{On the Range} is my weekly series where I discuss what we’re doing, reading, and eating. It’s a little bit 52 project and other photo projects, and a little bit {Did you Read?} and {In the Ranger Kitchen}
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| “A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.” |
Others from that portrait session…
On the RangeFebruary 26 – March 4, 2013
Milestones
- Charlie still seems to have symptoms of a virus every now and then. It’s tough to tell what is terrible-twoness and what is illness. My plan is still to ride it out and avoid the antibiotic cycle.
- Charlieism: I leaned into Charlie’s face so our foreheads touched, and she said “You only have one eye bob!”
- Vivism: at 7:30 this morning, we’re eating breakfast, and Vivi turns to me out of the blue with a concerned look and says, “But I don’t want to grow up! I want to stay a kid forever because William says Mommies have to have their tummies cut open for the baby to come out. Is that how babies really come out, Mommy?” Ummm, errr. Somehow I managed to stay calm and answer the question. Then she wanted to know if the rumbling she sometimes feels is a baby (poor girl!), so after reassuring her that guess was impossible, I explained digestion and poop. Now that was exciting, and she suddenly was much more interested in poop than babies, thank the Lord (add that to the list of sentences I never knew I’d say).
- Here’s another Vivism from this week, in case you didn’t catch it on Facebook (and why not? Don’t you like me?)…
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- Vivi: Mommy, Grandma Bonnie has the same name as that TV show!
Me: What TV show? Do you mean “Annie” the movie?
Vivi: NO! Bonnie, the purple dinosaur.
Me: Oh, you mean Barney!
Vivi: Yeah, Barney.
- Vivi: Mommy, Grandma Bonnie has the same name as that TV show!
My week
- Did a whole week happen between my last {on the range} and today? I’m perplexed by that fact.
- I am in a muddle of some sort. I haven’t quite figured out what the muddle is, but when I get a notion, I’ll get back to you on it.
- We started spring cleaning this weekend (i.e. scrubbing and purging), and it’s already back to looking like we didn’t clean, not but two days later. Yup.
- Vivi’s teachers planned an art show and pot luck dinner tonight, and it was such a pleasure to see what she’s been hard at work studying. I’m impressed with her teachers’ creativity (and Vivi’s!).
Moods
- Proud that Charlie is such an athlete! Today she had her first swim class since last fall, and she was fantastic, paddling and kicking like a pro. She’s a little fish, that girl.
- Happy to have started a new show I can binge on. We ate through House of Cards in a few weeks and now are finally beginning Friday Night Lights. Two episodes in, I am enjoying it!
Media
- A great NY Times article by the author of No Regrets Parenting about the emotions around your kid’s “firsts.”
- This American Life had a great episode about coincidences this week. I wonder how often coincidences happen, because just after I heard an ad for the show on the radio on Friday, I felt like I experienced a minor one. A lady and her daughter were leaving Target as I was entering, and I glanced absentmindedly at her daughter’s curly hair and thought it was cute. Then I went to pick up Vivi at a friend’s and spent some time chatting with her. Two hours or so later, I was walking into my local farm stand (across many towns, nowhere near Target), and this same lady and her daughter were leaving. We caught each other’s gaze for a wordless stare for a moment, followed by a chuckle. A minor coincidence, but so weird!
Meals
Apparently all buttermilk roast chicken recipes start with Nigella Lawson. I’ll explain how I arrived at this conclusion. For the recipe above by smitten kitchen (which is absolutely delicious), Deb commented on having gotten it originally from Nigella Lawson before tweaking it for her blog. I filed that recipe away for later. Meanwhile, I got what I thought was a different recipe from my meat CSA farmer, which she says came from the New York Times. Then when I went to their site, and the Times notes it came from Nigella Lawson! So you see, my logic is flawless really. If you want buttermilk roast chicken, consult Nigella.
What I love about this dish is you can put everything together a day or two ahead of time (we did three days!), and the result is a wonderfully moist roast chicken with deep golden, crispy skin. Add mashed potatoes (white or sweet) and some garlic-infused stir-fried greens (kale or spinach) for a wonderful supper.