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Nothing
I just finished Raj Patel's The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy. What a great read! I'll say straight up that while I am an academic historian, I know precious...
View ArticleStatistics
According to a new Harris Interactive poll, conservatives have some pretty strong feelings about Obama.67% of Republicans think the President is a socialist, and 57% believe he is a Muslim. 51%...
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Moving to the Foreground
Last weekend, the weather was glorious in the DC area. Several days of sun and warmth rewarded us for surviving the snowiest winter our region had ever seen.Of course, the gorgeous days called us to...
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Growing
My family spent the last week living on a dairy farm in New York state--chaperoning twelve homeschooled children at farm camp. It was an amazing, exhausting week full of both laughter and tears, stress...
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Playground with Cows
After all the hours in the car driving up to New York state, the kids in the homeschooling group were ready to brave the rainy day and let off a little energy. They were all thrilled to see a space at...
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Interlude: A Knitted Quilt
The amazing group of homeschoolers with whom we attended farm camp has done many projects together. The most recent is this lovely pieced afghan or blanket--made up of 6-inch garter stitch squares made...
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"There's an old saying..."
Last night we had a fabulous dinner with new friends in our town--and played a great game totally new to us: Wise and Otherwise. It brought out both our funny sides, out poetic sides, and our most...
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Cooking Together
I've been enjoying Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes by Emily Franklin in short spurts over the last few afternoons. It is a great book for picking up in those odd...
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Menu Planning
Last night, we went to a fabulous talk at my favorite bookstore (ie, the first bookstore I knew was carrying my book). Aviva Goldfarb, creator of The Six-O'Clock Scramble meal planning service, talked...
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Food, and Cognitive Dissonance
My 10yo son and I are reading next to each other on the couch.My book: Cathy Erway's The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove. This book is a lighthearted romp through...
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Maple Sugaring
Early spring is the time when the sap starts running in the trees. While we were at farm camp a few weeks ago, the children had the opportunity to collect maple sap to make syrup and other maple...
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"Scrambling" for a Spring Menu Plan
Last week, I made an official meal plan for the first time--and loved the relaxed feeling it gave me at 5:30 or 6pm when I carried my laptop into the kitchen and turned on a podcast (often The Splendid...
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Great-Granny's Pound Cake
This has been a week full of celebration. My birthday and my son's birthday fall just two days apart during this beautiful season of azaleas and dogwoods. We both always want the same cake, so we...
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Maryland Sheep and Wool
Every year I look forward to the incredible Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It always falls at such an ideal time: the weekend between my birthday and Mother's Day.One of the things we always love...
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Meal Planning, Week 3
Although I've spent most of my life as a seat-of-the-pants cook who loved to invent dinner on the fly out whatever was in season (or in the pantry), I've really enjoyed the last few weeks of planning a...
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A Handmade Salad
For my birthday, my mother-in-law frequently asks me to figure out something that I love but would not splurge for myself. Although I've been dreaming about beautiful small salad bowls recently, the...
View ArticleGarden Fresh
The menu plan for the upcoming week's meals is all inspired by what vegetables are growing in our garden--and, for our non-vegetarian meals, what meat is eager to be defrosted from the...
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Find and Reuse
Here in Takoma Park, Mother's Day weekend filled with sunshine and yard sales. Finds of the weekend:1. A handwoven hand-dyed mudcloth from Mali, perfect for our dining room table. We found this at a...
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Snow!
Here in the Mid-Atlantic, we've been buried with more snow than I have ever seen: Our house Our street Out the front door Out the back door A path! But where do we put it? * * * The forecast calls...
View ArticleOne Small Change: Staying Home
Last month, my "one small change" was to take reusable containers with us when we were out of the house. We were very good about making sure we had not only our stainless steel water bottles or coffee...
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Cherries in Winter
When magazine writer Suzan Colon lost her job as the economic crisis came to a head, she found something even more wonderful to replace it: a beautiful life, and a brilliant and thoughtful idea for a...
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One Small Change: Eating In Recap
Last month, my "one small change" was to eat dinner every night at home. The month was quite a success--more than I could have predicted. There were a few rough spots, but not many. On one afternoon, I...
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The Unplugged Schoolhouse
During the month of March, my homeschooled son and I have decided that our "one small change" will be to pull the plug on all electrical use during at least one school day per week. For a while, my...
View ArticleCooling Things Down
or, Purchasing an Extremely Energy Efficient Refrigerator ...and reducing our electric bill by almost 40% overnight. Since my partner David and I moved into our house a dozen years ago, we've been...
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