Yard Progress

Our little yard is finally coming along.

We had a fence put in (after 4 1/2 years of wanting one) so now the little one can run around in peace (and I can garden without anyone spying on me).

In a few months we'll have to stain it.

We also had a friend rototill our garden area so now it's 27'x17'. I already planted some spinach and lettuce in the mounded areas. Next are onions, potatoes, and carrots. Don't laugh at the boards. They're so I can walk around the garden without compressing the soil.

Doing Virtuous Business

Theodore Roosevelt Malloch thinks capitalism is good. It's good for people. It's good for economies. It's good for countries. It just needs moral people to keep it straight. Hence, Doing Virtuous Business, an in-depth defense of capitalism and a call for spiritual enterprise.


I had a hard time getting into this book. The author wrote it much like a board report (dull), with just enough anecdotes to keep you from falling asleep. I had the worst time getting through the chapter of virtues.

Once I got into the meat of the book, I found it full of excellent ideas. He states that corporations have "souls" and can embrace virtues without sacrificing profits. He encourages companies to incorporate spiritual space into the workday and to make it inclusive to all faiths. He highlights exceptional businesspeople who are religious and run successful companies.

Other than the writing style, I enjoyed this book. It's probably aimed more for people that work outside the home, but it gave me some interesting things to think about. My one main concern was that he seemed to think that businesspeople of any faith (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Christian) were better than people with none. I understand that if you don't have a source for truth you don't have any rationale for expressing virtues. I also don't think a corporation should force a specific religion on their employees. I just didn't understand how he could exemplify people all faiths without mentioning that they contradict (sometimes greatly). If you're in business and want a little moral(e) boost (pun intended), check this one out. [G, recommended for certain audiences]

[I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishing's Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review. I am honest to a fault.]

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you had a joyous holiday.

At our service this morning, we took a wooden cross entwined with barbed wire and turned into a glorious display of hope and forgiveness with flowers. I always love participating in this ceremony and rubbing elbows with the Cheasters (those who only go to church on Christmas and Easter).

We also had an egg hunt where we found every single bag of candy that my MIL hid in the yard. It was a record, although she had to help at the end. It was a glorious day!!

What did you do to celebrate Easter?

Debbie's Oven Potato Wedges

Season, bake, eat.

I went through a Bible study called Apples of Gold a few years back that centered on older, mature Christian women mentoring the younger ones. It was fantastic because I learned so many new skills and recipes. One of the hostesses gave out a recipe for Catalina chicken and these fantastic oven fries. It's one of my favorite recipes now.

Debbie's Oven Potato Wedges
(serves 4-6)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut 4 to 5 medium baking potatoes into wedges (lengthwise).
In a resealable bag, mix:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Add potatoes to the bag and seal it. Toss them to your favorite song.
Dump them on an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden, turning them with a spatula halfway.

Easy and yummy. The longest part is cutting up the potatoes.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Easy, Cheap Easter Tree

Mise en place

Growing up, my husband believed in the Easter bunny much longer than he believed in Santa. For that reason (and for many others), we're trying to raise our little one to know the true meaning of Easter early on. Our one Easter decoration (in addition to the nice cards my family sent me) is an Easter tree! You can make one too - for under $3.

Supplies

Tree (I got one for $2.50 from a Target bin)

2 Half-sheets of colored cardstock
Ribbon
Sewing needle
Thread
Tape
Scissors

Directions

1. In a word processor, type up words that represent Easter. Import pictures from free clip art sites. Print two copies of the document. Cut them out and tape them together.

This is the poky part.

2. Here's where it gets tricky. Poke a hole in each set with a needle. Thread the needle and pull it through the tiny hole. Double-knot the thread so it stays.

3. Hang them from the tree and enjoy the true meaning of Easter.

Alternative

Find little things around your house that represent parts of the Easter story and hang them with string from the tree. Ideas include tiny hammer and nails, a cross, a donkey, etc.

Confession

I had tried to make little Easter eggs out of self-hardening play clay, but it crystallized and the only paint color I had was pink and I didn't make holes in them, so they wouldn't hang. They are now decorating our landfill.

This little tree works for me. Join in the fun at Works for Me Wednesday!

Happy Easter!

Point, Click, and Save

If you're on the internet wading through blog world, you may be somewhat savvy about many fantastic online resources and opportunities available. I thought I was pretty savvy until I read Point, Click, and Save by Mashup Mom (Rachel Singer Gordon).

The book goes quickly and is full of straight-forward, helpful information about everything internet - from couponing to finding freebies to starting your own business. She mentions sites I already knew about like swagbucks and ebates.com, but she also includes other similar sites that allow you to make a little money. Interestingly, a mashup refers to saving/making money from multiple sources. For instance, using paper and electronic coupons at the grocery store while adding money to your upromise account.

Because it was released recently, the links and sites she mentions are still around and accessible. She wades through the not-so-good deals to present legitimate offers, telling you how to avoid being scammed.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who blogs, wants to save money, or wants to generate income through the internet. And of course, to save money, I read it through the library. (G, recommended)

Buttermilk Pretzels

Husband [Entering kitchen after work]: What is that? Poop? You made poop?

