Thursday's Apple Crisp

We visited the apple orchard earlier this week, and so were set on making a crisp. This is Thursday's variation of my go-to recipe for this dessert, my favorite because it bakes up something amazing, and lends itself to endless variation from the fruit to the nuts to the spices. 

We let ours sit for 15 minutes to cool and set up a bit, then we dished it up and poured cream over the top. Of course, you can't go wrong with a vanilla bean whipped cream or ice cream.

This recipe could really be taken to the next level with the addition of a bottom crust. That's for next time: apple pie with crumb topping. Oh yes. Thanksgiving feels right around the corner. 

Thursday's Apple Crisp

Apples
Peel and slice your favorite variety or mix of 12 medium apples (about 4 lbs)
Sprinkle 1/4 cup cane sugar over the apples (add more or less to taste)
Grate fresh nutmeg to taste (I used 1/2 a nut)
Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon and toss the mixture lightly to coat

Topping
Mix together in a food processor or stand mixer until crumbly:
1 1/4 cups flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup walnuts, shelled
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
pinch of sea salt

Dump and distribute the topping evenly over the apples. (I get distracted while cooking and the crumble often processes until it forms a dough, if that happens to you just pinch off little bits and assemble them on top to cover the apples.)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the juices are bubbly and the topping begins to brown. 

The Official Survey Begs More Questions

An official survey was delivered to us earlier this month. While there were no surprises, we do have a few concerns about the feasibility of siting a home on this property.

To catch you up on a little history of the land: the nine acres under contract was once a ten acre parcel. In the 1970's Henrico County purchased from the then-owner 1.3 acres in order to widen Varina road as part of a larger infrastructure renovation.

We were made aware of the land acquisition in very vague terms a couple months ago, but without an official survey there really wasn't much to go on. After some investigating, we were told that the road project had been abandoned, which was a promising bit of information, and so we initiated an inquiry process to buy back the Henrico-owned acreage in order to reconstitute the parcel. While we are theoretically set to close in November, it could be another 3-4 months before the County has a final decision and purchase price to share with us. In fact, they could come back and say that they DO intend to use the land for some future purpose, which would likely convince us to move on in our land search.

Final survey with my markings in red, yellow, and orange

From the survey, you can see that the back third of the property has been identified as protected wetland. You can also see the strip of land currently owned by Henrico County (approximately 1.5 acres) running through the front third of the property (marked by Varina Road, future relocation).

I have highlighted in yellow (not to scale) the required setbacks--or the minimum distance from which we will be allowed to build any structures--for the relevant property lines and wetland designations. Add to that the chunk of land identified for an alternative septic system (bore holes) and the back-up location in case the first system fails years down the road (red circle with squiggles), and you can see how constrained this nine acres appears for building! I've drawn an orange shaded oval to represent the roughly 1.5 acres of buildable land. Of course, 1.5 acres is plenty of space to build a home, but the uncertainty of the Henrico land weighs heavy.

If we can acquire it then our worries are mostly moot but, in the meantime, we wonder if the seller will be open to waiting out the County's process with us.

Our next steps include investigating more specifically the requirements for protecting the wetland (we think it is a 100ft. setback) and identifying the 100 year floodplain, which could pose more building restrictions! We will be meeting with an architect in early November to consider a professional opinion about our options to site the house on the land, with and without the assumption that we own the Henrico acreage. THEN, we need to check-in with the county on the progress of our buy-back inquiry and hope they've made some progress before we call a face-to-face meeting with the seller and his Realtor to discuss where to go from there.

So far, this land buying experience has been about on par with what we expected: exciting, time consuming, complicated, and slooow.

Fall comforts: a morning snapshot and the best hot cocoa

Like most mornings this time of year, we wake before the sun. Merritt, snuggled into the contours of my side, pushes off me with his feet and frees himself from the coverlet, shimmying up to sit on our shared pillow. 

“I'm ready to get up!” 

Andy is out of town this week, so there is little choice. I step bare feet to the chilled wood floors, lean over the bed to gather him up in my arms, and remind him that Brother is still sleeping nearby. In a hurry I shuffle around the bed and out into the hallway, to minimize Merritt’s opportunity to wake the entire house.

We have lived here for less than a week and I haven’t yet learned our space by heart. I shield Merritt’s eyes to flip on a light.  

He lets go and scampers off to find his place on the living room couch.

 

I head into the kitchen to tidy up, lifting the trash out of its can and depositing the bag on the side patio. The morning sky is brightening; a blue hue blankets our yard. Our family of recently picked pumpkins cascades down the stoop, and a feisty breeze from somewhere cooler enters my pant leg at the ankle.

