The regular “little of this, little of that” feature from Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Confidential to Adrienne: My reply to your question about Easter baskets for seven children bounced! So email me again.
For the curious: The key learning is to stay away from Easter grass of purgatory at all costs. Green or other pastel colored tissue paper, slightly crumpled in the bottom of the basket, is the way to go if you prize your sanity.
Enlist a helper who is in on the magic of it all (not that we ever did the Easter bunny, but we did hide the baskets and it's nicer if they don't have any hint of the prep, although I grant that it makes for a long Vigil night) and fill the baskets with good things that everyone likes (our favorite by far is Cadbury mini eggs) and one special item. Some grocery store bakeries have these little charming panoramic eggs and they aren't too pricey:
I suppose if you had a couple of young teenagers with nothing else to do you could have them make them. A chocolate bunny wrapped in gold foil will do. One special thing is all it takes to make the basket, well, special. I tag the baskets with the name of each child (one for the grownups) — and here's another pro tip: Choose impressive yet small baskets. It's all in the handle 😉
Okay, on to the links!
- A while back we had a link to a review of Whittaker Chambers' Witness, a must-read for every American. Habou reminded me of our very own Joseph's notes on the book, which she rightly deemed “much better,” so I would be remiss not to point you there.
- A long but highly exciting post about the possibility of changing liturgical practice for the better, via your very own Garage Schola. A dear reader pointed it out to me in the comments to another post, and it really got me going. I think that if you find your St. Gregory Pocket (or other group of friends by whatever name) tends to gripe about or lament a lack of beauty at Church, you need to start discussing this post pronto. Don't forget Paul Jernberg's Mass — instead of Latin chant, you can transform your English liturgy now with this singable Mass, using the suggestions in the Garage Schola post. Basically, what is to prevent you from learning the treasures of the Church yourself, now?
- We highly recommend the writings of J. Budziszewski. This post on the prolongation of adolescence is a good one.
- This retrospective on Calvin and Hobbes and Bill Watterson's truth-telling about the human existence is well worth a read. Christopher Caldwell is another insightful social commentator. “From these situations emerges a social and a philosophical vision, unsystematic but nonetheless profound. The late political scientist James Q. Wilson described ‘Calvin and Hobbes' as ‘our only popular explication of the moral philosophy of Aristotle.'” My only comment is that if thinking about the comic strip leaves you pining for the freedom of 1995, as it does Caldwell, then things are bad indeed.
- A while back we had a discussion about remaking favorite casseroles with good ingredients. (The post is about “Lenten cookies” but the discussion is in there.) I happened to stumble across this post on the “real” version of just the tasty supper under advisement. My work here is done.
- I loved this photo essay about a Russian Orthodox priest who finds peace on an Antarctic island, although I acknowledge that now is a mean time to post it. Maybe the point can be that we ought not to let ice and snow disturb our peace. Nah.
- I so agree with this essay about the superiority of Tolstoy as an artist when compared with Dostoyevsky. Speaking of Russians.
- Did you hear A. A. Milne reading Winnie-the-Pooh? I didn't think his accent would be quite like that.
- You guys. You have to watch this video about the difference between 47 degrees in March and in November.
Not that it's been 47 degrees. More like 15. Sigh.
- From the archives: Maybe start thinking about Holy Week prep now? And here you will find the beginnings of the “Syllabus for Life,” reading for the long haul.
- A lovely meditation on the meeting of Jesus with the Women of Jerusalem.
Habou says
I have to say that Whittaker Chambers’ Witness is one of my very favorite books. Chambers was a remarkable person.
Jessica says
Thanks for including my “Chicken Curry” in your round-up. Definitely one of my comfort foods and I’m so glad I can make it “from scratch” now.
Lisa G. says
Leila, thanks for the link to the Polish fellow’s writings – hadn’t heard of him, but now I want to read his whole website! And I have pinned the homemade casserole recipe, because I’ve lately been trying to make these things homemade, but hadn’t thought of adding mayo or lemon to the sauces. I appreciate it. As for the wild guy in the car – will anyone not living in New England or the north midsection of this country even begin to understand it? 😀
Brigid says
I sent that video to my whole Wisconsin family – it hits far too close to home!
On the topic of casseroles, The Kitchn posted a spring casserole round up this week, and I am looking forward to trying my hand at some: http://www.thekitchn.com/12-lighter-casseroles-for-spring-recipes-from-the-kitchn-217079 I live alone and find casseroles are a great make once, eat all week option. To be honest, their whole casserole section is a wonderful revival of high-quality casseroles: http://www.thekitchn.com/categories/casserole
Jessica says
Faith from The Kitchn wrote a whole book of them. If you haven’t already, you should check out Not Your Mother’s Casseroles. Lots of yummy things in there.
