Green Eggs and Ham

I’ve been excited all week about today being Dr. Seuss’ birthday.  We love his books and his movies, and I knew I wanted to make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast.  But was there a way to do it without nasty food colouring?  I decided to investigate.

What I found really exciting.  Red cabbage can turn eggs green?  What?

It didn’t occur to me until part way through the process that I should be taking pictures, but here’s what I did:

1)  I chopped about 1  1/2 cups of red cabbage, added it to a pot with a tiny bit of water on the bottom and simmered it for about 10 minutes, adding a splash of water when needed to prevent scorching.

2)  I used my immersion blender to puree it, and then pushed it through a fine strainer to squeeze out the beautiful purpleness.

3)  I separated a bunch of eggs…

4)   …and added a couple scoops of the purpleness to the whites.

5)  Then the kids got mixing.

Apparently, the green comes via a chemical reaction relating to the pH levels.  Here’s what I found:

“Naturally, red cabbage has a colour somewhere between red and purple, depending on the pH-value of the soil it is growing in. This colour change occurs due to the pigment flavin, which belongs to a group of water soluble plant pigments called anthocyanins (For those of you, that don’t know what the pH value refers to, it is the measure of the acidity (pH < 7) or basicity (pH > 7) of an aqueous solution). In this Instructable, we are making use of the fact, that flavin is a natural pH indicator and that egg white has a pH value of about 8. These slightly alkaline condition result in a colour change to a blueish-green.”

How cool is THAT?

6)  I then spooned some egg whites egg greens into the pan, and carefully spooned a yolk on top, flipping carefully when the time came.   (They look less green in this photo for some reason, but they were actually quite green in reality.)

7)  I tried to make the ham green, but it only made it purple.  Clearly, the ham didn’t have the right pH to cause the reaction.   Great science lesson!   We talked about pH levels in pools and how our eyes can be red when the pH is off, and perfectly clear when the pH is right.

We all enjoyed our breakfast immensely!

Caleb declared that it smelled like I was cooking chinese food for breakfast, I guess because of the cabbage smell.  But they tasted like …eggs, perhaps a slight bit sweeter.  All five of us ate them up and declared breakfast a great success!

Now this has me thinking about pH levels and experiments we can do with them.  Maybe planting seeds in soils of varying pH levels to see what happens…?    I think it’s all pretty cool.

It’s a snow day here in Nova Scotia (we’re finally getting our winter), and I’ve declared it a Funday Friday – because I can (the homeschoolers among you know what I’m talking about).   My brood is out in the snow now, a bit of shoveling, bringing in some wood and of course, playing!  Later, we’ll do some crafts – maybe draw some Dr. Seuss characters?  We’ll watch ‘Horton Hears a Who’ this afternoon, and probably do a read-aloud of Green Eggs and Ham.   It’s days like this that my kids will look back on with fondness.

And now I’m off to clean up the post-breakfast mess.  A small price to pay for all the smiles.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

What School Looks Like Today

There is still baked oatmeal breakfast shrapnel on the counter, but thankfully enough space for Gabe to do a bit of school work.    Changing locale every 40 minutes or so helps that boy to get his work done.   I’m happy I can accomodate his needs. 

Caleb, on the other hand, needs the structure of a table in front of him.  He whips through is handwriting practice in no time.  

For the most part, Eden likes to be close to me.  I think this tendency, more than anything else, has to do with her need for an audience for the constant chatter.   Today, though, she seems more focussed and I am able to figure out if I have all necessary ingredients for supper.  Tonight I’m making Edie’s Cheeseburger {in paradise} Soup.  I’ve been thinking about it since Monday, so I think today’s the day!

Not all days offer such smooth sailing; a great many do not.   Yesterday was not one of our finer days, but today looked different.   This morning I woke up and got a double batch of Baked Oatmeal in the oven.  We had breakfast as a family before David rushed off to work.  I did some blog reading, hopped in the shower and threw in a load of laundry.  By the time I came downstairs, the boys had already done their devotion and prayer and were digging into the Audio CD of Anne of Green Gables.  

All of this was on their own.

And BEFORE 9am. 

Three cheers for independence and diligence! 

In light of their great initiative, they chose some music to play.  Caleb selected one of his favourite songs:  Piano Man.  Half way through, Gabe came to where I sat at the dining room table, and asked in his best British accent, “May I have this dance?”

Well, of course you may.

Then Eden got in on the action and danced with her biggest brother.

Caleb, knowing that Piano Man was coming to an end, put on another favourite:  Robin William’s singing Prince Ali (from Aladdin).  Oh my.   Do you know the one?   You can see it here.   Do it, so I’m not the only one who can’t get it out of her head.  

And then, the crazy dancing started.  Shaking the sillies out is something we try do with some regularity.  

Yes, it has been a great school day, and it’s not even over yet.

But the highlight of my week thus far was yesterday, when Gabe came in for a great big hug and said “Mom, this house is just so full of love…”

And that is what this whole thing is all about.

Eager Hands

So, we baked on Wednesday, as I had intended.  We opted for chocolate banana cookies instead of muffins – an excellent choice!  Both the baking and the painting that followed were an effort to stomp out the ‘someday’ I too often draw on in my day-to-day.   Between homeschooling and the business and all the other things I have on my plate, it had been too many weeks since we baked and painted together. It felt good to back at it. 