The long awaited Season is finally here, Fall weather and all.

Merritt has found a book to look through. I glance in the cupboard to make a decision about breakfast. A bottle of vanilla bean paste, a bag of semisweet and milk chocolate chips are arranged neatly in waiting. I remember my intention to make hot cocoa this week. It is Monday, which means chocolate for breakfast makes so much sense.

Within minutes the mixer is whirring at high speed. Sugar, cream, and vanilla, are whipped into a dreamy shape.

Roscoe appears at the door jamb, curls disheveled. He’s curious what Momma is up to.

I melt the chips, warm the milk and cream, and combine it together to present drinking chocolate that we top high with sweet cream, flecked with vanilla bean.

I pour three small cups and pass them out to eager hands. We sit together in our sleepy state, sipping Fall in the half-dark.

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Recipe adapted from an adaptation:

3.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3.5 oz. milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
In a medium bowl, combine the bittersweet chocolate with the milk chocolate. Add the boiling water and let it stand for 1 minute. Whisk the chocolate mixture until it is smooth.

In a small saucepan, bring the milk and heavy cream just to a simmer. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk over moderate heat until hot. Pour into small mugs and garnish as you like!

The Outdoor Classroom

Behind the preschool's play yard is an acre of land that BAPP owns for nature walks and other outdoor experiences. As a novel pilot program, they are offering an outdoor classroom during the months of October through April. Classes meets for 1.5 hours every Wednesday after the official preschool day ends, and are held exclusively outside in the rain or shine, snow or sleet. (No thunder or lightening!)

Like the rest of the program at BAPP, the outdoor classroom's curriculum is driven largely by the children's interests and explorations each day. I am told they will build dens and other outdoor structures, learn safety, pursue crafts like whittling, and who knows what else! I love that Roscoe will have the opportunity to observe the nuance of each season with a group of his peers.

Roscoe is obsessed with the animal kingdom and is especially fascinated by predator/prey relationships, and the myriad ways that insects and animals are equipped with unique protections and skills.

Roscoe shared this first-day-of-camp discovery with pride and glee

Roscoe and Merritt spend a lot of time outside and their knowledge of the animal world is very impressive and yet, as much as I encourage observation and respect for what we find in nature, I've noticed that neither of them has great empathy for insects or animals. They will smash a bug without a second thought. Destroy a spider's web, kick up an ant hill, or tear up an earthworm.

My hope is that, in addition to all the lovely experiences forest camp will offer to Roscoe in the coming months, the instillation of compassion and protection for the living things that we come across in our adventures out of doors will be a part of his education and growth.

Would you send your little guy or gal to an outdoor classroom?

13 Great Parenting Books for all Seasons (of parenting)

Does Fall make you want to get back to the basics of cozy living, and focus on your relationship with your kids?

I wrote this piece to share my favorite parenting books on RichmondMom. You can read the full article here. 

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The start of a new season inspires (and sometimes demands!) a new family routine or rhythm, especially the transition from Summer’s jubilee to Fall-time’s responsibility and refocus on life at home.

As we march into Fall, I turn my attention from the warm, humid, and carefree adventures of a Summer spent out of doors, to the cool, crisp, and toasty retreat of September, October and November. For us these months of the year are about cultivating all that is good under our little roof, which includes quality time spent together being creative, sharing gratitude, experimenting in the kitchen, and creating a sense of tradition around the seasonal changes.

(Read more...)

Exploring Death: conversations with my four year old

Roscoe has been bringing up the subject of death a lot lately.


He asks matter-of-fact about the way death works and then unravels in disagreement and sadness when my attempts to deliver simple and honest answers (if I can call them that) miss his mark of four year old expectation.

He asks what will happen to us when we die.

Truthfully, my version of what happens leaves a lot to be desired, even for me, as we are agnostic—some days even atheistic. So I tell him (in these and other words) that our bodies stop working but that our energy lives on in the people who love us and who have ever been affected by us, and that our energy is literally recycled back into the earth and universe to nourish the future.

He wants to keep his energy, he cries in despair. 

He asks who will take care of his toys when he dies.

I sit there contemplatively silent, thinking to myself that there’s no need to worry about this as he’ll be moved on from toys, an old man at best. Yet I understand he lives in the here and now, and that his toys represent much more to him than I may comprehend.

I fumble over my words to explain some thing that will make any sense to him at all. He rescues me mid-sentence to say that he’s got it: his kids will take care of his toys for him! He’s satisfied and happy with this answer. I flinch, overcome with a warm wash of bitter sweetness imagining it.