Wife: Yes, I always thought the world needed more poop. Plus, we'll be rich! I can make up a batch of this stuff every day and sell it as compost.

Well, I wasn't that witty when the original conversation happened, but my husband did call my homemade pretzels poop. Then, he ate them.

I needed a snack/dessert for a friend that can't have cane sugar or yeast. I found these awesome pretzels that fit the bill on allrecipes.com. Here's a recap of how to make them.

Buttermilk Pretzels
(yields around 12 pretzels)
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Fill a large pot with water and add 1/3 c. baking soda. Heat until boiling.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together:
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Add in:
1 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. milk with 1 tsp. vinegar)
1/4 c. honey
Mix with a spoon and then turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead with your hands until combined well. Divide into 12 pieces and shape into pretzels (if you can).
3. Drop each pretzel into the boiling baking soda water for a minute. Remove with tongs and put on an ungreased baking sheet. Add toppings, if desired. (Ideas: kosher salt, cinnamon sugar, onion flakes, cheese, cheese, cheese.)
4. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

If you have a hard time making the pretzel shape, make letters!

P.S. They taste really yummy. Not at all like, well, you know...

Gardening Update: It's a Jungle in Here!

My seedstarting efforts have taken over my kitchen counter (and my free time). What started as a small effort has turned into 8+ basil plants, 20 tomatoes, 8 shasta daisies, 2 rosemary seedlings, and 16 very dead strawberries (a friend gave me the strawberries already dead, but I'm trying to revive them).

Usually, all of my seedlings are dead by now. This year my neighbors let me borrow their grow light and it has made a huge difference! (I'm also transplanting seeds, watering them, and fertilizing with liquid seaweed something.)

Compare basil started at the same time. One was grown under a grow light. The other has been getting light from an east-facing window.

The window basil. Destined to be stunted.



Grow light! The Wooly Mammoth version.

Next yard steps: fence installation and garden plot expansion.

What's going on in your garden?

Finding the Funny in Life

Last night my daughter heard her father laugh so hard that she didn't know if he was crying or laughing.

He was laughing. At me.

I hit my back on the wall as I tried to sit down and entertain my daughter during her potty time. It hurt, so I made moaning noises and lay on the floor. My daughter peed in the potty (yay!) and I called for my hubby to bring a wipe.

My daughter, who was concerned for my well-being since I was still on the floor moaning, came over and sat on me.

"She's sitting on me with her pee butt!" I yelled to my husband. That's when the hysterical laughing ensued.

I know that I'm not the only one facing these situations in life. I could be upset that my back hurt and I had pee on my shirt and belly, but I wasn't. I thought it was hilarious too.

It's hard to find the funny when I'm frustrated. Then, everything seems to be a bigger problem than it is. I get mad about small things and take things much too seriously.

But when I'm trying to find the funny, it's all over the place. Including my bathroom.

And keeping the humor up works for me! What have you laughed about lately?

Sisterchicks Down Under

I'm not sure why I'm drawn to books about older women rediscovering themselves, but I'm in love with Robin Jones Gunn's Sisterchicks series. I've read Sisterchicks on the Loose (Two friends take a trip to Finland to visit a long-lost aunt.), Sisterchicks do the Hula (Two friends travel to Hawaii - one pregnant.), Sisterchicks in Sombreros (Two friends go down to claim property left to one of them in Mexico.), Sisterchicks in Gondolas (Two friends go to Venice to cook for a group of missionary men.), and now Sisterchicks Down Under (Two friends...you get the picture).

Kathleen travels to New Zealand with her husband for three months so he can work on a film being taped there. She adapts miserably to the loneliness and world's smallest apartment. That is, until she runs across Jill at the Chocolate Fish cafe. From then on, the girls take on the world together, from hobbits to art museums, chocolate fish to koala bears, grief to forgiveness. I love the way Gunn writes, and I like that she's able to draw deeper meaning from these fun jaunts. She works in local history tidbits and shares the sights, so that it's almost like being there myself. Without the chocolate fish, unfortunately.

French Toast

Perfect French Toast

(adapted from The Food Network Magazine)

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat a large skillet and melt a pat of butter in it.

In a shallow bowl, whisk together:

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk (or half-and-half)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
1/8 tsp. salt
Cut 6 pieces of thick bread in half. In batches, dip bread into the egg mixture to coat both sides, then cook in the preheated skillet for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet and place in the warm oven for an additional 8 to 10 minutes. [Note: Transferring the french toast to the oven not only keep the toast toasty, but it also allows it to cook thoroughly (no raw eggs, thank you) and not burn in the skillet on high heat.]
Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar and syrup.

Emergency cinnamon sugar stash. Kept handy at all times.

5 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. This post is for everyone who thinks that poetry

A) has to be written by introspective, dead people
B) has to rhyme, or
C) is only for people under the age of 12.

