Seven Quick Takes, vol 22

 #1. 

It's been a long week.  D. and I got back from a lovely weekend away in the country on Sunday, but in the wee hours of Monday morning, the stomach flu hit Turtle.  And then the next day it was Sunshine and Rosebud too. I did alot of laundry and used alot of cleaning products.

They were all better by Wednesday morning, I thought, but then the other kind of stomach-associated ailment hit.  I had to do more laundry associated with that, and we've been tearing through the kid flushable wipes.  We had fun plans for almost every day this week and we missed all but one.  *Sigh*  Though, I do think the week went much better because of the restful weekend Mommy had had before this all started!

#2. 

Here's the cosy bed and breakfast that we stayed in last weekend.  It was nestled on a mountainside and it was snowing romantically as we were leaving.  It was warm and inviting with delicious breakfasts and a very pleasant, soft-spoken Englishman cooking them for us. :)  The rooms were small, but just really nice, with heavenly soft, fresh-smelling beds and delicious mountain well-water from the bathroom tap.  I sound like an advertisement, but really it was great.  We hope to go back someday! 

#3.  

The girls have been on a puzzle kick this week, after the up-chucking was over.  Sunshine really, really wants to be a part of it, so she's been following me around with a box of puzzles saying "Pay-pay puzzoles me?  Pay-pay puzzoles me?"  

I've been trying to help her learn, and she is getting the idea of it, but she thinks she's not, insisting "I can't" even as she is attaching a piece.   I've also been trying to coach Rosebud and Turtle that "helping" someone does not mean doing it for someone.  They are all into doing things for Sunshine these days, things that she can and needs to do for herself.  It is interesting to see that the whole older child, middle child and youngest child stereotypes are, to a certain extent, accurate.  Though I'm sure some of the traditional patterns can't be helped, I am determined not to let that script the girls' lives too much! :)

#4.  

In preparation for Lenten soups I decided to try and make my own vegetable stock today after being unable to find one without soybean oil at Giant and not wanting to make a special trip elsewhere.  I used this stock recipe and have ended up with a pretty good tasting result, as vegetable stock goes.

I used scallions instead of leeks and for the "vegetable scraps" it was easy to go through the fridge and find a couple extra mushrooms and the stems of kale and broccoli. 

#5.  

In other food topics, D. made Popovers last night.  Oh my, they were delicious, and so easy!  This is the recipe:

Alton Brown’s Popovers 

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 teaspoon room temperature for pan
4 3/4 oz all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 tsps kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a 6-cup popover pan with the 1 teaspoon of butter.  Place all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds. Divide the batter evenly between the cups of the popover pan, each should be about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the popovers to a cooling rack and pierce each in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.

We just used a muffin pan and baked them for less time.  We got the recipe from  Good Eats 3 that I gave D. for Christmas.  (He loves this book and I am so happy I thought of a gift for him that he loves, because that is a hard undertaking!)

#6. 

I have been wanting for a year to make these window stars to brighten our home in the wintertime.  I have been thinking about making how beauty in the home is a venue for an encounter with God since I read this post by Elizabeth Foss.  This part, especially, caught at my heart:

 "[Home] is the hope and the haven God provides for us here on earth, to give us just the faintest glimpse of heaven."  I hope I will always make this home so for my husband and children.

#7.   

Two things that I like written by Simcha Fisher, (who I just really like in general):

•  I so could have used this article when it was just me and Turtle and I was struggling with that new mother thing.  I think every new mother should read it.
• This NFP post.  I have asked the question in this post before (in exasperation, I must say). And I love Simcha's closing lines:
  
  So if the Church seems distressingly vague, it’s because she doesn’t want to get in the way of the conversation you could be having with God.  He doesn’t want to talk to The Church as a whole:  He wants to talk to you.
  And this beautiful idea of the "conversation with God" that a couple using NFP must have, is one of the reasons why I believe that NFP is a good thing for any couple to experience, not a lesser good than being open to life, a good in and of itself. 

Have a good weekend!

Seven Quick Takes is hosted over at Betty Beguiles today.