Brigid says
I had no idea about the cookbook! I need to check that out ASAP – thank God for Amazon Prime!
Barbara says
Love the video about the temps — yup, it’s all about what we’re used to. My daughter is wearing a sleeveless dress today — it’s 48 degrees F (though I won’t let her go outdoors like that). In October she’d be in a sweater.
I found the article about adolescence interesting, and I have wondered if homeschooled children reach both the biological maturity and psychological maturity at rates different than children in institutional school. My 13 yo daughter has not reached biological maturity and is far from reaching psychological maturity (though she mostly has younger friends), and my boys were the same way. I would imagine children in larger families reach the psychological maturity earlier than most, but I wonder if other homeschooling parents have noticed a delay in the onset of biological maturity.
Kate says
Barbara, my girls (homeschooled) reached biological maturity at the same rate I did. As far as my husband remembers, our boys are following his biological pattern. One of my boys didn’t quite click with his homeschool peers and got along better with younger kids or adults. He was a late bloomer socially and psychologically and didn’t go to college until he was 21. He matured quite a lot in college (a small Catholic school), but he’s still kind of a unique character. My other kids have followed more typical psychological patterns, although they are still far less worldly than school kids.
I have seen what you’ve experienced in some families, but I’m not sure what the cause is, although I think the responsibilities issue is a big one. I know a homeschooling family whose sons seem much younger than my sons, but I think part of the problem is that there is not much discipline in the family. I’m mean they are nice kids, but the parents don’t require much of them. They do their school work (unstructured and haphazardly) and are left to their own devices. They are involved in fun activities and sports, but no chores or help around the house and yard are required (which means the parents are stressed). Once one of my sons told one of their boys that he couldn’t come over until he cleaned his room and the boy asked why he had to do that since it was his room. It’s a family where everyone does their own thing and there is no guiding principle or sense of common good. The mom does not like conflict so she avoids situations where she has to “make” her kids do anything. And I think the parent’s goal is for the children to have good childhoods, which means lots of fun experiences, free of adult-like responsibilities. My 12yo has a part time job taking care of a neighbor’s farm animals and he helps my husband care for our animals, garden and property . I think those parents think we’re too strict and bordering on child cruelty. But my son loves working with his dad (as did my older boys) and he’s so excited to be saving his working money to buy his own gun (and then a boat). My daughters all are pretty confident around the kitchen and taking care of little ones. My parents ran a family business, and from a young age we were helping out in whatever way we were capable of, whether we liked it or not. I am really grateful for that experience. I felt I was more responsible and mature than many of my high school peers (although pretty clueless about drugs, sex and rock and roll).
I don’t know if that answered your questions or not!
Barbara says
My daughter is maturing later, biologically, than I was. Probably on par psychologically. My boys matured, biologically, at different rates from their father and each other; psychologically all later than most boys their age — at least in a worldly way.
Thank you for answering my questions. I have not given my children as many responsibilities as I should have, and my husband is impatient with them in teaching them skills. For anyone else reading — you’re not doing them any favors by letting them off the hook easy.
Anne-Marie says
Barbara, FWIW my kids are/were homeschooled and physically their maturity has varied quite a bit. Psychologically I think they have been, in general, more mature but less sophisticated than mainstream kids, if that makes sense. They have a clearer sense of what’s important, and they’re less aware of pop culture. However, I could say the same about many schooled kids I know. I don’t think homeschooling is the difference; I think the real factors are, first, an upbringing that emphasizes family togetherness and responsibility, and, second, watching little to no TV.
Barbara says
Though my children have had TV and some video games, they had little computer exposure compared to their peers. And as I responded to the comment above, not as many responsibilities as they should have had. My oldest is 25, however, and he’s a hard worker at his job and keeps a clean apartment, so at least he recognized what should be done, even when he wasn’t necessarily doing it.
Thanks for your reply.
Anne-Marie says
Our alternative to making and hiding Easter baskets is that the kids get empty baskets and we hide the eggs (plastic filled with candies). Each child has his own color, so the littler kids’ eggs can be less hidden without being scooped up by older siblings. Some years the youngest child’s eggs were simply laid in plain sight on the grass.