Later, at dinner, he climbs up onto my chair, wraps his arms around my neck and pushes his warm little body against my chest. He whispers into my ear, “I love you so much. You are so special to me. I never want to lose you.”

I wonder if he’s thinking about death again. Mine or his. His inquiries and curiosities unnerve me.

The topic of death is one of my least favorite places to wander. Not now, when the boys are so tender and young. Not when our collective dreams (even our very purpose as parents) are so vested in one another at this time in our lives.

What troubles me is my inability to create a sense of safety for him. A truth, or knowing, that he can carry with him for certain. While I can stand to wrestle with the uncertainty of life, I wish for him to be protected from it a while longer. 

How does your own certainty or uncertainty on the subject of what happens when we die effect your ability to explore the subject with your kids?

The Birth Plan: 5 steps to a better informed birth experience

I wrote this piece about birth plans for RichmondMom. You can read the full article here. 

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“My doctor told me to keep my birth plan short and to the point, how do I fit in everything I want to include? I don’t want to be too demanding.”

“You can’t really PLAN labor, won’t my care provider tell me what I need to know?”

“A friend of mine brought a bunch of copies of her birth plan to the hospital when she went into labor and no one even looked at them!”

“I’ve read online that care providers and labor and delivery staff laugh in the face of birth plans. Should I even write one?”

“My sister is a labor and delivery nurse, she warned me that moms who write long birth plans are the ones who end up with a bunch of intervention and babies born by c-section.”

As a doula and childbirth educator I work closely with women, and their partners, as they prepare for the intimate life event of birth. I encourage every family I work for to develop a birth plan as part of their childbirth preparation, and as an integral step in their personal journey to becoming better informed consumers of maternity care.

The dismissive messages that often characterize discussions around birth plans undermine their many benefits and true purpose as a communication and information gathering tool. The process of writing a birth plan serves in at least three ways:

1. To help you to identify your needs and wants for labor, birth, and postpartum care.
2. To begin, or continue, a dialogue about your needs and wants with your care provider in the context of her practice style, and the policies and procedures routine to your chosen birthing place.
3. To engage your birth team to facilitate and support your birthing goals.

Reframe the value of your birth plan as the PROCESS by which the document is created and the degree to which you utilize it as a communication tool before labor begins. To merely present a birth plan document to Labor and Delivery staff on admission to your birthing place is to miss out on many of the benefits of having created the document in the first place.

(Read more...)

Preschool Days

Happy faces for the first day of school

We are two weeks into our first official preschool year. Roscoe and Merritt are enrolled at a small private Reggio-Emilia based program just 5 minutes from the rental house we are moving into next month. (Did I mention we are moving?!) 

The BAPP preschool is for children ages 2-5 and runs 9:30am-12:30am, 5 days a week. Merritt is in a class that meets 3 days a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

Merritt hangs his tote bag on his hook first thing when he enters the classroom

I'm so grateful that we got in, we were on the Wait List for months last year as they only accept a limited number of new students each year because of its small size and because the siblings of current students have preference, and this year there were a lot of rising little brothers and sisters.

Every morning when we arrive the kids wash their hands and the older ones sign in.

I smile when thinking about what his signature will look like by the end of this year.

The teachers document the children's learning throughout the day, and every morning at drop off I look forward to reviewing the latest photos and stories that are hung throughout the classroom. 

I love that the children's curiosity drives the lessons of the day. 

An investigation story

Observations from the two year classroom

A comparison activity

More observations for the little ones

A story about how the kids worked together to build a house. And then destroy it.

I love how compassionate the teachers are. I'm learning a lot just listening and watching for the short periods of time that I am present in the classrooms every day.

Teacher Anne & Roscoe, and Merritt in his classroom

Before school began, I was impressed that the boys' teachers made home visits to meet each student in their familiar space. It is such a warm and thoughtful way to begin their relationship. The older children pick a symbol to represent them at school. Roscoe picked a dragon. 

Outside there is a huge wooded play yard perfect for exploring. Roscoe learned how to pedal a bike on his first day.

It's kind of incredible the amount of time every day that is now devoted to some aspect of school. I'm still figuring out the logistics of drop-off routine and pick-up lines but I can already feel the difference that the schedule makes for all of us. I have little chunks of time every day to break from my mothering role (and to work!), and they have a little home away from home that suits our family so well.

If you're interested in the Reggio-Emilia approach you can learn more about the philosophy here, and thoughts on incorporating the ideas into your home life here.  

How is the back to school transition going for your family?