Poetry can be written by anyone, about anything. It can rhyme, but it doesn't have to. Most poetry does, however, address something about what it means to be a human, including emotions. Here are five fun ways to get you (and your kids) celebrating.

1. Book Spine Poetry: Arrange books you already have in your house to make a poem. (Here are mine, but check these out too.)

Very serious.

I got this one to rhyme!

I love children's books.

2. Word Clusters: Take 4 words and write a poem out of them. You can mix up the order and add other words too. For instance, I used green, table, rock, and sorrow. (Or make up your own four words and write a poem.)

Moss grows thick on sun-baked rocks,

Which squirrels use as dinner tables.

Sorrow (that blue monstrosity) cannot settle here -

The green moss beat her to it.

3. Ransom Note Poetry: Cut out words of a published poem (or any written piece really). Rearrange them to form a poem. Tape them to a clean sheet of paper. (It helps to enlarge the type before you print out the poem. You also don't have to use every word.)

I used words from "There is another sky" by Emily Dickinson.

4. Sidewalk Chalk Poem: Pick a short poem to write on your driveway or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. Here is a link with lots of poems you could use.

5. I Love You Because...: Write a short poem about someone you love. It can be romantic or silly.

For Baby

I love your smile

I love your teeth

And when you brush them

They smell sweet.

But if you don't

They'll start to rot.

So love the smile

And teeth you've got.

Visit poets.org for more fun ways to celebrate the month!

Visit Works for Me Wednesday for lots of fun tips.

Looking for the King Review

Shiny, unlike an old spear.

David C. Downing is an English professor and C.S. Lewis expert. His recent novel, Looking for the King, combines mystery, romance, and favorite quotes from the Inklings, a small group of men who met regularly for fellowship and included C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and J.R.R. Tolkien. In the book, the main character, an American named Tom who is visiting England to write a tour guide on King Arthur, ends up meeting with each of these men and attending an Inklings meeting. Tom and his assistant Laura visit King Arthur hot spots thoughout England, eventually looking for the Spear of Destiny, which supposedly was the spear used to pierce Christ's side on the cross.

I enjoyed this novel and found the story interesting. When real quotes are mixed with fiction, it's difficult to sort out the truth from fabrication, but Downing includes a list of references in the back of the book to let the reader know where the real quotes originated. Many of the themes from C.S. Lewis were familiar, and I enjoyed several of his witty quotes. Because I just don't care, I glossed over the King Arthur lore without committing it to memory. If you're interested in King Arthur or want to know more about the Inklings, it's a fun read. (PG for dramatic action, recommended)

Weekend Weather

Spring seems timid to stay,

Dipping her toes in the water,

But afraid to fully submerge.

Her gentle warmth bids the daffodils to bloom,

Then she blows snow sideways

On the deconstructed highway.

Perhaps Spring has two minds

And packs both a parka and light sweater,

When she comes to camp
At the edge of the water.

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Welcome to Bitterroot Mama! I'm Jen and I'm an introvert. Real parties make me nervous, but blog parties, like the Ultimate Blog Party 2011, make me happy. Here's my life and blog in a nutshell.

1. I'm happily married and stay at home with my 20-month-old daughter. I don't talk too much about my family because they like their privacy.


I hide my party tension well.

2. I live in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, a political hotbed, and full of all kinds of parades and fodder for Montana Life Monday posts.



View from the in-laws' homestead.

3. I'm an aspiring writer. I've written gardening posts for Blissfully Domestic and wrote a guest post on (in)courage. In addition, I write children's stories. I'm still working on that whole getting published thing.

4. I love to read! Last year I averaged one book every three days. I share reviews of these books on Bookworm Tuesdays and collect them in my Book Reviews page.


Just a spoonful of irony
helps the pages go by faster...


5. In exchange for honest reviews, I get free books from Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, and Waterbrook Multonomah Publishers. Sometimes they send me books to give away.

6. On Wednesdays, I link up to Works for Me Wednesdays and share (hopefully) helpful home/parenting tips.

7. During the summer, I share news from my garden. These posts are collected under Mediocre Gardening. I share both my successes... and failures.


Tomato seedlings alive 22 days and counting!



The dead plant in the pot was doomed the moment I bought it and didn't commit
its name to memory. If I don't know what it is, why should I water it?

 8. Fridays are all about food. I share a recipe I've tested and love. I don't know how it happens, but I end up with a lot of desserts. Check out my Recipe Index for all of my previous recipes.



Red Velvet Cupcake

9. I love to visit blogs of real people, where I can let down my hair.

I said let it down, not take it out!
(This was my extension phase.)

10. I lived for awhile in the South, so I'm sort of old-fashioned. I don't have a TV, Facebook account, or Twitter name, and my blog doesn't have ads. I'm also polite enough to follow your blog if you follow mine.

Thanks for visiting!

Tuscan Polenta Cornbread

I found this recipe as I went through a bunch of Better Homes and Gardens magazines. The magazines are now on their way out of my home, but this new cornbread recipe has found its way into my heart. It has much more cornmeal and much less sugar than my other cornbread recipe and gives me a chance to use my castiron skillet. It's a keeper!