Katie says
Tulle! Green or pastel tulle for Easter baskets. Even scraps look pretty, and besides having none of the issues of Easter grass, it can’t be nibbled or shredded for pleasure by pets or toddlers. This is what my parents arrived at for the later years of Easter baskets for my youngest sibling, and what I’ve started for our family now. I bought a spool of maybe 2-3″ tulle ribbon at the craft store and just cut it into strips.
Kate says
I enjoyed that NH video. However, it’s all relative and I mutter the same question to myself in CA. Crazy politics. Narcissistic people. Expensive gas. Outrageous housing. Out of control suburban sprawl. Wildfires and soon NO WATER! Why do I live here?! Inertia and my mother lives here. Can living with snow really be that bad?
CarlynB says
Regarding the article about Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: I’ve always thought of Dostoevsky as the same type of writer as Flannery O’Connor. It seems to me they both had Something To SAY, and a burning desire to communicate that through their stories by using grotesque and exaggerated situations. Like Miss O’Connor said,
“..to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” I think that is what Dostoevsky is doing in his writing, as well.
Also, David Bentley Hart usually writes WAAAYY over my little pea brain, but I think I was actually able to understand that essay.
Ashley says
I’ve been combing through your archives as I start to think about celebrating Easter, and I’ve seen ba’lawa (excuse me if I misspelled it) come up several times. I understand if you don’t want to share your family recipe, but do you think you might be able to share some tips for making baklava? What’s the difference between Egyptian ba’lawa and Greek baklava?
P.S. Your Paris-Brest has inspired me too. Hopefully I can make it for Easter. That post also inspired me to order the old Gourmet cookbooks from my library. 🙂
Leila says
Hi Ashley,
You can’t really misspell it because it’s phonetic — you got it 🙂 Egyptians just leave out hard consonants like “k” 🙂
I SHOULD post the recipe and just haven’t gotten to it. The difference is that Greek baklava has walnuts and uses honey. Honey attracts moisture and that’s what makes the baklava get sticky and heavy. Egyptian ba’lawa is made with sugar syrup and pistachios. It doesn’t get wet. It might crystallize a bit as it gets older, but it stays crunchy.
Which is far superior. Sorry, dear Greek people.
I will try to post the recipe soon. Meanwhile, look for a recipe that calls for syrup that is 2 parts sugar to one part water. I will give you a hint to my “engineered” recipe secret (literally, the engineers got to this — Egyptians are great engineers — and made it far easier with this trick): Instead of brushing each piece of phyllo dough with butter, just brush the pan with butter. Layer the phyllo (half of it) into the pan (don’t plunk it — layer it, so there is air between the layers). Put your finely chopped pistachios on there. Layer the rest of the dough.
Now use a sharp knife and cut the dough into diamonds, all the way to the bottom of the pan. Yes, cut all your pieces. Take the hot butter and pour it over the pieces slowly, making sure you cover the entire top with the melted butter.
Now bake. As it bakes, the butter will seep into all the layers and it will be perfect.
This is indeed a deep secret that I am sharing only with you! So guard it carefully.
When you take it out of the oven, pour your warm syrup over all. Let it cool completely before you cut the pieces out.
The Paris-Brest is lovely and not hard at all, just a bit finicky. Enjoy!
Ashley says
Thank you for sharing! I’ve added it to my Easter menu. 🙂
Ginger says
I like the phrase about “prolonged irresponsibility.”
Lauren says
I loved the recording of Milne reading Winnie the Pooh. It reminded me a lot of the audio book set of all the Winnie the Pooh books by Peter Dennis. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Peter Dennis is just so talented and makes Winnie the Pooh somehow even more special (which doesn’t seem possible!)
Heather says
I think that Russian priest was featured on a travel show called Departures that my husband watched which despite the off-color language was actually quite interesting. I think one of their last trips was to the Antarctic and they met that priest and toured that lovely log church.
It was interesting to hear Milne’s voice, I agree with you about his accent.
I always appreciate coming here to read.
Mrs. Pickles says
Ha — I just noticed while re-reading that you have a copy of one of the Bad Catholic’s Guides!! His Seven Deadly Sins is actually excellent spiritual reading. Very convicting and inspiring — and, of course, hilarious.
Lauren says
You mention above that you did not do the Easter Bunny-which we haven’t, but we do hide baskets and simply don’t mention where they came from. Do you have a response for where the magic comes from though? Often well-meaning relatives will ask my children if they found their basket from the bunny, etcetera. My son has his first loose tooth and the same thing is happening with the tooth fairy! My husband wants her (the fairy) to visit too. I’m just not sure.