Real Fruit Makes Real Juice

Again, out of inspiration of my mom, I decided to make grape juice. (Grapes have been over well past a month ago now, so this is a little old… but the final product still exists and some has yet to be enjoyed!) Unfortunately there is no memory of a song about grape juice, but for some reason I remember Mom breaking out the grape juice on Movie Night – almost always paired with popcorn.

I remember nearly every year my mom would make juice from her grapes, canned and ready for the whole year. One year we entered them in the E-town Fair and they won Best of Show! She needs a little more practice bragging than I do, so I’ll let you all know right here.

At the very end of the season, I picked about 5 quarts from my mom’s vines in the back yard. She grows plump Concord grapes that are an experience in themselves to eat. The thick purple skins slide right off of the eyeballish clear orb inside and is borderline FUN until you bite into rather large seeds inside the flesh.

After washing and picking out any ugly looking grapes (and the occasional spider...!) I boiled them in water, double strained out the skins and pulp, then reboiled the juice with a bit of sugar (optional) and finally put the juice into sterilized jars. After a few hours the jars were sealed and ready!

Absolutely delicious- bottle of flavored high-fructose corn syrup can not even compare to this!

Fresh Bread, Cool Water

I remember my mom singing a song with those words as she took her bread out of the oven. I felt like singing it today when mine was baking… I used the Oatmeal Bread recipe from the More-With-Less cookbook and it turned out fantastic!

Simple is smart and saves space, sleep, and a slew of societies

I love the More-with-Less cookbook – its recipes are simple, delicious, don’t usually call for odd ingredients (like spices you’ve never heard of or brand-name, already made concoctions that make you wonder if you can really claim that you “made this from scratch”). Perfect for me – I can be a moody cooker/baker… I often get excited about a recipe but it kills the thrill to think about making the effort to drive to the store and find a bottle of this or a package of that (which I might use again but probably not).

I’m not a fan of unnecessary kitchen gadgets either. Last week I was shopping and saw an avocado slicer. I’m sorry to break it to you, but a knife will work just fine for that. Even Big Boi could do it on the first try today on the Martha Stewart show, and he's only ever done a peach.

I won't even get into unnecessary appliances...


Some of these can be legit if you are going to use them a lot.

I will admit that I put “chip clips” on the housewarming gift registry, and now we have almost an entire drawer devoted to storing them. At this moment I realize how small a clothespin is. This afternoon I’m washing towels, so maybe I should use a few heavy-duty chip clips on the line.

I think it is smart to have a few good things – with emphasis on few and good. Maybe we all need smaller houses to figure this out. I’m convinced a good knife can do a lot. It really will cut through an avocado, will slice an egg in the amount of time it took you to find that egg-cutting thingamajig (I have to say, it is pretty cute and looks like loads of fun), will core an apple, peel potatoes, cut flowers, wrap presents, and remove price tags. And you really don’t need seven paring knives, unless you have a lot of young children who you like to put to work… in which case you probably still don’t need seven paring knives.

E. High Street

I have returned to Lancaster County, PA to live for awhile. It’s been 5 years since living in this area, and I have a new excitement for being here. Jason, Asher and I are renting a nice sized house just down the road from my parents.

As I search/wait for a job, I have kept busy with going to weddings, reading good books, spending time with friends and family, and watching our small but awesome garden grow.

Although I would love to have some sort of income, I love being unemployed. Actually, I’ll just claim my well-earned ‘summer vacation’ and call myself a teacher until the end of August. J But I do love having time available to write letters, explore new recipes, visit a friend on a whim, leave early, stay late, take naps…

roommates

pet turtles

Basil day 5

Heirloom tomatoes

some flowers I should know the name of

basil bush

closing out honduras

My sparsely-documented time in Honduras has come to a close. It was quite a challenging year; teaching is the hardest thing I have ever done. The heat and humidity was overwhelming, making teaching (much less – planning!) nearly impossible. I quickly realized becoming fluent in Spanish (goal #1) was going to be very hard, considering English is widely used on Roatan. Secondly, I was disappointed to learn how ‘poor’ my students actually were. The wealthy will always be able to find an education and provide for their children, but the poor can not always choose – often someone else has to choose for them.

Needless to say, as time passed I enjoyed living on Roatan more. I slowly got into a routine, learned how to cope with the heat, and became close with my roommate, Amy, and the other teachers. The parents were very kind and welcoming to me, and felt like friends.

In the end, I have come to the conclusion that I do love teaching, and I believe I am a good teacher. I really enjoy the first grade, and absolutely LOVED my students, with their incredible excitement for life and learning, their surprising and humorous comments, and their unconditional love!

Some highlights:

Spending Thanksgiving with my friend Dulce and her family in La Esperanza

Many nights of Boggle and Scrabble to ease the stress of teaching...

...and planning.

We dressed up as the power plant and the boys as the phone company for Halloween

Amy and I climbed Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala, just weeks before it erupted

The beautiful beach wedding of Sarah and Roberto, friends we made in Roatan.

My family came to visit - what a nice break from teaching!

Jason at the Iguana Farm

Chantelle and I and a huge starfish

birthday party for Ms. Jessica

Ivan and Lisa reading

Field trip!

A New Year.. of course a Fresh Start!

The school gave us two weeks vacation for Christmas, much needed. However, 'perfect' would be something more like a 3-day weekend, every weekend. Teaching is really sucking it out of me. I leave nearly every day feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, and worried that the kids aren't learning a thing. I get home only to realize there is still a lot of cutting, gluing, and planning to do. Sometimes, in order to protect my own sanity, I decide to leave my bag in the corner for the night, relax, and not think a word about school.

Getting off the plane, a beautiful blanket of snow greeted me (and almost prevented me from getting home at all) - exactly what I wanted to experience in contrast to months of sweaty skin and unbearable nights after my fan broke. I could sleep under layers of down, wear warm fuzzy sweaters and even double socks if I wanted to.

Going home was the best thing for me, mentally. It was wonderful to see my family and a few good friends. When I walked into the house where I had babysat throughout college, it surprised me a little when that place felt like home... with 2 little boys attacking me with kisses and misses. I had spent so much time there.
I used one day to visit a 1st grade class, which I left thinking "oooohhh so THIS is how it should be done," and feeling super excited for all of the new ideas the teacher had sparked in my mind. I even stopped to see my own 1st grade teacher, so great.

I came back to Roatan feeling refreshed and grateful for the chance for a new start. I brought back with me a lot of books to copy from, activities, ideas, and prizes for my class.
I also came back to the island to find that the number of students in my class had grown and I had lost my assistant.

In this new year I refuse to give in to my stress. It is not in my character to give up, but it is a pattern of mine to begin to do things half-heartedly. Not a good idea when now my decisions affect 23 people, not just myself.