Though it was also a test of my patience. 

Those eager little hands love to help and take their sweet time doing it. 

Am I right?

But yesterday, it didn’t matter.  Yes, I could make the cookies in about a sixth of the time it took with my helpers, but that wasn’t the point.  Instead of rushing them along (as I have done a LOT lately), I took some deep calming breaths, focussed on my patience, and left them to it.  

The learned, giggled, got their hands dirty.  They enjoyed the supervision of their Mama who was simply watching contentedly, and encouraging them along the way.

And I don’t think anything could have made them happier.  

I want my kids to later reflect on their childhoods with memories of a Mom who had the patience to let them do these kinds of things, not one who was always rushing them along to the next task.  

I want to encourage those eager little hands! 

Focusing on the “worldly” causes me to lose focus on what’s really important.  Sure, I may have lost bit of focus lately, but I’m getting it back.    Oh YES, I am! 

____________

This post has been linked to Amy’s Finer Things.

Music Themes for Our Day

Our days are filled with music. 

When we wake up in the morning, we usually listen to Christian music, either from our own playlists or by tuning in to K-Love or something similar on iTunes radio.  The music is positive and uplifting and sets the tone for our day.  (Plus I never have to worry about what bad news or suggestive lyrics the kids might hear.)

To tackle our household tasks, we find that a bouncy mainstream playlist is the most motivating, best with some older tunes thrown in for good measure.  There’s nothing like Annie Lennox, the Gypsy Kings, Justin Beiber or the Beatles to get you moving.   Usher and the Black Eyed Peas get us all bopping around the house.  Every so often, we have a crazy-dancing interlude that makes us laugh uncontrollably and get a bit more enjoyment out of the dishes, dusting and toilet cleaning.    Music makes us feel great! 

When school starts, we usually listen to classical music.  Sometimes it’s just piano, sometimes whole orchestras.  This morning I made a quick playlist of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, through to No. 9.  to enjoy during our morning.  (Sidebar:  I heard Symphony No. 7 last night when I saw the movie ’ The King’s Speech ‘ and spent most of the scene with my eyes closed because I am always just so moved by the beauty of that piece.  I woke this morning feeling particularly thirsty for it …)   

Yesterday morning as Gabe came down the stairs on his way to begin school, he said “Oh, this must be his ninth symphony, because it’s the only one he composed with a chorus !”    I looked at him, stunned.  “…because there are people singing,” he continued.  I have no idea if there is any truth to that (he tells me it’s fact and he’s probably right), but I was just stunned by his knowledge of that little tidbit.  Don’t you love the things we learn from our children?   Ask me again why it’s important to read good books. 

It seems that now might be a good time to reconvene the music lessons we dropped a few years ago.  Gabe took guitar.  Caleb took piano.  Neither of them were ready (and I’ve read repeatedly that a child starting early has no benefit over those starting later.  By the time they are both twelve, they will be at the same level.)  In any case, it might be time to start up lessons again. 

The background instrumental music we play is a wonderful addition to our homeschool morning.  It’s creating an appreciation of something beautiful, and I’m so pleased to have the flexibility to include it. 

Let me leave you with that ‘thirsty’ piece I mentioned:

Get… OUT!

I’m a big Seinfeld fan, so I can’t say that phrase (or even write it) without thinking of Elaine Benes.  Good grief, she cracks me up! 

But I say it today as a reminder to get outside and enjoy this beautiful gift of a world!  Sometimes we spend more time than we should in the cozy confines of our homes.  Sometimes, we just need to get outside a bit more. 

When we moved to this house, one of the major plusses was its location.  We could walk anywhere as a family, without issue.  We still walked at our last house too, and the kids did well going out, but complained the whole way back.  We did it anyway, but it certainly wasn’t as much fun as it is now.  It feels great being able to drive less.  It feels good to consume a tiny bit less of that oil on which we’ve become so dependent.  There is something really great about walking to the farmers market, the library, church, the grocery store, the mall, wherever.   It’s empowering.  It teaches our kids that you don’t have to spend money or get in your car and drive somewhere to be active.  All you have to do is get out.   Be active.  And start walking.  It’s dead simple.

Yesterday, we finally got our first real taste of winter here in our little piece of Nova Scotia.    The kids were out for hours in the afternoon, and after supper we enjoyed a lovely family walk in the dark… and a good old-fashioned snowball fight.  It didn’t require any money.  It didn’t require any special planning.  It didn’t require anything other than time together and clothing we already had… all of us in our full-on snow gear to take full advantage of the experience. 

It was beautiful and completely silent outside.  We chased each other as best we could along the sidewalks.  We fell into the snow (Eden yelling ‘cannonball!’).  We formed snowballs and lobbed them at one another.  We worked on the snow fort of the day.  We laughed and spent time as a family.  And those are the things that create the best memories for kids! 

Now it’s 8:30 am… a snow day here.  Homeschoolers don’t really have ‘snow days’ per se, but we’ll have a day with an extra injection of fun here, that’s for sure.  The children have completed their morning tasks (Morning High Five), and they’re outside again, coasting down the small hill in our front yard.   Later, we may bundle up and hike on over to the library to find a local bird guide to accompany our upcoming Science Lesson.  We’ll walk.  Because we can. 

More memories.   Get… OUT!    You make some too.