justify not going because I wanted to look at fashion magazines all day (though I was pretty tempted, I won't lie).

But of course I ended up going and of course I really love it so far. It's one of the most scientific things I ever felt like knowing about. I'm learning about things like evapotranspiration and I'm not even falling asleep! And I'm learning about the chaos of plants, and about insects, and about how aphids are born pregnant (that just can't be good for anybody).

And I learned that there are lot of people like me who give up on their gardens this time of year and stop watering. But we shouldn't. The plants are still gathering strength for next year and still need it. So of course I watered everything this morning and apologized profusely (to whom, I don't know).

And I also learned that I love being around 'garden folk' and I've realized that I can talk about this stuff for hours—even when just a few days ago, I was ready to put the garden to bed. Luckily, I didn't need much of a push at all.

ANY

Kids Book Reviews: Miss A and Emmy

Title, author, and age group.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell for ages 9–12

Can you summarize the book for us?

It’s about a girl who finds out her classroom rat can shrink people. It sort of doesn’t follow in chronological order so it’s difficult to sum it up without, like, explaining all the details.

What did you think of the main character?

I liked her. She was brave, I guess.

Would you have wanted to be her?

Yes and no. She has to deal with an evil nanny that switches what's important to her parents so like, they travel a lot instead of spend time with her and I wouldn't like that. But, on the other hand, she gets to be surrounded by rodents and hear what they say. That would be awesome!

I know you don’t like when rats play the villains in stories. Did this book show rats in a good light or a bad light?

One of the rats has a grumpy personality which doesn’t necessarily mean that it puts them in a bad light. I think this book puts them in a good light.

Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Yes. Because it’s a good book. It’s funny.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

No. Do I have to do this again?

Maybe. Will you if I ask?

Not unless you bribe me heavily.

We'll see.

ANY