Thursday, January 28, 2010

Kindergarten music "informance"

In lieu of a Christmas concert in December, Jack's kindergarten class had a 30-minute music "informance" Tuesday night. The music teacher walked us through what a typical music class is like, and what the students have been learning ... and singing.

Warming up his rhythm sticks.

Jack plays a mean triangle.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Kitschen Feast

Last week, a friend introduced me to her retro cooking blog, kitschenfeast.blogspot.com. Like me, Heidi's also a Nebraska native, KC transplant, Northwest grad, communications major, and a married parent of two kids — the oldest of which is a boy in kindergarten.

She inspired me to find the most vintage cookbook we have, so I searched the cupboard and settled on this gem from my grandma, Better Homes & Gardens SALAD BOOK. (They wisely didn't call it a "cook" book.) Copyright 1958.

Though the outside is well worn, the inside is pretty pristine. Some excerpts:
• "The salad idea you're looking for may be a green accent for a back-yard barbecue ... or a jeweled gelatin mold to crown a holiday buffet."
• "Add nippy bits of water cress, chives."
• "Achieve the pep and vigor that come with good health." (Their italics, not mine.)
• "Start capturing salad sunshine!" I just realized that every paragraph on this page ends with an exclamatory sentence. The others are "Off to a right start!", "You're unruffled, too!" and "Happy tossing to you!"
And that's all before Page 4.

I did find a slip of paper, in G-ma's handwriting, that must've been a menu for some kind of get-together. It lists "wine-?, cole slaw, potato salad, green beans, fish, dessert-coffee". Fun times!

Wow. I can only imagine the number of times these recipes contributed to a Lutheran church basement potluck.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Nineteen days later...

and Christmas break is finally over. Just in time for the Martin Luther King holiday.


But Jack had a ball.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Friday, January 8, 2010

Hot chocolate canister

Does "Super" refer to its size or one's family?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Monday, January 4, 2010

Doodle pro

Some Christmas-break artwork one afternoon.



Saturday, January 2, 2010

Neighbors and New Year's

We had a last-minute get-together on New Year's Eve with several of our neighbors. (We all got together on New Year's Eve last year, too.)